North Ireland: History, Culture and Traditions

North Ireland

North Ireland is an autonomous national government is located on the Irish island in Europe and is a part of the United Kingdom. North Ireland is mostly known its rich and rocky history in the 20th century they are also known for their gorgeous landscape with hills, mountains, and historical buildings. I choose Ireland because of its interesting history in the 20th century and because I did not know so much about it.

History

Before the English invasion of Ireland, the island was parted and ruled through a system of minor kingdoms and the solidarity between the groups was not so strong. The first English intervention in Ireland came in 1167 when Henry II came and tried to conquer the island of Ireland. Four years later, he returned to Ireland with a massive army and by 1175 he had succeeded in. Gaining control of most of the island. The reason why England conquered the Irish island was that he wished to expand Empire and wanted to reform its church and spread the English language, they did not start to speak English until the 12th century. After many years during an English war, the Irish leaders took the opportunity to extend their independence. They formed strong allies such as the Yorkists. The Yorkist was an English royal family and was involved in the war of roses, a civil war in England between 1455 and 1485. A revolt led by the leader Kildare led to the Irish downfall, the leader and senior members of his family were later executed and the control of Ireland was handed over to English officials and administrators. Henry VIII was declared as king in Ireland 1541 and went on to impose his reformation of the church by force, creating religious division. The Catholics were treated cruelly, and many famines affected the Island. Due to how they were treated about one million people died and some people decided to emigrate to the United States in the hope of a more reasonable life. The opposition to the Home rule in Ireland was the strongest in the province Ulster because the Protestants had gained a lot of money due to the industrial revolution, the Irish people had gained economic benefits by being part of empire.That’s why Protestants in the province of Ulster wanted to be a part of empire but the Catholics wanted to be a part of the Republic of Ireland. In the early 20th century the active hatred towards the English men grew even more and the Irish population tried to acquire the power to create their own Country. The English men decided to split the Irish island in the 1920s because they were afraid a civil war would break out between the Catholics and Protestants because of the political tension. Both sides had their democratic parliament, one part of the island is called “Northern Ireland” and the other part is recognized as “The Republic of Ireland” Northern Ireland was founded in 1921 and they remained a part of the united kingdom but have their parliament in Belfast. The politicians at the time thought this would solve the great subdivision between Catholics and Protestants, but this was not the case. The division between the two groups did only increase because the Catholics did not want to be a part of the Northern Ireland state they wanted to be a part of “the republic of Ireland”, the second reason why they wanted to join “the Republic of Ireland” was that they felt that the North Irish political system was unfair because the Protestants had an inbuilt majority which means that they can pass whatever law they want. The Catholics were not alone by being dissatisfied, the Protestants saw the Catholics as a threat to North Ireland so they decided to club threw laws to protect us from the catholic threat. A part-time protestant police force was set up to ensure order which led to more division. The 1960s was a very rocky decade and the situation grew very tense. By the early ’60s, the Catholics were angry because of three specific reasons the Catholics had a less chance of getting a job than Protestants, they also had a lesser chance of getting a council house and they had a little chance of political power. Some Protestants had used an altering voting map to ensure a protestant majority in the Catholic cities. In 1963 did Terence O´neal become president of North Ireland, he was a unionist but he released that Northern Ireland had to become fairer he brought in new reforms to try and make North Ireland more fare. Many Catholics wanted the president to go even further but the Protestants felt that they had been betrayed which led to the tension to increase. Four years later in 1967, a new civil rights organization was founded. It was a non-violence organization they aimed to end discrimination and make norther Ireland fairer. This organization threw a protestant eye not about civil rights, this organization wanted to unite Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. They held many protests which often ended in violence. In August 1963 serious riots broke out in Derry and Belfast these attacks were carried out on catholic homes. The government was worried about the escalating situation, they decided to send troops to North Ireland to try and remain peaceful in the country. The troops were first welcomed by the Catholics but that quickly changed when they started to search threw catholic blocks in a search for guns and IRA soldiers. More Catholics joined the IRA and the violence increased. In 1972 everything took a bad turn. The IRA killed many people in shootings and bombings. A civil rights march in January turned into a massacre when troops opened fire on groups of marchers. This led to an increased furiously in the catholic community. After years of fighting between Catholics and protestants, leftover 3000 deaths In 1998 the North Irish people had enough and wanted a change. The nationalists and the unionists agreed to share their power. Both sides agreed that there would not be any united Ireland unless the people wanted it, as a part of the deal the “terrorists” from both sides where released. Even though both sides wanted peace north Ireland still has not solved all its problems.

Traditions

The North Irish traditions and culture are tinged by, Scottish and Irish culture. They celebrate the Irish feast st Patrick’s day and twelfth July.

St Patrick’s day is celebrated the 17th of march in the memory of Ireland´s patron saint. Patrick brought Christianity to the Irish island, at the age of sixteen he was kidnapped by plunderers and was brought to Ireland as a salve. He was forced to work as a shepherd and he became religious. When he was released from slavery he became a priest and came back to Ireland to convert thousands of people. St Patrick’s day was a religious holiday to honor Patrick and his work to Christianize the Irish Island, the holiday became official in the 17th century.

The celebration is around his death day in the beginning only the Irish people celebrated the St Patrick’s day, but now the holiday has grown to an international holiday where people dress up in green, attends parades, watch fireworks. They also sing and dance a lot. Shamrocks are often connected to St Patrick’s day the reason is that Patrick used shamrocks to explain the trinity to the shepherds. It is mostly a holiday for younger people, they spend the whole evening out partying with friends. St Patrick’s day is celebrated by the catholic church but other Christian churches celebrate it too.

The twelfth July parades are held all across northern Ireland, they listen to speeches by senior Orangemen (A Orangeman is a protestant order in Northern Ireland).

King James wanted to get his throne back, the English king thought that this would be an easy win because its close to England and most of the Irish island are Catholic. But not all of Ireland is Catholic. North Ireland are Protestants, they were determined to resist James. The determination of the protestants impressed the Dutch king, King William. William realized that James had to be dealt with once and for all. William mobilized his forces and sailed to North Ireland and confronted James and his army by the river Boyne. The battle lasted one day on the 1st of July 1690. But what do they celebrate? They celebrate the anniversary of the battle of Boyne a Dutch king, King William defeated King James of England on an Irish battlefield by the river Boyne.

Culture

Northern Ireland is a country with many different cultural arrangements, Belfast is the perfect city if you want to see the more cultural side of Ireland. Here you can find many cultural buildings queens university or the courthouse. You can also take a peek at many parks and squares.

In Belfast was one of the most luxurious and unsinkable ships built, the Titanic.

Food Their diet is simple. They eat porridge, oatmeal or Ulster fry to breakfast. Ulster fry is a breakfast with eggs, sausage, and bacon with pudding and a slice of bread. with a break in the middle of the day were they often drink tea or coffee with biscuits or a cookie. Their dinners are meat-based often with pork, chicken or beef.

Music the traditional Ulster music is often mixed with traditional Scottish music because of similar instruments and rhythm. The traditional ulster music has been played through many generations the most common instruments in the traditional north Irish music are the pennywhistle, fiddle, accordion, fife, and the bouzouki. The bouzouki is an eight-string guitar and has its origins from Greece. The Bouzouki has been played in Scottish and Irish traditional music. The music is often played in pubs where it remains an important part of the community.

Sport the most popular physical activity in Northern Ireland are swimming, cycling, soccer, and rugby but every year the Gaelic games are being held and are still popular in Northern Ireland. They play 4 different sports the 1st sport is hurling, hurling is like another version of lacrosse. The 2nd and 3rd sports is Gaelic football and handball, the 4th is a sport called rounders.

Even though Northern Ireland is a relatively small country they have had a few successful sportsmen, one of these men is Roy Mcllroy. Roy was born in 1989 and became a professional golfer in 2007 and won his first victory in the European tour 2009, he won the US open and broke the competition record (16 under par). 2012 and 2014 was he ranked the best golfer in the world.