Since I’m looking into the history of N.I. and The Troubles and the divide in the country, I thought I should better understand how the island of Ireland split to begin with. This is what I’ve learned.
In the 12th century, after the Normans had invaded England and had taken the thrown, they decided to invade Ireland. Henry II, with permission from the Pope, landed in Ireland in 1171 and took power of a large part of Ireland, and in the following year the Lordship of Ireland was created and Henry II was both King of England and Lord of Ireland. This was the start of the English and later British rule over Ireland.
Over the years, the amount the King actually controlled of Ireland receded to hardly anything. Both Ireland and England were Catholic (before the reformation) and many of the English settlers became part of Ireland, so Laws against inter-marriage and the use of the Irish language were made, but they were basically ineffective. By the late 15th century, the English rule was limited to an area known as The Pale.
The the Protestant Reformation came about in the early 16th century bringing a divide in the faith. Although the reformation was about religion, it was also political. With Henry VIII as the King, The Pope refused to annul his marriage, which caused him to break away from the Catholic Church, and establish the Church of England with himself as head of the church. The political situation of Ireland was uncertain as Henry VIII as the Lord of Ireland, which in 1542 became the King of Ireland. However he wasn’t recognised by Catholic powers throughout Europe and after he died, along with his son/heir, Mary I became Queen of England and Ireland and was recognised by the Catholic Church as she was brought up Catholic before the reformation. Later came James I who was the first monarch to rule Scotland, England and Ireland.
In 1609, the Plantation of Ulster brought Scottish and English settlers to Ireland in an attempt to stop the rebellion. In 1641, the Irish Confederate Wars took place where the Irish rebelled against the settlers. The monarchs switched between Catholic and Protestant over the next few years and in 1707, Scotland and England joined to become the kingdom of Great Britain. The Irish continued to rebel so in 1801 Ireland joined the union and becaime part of GB and Ireland. The Irish again rebelled against British rule and in 1886 and 1893 bills of Home Rule were proposed but failed until 1914 when it passed, however it was put on hold as WW1 started. 1916 saw the Easter Rising where Irish Republicans attempted to take back Ireland, however they failed to do so.
In the 1918 UK general election, a political party named Sinn Féin who supported Irish independence, won 73 of the 105 Irish seats at British Parliament. They instead formed an Irish Parliament and proclaimed Ireland a newly independent country. Resistance against the Irish Parliament in Ulster led to the Irish War for Independence between the IRA and British army.
In 1920 with the war still ongoing the final Home Rule was passed which finally partitioned Ireland into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. The split was intended to be temporary to stop the war. The war went on until the ceasefire in 1921 along with the AngloIrish treaty which established the Irish free state. This included the whole island with an opt out clause for N.I. which was immediately exercised so S.I. because the Irish free state which later became Ireland after a referendum in 1937 when all British ties from Ireland were removed. It’s known as the Repulic of Ireland but it’s real name is just Ireland Later came The Troubles, where the Nationalists in N.I. wanted to become part of Ireland again.
Link to Youtube Documentary that explains this:
time to change 