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110-642: The early medieval history of Ireland , often referred to as Early Christian Ireland , spans the 5th to 8th centuries, from the gradual emergence out of the protohistoric period ( Ogham inscriptions in Primitive Irish , mentions in Greco-Roman ethnography ) to the beginning of the Viking Age . The period includes the Hiberno-Scottish mission of Christianised Ireland to regions of pagan Great Britain and

220-558: A Gaelic resurgence reestablished Gaelic cultural preeminence over most of the country, apart from the walled towns and the area around Dublin known as The Pale . Reduced to the control of small pockets, the English Crown did not make another attempt to conquer the island until after the end of the Wars of the Roses (1488). This released resources and manpower for overseas expansion, beginning in

330-604: A fortified area around Dublin ( the Pale ), whose rulers had little real authority outside (beyond the Pale). By the end of the 15th century, central English authority in Ireland had all but disappeared. England's attentions were diverted by the Wars of the Roses . The Lordship of Ireland lay in the hands of the powerful Fitzgerald Earl of Kildare , who dominated the country by means of military force and alliances with Irish lords and clans. Around

440-470: A market town. Over the next century, a great period of economic growth would spread across the pastoral country. The Vikings brought Ireland into their wide-ranging system of international trade, as well as popularizing a silver-based economy with local trade and the first minting of coins in 997. In 902 Máel Finnia mac Flannacain of Brega and Cerball mac Muirecáin of Leinster joined forces against Dublin, and "The heathens were driven from Ireland, i.e. from

550-567: A particular state of preservation to be placed in organ-genera. In addition, a small subset of organ-genera, to be known as form-genera, were recognised based on the artificial taxa introduced by Brongniart mainly for foliage fossils. The concepts and regulations surrounding organ- and form-genera were modified within successive codes of nomenclature, reflecting a failure of the paleobotanical community to agree on how this aspect of plant taxonomic nomenclature should work (a history reviewed by Cleal and Thomas in 2020 ). The use of organ- and fossil-genera

660-468: A period in the house. There was a very considerable clearance of forests in the early part of the period, such that by the 9th century, large tracts of forest appear to have been rare, and the native Scots pine cleared almost to extinction; the large areas of bogland were harder for the medieval Irish to affect. By 800, small towns had started to form around some of the larger monasteries, such as Trim and Lismore , and some kings were based in them, but

770-479: A period of modernization and elevation on the European stage. Under his rule, the first castles in Ireland were built bringing improved defence and brought a new aspect to Irish warfare. He also built a naval base and castle at Dún Gaillimhe . A settlement grew around this castle which would grow to be the city of Galway today. He was a superb military commander and this allowed him to keep control of Ireland, with

880-401: A plant that has long since died. Such fossils may be prehistoric impressions that are many millions of years old, or bits of charcoal that are only a few hundred years old. Prehistoric plants are various groups of plants that lived before recorded history (before about 3500 BC ). Plant fossils can be preserved in a variety of ways, each of which can give different types of information about

990-604: A prehistoric emphasis on tribal affiliation had been replaced by the 8th century by patrilineal dynasties ruling the island's kingdoms. Many formerly powerful kingdoms and peoples disappeared. Irish pirates struck all over the coast of western Britain in the same way that the Vikings would later attack Ireland. Some of these founded entirely new kingdoms in Pictland and, to a lesser degree, in parts of Cornwall , Wales , and Cumbria . The Attacotti of south Leinster may even have served in

1100-640: A remarkable account of his experiences on the run in Ireland. The re-conquest was completed during the reigns of Elizabeth and James I , after several brutal conflicts. (See the Desmond Rebellions , 1569–73 and 1579–83, and the Nine Years War , 1594–1603, for details.) After this point, the English authorities in Dublin established real control over Ireland for the first time, bringing a centralised government to

1210-502: A rich culture flourished. The society of these kingdoms was dominated by an upper class consisting of aristocratic warriors and learned people, which possibly included Druids . Linguists realised from the 17th century onwards that the language spoken by these people, the Goidelic languages , was a branch of the Celtic languages . This is usually explained as a result of invasions by Celts from

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1320-516: A wealth of fossils containing arborescent lycopods up to 30 m tall, abundant seed plants , such as conifers and seed ferns , and countless smaller, herbaceous plants . Angiosperms ( flowering plants ) evolved during the Mesozoic , and flowering plant pollen and leaves first appeared during the Early Cretaceous , approximately 130 million years ago. A plant fossil is any preserved part of

1430-454: A whole. primarily for the use of phytoliths in relative dating and in paleoethnobotany . The study and discipline of paleobotany was seen as far back as the 19th century. Known as the “Father of Paleobotany”, French botanist Adolphe-Theodore Brongniart was a sufficient figure in this emergence of Paleobotany, known for his work on the relationship between the living and extinct plant life. This work not only progressed paleobotany but also

1540-500: Is an Early Devonian sinter ( hot spring ) deposit composed primarily of silica . It is exceptional due to its preservation of several different clades of plants, from mosses and lycophytes to more unusual, problematic forms. Many fossil animals, including arthropods and arachnids , are also found in the Rhynie chert, and it offers a unique window into the history of early terrestrial life. Plant-derived macrofossils become abundant in

1650-420: Is important in the reconstruction of ancient ecological systems and climate , known as paleoecology and paleoclimatology respectively. It is fundamental to the study of green plant development and evolution . Paleobotany is a historical science much like its adjacent, paleontology. Because of the understanding that paleobotany gives to archeologists, it has become important to the field of archaeology as

1760-408: Is normally lost during fossilization. Plant remains can be preserved in a variety of ways, each revealing different features of the original parent plant. Because of this, paleobotanists usually assign different taxonomic names to different parts of the plant in different modes of preservation. For instance, in the subarborescent Palaeozoic sphenophytes , an impression of a leaf might be assigned to

1870-570: Is now clear that cereal farming was increasingly important from about AD 200 onwards, with barley and oats more important crops than rye , wheat and others. Cattle were greatly prized, and cattle-raiding constituted a large part of warfare, so cattle needed the constant presence of a herdsman in daylight hours and were put in an enclosure at night. By the end of the period, the largest herds were probably those of monasteries. Generally, mild Irish winters seem to have meant they were never put in roofed shelters in winter, although young calves might spend

1980-808: Is said that the Romans invaded Anglesey in Wales causing concerns across the Irish Sea, but there is a small controversy on if they even set foot into Ireland. The closest Rome got to conquering Ireland was in 80 CE, when, according to Turtle Bunbury from the Irish Times , “Túathal Techtmar, the son of a deposed high king, who is said to have invaded Ireland from afar in order to regain his kingdom at about this time”. The Romans referred to Ireland as Hibernia around CE 100. Ptolemy , in CE 100, recorded Ireland's geography and tribes. Ireland

2090-505: Is the science and study of ancient palynomorphs: particles sized between 5 and 500 micrometers. This would be an inclusion of pollen and spores and any other micro-organic matter. Paleopalynology is simply paleobotany on a much smaller scale, the two in close association with each other. Similar to paleobotany, we can tell a great deal of information about the environment and biome at the time these particles existed prehistorically. These particles also help geologists identify and date

2200-430: Is the study of all once-living organisms and the interactions held in the environments they once existed in, before becoming extinct . Paleoecology is a similar study to that of paleontology , but paleoecology uses more methodology from the biological sciences and geological sciences rather than from an anthropological standpoint as paleontologists do. Paleopalynology , more commonly known as palynology ,

2310-502: Is traditionally credited with preserving and codifying Irish laws and changing only those that conflicted with Christian practices. He is credited with introducing the Roman alphabet , which enabled Irish monks to preserve parts of the extensive oral literature. The historicity of these claims remains the subject of debate and there is no direct evidence linking Patrick with any of these accomplishments. The myth of Patrick, as scholars refer to it,

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2420-438: Is well documented, at least for later periods, but these sources are not easy to interpret. Many questions remain unanswered and the study of early Christian Ireland continues to produce new theories and new discoveries. Since the later 19th century, when scholars such as Kuno Meyer and Whitley Stokes applied an increasingly rigorous approach to the study of written sources, a great deal of new information has been extracted from

2530-516: The Book of Kells , brooches, which were worn by clergy as well as nobles, carved stone high crosses , and other isolated survivals of metalwork, such as the Derrynaflan and Ardagh Hoards . Recorded Irish history begins with the introduction of Christianity and Latin literacy, beginning in the 5th century or possibly slightly before. When compared to neighbouring Insular societies, early Christian Ireland

2640-687: The Early Middle Ages . The period of Insular art , mainly in the fields of illuminated manuscripts , metalworking, and sculpture flourished and produced such treasures as the Book of Kells , the Ardagh Chalice , and the many carved stone crosses that dot the island. Insular style was to be a crucial ingredient in the formation of the Romanesque and Gothic styles throughout Western Europe. Sites dating to this period include clochans , ringforts and promontory forts . Francis John Byrne describes

2750-570: The Irish Confederate Wars in 1641-52 and the Williamite war in 1689–91. Political power thereafter rested almost exclusively in the hands of a minority Protestant Ascendancy, while Catholics and members of dissenting Protestant denominations suffered severe political and economic privations under the Penal Laws . On 1 January 1801, in the wake of the republican United Irishmen Rebellion ,

2860-635: The Irish Parliament was abolished and Ireland became part of a new United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland formed by the Acts of Union 1800 . Catholics were not granted full rights until Catholic Emancipation in 1829, achieved by Daniel O’Connell . The Great Famine struck Ireland in 1845 resulting in over a million deaths from starvation and disease and a million refugees fleeing the country, mainly to America. Irish attempts to break away continued with Parnell's Irish Parliamentary Party which strove from

2970-748: The Irish War of Independence , most of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom to become the independent Irish Free State , but under the Anglo-Irish Treaty the six northeastern counties, known as Northern Ireland , remained within the United Kingdom, creating the partition of Ireland. The treaty was opposed by many; their opposition led to the outbreak of the Irish Civil War , in which Irish Free State , or "pro-treaty", forces proved victorious. The history of Northern Ireland has since been dominated by

3080-457: The Norman invasion of Ireland . By the 12th century, Ireland was divided politically into shifting petty kingdoms and over-kingdoms. Power was exercised by the heads of a few regional dynasties vying against each other for supremacy over the whole island. One of these men, King Diarmait Mac Murchada of Leinster was forcibly exiled by the new High King, Ruaidri mac Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair of

3190-400: The rock strata of sedimentary rocks . It is also used to find natural oils and gas within these rock layers for extraction . Besides uncovering documentation of our past environmental conditions, palynology can also tell us about animal diets, historical standings of human allergies , and reveal evidence in crime cases. Macroscopic remains of true vascular plants are first found in

3300-618: The 1880s to attain Home Rule through the parliamentary constitutional movement, eventually winning the Home Rule Act 1914 , although this Act was suspended at the outbreak of World War I . In 1916, the Easter Rising succeeded in turning public opinion against the British establishment after the execution of the leaders by British authorities. It also eclipsed the home rule movement. In 1922, after

3410-672: The 7th century on, Irish churchmen such as Columbanus and Columba were active in Gaul , in Scotland and in Anglo-Saxon England . The mixing of Irish, Pictish , Anglo-Saxon and even Byzantine styles created the Insular style of art, represented by the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells . Ireland's reputation for scholarship was such that many scholars travelled from Britain and

History of Ireland (400–795) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3520-672: The European mainland to study in Irish schools. Eoin MacNeill identified the "oldest certain fact in the political history of Ireland" as the existence in late prehistory of a pentarchy, probably consisting of the cóiceda or "fifths" of the Ulaid (Ulster), the Connachta (Connacht), the Laigin (Leinster), Mumu ( Munster ) and Mide (Meath), although some accounts discount Mide and split Mumu in two. However, by

3630-633: The Hiberno-Norman lordships and the Gaelic territories into the Kingdom of Ireland provided the impetus for ongoing warfare, notable examples being the 1st Desmond Rebellion , the 2nd Desmond Rebellion and the Nine Years War . This period was marked by the Crown policies of, at first, surrender and regrant , and later, plantation , involving the arrival of thousands of English and Scottish Protestant settlers, and

3740-705: The Hundred Battles , supposed ancestor of the Uí Néill and Connachta, in the north, and Leth Moga , "Mug's half", after Mug Nuadat , supposed ancestor of the Eoganachta, in the south. Dynastic propaganda claimed this was a traditional division dating back to the 2nd century, but it probably originated in the 8th, at the height of Uí Néill power. History of Ireland The first evidence of human presence in Ireland dates to around 34,000 years ago, with further findings dating

3850-514: The Irish Catholic landowning class was engineered, and recusants were subordinated under the Penal Laws . During the 17th century, Ireland was convulsed by eleven years of warfare , beginning with the Rebellion of 1641 , when Irish Catholics rebelled against the domination of English and Protestant settlers. The Catholic gentry briefly ruled the country as Confederate Ireland (1642–1649) against

3960-597: The Irish greater access to the Kingdom of the Isles . Diarmuit was able to become High King of Ireland , and after his death, the O'Brien dynasty , who ruled Ireland since the days of Brian Boru, reclaimed the High Kingship and Irish influence in the Irish Sea area would increase dramatically over the next few decades, notably under High King Muircherteach Ua Briain , who was noted for his interest in foreign affairs. Perhaps it

4070-525: The Late Devonian including tree trunks, fronds , and roots . The earliest tree was once thought to be Archaeopteris , which bears simple, fern -like leaves spirally arranged on branches atop a conifer -like trunk , although it is now known to be the recently discovered Wattieza . Widespread coal swamp deposits across North America and Europe during the Carboniferous Period contain

4180-502: The Roman military in the mid-to-late 300s. Perhaps it was some of the latter returning home as rich mercenaries, merchants, or slaves stolen from Britain or Gaul, that first brought the Christian faith to Ireland. Some early sources claim that there were missionaries active in southern Ireland long before St. Patrick . Whatever the route, and there were probably many, this new faith was to have

4290-585: The Vikings continued to grow and thrive as centres of Irish trade and finance. They remain so to this day. Despite the breaking of Norse power in Ireland, the Norse still maintained control of the Kingdom of Dublin . Although the King of Leinster levied tribute from the Norse, they rarely directly intervened in the affairs of the city-state, as it brought trade to the area. This changed, however, when Diarmuit mac Maél na mBó , King of Leinster, captured Dublin in 1052. This gave

4400-458: The Vikings were moving further inland to attack (often using rivers) and then retreating to their coastal headquarters. In 852, the Vikings landed in Dublin Bay and established a fortress. Dublin became the centre for the trade of many goods, especially slaves. Bringing back new ideas and motivations, they began settling more permanently. In the tenth century, an earthen bank was constructed around

4510-567: The Western kingdom of Connacht. Fleeing to Aquitaine , Diarmait obtained permission from Henry II to recruit Norman knights to regain his kingdom. The first Norman knights landed in Ireland in 1167, followed by the main forces of Normans, Welsh and Flemings . Several counties were restored to the control of Diarmait, who named his son-in-law, the Norman Richard de Clare , known as Strongbow, heir to his kingdom. This troubled King Henry, who feared

History of Ireland (400–795) - Misplaced Pages Continue

4620-593: The arrival of the Iron Age of the Celtic Hallstatt culture , beginning about 600 BCE. The subsequent La Tène culture brought new styles and practices by 300 BCE. Greek and Roman writers give some information about Ireland during the Classical period (see " protohistoric " period), by which time the island may be termed " Gaelic Ireland ". By the late 4th century CE Christianity had begun to gradually subsume or replace

4730-722: The background of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms until Oliver Cromwell reconquered Ireland in 1649–1653 on behalf of the English Commonwealth . Cromwell's conquest was the most brutal phase of the war. By its close, around half of Ireland's pre-war population was killed or exiled as slaves, where many died due to harsh conditions. As retribution for the rebellion of 1641, the better-quality remaining lands owned by Irish Catholics were confiscated and given to British settlers . Several hundred remaining native landowners were transplanted to Connacht . Paleobotany Paleobotany

4840-512: The barbarian island Christian", although it is clear the Christianisation of the island was a longer and more gradual process. The mission of Saint Patrick is traditionally dated around the same time – the earliest date for his arrival in Ireland in the Irish annals is 432 – although Patrick's own writings contain nothing securely dateable. It is likely that Palladius' activities were in

4950-470: The beginning of Ireland's history as fully part of the English and later British Empire . During the 17th century, this division between a Protestant landholding minority and a dispossessed Catholic majority was intensified and conflict between them was to become a recurrent theme in Irish history. Domination of Ireland by the Protestant Ascendancy was reinforced after two periods of religious war,

5060-614: The centre and the Uí Néill kingdom of Ailech in the west of the old province. Early Irish annals also show regular warfare between the Uí Néill and the Laigin in the midlands, with the Uí Néill conquering as far south as the Kildare / Offaly border, and claiming the kingship of Tara , beginning to be conceptualised as the High Kingship of Ireland . This led to a new division of the country into two halves, Leth Cuinn , "Conn's half" after Conn of

5170-475: The city with a second larger bank built outside that in the eleventh century. On the interior of the town, an extensive series of defences have been excavated at Fishamble Street, Dublin. The site featured nine waterfronts, including two possible flood banks and two positive defensive embankments during the Viking Age. The early embankments were non-defensive, being only one metre high, and it is uncertain how much of

5280-431: The conquest and held them after the war was over. The Black Death arrived in Ireland in 1348. Because most of the English and Norman inhabitants of Ireland lived in towns and villages, the plague hit them far harder than it did the native Irish, who lived in more dispersed rural settlements. After it had passed, Gaelic Irish language and customs came to dominate the country again. The English-controlled territory shrank to

5390-595: The continent. However, other research has postulated that the culture developed gradually and continuously and that the introduction of Celtic language and elements of Celtic culture may have been a result of cultural exchange with Celtic groups in southwest continental Europe from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. The hypothesis that the native Late Bronze Age inhabitants gradually absorbed Celtic influences has since been supported by some recent genetic research. In 60 CE, it

5500-471: The continental Celtic La Tene style being found in at least the northern part of the island by about 300 BCE. The result of a gradual blending of Celtic and indigenous cultures would result in the emergence of Gaelic culture by the fifth century. It is also during the fifth century that the main over-kingdoms of In Tuisceart, Airgialla, Ulaid, Mide, Laigin, Mumhain, Cóiced Ol nEchmacht began to emerge (see Kingdoms of ancient Ireland ). Within these kingdoms,

5610-668: The contrary, this has tempted many scholars of medieval western Ireland to agree with the twelfth-century historian Giraldus Cambrensis who argued that the Gaelic kings did not build castles. By 1261 the weakening of the Normans had become manifest when Fineen MacCarthy defeated a Norman army at the Battle of Callann . The war continued between the different lords and earls for about 100 years, causing much destruction, especially around Dublin. In this chaotic situation, local Irish lords won back large amounts of land that their families had lost since

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5720-483: The country under English control, heightened resentment of English rule. From the mid-16th to the early 17th century, crown governments had carried out a policy of land confiscation and colonisation known as Plantations . Scottish and English Protestant colonists were sent to the provinces of Munster , Ulster and the counties of Laois and Offaly . These Protestant settlers replaced the Irish Catholic landowners who were removed from their lands. These settlers formed

5830-632: The country, local Gaelic and Gaelicised lords expanded their powers at the expense of the English government in Dublin but the power of the Dublin government was in any case seriously curtailed by the introduction of Poynings' Law in 1494. According to this act, the Irish Parliament was essentially put under the control of the Westminster Parliament . From 1536, Henry VIII of England decided to reconquer Ireland and bring it under crown control. The Fitzgerald dynasty of Kildare , who had become

5940-662: The dawn of history this pentarchy no longer existed. The rise of new dynasties, notably the Uí Néill in the north and midlands and the Eóganachta in the south-west, changed the political landscape. The Uí Néill, or their parent group the Connachta, reduced the former fifth of the Ulaid to counties Down and Antrim in the 4th or 5th centuries, establishing the tributary kingdom of the Airgíalla in

6050-418: The displacement of both the Hiberno-Normans (or Old English as they were known by then) and the native Catholic landholders. With English colonies going back to the 1550s, Ireland was arguably the first English and then British territory colonised by a group known as the West Country Men . Gaelic Ireland was finally defeated at the battle of Kinsale in 1601 which marked the collapse of the Gaelic system and

6160-509: The division of society along sectarian faultlines and conflict between (mainly Catholic) Irish nationalists and (mainly Protestant) British unionists . These divisions erupted into the Troubles in the late 1960s, after civil rights marches were met with opposition by authorities. The violence escalated after the deployment of the British Army to maintain authority led to clashes with nationalist communities. The violence continued for twenty-eight years until an uneasy, but largely successful peace

6270-595: The earlier Celtic polytheism . By the end of the 6th century it had introduced writing along with a predominantly monastic Celtic Christian church, profoundly altering Irish society. Scandinavian seafaring people who took jobs pirating, pillaging, and raiding lands (later referred to as Vikings ), settled from the late 8th century CE which resulted in extensive cultural interchange, as well as innovation in military and transport technology. Many of Ireland's towns were founded at this time as Scandinavian trading posts and coinage made its first appearance. Scandinavian penetration

6380-424: The earliest human settlement of Ireland to 10,500 BCE. The bone shows clear signs of cut marks with stone tools and has been radiocarbon dated to 12,500 years ago. It is possible that humans crossed a land bridge during the warm period, referred to as the Bølling–Allerød warming , that lasted between 14,700 and 12,700 years ago (i.e. between 12,700 BCE and 10,700 BCE) towards the end of the last ice age, and allowed

6490-429: The early 16th century. However, the nature of Ireland's decentralised political organisation into small territories (known as túatha ), martial traditions, difficult terrain and climate and lack of urban infrastructure, meant that attempts to assert Crown authority were slow and expensive. Attempts to impose the new Protestant faith were also successfully resisted by both the Gaelic and Norman-Irish. The new policy fomented

6600-448: The early 840s, had begun to establish settlements along the Irish coasts and to spend the winter months there. The longships were technologically advanced, allowing them to travel faster through the narrow rivers. Vikings founded settlements in several places; most famously in Dublin . Most of the settlements were near the water, allowing the Vikings to trade using their longships. Written accounts from this time (early to mid 840s) show that

6710-469: The effect of the epidemics which occurred during this era: The plagues of the 660s and the 680s had a traumatic effect on Irish society. The golden age of the saints was over, together with the generation of kings who could fire a saga -writer's imagination. The literary tradition looks back to the reign of the sons of Aed Slaine (Diarmait and Blathmac, who died in 665) as to the end of an era. Antiquaries, brehons , genealogists and hagiographers , felt

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6820-421: The effective rulers of Ireland in the 15th century, had become unreliable allies of the Tudor monarchs. They had invited Burgundian troops into Dublin to crown the Yorkist pretender, Lambert Simnel as King of England in 1487. Again in 1536, Silken Thomas , Fitzgerald went into open rebellion against the crown. Having put down this rebellion, Henry resolved to bring Ireland under English government control so

6930-419: The entire island, and successfully disarmed the native lordships. In 1614 the Catholic majority in the Irish Parliament was overthrown through the creation of numerous new boroughs which were dominated by the new settlers. However, the English were not successful in converting the Catholic Irish to the Protestant religion and the brutal methods used by crown authority (including resorting to martial law ) to bring

7040-719: The establishment of a Neolithic culture, characterised by the appearance of pottery, polished stone tools, rectangular wooden houses, megalithic tombs, and domesticated sheep and cattle. Some of these tombs, as at Knowth and Dowth , are huge stone monuments and many of them, such as the Passage Tombs of Newgrange , are astronomically aligned. Four main types of Irish Megalithic Tombs have been identified: dolmens , court cairns , passage tombs and wedge-shaped gallery graves . In Leinster and Munster, individual adult males were buried in small stone structures, called cists , under earthen mounds and were accompanied by distinctive decorated pottery. This culture apparently prospered, and

7150-487: The establishment of a rival Norman state in Ireland. Accordingly, he resolved to establish his authority. In 1177, Prince John Lackland was made Lord of Ireland by his father Henry II of England at the Council of Oxford . With the authority of the papal bull Laudabiliter from Adrian IV , Henry landed with a large fleet at Waterford in 1171, becoming the first King of England to set foot on Irish soil. Henry awarded his Irish territories to his younger son John with

7260-414: The exact relationship between Rome and the dynasties and peoples of Hibernia remains unclear. Irish confederations (the Scoti ) attacked and some settled in Britain during the Great Conspiracy of 367. In particular, the Dál Riata settled in western Scotland and the Western Isles . The middle centuries of the first millennium CE marked great changes in Ireland. Politically, what appears to have been

7370-413: The first Christian High King. The monastic movement, headed by abbots, took hold in the mid 6th century, and by 700 Ireland was at least nominally a Christian country, with the church fully part of Irish society. The status of ecclesiastics was regulated by secular law, and many leading ecclesiastics came from aristocratic Irish families. Monasteries in the 8th century even went to war with each other. From

7480-414: The first Earl of Ulster. The Hiberno-Norman community suffered from a series of invasions that ceased the spread of their settlement and power. Politics and events in Gaelic Ireland served to draw the settlers deeper into the orbit of the Irish. Furthermore, unlike the Anglo-Normans, the Gaelic kings did not keep detailed estate inventories and accounts. Coupled with the absence of archaeological evidence to

7590-422: The fortress of Áth Cliath [Dublin]". They were allowed by the Saxons to settle in Wirral , England, but would however later return to retake Dublin. The Vikings never achieved total domination of Ireland, often fighting for and against various Irish kings. The great High King of Ireland , Brian Boru , defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 which began the decline of Viking power in Ireland but

7700-444: The fossil record during the Silurian Period of the Paleozoic era. Some dispersed, fragmentary fossils of disputed affinity, primarily spores and cuticles , have been found in rocks from the Ordovician Period in Oman , and are thought to derive from liverwort - or moss -grade fossil plants. An important early land plant fossil locality is the Rhynie chert , found outside the village of Rhynie in Scotland . The Rhynie chert

7810-417: The foundation of larger towns by the Vikings had yet to occur. Otherwise, kings lived in ringforts larger than the norm, but generally similar; however the possession of luxury objects such as elaborate Celtic brooches was much greater among royalty. The latter part of the period was the peak of the Irish contribution to Insular art , whose surviving products include illuminated manuscripts , most famously

7920-473: The genus Annularia , a compression of a cone assigned to Palaeostachya , and the stem assigned to either Calamites or Arthroxylon depending on whether it is preserved as a cast or a petrifaction. All of these fossils may have originated from the same parent plant but they are each given their own taxonomic name. This approach to naming plant fossils originated with the work of Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart . For many years this approach to naming plant fossils

8030-479: The help of the castles he built and his fleet based at Dún Gaillimhe . He also had commercial and political links with the rulers of France , Spain and England , increasing Ireland's international presence which brought more trade to the island. His reign lasted more than 50 years. One of Tairrdelbach's sons, Ruadhrí , would later go on to be High King himself. He was arguably the first High King without opposition, however, he would later abdicate following

8140-423: The island became more densely populated. Near the end of the Neolithic new types of monuments developed, such as circular embanked enclosures and timber, stone and post and pit circles. The Céide Fields is an archaeological site on the north County Mayo coast in the west of Ireland , about 7 kilometres northwest of Ballycastle , and the site is the most extensive Neolithic site in Ireland and contains

8250-538: The island would not become a base for future rebellions or foreign invasions of England. In 1542, he upgraded Ireland from a lordship to a full kingdom. Henry was proclaimed King of Ireland at a meeting of the Irish Parliament that year. This was the first meeting of the Irish Parliament to be attended by the Gaelic Irish chieftains as well as the Hiberno-Norman aristocracy. With the institutions of government in place,

8360-423: The island. Early Viking raids were generally fast-paced and small in scale. These early raids interrupted the golden age of Christian Irish culture and marked the beginning of two centuries of intermittent warfare, with waves of Viking raiders plundering monasteries and towns throughout Ireland. Most of those early raiders came from western Norway. The Vikings were expert sailors, who travelled in longships , and by

8470-753: The largest centres of human occupation. Some 40,000 of these are known, although there may have been as many as 50,000, and "archaeologists are agreed that the vast bulk of them are the farm enclosures of the well-to-do of early medieval Ireland". These commonly featured souterrains : underground passages and chambers for hiding in or escaping through. It is likely that raiding Great Britain for slaves and other loot gave an important boost to an otherwise almost entirely agricultural economy. The lakeside enclosures called crannógs continued to be used and seem especially associated with crafts. The older view that early medieval Irish farming concentrated on livestock has been overturned by pollen studies and other evidence, and it

8580-470: The late Bronze Age, there was an increase in stored weapons, which has been taken as evidence for greater warfare. Fleshed bog bodies also appear at this time, continuing into the Iron Age. The Iron Age in Ireland began about 600 BCE. The period between the start of the Iron Age and the historic period (CE 431) saw the gradual infiltration of small groups of Celtic-speaking people into Ireland, with items of

8690-521: The most profound effect on the Irish. Tradition maintains that in A.D. 432, St. Patrick arrived on the island and, in the years that followed, worked to convert the Irish to Christianity. St Patrick's Confession , in Latin, written by him is the earliest Irish historical document. It gives some information about the Saint. On the other hand, according to Prosper of Aquitaine , a contemporary chronicler, Palladius

8800-414: The need to collect ancient traditions before they were totally forgotten. Many were in fact swallowed by oblivion; when we examine the writing of Tirechan we encounter obscure references to tribes that are quite unknown to the later genealogical tradition. The laws describe a ... society that was obsolescent , and the meaning and use of the word moccu dies out with archaic Old Irish at the beginning of

8910-423: The new century. The first English involvement in Ireland took place in this period. Tullylease, Rath Melsigi and Maigh Eo na Saxain were founded by 670 for English students who wished to study or live in Ireland. In summer 684, an English expeditionary force sent by Northumbrian King Ecgfrith raided Brega. The first recorded Viking raid in Irish history occurred in 795 CE when Vikings from Norway looted

9020-546: The next step was to extend the control of the English Kingdom of Ireland over all of its claimed territory. This took nearly a century, with various English administrations either negotiating or fighting with the independent Irish and Old English lords. The Spanish Armada in Ireland suffered heavy losses during an extraordinary season of storms in the autumn of 1588. Among the survivors was Captain Francisco de Cuellar , who gave

9130-458: The oldest known field systems in the world. Using various dating methods, it was discovered that the creation and development of the Céide Fields goes back some five and a half thousand years (~3500 BCE). The short-lived Irish Copper Age and subsequent Bronze Age , which came to Ireland around 2000 BCE, saw the production of elaborate gold and bronze ornaments, weapons and tools. There

9240-413: The original parent plant. These modes of preservation may be summarised in a paleobotanical context as follows. Plant fossils almost always represent disarticulated parts of plants; even small herbaceous plants are rarely preserved whole. The few examples of plant fossils that appear to be the remains of whole plants are in fact incomplete as the internal cellular tissue and fine micromorphological detail

9350-789: The presence of homo sapiens to around 10,500 to 7,000 BCE. The receding of the ice after the Younger Dryas cold phase of the Quaternary , around 9700 BCE, heralds the beginning of Prehistoric Ireland , which includes the archaeological periods known as the Mesolithic , the Neolithic from about 4000 BCE, and the Copper Age beginning around 2500 BCE with the arrival of the Beaker Culture . The Irish Bronze Age proper begins around 2000 BCE and ends with

9460-569: The rebellion of the Hiberno-Norman Earl of Kildare Silken Thomas in 1534, keen to defend his traditional autonomy and Catholicism, and marked the beginning of the prolonged Tudor conquest of Ireland lasting from 1536 to 1603. Henry VIII proclaimed himself King of Ireland in 1541 to facilitate the project. Ireland became a potential battleground in the wars between Catholic Counter-Reformation and Protestant Reformation Europe. England's attempts either to conquer or to assimilate both

9570-528: The reinhabitation of northern Europe. A sudden return to freezing conditions known as the Younger Dryas cold phase, which lasted from 10,900 BCE to 9700 BCE, may have depopulated Ireland. During the Younger Dryas, sea levels continued to rise and no ice-free land bridge between Great Britain and Ireland ever returned. The earliest confirmed inhabitants of Ireland were Mesolithic hunter-gatherers , who arrived sometime around 7900 BCE. While some authors take

9680-409: The ruling class of future British appointed administrations in Ireland. Several Penal Laws , aimed at Catholics, Baptists and Presbyterians, were introduced to encourage conversion to the established ( Anglican ) Church of Ireland . The 17th century was perhaps the bloodiest in Ireland's history. Two periods of war (1641–53 and 1689–91) caused a huge loss of life. The ultimate dispossession of most of

9790-418: The same species. It appeared that morphotaxa offered no real advantage to paleobotanists over normal fossil-taxa and the concept was abandoned with the 2011 botanical congress and the 2012 International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants . Some plants have remained almost unchanged throughout earth's geological time scale. Horsetails had evolved by the Late Devonian, early ferns had evolved by

9900-636: The site they encircled. After several generations a group of mixed Irish and Norse ethnic background arose, the Gall-Gaels , '( Gall being the Old Irish word for foreign). The second wave of Vikings made stations at winter bases called longphorts to serve as control centres to exert a more localized force on the island through raiding. The third wave in 917 established towns as not only control centres, but also as centres of trade to enter into Irish economy and greater Western Europe. Returning to Dublin, they set up

10010-420: The south of Ireland, perhaps associated with Cashel , while Patrick's were later, in the north, and associated with Armagh . By the early 6th century the church had developed separate dioceses, with bishops as the most senior ecclesiastical figures, but the country was still predominantly pagan. The High Kings of Ireland continued pagan practices until the reign of Diarmait mac Cerbaill c. 558, traditionally

10120-457: The spread of Irish cultural influence to Continental Europe . Early Christian Ireland began after the country emerged from a mysterious decline in population and standards of living that archaeological evidence suggests lasted from c. 100 to 300 AD. During this period, called the Irish Dark Age by Thomas Charles-Edwards , the population was entirely rural and dispersed, with small ringforts

10230-435: The taxon) is defined by the taxonomist who uses the name. Such a change in circumscription could result in an expansion of the range of plant parts or preservation states that could be incorporated within the taxon. For instance, a fossil-genus originally based on compressions of ovules could be used to include the multi-ovulate cupules within which the ovules were originally borne. A complication can arise if, in this case, there

10340-469: The title Dominus Hiberniae ("Lord of Ireland"). When John unexpectedly succeeded his brother as King John of England , the " Lordship of Ireland " fell directly under the English Crown. The Normans initially controlled the entire east coast, from Waterford to eastern Ulster , and penetrated a considerable distance inland as well. The counties were ruled by many smaller kings. The first Lord of Ireland

10450-531: The towns which Vikings had founded continued to flourish, and trade became an important part of the Irish economy. Brian Boru , though he did not succeed in unifying Ireland, changed the High Kingship in the way that the High King would now have more power and control over the country and could manage the country's affairs. This led to prosperity for Ireland over the next few years. The Irish economy grew as international trade became more common. The towns founded by

10560-414: The understanding of the earth and its longevity in actuality and the organic matter that existed over the earth’s timeline. Paleobotany also succeeded in the hands of German paleontologist Ernst Friedrich von Schlothiem , and Czech nobleman and scholar, Kaspar Maria von Sternberg . As paleobotany is the specification of fossilized plant life and the environment in which they thrived in, paleoecology

10670-413: The view that a land bridge connecting Ireland to Great Britain still existed at that time, more recent studies indicate that Ireland was separated from Britain by c. 14,000 BCE when the climate was still cold and local ice caps persisted in parts of the country. The people remained hunter-gatherers until about 4000 BCE. It is argued this is when the first signs of agriculture started to show, leading to

10780-561: The written material. New fields, such as paleobotany , have contributed to the debate, while the volume of archaeological evidence has increased. The first reliable historical event in Irish history, recorded in the Chronicle of Prosper of Aquitaine , is the ordination by Pope Celestine I of Palladius as the first bishop to Irish Christians in 431 – which demonstrates that there were already Christians living in Ireland. Prosper says in his Contra Collatorem that by this act Celestine "made

10890-631: Was King John, who visited Ireland in 1185 and 1210 and helped consolidate the Norman-controlled areas while ensuring that the many Irish kings swore fealty to him. Throughout the thirteenth century, the policy of the English Kings was to weaken the power of the Norman Lords in Ireland. For example, King John encouraged Hugh de Lacy to destabilise and then overthrow the Lord of Ulster, before naming him as

11000-576: Was Muircherteach's increasing power in the Isles that led Magnus Barefoot , King of Norway , to lead campaigns against the Irish in 1098 and again in 1102 to bring Norse areas back under Norwegian control, while also raiding the various British kingdoms. Although direct conflict with the Kingdom of Norway seemed imminent, the two Kings formed an alliance by the marriage of Muircherteach's daughter to Magnus' son. The two would campaign together in Ulster , until Magnus

11110-483: Was a movement away from the construction of communal megalithic tombs to the burial of the dead in small stone cists or simple pits, which could be situated in cemeteries or in circular earth or stone-built burial mounds known respectively as barrows and cairns . As the period progressed, inhumation burial gave way to cremation and by the Middle Bronze Age, remains were often placed beneath large burial urns. During

11220-517: Was abandoned with the St Louis Code , and replaced by "morphotaxa". The situation in the Vienna Code of 2005 was that any plant taxon whose type is a fossil, except diatoms , can be described as a morphotaxon , a particular part of a plant preserved in a particular way. Although the name is always fixed to the type specimen, the circumscription (i.e. range of specimens that may be included within

11330-461: Was accepted by paleobotanists but not formalised within the International Rules of Botanical Nomenclature . Eventually, Thomas (1935) and Jongmans, Halle & Gothan (1935) proposed a set of formal provisions, the essence of which was introduced into the 1952 International Code of Botanical Nomenclature . These early provisions allowed fossils representing particular parts of plants in

11440-415: Was an already named fossil-genus for these cupules. If paleobotanists were confident that the type of the ovule fossil-genus and of the cupule fossil-genus could be included in the same genus, then the two names would compete as to being the correct one for the newly emended genus. In general, there would be competing priority whenever plant parts that had been given different names were discovered to belong to

11550-442: Was developed in the centuries after his death. Irish scholars excelled in the study of Latin learning and Christian theology in the monasteries that flourished shortly thereafter. Missionaries from Ireland to England and Continental Europe spread the news of the flowering of learning, and scholars from other nations came to Irish monasteries. The excellence and isolation of these monasteries helped preserve Latin learning during

11660-527: Was finally achieved with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. What is known of pre-Christian Ireland comes from references in Roman writings, Irish poetry , myth, and archaeology. While some possible Paleolithic tools have been found, none of the finds is convincing of Paleolithic settlement in Ireland. However a bear bone found in Alice and Gwendoline Cave , County Clare, in 1903 may push back dates for

11770-583: Was killed in an ambush by the Ulaid in August 1103, under mysterious circumstances (it is possible Muircherteach ordered his killing). Muircherteach was also politically involved in the Kingdoms of Scotland and England , as well as Wales . One of the most prosperous reigns of any High King was the reign of Toirdelbach Ua Conchobhair , who had overthrown Muircherteach and partitioned Munster in 1118. As King of Connacht and then King of Ireland , Ireland underwent

11880-411: Was limited and concentrated along coasts and rivers, and ceased to be a major threat to Gaelic culture after the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. The Norman invasion in 1169 resulted again in a partial conquest of the island and marked the beginning of more than 800 years of English political and military involvement in Ireland. Initially successful, Norman gains were rolled back over succeeding centuries as

11990-589: Was never a part of the Roman Empire , but Roman influence was often projected well beyond its borders. Tacitus writes that an exiled Irish prince was with Agricola in Roman Britain and would return to seize power in Ireland. Juvenal tells us that Roman "arms had been taken beyond the shores of Ireland". In recent years, some experts have hypothesized that Roman-sponsored Gaelic forces (or perhaps even Roman regulars) mounted some kind of invasion around CE 100, but

12100-643: Was sent to Ireland by the Pope in 431 as "first Bishop to the Irish believing in Christ" , which demonstrates that there were already Christians living in Ireland. Palladius seems to have worked purely as Bishop to Irish Christians in the Leinster and Meath kingdoms, while Patrick – who may have arrived as late as 461 – worked first and foremost as a missionary to the pagan Irish, in the more remote kingdoms in Ulster and Connacht. Patrick

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