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129-494: A vice-county (also spelled vice county ) is a geographical division of the British Isles . It is also called biological vice-county as it is used for purposes of biological recording and other scientific data-gathering, or sometimes called a Watsonian vice-county as vice-counties were introduced by Hewett Cottrell Watson in the third volume of his Cybele Britannica , published in 1852. Watson's vice-counties were based on
258-506: A British island' and Κεφ. γʹ Ἀλβουίωνος νήσου Βρεττανικῆς θέσις , Albouíōnos nḗsou Brettanikê̄s thésis , 'Ch. 3, position of Albion, a British island'. In Arabic geography and cartography in the medieval Islamic world , the British Isles are known as Jazāʾir Barṭāniya or Jazāʾir Barṭīniya . Arabic geographies, including the Kitāb az-Zīj of al-Battānī , mention
387-714: A Catholic king pushing for religious tolerance in opposition to a Protestant parliament in England. The king's army was defeated at the Battle of the Boyne and at the militarily crucial Battle of Aughrim in Ireland. Resistance held out, eventually forcing the guarantee of religious tolerance in the Treaty of Limerick . However, the terms were never honoured and a new monarchy was installed. The Kingdoms of England and Scotland were unified in 1707 creating
516-445: A beta version). Intended for use with modern GIS and biological recording software, a final 'standard' version was released in 2008. Up until that point, county recorders only had general access to a set of two fold-out vice-county maps covering the entirety of Great Britain, published in 1969. The vice-county system was first introduced by Hewett Cottrell Watson in the third volume of his Cybele Britannica published in 1852. He refined
645-509: A complex geology that records a huge and varied span of Earth's history. Of particular note was the Caledonian orogeny during the Ordovician and early Silurian periods, when the craton Baltica collided with the terrane Avalonia to form the mountains and hills in northern Britain and Ireland. Baltica formed roughly the north-western half of Ireland and Scotland. Further collisions caused
774-406: A mild climate and varied soils, giving rise to a diverse pattern of vegetation. Animal and plant life is similar to that of the north-western European mainland . There are however, fewer numbers of species, with Ireland having even less. All native flora and fauna in Ireland is made up of species that migrated primarily from Great Britain. The only window when this could have occurred was prior to
903-413: A name and a number. Thus Vice-county 38, often abbreviated to "VC38", is called "Warwickshire". In 1901, Robert Lloyd Praeger extended the system of vice-counties to Ireland and its off-shore islands, based on an earlier suggestion by C. C. Babington in 1859. The Irish vice-counties were based on the historic 32 counties of Ireland, with the six largest being sub-divided; for example, the county of Cork
1032-429: A need to create authorities to administer public health and provide or regulate such services as sewerage, paving and water supply arose. The Public Health (Ireland) Act 1878 created sanitary districts , based on the system already existing in England and Wales. Larger towns ( municipal boroughs and towns with commissioners under private acts or with a population of 6,000 or more) were created urban sanitary districts:
1161-696: A number of unusual arrangements between the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom. For example, citizens of Northern Ireland are entitled to the choice of Irish or British citizenship or both, and the Governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom consult on matters not devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive . The Northern Ireland Executive and the Government of Ireland also meet as
1290-540: A problem until the 17th century. By the 18th century, most of Britain's forests were consumed for shipbuilding or manufacturing charcoal and the nation was forced to import lumber from Scandinavia, North America, and the Baltic. Most forest land in Ireland is maintained by state forestation programmes. Almost all land outside urban areas is farmland. However, relatively large areas of forest remain in east and north Scotland and in southeast England. Oak, elm, ash and beech are amongst
1419-508: A similar nature. Viking invasions began in the 9th century, followed by more permanent settlements, particularly along the east coast of Ireland, the west coast of modern-day Scotland and the Isle of Man. Though the Vikings were eventually neutralised in Ireland, their influence remained in the cities of Dublin , Cork , Limerick , Waterford and Wexford . England, however, was slowly conquered around
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#17330943185381548-579: A single political unit, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands remaining as Crown Dependencies . The expansion of the British Empire and migrations following the Irish Famine and Highland Clearances resulted in the dispersal of some of the islands' population and culture throughout the world, and rapid depopulation of Ireland in the second half of
1677-482: A two-tier system with county councils, along with borough , urban and rural district councils. Urban districts were created from the larger of the town commissioners towns, while the smaller towns retained their town commissioners, but remained in the rural districts for sanitary planning purposes. The creation of the new councils had a significant effect on Ireland as it allowed a much larger number of local people to take decisions affecting themselves. The county and
1806-399: A useful mapping boundary, employed in many regional surveys, especially county floras and national lists. This allows data collected over long periods of time to be compared easily. The vice-counties remain unchanged by subsequent local government reorganisations, allowing historical and modern data to be more accurately compared. In 2002, to mark the 150th anniversary of the introduction of
1935-516: A way to "break up a combination of unionists with nationalists in Ireland" which he felt was "becoming too strong for even for a ministry with a majority of 150!" The introduction of democratic county councils along with a substantial rates subsidy was felt to be sure to placate all Irish members of the house. The government moved quickly, sending a copy of the English Local Government Act of 1888 to Sir Henry Robinson , vice-president of
2064-544: Is Loch Lomond at 27.5 square miles (71 km ), and Loch Ness (by volume) whilst Loch Morar is the deepest freshwater body in the British Isles, with a maximum depth of 310 m (1,017 ft). There are a number of major rivers within the British Isles. The longest is the Shannon in Ireland at 224 mi (360 km). The river Severn at 220 mi (354 km) is the longest in Great Britain. The climate of
2193-657: Is a team chosen from each national team and undertakes tours of the Southern Hemisphere rugby-playing nations every four years. Ireland plays as a united team, represented by players from both Northern Ireland and the Republic. These national rugby teams play each other each year for the Triple Crown as part of the Six Nations Championship . Also, since 2001, the professional club teams of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and South Africa compete against each other in
2322-561: Is also true for birds and insects. Notable exceptions include the Kerry slug and certain species of woodlouse native to Ireland but not Great Britain. Domestic animals include the Connemara pony, Shetland pony, English Mastiff, Irish wolfhound and many varieties of cattle and sheep. England has a generally high population density, with almost 80% of the total population of the islands. Elsewhere in Great Britain and Ireland, high density of population
2451-754: Is limited to areas around a few large cities. The largest urban area by far is the Greater London Built-up Area with 9 million inhabitants. Other major population centres include the Greater Manchester Built-up Area (2.4 million), West Midlands conurbation (2.4 million) and West Yorkshire Urban Area (1.6 million) in England, Greater Glasgow (1.2 million) in Scotland and Greater Dublin Area (1.9 million) in Ireland. The population of England rose rapidly during
2580-741: The 1920 Irish local elections . After the partition of Ireland in 1920–22, the situation evolved differently in the Irish Free State ( Ireland from 1937, Republic of Ireland from 1949) and Northern Ireland . In the Irish Free State, rural districts were abolished by the Local Government Act 1925 (they remained in County Dublin until abolished under the Local Government (Dublin) Act 1930 ). Urban districts were renamed "towns" by
2709-513: The British Islands , not to be confused with the British Isles. The oldest rocks are 2.7 billion years old and are found in Ireland, Wales and the north-west of Scotland. During the Silurian period, the north-western regions collided with the south-east, which had been part of a separate continental landmass. The topography of the islands is modest in scale by global standards. Ben Nevis ,
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#17330943185382838-591: The Dublin Castle administration , who had decided to use the money to fund poor law reform and a new Agricultural Board. On 18 May the Irish Unionist MPs wrote to the government informing them that they would withdraw their support unless the rating grant was introduced. The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , Lord Cadogan , held talks with the Treasury and hit upon the idea of introducing the local government reforms as
2967-716: The European beaver has been reintroduced in parts of Scotland. Wild boar have also been reintroduced to parts of southern England, following escapes from boar farms and illegal releases. Many rivers contain otters and grey and common seals are numerous on coasts. There are about 250 bird species regularly recorded in Great Britain, and another 350 that occur with varying degrees of rarity. The most numerous species are wren , robin , house sparrow , woodpigeon , chaffinch and blackbird . Farmland birds are declining in number, except for those kept for game such as pheasant , red-legged partridge , and red grouse . Fish are abundant in
3096-579: The Indo-European family . The Insular Celtic languages of the Goidelic sub-group ( Irish , Manx and Scottish Gaelic ) and the Brittonic sub-group ( Cornish , Welsh and Breton , spoken in north-western France ) are the only remaining Celtic languages —the last of their continental relations were extinct before the 7th century. The Norman languages of Guernésiais , Jèrriais and Sercquiais spoken in
3225-625: The Irish Free State and Northern Ireland . The Act led to the modification of a number of county boundaries. This was for several reasons: The extents of the new administrative counties and county boroughs, which came into effect on 18 April 1899, were defined by orders of the Local Government Board for Ireland . There were no changes to the boundaries of the counties of Cavan , Cork , Donegal , Fermanagh , Kerry , Kildare , King's County (now Offaly ), Leitrim , Limerick , Longford , Meath , Monaghan , and Tyrone ; nor to those of
3354-671: The Kingdom of Great Britain . Following an attempted republican revolution in Ireland in 1798 , the Kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain were unified in 1801 , creating the United Kingdom . The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands remaining outside of the United Kingdom, but with their ultimate good governance being the responsibility of the British Crown (effectively the British government). Although
3483-627: The Late Middle Ages , Great Britain was separated into the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland, while control in Ireland fluxed between Gaelic kingdoms , Hiberno-Norman lords and the English-dominated Lordship of Ireland , soon restricted only to The Pale . The 1603 Union of the Crowns , Acts of Union 1707 and Acts of Union 1800 aimed to consolidate Great Britain and Ireland into
3612-558: The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 . Attempts to bring about similar reforms in Ireland were delayed because of the civil unrest caused by the Plan of Campaign . The government argued that before they could bring in administrative reforms, law and order should be restored. Accordingly, Arthur Balfour , the Chief Secretary for Ireland , introduced coercion acts to end the "agrarian outrages". Unionists, increasingly losing seats to members of
3741-502: The Local Government Act 2001 . The 2001 Act also renamed "county borough corporations" as "city councils". The introduction of a council–manager system in 1929–40 significantly changed the operation of county and city councils. The Local Government Reform Act 2014 abolished the tier of boroughs and towns within county areas and divided all counties (except those in County Dublin) into municipal districts . As of 17 July 2024
3870-527: The Local Government Board for Ireland . Robinson, who was on holiday, was instructed to decide how much of the existing legislation could be speedily adapted for Irish use. Within a week came the announcement that a bill was to be prepared. There would not be enough time in a single parliamentary session to debate all planned measures, so an omnibus power was granted to Lord Lieutenant to pass Orders in Council adapting previous acts to Ireland, including parts of
3999-645: The North/South Ministerial Council to develop policies common across the island of Ireland. These arrangements were made following the 1998 Good Friday Agreement . Another body established under the Good Friday Agreement, the British–Irish Council, is made up of all of the states and territories of the British Isles. The British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly ( Irish : Tionól Pharlaiminteach na Breataine agus na hÉireann ) predates
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4128-679: The Northern Ireland Assembly , the States of Jersey , the States of Guernsey and the High Court of Tynwald (Isle of Man). The Council does not have executive powers but meets biannually to discuss issues of mutual importance. Similarly, the Parliamentary Assembly has no legislative powers but investigates and collects witness evidence from the public on matters of mutual concern to its members. Reports on its findings are presented to
4257-570: The Quaternary Period , the most recent being the Devensian . As this ended, the central Irish Sea was deglaciated and the English Channel flooded, with sea levels rising to current levels some 8,000 years ago, leaving the British Isles in their current form. There are about 136 permanently inhabited islands in the group, the largest two being Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain is to
4386-555: The Queen's Speech of January 1897. It was also exceptional in that there was almost no popular demand for the reforms. It thus came as a complete surprise when Chief Secretary Balfour announced in May that he was preparing legislation. While he claimed that the extension to Ireland of the local government reforms already carried out in Great Britain had always been intended, the sudden conversion to
4515-523: The Republic of Ireland (which covers roughly five-sixths of Ireland), and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . The Channel Islands , off the north coast of France , are normally taken to be part of the British Isles, even though geographically they do not form part of the archipelago . Under the UK Interpretation Act 1978, the Channel Islands are clarified as forming part of
4644-493: The Tusker Tunnel between the ports of Rosslare and Fishguard proposed by The Institute of Engineers of Ireland in 2004. A rail tunnel was proposed in 1997 on a different route, between Dublin and Holyhead , by British engineering firm Symonds. Either tunnel, at 50 mi (80 km), would be by far the longest in the world, and would cost an estimated £15 billion or €20 billion. A proposal in 2007, estimated
4773-604: The United Rugby Championship . The Ryder Cup in golf was originally played between a United States team and a team representing Great Britain and Ireland. From 1979 onwards, this was expanded to include the whole of Europe. London Heathrow Airport is Europe's busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic, and the Dublin-London route is the busiest air route in Europe collectively, the busiest route out of Heathrow and
4902-511: The Variscan orogeny in the Devonian and Carboniferous periods, forming the hills of Munster , south-west England, and southern Wales. Over the last 500 million years the land that forms the islands has drifted north-west from around 30°S, crossing the equator around 370 million years ago to reach its present northern latitude. The islands have been shaped by numerous glaciations during
5031-473: The "P" of Pretannia to the "B" of Britannia by the Romans occurred during the time of Julius Caesar. Greco-Egyptian Claudius Ptolemy referred to the larger island as great Britain (μεγάλη Βρεττανία megale Brettania ) and to Ireland as little Britain (μικρὰ Βρεττανία mikra Brettania ) in his work Almagest (147–148 AD). According to Philip Freeman in 2001, Ptolemy "is the only ancient writer to use
5160-568: The "alternative policy" was in fact a way of solving a political crisis at Westminster . Obstruction by Irish members of parliament and a number of English MPs was causing a legislative backlog. Landlords, already angered by the 1896 Land Act, were enraged by the refusal of the Treasury to extend the agricultural rating grant to Ireland. In fact, the failure to introduce the grant was largely due to there being no effective local government system to administer it. Instead, an equivalent sum had been given to
5289-450: The (English) Municipal Corporations Acts 1882 and 1893 and Local Government Acts 1888 and 1894 , and the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 . This use of secondary legislation rather than primary legislation was controversial, but Irish nationalists accepted it as the price of getting the bill passed. The 1898 Act brought in a mixed system of government, with county boroughs independent of county administration, and elsewhere
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5418-413: The 152 vice-counties may be described as the "British Isles", as in the 2008 Checklist of Beetles of the British Isles . Other recording schemes regard the "British Isles" as including the Channel Islands. As they are not part of the 152 vice-county system, the Channel Islands may be added as an extra vice-county, making 153 in total, being indicated by letter codes such as "C" or "CI". Less usually, each of
5547-640: The 1880s the issue of local government reform in Ireland was a major political issue, involving both Irish politicians and the major British political parties. Questions of constitutional reform, land ownership and nationalism all combined to complicate matters, as did splits in both the Liberal Party in 1886 and the Irish Parliamentary Party in 1891. Eventually, the Conservative government of Lord Salisbury found it politically expedient to introduce
5676-477: The 19th and 20th centuries, whereas the populations of Scotland and Wales showed little increase during the 20th century; the population of Scotland has remained unchanged since 1951. Ireland for most of its history had much the same population density as Great Britain (about one-third of the total population). However, since the Great Irish Famine , the population of Ireland has fallen to less than one-tenth of
5805-533: The 19th century. Most of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom after the Irish War of Independence and the subsequent Anglo-Irish Treaty (1919–1922), with six counties remaining in the UK as Northern Ireland. As a term, "British Isles" is a geographical name and not a political unit. In Ireland, the term is controversial , and there are objections to its usage. The Government of Ireland does not officially recognise
5934-413: The 5th century, and eventually they dominated the bulk of what is now England. Viking invasions began in the 9th century, followed by more permanent settlements and political change, particularly in England. The Norman conquest of England in 1066 and the later Angevin partial conquest of Ireland from 1169 led to the imposition of a new Norman ruling elite across much of Britain and parts of Ireland. By
6063-1012: The Brettanic Isles as Brettanoi ". Strabo used Βρεττανική ( Brettanike ), and Marcian of Heraclea , in his Periplus maris exteri , used αἱ Πρεττανικαί νῆσοι ( the Prettanic Isles ) to refer to the islands. According to A. L. F. Rivet and Colin Smith in 1979 "the earliest instance of the name which is textually known to us" is in The Histories of Polybius , who referred to them as: αἱ Βρεταννικαί νήσοι , romanized : hai Bretannikai nēsoi , lit. 'the Brettanic Islands' or 'the British Isles';. According to Rivet and Smith, this name encompassed "Britain with Ireland". According to Thomas O'Loughlin in 2018,
6192-537: The British Isles is mild, moist and changeable with abundant rainfall and a lack of temperature extremes. It is defined as a temperate oceanic climate, or Cfb on the Köppen climate classification system, a classification it shares with most of north-west Europe. The North Atlantic Drift ("Gulf Stream"), which flows from the Gulf of Mexico, brings with it significant moisture and raises temperatures 11 °C (20 °F) above
6321-454: The British Isles as twelve islands. John Skelton 's English translation of Diodorus Siculus's Bibliotheca historica , written in the middle 1480s, mentions the British Isles as the yles of Bretayne . Thomas Twyne 's English translation of Dionysius Periegetes 's Orbis descriptio , published in 1572, mentions the British Isles as the Iles of Britannia . The earliest citation of
6450-434: The British Isles was "a concept already present in the minds of those living in continental Europe since at least the 2nd–cent. CE". Historians today, though not in absolute agreement, largely agree that these Greek and Latin names were probably drawn from native Celtic-language names for the archipelago. Along these lines, the inhabitants of the islands were called the Πρεττανοί ( Priteni or Pretani ). The shift from
6579-497: The British Isles were repeatedly submerged beneath an ice sheet which extended into the middle of the North Sea, with a larger ice sheet that covered a significant proportion of Scandinavia on the opposite side. Around 1.9 million years ago these two ice sheets frequently merged, essentially creating a land bridge between Scandinavia and northern Great Britain. Further south, there was a direct land bridge, now known as Doggerland , which
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#17330943185386708-403: The British Isles, the most prominent of which is association football. While this is organised separately in different national associations, leagues and national teams, even within the UK, it is a common passion in all parts of the islands. Rugby union is also widely enjoyed across the islands with four national teams from England , Ireland , Scotland and Wales . The British and Irish Lions
6837-400: The British Isles: Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . Ireland, sometimes called the Republic of Ireland, governs five-sixths of the island of Ireland, with the remainder of the island forming Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, usually shortened to simply "the United Kingdom", which governs
6966-407: The British sense of citizenship proposed to end this arrangement, arguing that "the right to vote is one of the hallmarks of the political status of citizens; it is not a means of expressing closeness between countries". In addition, some civil bodies are organised throughout the islands as a whole—for example, the Samaritans , which is deliberately organised without regard to national boundaries on
7095-430: The British–Irish Council and was established in 1990. Originally it comprised 25 members of the Oireachtas , the Irish parliament, and 25 members of the parliament of the United Kingdom , with the purpose of building mutual understanding between members of both legislatures. Since then the role and scope of the body has been expanded to include representatives from the Scottish Parliament , the Senedd (Welsh Parliament),
7224-437: The British–Irish Council's work. The United Kingdom and Ireland have separate media, although British television, newspapers and magazines are widely available in Ireland, giving people in Ireland a high level of familiarity with the culture of the United Kingdom. Irish newspapers are also available in the UK, and Irish state and private television are widely available in Northern Ireland. Certain reality TV shows have embraced
7353-420: The Channel Islands are similar to French, a language also spoken there. A cant , called Shelta , is spoken by Irish Travellers , often to conceal meaning from those outside the group. However, English, including Scots , is the dominant language, with few monoglots remaining in the other languages of the region. The Norn language of Orkney and Shetland became extinct around 1880. 2.5 million years ago
7482-422: The Channel Islands may be excluded or included, so that the count of vice-counties varies, as noted in the table above. Praeger's fieldwork mostly predates and ignores the county boundary changes made in 1899 under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 . Divergences from the pre-1899 boundaries are noted below. British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean off
7611-447: The Channel Islands to this day. A century later, the marriage of the future Henry II of England to Eleanor of Aquitaine created the Angevin Empire , partially under the French Crown . At the invitation of Diarmait Mac Murchada , a provincial king, and under the authority of Pope Adrian IV (the only Englishman to be elected pope), the Angevins invaded Ireland in 1169. Though initially intended to be kept as an independent kingdom,
7740-437: The Crown dependencies, any resident can vote in general elections, but in Jersey and the Isle of Man only British citizens can run for office. These pre-date European Union law, and in both jurisdictions go further than what was required by European Union law (EU citizens may only vote in local elections in both states and European elections in Ireland). In 2008, a UK Ministry of Justice report investigating how to strengthen
7869-410: The Crown of Ireland also. The subsequent 17th century was one of political upheaval, religious division and war. English colonialism in Ireland of the 16th century was extended by large-scale Scottish and English colonies in Ulster . Religious division heightened, and the king of England came into conflict with parliament over his tolerance towards Catholicism. The resulting English Civil War or War of
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#17330943185387998-404: The Governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom. During the February 2008 meeting of the British–Irish Council, it was agreed to set up a standing secretariat that would serve as a permanent 'civil service' for the Council. Leading on from developments in the British–Irish Council, the chair of the British–Irish Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, Niall Blaney , has suggested that the body should shadow
8127-446: The Hiberni and Picts. In time, Anglo-Saxon demands on the British became so great that they came to culturally dominate the bulk of southern Great Britain, though recent genetic evidence suggests Britons still formed the bulk of the population. This dominance created what is now England and left culturally British enclaves only in the north of what is now England , in Cornwall and what is now known as Wales. Ireland had been unaffected by
8256-427: The Irish National League at elections of guardians, also sought to delay implementation. Balfour announced on 10 August 1891 that local government legislation would be introduced in the next parliamentary session. The announcement was met with protests from Unionists and landlords who predicted that the new authorities would be disloyal and would monopolise their power to drive them out of the country. Balfour, despite
8385-407: The King of England from being vassal of the King of France . In 1534, King Henry VIII, at first having been a strong defender of Roman Catholicism in the face of the Reformation, separated from the Roman Church after failing to secure a divorce from the Pope. His response was to place the King of England as "the only Supreme Head in Earth of the Church of England ", thereby removing the authority of
8514-432: The Kingdoms of England and Scotland . Power in Ireland fluxed between Gaelic kingdoms , Hiberno-Norman lords and the English-dominated Lordship of Ireland . A similar situation existed in the Principality of Wales , which was slowly being annexed into the Kingdom of England by a series of laws. During the course of the 15th century, the Crown of England would assert a claim to the Crown of France, thereby also releasing
8643-438: The Pope from the affairs of the English Church. Ireland, which had been held by the King of England as Lord of Ireland, but which strictly speaking had been a feudal possession of the Pope since the Norman invasion was declared a separate kingdom in personal union with England. Scotland meanwhile had remained an independent Kingdom. In 1603, that changed when the King of Scotland inherited the Crown of England , and consequently
8772-454: The Roman Empire as far as the British Isles" (Greek: μέχρι τῶν Βρεττανικῶν νήσων , romanized: mékhri tôn Brettanikôn nḗsōn ), and remarks on the region "about the British Isles" ( τὸ περὶ τὰς Βρεττανικὰς νήσους , tò perì tàs Brettanikàs nḗsous ). According to Philip Freeman in 2001, "it seems reasonable, especially at this early point in classical knowledge of the Irish, for Diodorus or his sources to think of all inhabitants of
8901-452: The Romans except, significantly, for being Christianised —traditionally by the Romano-Briton, Saint Patrick. As Europe, including Britain, descended into turmoil following the collapse of Roman civilisation, an era known as the Dark Ages, Ireland entered a golden age and responded with missions (first to Great Britain and then to the continent), the founding of monasteries and universities. These were later joined by Anglo-Saxon missions of
9030-399: The Three Kingdoms led to a revolutionary republic in England. Ireland, largely Catholic, was mainly loyal to the king, but by military conquest was subsumed into the new republic. Following defeat to the parliament's army, large scale land distributions from loyalist Irish nobility to English commoners in the service of the parliamentary army created a new Ascendancy class which obliterated
9159-435: The UK as a whole. Ireland, the United Kingdom and the three Crown dependencies are all parliamentary democracies , with their own separate parliaments. All parts of the United Kingdom return Members of Parliament (MPs) to parliament in London . In addition to this, voters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland return members to a devolved parliament in Edinburgh and in Cardiff and an assembly in Belfast . Governance in
9288-442: The UK or Ireland. The Mercury Music Prize is handed out every year to the best album from a British or Irish musician or group. Many globally popular sports had their modern rules codified in the British Isles, including golf, association football , cricket , rugby , snooker and darts, as well as many minor sports such as croquet , bowls , pitch and putt , water polo and handball . A number of sports are popular throughout
9417-584: The Watsonian vice-county system, the NBN Trust commissioned the digitisation of the 112 vice-county boundaries for England, Scotland and Wales, based on 420 original one-inch to the mile maps annotated by Dandy in 1947, and held at the Natural History Museum, London. The resulting datafiles were much more detailed than anything readily available to recorders up to that point, and were made freely available (as
9546-532: The ancient counties of Britain , but often subdividing these boundaries to create smaller, more uniform units, and considering exclaves to be part of the surrounding vice-county. In 1901 Robert Lloyd Praeger introduced a similar system for Ireland and its off-shore islands. Vice-counties are the "standard geographical area for county based [...] recording". They provide a stable basis for recording using similarly sized units, and, although National Grid -based reporting has grown in popularity, vice-counties remain
9675-407: The assizes judge. The money to pay for the presentments was raised by a "county cess" levied on landowners and occupiers in the county, a form of rate tax . A second tier of administrative division below the county was the barony . A similar system operated at this level, with the justices of the area empowered to meet in baronial presentment sessions to raise a cess to fund minor works. By 1880
9804-408: The basis that a service which is not political or religious should not recognise sectarian or political divisions. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), a charity that operates a lifeboat service, is also organised throughout the islands as a whole, covering the waters of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. The Northern Ireland peace process has led to
9933-564: The colonies of North America that would become the United States of America were lost by the start of the 19th century, the British Empire expanded rapidly elsewhere. A century later, it would cover one-third of the globe. Poverty in the United Kingdom remained desperate, however, and industrialisation in England led to terrible conditions for the working classes. Mass migrations following the Irish Famine and Highland Clearances resulted in
10062-786: The cost of building a bridge from County Antrim in Northern Ireland to Galloway in Scotland at £3.5bn (€5bn). British-Irish Isles, the (geography) see British Isles Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 ( 61 & 62 Vict. c. 37) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that established a system of local government in Ireland similar to that already created for England, Wales and Scotland by legislation in 1888 and 1889 . The Act effectively ended landlord control of local government in Ireland. From
10191-548: The county boroughs (previously counties corporate) of Cork , Dublin , Limerick , and Waterford . Changes elsewhere were as follows: Boundaries of Irish county constituencies at Westminster were not adjusted by the 1898 Act to align with the new administrative boundaries. Some were aligned by the Representation of the People Act 1918 , where the county divisions were being altered for other reasons; for example Kilculliheen
10320-424: The distribution of the islands' population and culture throughout the world and a rapid de-population of Ireland in the second half of the 19th century. Most of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom after the Irish War of Independence and the subsequent Anglo-Irish Treaty (1919–1922), with the six counties that formed Northern Ireland remaining as an autonomous region of the UK. There are two sovereign states in
10449-526: The earliest evidence of human activity on the island of Ireland dates from 12,500 years ago. At the time of the Roman Empire, about two thousand years ago, various tribes, which spoke Celtic dialects of the Insular Celtic group, were inhabiting the islands. The Romans expanded their civilisation to control southern Great Britain but were impeded in advancing any further, building Hadrian's Wall to mark
10578-590: The east and covers 83,700 sq mi (217,000 km ). Ireland is to the west and covers 32,590 sq mi (84,400 km ). The largest of the other islands are to be found in the Hebrides , Orkney and Shetland to the north, Anglesey and the Isle of Man between Great Britain and Ireland, and the Channel Islands near the coast of France. The most densely populated island is Portsea Island , which has an area of 9.5 sq mi (25 km ) but has
10707-614: The existing local council became the urban sanitary authority. The remainder of the country was divided into rural sanitary districts. These were identical in area to poor law unions (less any part in an urban sanitary district), and the rural sanitary authority consisted of the poor law guardians for the area. The first proposals for elected county councils in Ireland were made by the Radical-Liberal Minister Joseph Chamberlain to Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone in 1885. The electorate had been enlarged by
10836-470: The failure of the Irish High King to ensure the terms of the Treaty of Windsor led Henry II, as King of England, to rule as effective monarch under the title of Lord of Ireland . This title was granted to his younger son, but when Henry's heir unexpectedly died, the title of King of England and Lord of Ireland became entwined in one person. By the Late Middle Ages , Great Britain was separated into
10965-438: The five separate islands may be treated as a vice-county, giving 157 vice-counties in total. Alternative counts of vice-counties used in different recording schemes are shown in the table below. The vice-counties of Britain alone may be described as "Watsonian vice-counties", or this term may be used for the combined vice-counties of Britain and Ireland, which may also be described as "Watson-Praeger vice-counties". In all cases,
11094-545: The global average for the islands' latitudes. Most Atlantic depressions pass to the north of the islands; combined with the general westerly circulation and interactions with the landmass, this imposes a general east–west variation in climate. There are four distinct climate patterns: south-east, with cold winters, warm and dry summers; south-west, having mild and very wet winters, warm and wet summers; north-west, generally wet with mild winters and cool summers; and north-east with cold winters, cool summers. The islands enjoy
11223-400: The highest mountain, rises to only 1,345 metres (4,413 ft), and Lough Neagh , which is notably larger than other lakes in the island group, covers 390 square kilometres (151 sq mi). The climate is temperate marine, with cool winters and warm summers. The North Atlantic drift brings significant moisture and raises temperatures 11 °C (20 °F) above the global average for
11352-413: The highest point on the islands at 1,345 m (4,413 ft). Other mountainous areas include Wales and parts of Ireland, although only seven peaks in these areas reach above 1,000 m (3,281 ft). Lakes on the islands are generally not large, although Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland is an exception, covering 150 square miles (390 km ). The largest freshwater body in Great Britain (by area)
11481-683: The island of Ireland. This area required formal recognition in 1997 during the course of negotiations for the Amsterdam Treaty of the European Union, and (together with the Crown dependencies) is now known as the Common Travel Area . As such, Ireland is not part of the Schengen Area , which allows passport-free travel between most EU member states, and is the only member state with an opt-out from
11610-491: The latitude. This led to a landscape that was long dominated by temperate rainforest, although human activity has since cleared the vast majority of forest cover . The region was re-inhabited after the last glacial period of Quaternary glaciation , by 12,000 BC, when Great Britain was still part of a peninsula of the European continent . Ireland may have been connected to Great Britain by way of an ice bridge before 14,000 BC, and
11739-461: The measures in 1898. The legislation was seen by the government as solving a number of problems: it softened demands for home rule from Nationalists, it eased the burden of agricultural rates on Unionist landlords, it created a more efficient poor law administration and it strengthened the Union by bringing English forms of local government to Ireland. Each county and county corporate of Ireland
11868-450: The melting of the ice bridge between the two islands 14,000 years ago approaching the end of the last ice age. As with most of Europe, prehistoric Britain and Ireland were covered with forest and swamp. Clearing began around 6000 BC and accelerated in medieval times. Despite this, Britain retained its primeval forests longer than most of Europe due to a small population and later development of trade and industry, and wood shortages were not
11997-475: The members of the grand juries and baronial sessions were still overwhelmingly Unionist and Protestant, and therefore totally unrepresentative of the majority of the population of the areas they governed. This was because they had represented and were chosen from the actual taxpayers since the Middle Ages , and retiring members were normally replaced by similar taxpayers from the same social class. The understanding
12126-664: The most common trees in England. In Scotland, pine and birch are most common. Natural forests in Ireland are mainly oak, ash, wych elm , birch and pine. Beech and lime , though not native to Ireland, are also common there. Farmland hosts a variety of semi-natural vegetation of grasses and flowering plants. Woods, hedgerows , mountain slopes and marshes host heather , wild grasses, gorse and bracken . Many larger animals, such as wolves, bears and European elk are today extinct. However, some species such as red deer are protected. Other small mammals, such as rabbits , foxes , badgers , hares , hedgehogs , and stoats , are very common and
12255-529: The name "Little Britain" for Ireland, though in doing so he is well within the tradition of earlier authors who pair a smaller Ireland with a larger Britain as the two Brettanic Isles". In the second book of Ptolemy's Geography ( c. 150 AD ), the second and third chapters are respectively titled in Greek: Κεφ. βʹ Ἰουερνίας νήσου Βρεττανικῆς θέσις , romanized: Iouernías nḗsou Brettanikê̄s thésis , lit. 'Ch. 2, position of Hibernia,
12384-588: The new government as "killing home rule with kindness". The British Government passed three major pieces of Irish legislation in four years: apart from the Local Government Act, these were the Land Law (Ireland) Act 1896 ( 59 & 60 Vict. c. 47) and the Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act 1899 . The local government legislation was not originally part of the government's programme announced in
12513-464: The norm is by majority rule; however, Northern Ireland uses a system of power sharing whereby unionists and nationalists share executive posts proportionately and where the assent of both groups is required for the Northern Ireland Assembly to make certain decisions. (In the context of Northern Ireland, unionists are those who want Northern Ireland to remain a part of the United Kingdom and nationalists are those who want Northern Ireland to join with
12642-556: The north-western coast of continental Europe , consisting of the islands of Great Britain , Ireland , the Isle of Man , the Inner and Outer Hebrides , the Northern Isles ( Orkney and Shetland ), and over six thousand smaller islands. They have a total area of 315,159 km (121,684 sq mi) and a combined population of almost 72 million, and include two sovereign states ,
12771-459: The northern frontier of their empire in 122 AD. At that time, Ireland was populated by a people known as Hiberni, the northern third or so of Great Britain by a people known as Picts and the southern two thirds by Britons. Anglo-Saxons arrived as Roman power waned in the 5th century AD . Initially, their arrival seems to have been at the invitation of the Britons as mercenaries to repulse incursions by
12900-730: The obligation to join the Schengen Zone. Reciprocal arrangements allow British and Irish citizens specific voting rights in the two states. In Ireland, British citizens can vote in General and local elections, but not in European Parliament elections, constitutional referendums or presidential elections (for which there is no comparable franchise in the United Kingdom). In the United Kingdom, Irish and Commonwealth citizens can vote in every election for which British citizens are eligible. In
13029-685: The opposition, made it clear that he intended to proceed. With the Irish Parliamentary Party split into "Parnellite" and "anti-Parnellite" factions, he was encouraged to believe that the bill could be used to destroy the demand for Home Rule and further splinter the Nationalist movement. When the bill was introduced to parliament early in 1892, it was clear that the Unionists had successfully watered down many of its provisions by securing safeguards on their hold on local government. The provisions of
13158-546: The phrase Brytish Iles in the Oxford English Dictionary is in a work by John Dee dated 1577. Other names used to describe the islands include the Anglo-Celtic Isles , Atlantic archipelago (a term coined by the historian J. G. A. Pocock in 1975 ), British-Irish Isles , Britain and Ireland , UK and Ireland , and British Isles and Ireland . Owing to political and national associations with
13287-508: The population of the British Isles. The famine caused a century-long population decline, drastically reduced the Irish population and permanently altered the demographic make-up of the British Isles. On a global scale, this disaster led to the creation of an Irish diaspora that numbers fifteen times the current population of the island. The linguistic heritage of the British Isles is rich, with twelve languages from six groups across four branches of
13416-435: The proposal to his new Conservative allies, who won the 1886 United Kingdom general election shortly afterwards. In 1888 Chamberlain again called for democratically elected county councils in Ireland, as a part of a crash programme of state-funded public works, in his book A Unionist Policy for Ireland . Directly elected county councils were introduced to England and Wales by the Local Government Act 1888 and to Scotland by
13545-490: The proposed legislation were: The "safeguards" to protect the Unionist minority were: The bill was rejected by almost all Irish parliamentarians, with the support of only a handful of Ulster Liberal Unionists. While Balfour hoped to make the legislation acceptable by tabling amendments, this was rejected by Nationalists who hoped to see a change to a pro-Home Rule Liberal administration at the imminent general election . The bill
13674-809: The recent Representation of the People Act 1884 . Gladstone and Charles Stewart Parnell , leader of the Irish National League , preferred to legislate for Irish Home Rule. However, the First Home Rule Bill was defeated in the House of Commons in 1886. Chamberlain, briefly the President of the Local Government Board in 1886, then left the Liberals to form the Liberal Unionist Party and brought
13803-461: The remainder of the archipelago with the exception of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The Isle of Man and the two Bailiwicks of the Channel Islands, Jersey and Guernsey , are known as the Crown Dependencies . They exercise constitutional rights of self-government and judicial independence; responsibility for international representation rests largely with the UK (in consultation with
13932-447: The remnants of Old English (Hiberno-Norman) and Gaelic Irish nobility in Ireland. The new ruling class was Protestant and English, whilst the populace was largely Catholic and Irish. This theme would influence Irish politics for centuries to come. When the monarchy was restored in England, the king found it politically impossible to restore the lands of former landowners in Ireland. The " Glorious Revolution " of 1688 repeated similar themes:
14061-631: The respective governments); and responsibility for defence is reserved by the UK. The United Kingdom is made up of four constituent parts : England, Scotland and Wales, forming Great Britain, and Northern Ireland in the northeast of the island of Ireland. Of these, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved governments, meaning that each has its own parliament or assembly and is self-governing with respect to certain matters set down by law. For judicial purposes, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England and Wales (the latter being one entity) form separate legal jurisdictions, with there being no single law for
14190-522: The rest of Ireland.) The British monarch is the head of state of the United Kingdom, while in the Republic of Ireland the head of state is the President of Ireland . Ireland is the only part of the isles that is a member state of the European Union (EU). The UK was a member between 1 January 1973 and 31 January 2020, but the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands were not. Since the partition of Ireland , an informal free-travel area has existed across
14319-668: The rivers and lakes, in particular salmon, trout, perch and pike . Sea fish include dogfish , cod, sole , pollock and bass, as well as mussels, crab and oysters along the coast. There are more than 21,000 species of insects. Few species of reptiles or amphibians are found in Great Britain or Ireland. Only three snakes are native to Great Britain: the adder , the barred grass snake and the smooth snake ; none are native to Ireland. In general, Great Britain has slightly more variation and native wildlife, with weasels, polecats , wildcats, most shrews , moles , water voles , roe deer and common toads also being absent from Ireland. This pattern
14448-511: The second-busiest international air route in the world. The English Channel and the southern North Sea are the busiest seaways in the world. The Channel Tunnel , opened in 1994, links Great Britain to France and is the second-longest rail tunnel in the world. The idea of building a tunnel under the Irish Sea has been raised since 1895, when it was first investigated. Several potential Irish Sea tunnel projects have been proposed, most recently
14577-409: The sub-county District Councils created a political platform for proponents of Home Rule , displacing Unionist influence in many areas. The enfranchisement of local electors allowed the development of a new political class, creating a significant body of experienced politicians who would enter national politics in Ireland in the 1920s, and increase the stability of the transitions to the parliaments of
14706-439: The system in later volumes. The geographical area that Watson called "Britain" consisted of the island of Great Britain with all of its offshore islands, plus the Isle of Man , but excluding the Channel Islands . This area was divided into 112 vice-counties with larger counties divided; for example, Devon into the vice-counties of North Devon and South Devon, and Yorkshire into five vice-counties. Each of these 112 vice-counties has
14835-520: The term, and its embassy in London discourages its use. "Britain and Ireland" is used as an alternative description, and "Atlantic Archipelago" has also seen limited use in academia. In official documents created jointly by Ireland and the United Kingdom, such as the Good Friday Agreement , the term "these islands" is used. The earliest known references to the islands as a group appeared in
14964-524: The third highest population behind Great Britain and Ireland. The islands are at relatively low altitudes, with central Ireland and southern Great Britain particularly low-lying: the lowest point in the islands is the North Slob in County Wexford , Ireland, with an elevation of −3.0 metres (−9.8 ft). The Scottish Highlands in the northern part of Great Britain are mountainous, with Ben Nevis being
15093-608: The turn of the first millennium AD, and eventually became a feudal possession of Denmark . The relations between the descendants of Vikings in England and counterparts in Normandy , in northern France, lay at the heart of a series of events that led to the Norman conquest of England in 1066 . The remnants of the Duchy of Normandy , which conquered England, remain associated to the English Crown as
15222-464: The unrepealed parts of the 1898 act in the Republic are sections 6(a), 8, 29, 52, 54, 69(1)–(2), 80, 89, 101(2), 101(4), 102(1)–(3), 109, 110(1), 110(2)(a), and 124, and Schedule 1 parts 3 and 4. In Northern Ireland, STV was abolished in 1922. The two-tier county–district system was retained until the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 replaced it with a system of 26 unitary districts from 1973. Some elected councils had been dissolved in
15351-512: The whole of the islands, for example The X Factor , seasons 3, 4 and 7 of which featured auditions in Dublin and were open to Irish voters, whilst the show previously known as Britain's Next Top Model became Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model in 2011. A few cultural events are organised for the island group as a whole. For example, the Costa Book Awards are awarded to authors resident in
15480-426: The word British , the Government of Ireland does not use the term British Isles and in documents drawn up jointly between the British and Irish governments, the archipelago is referred to simply as "these islands". British Isles is the most widely accepted term for the archipelago. The British Isles lie at the juncture of several regions with past episodes of tectonic mountain building. These orogenic belts form
15609-637: The writings of seafarers from the ancient Greek colony of Massalia . The original records have been lost; however, later writings, e.g. Avienius 's Ora maritima , that quoted from the Massaliote Periplus (6th century BC) and from Pytheas 's On the Ocean (around 325–320 BC) have survived. In the 1st century BC, Diodorus Siculus has Prettanikē nēsos , "the British Island", and Prettanoi , "the Britons", describes Julius Caesar as having "advanced
15738-479: Was accordingly abandoned. Following three years of Liberal government, the Conservative– Liberal Unionist coalition formed a Unionist government following the 1895 general election . Gerald Balfour , brother of Arthur , and nephew of the new Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury , was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland on 4 July 1895. He soon made his mark when he summarised the Irish policy of
15867-414: Was administered before the 1898 Act by a grand jury . These bodies were made up of major landowners appointed by the assizes judge of the county. As well as their original judicial functions the grand juries had taken on the maintenance of roads, bridges and asylums and the supervision of other public works. The grand jury made proposals for expenditure known as "presentments" which required the approval of
15996-420: Was divided into poor law unions (PLUs), each consisting of a geographical area based on a workhouse . The union boundaries did not correspond to those of any existing unit, with many rural areas crossing into two or more counties. The unions were administered by Boards of Guardians . The boards were in part directly elected, with one guardian elected for each electoral division . With the growth of population
16125-511: Was divided into three vice-counties. This produced a total of 40 vice-counties for Ireland, which were numbered from H1 to H40 ("H" for "Hibernia"). As with the 112 vice-counties of Britain, each vice-county has a name as well as a number. Thus Vice-county (or VC) H3 is "West Cork". Combining these two systems produces a 152 vice-county system. The exclusion of the Channel Islands from Watson's system for Britain has led to variations between different recording schemes. The geographical area covered by
16254-454: Was gradually submerged as sea levels rose. However, the Irish Sea was formed before Doggerland was completely covered in water, with Ireland becoming an island roughly 6,000 years before Great Britain did. The first evidence of human activity on the islands dates from 840,000 or 950,000 years ago, based in flint tools found near Happisburgh on the Norfolk coast of Great Britain. In contrast,
16383-462: Was not inhabited until after 8000 BC. Great Britain became an island by 7000 BC with the flooding of Doggerland . The Gaels (Ireland), Picts (northern Great Britain) and Britons (southern Great Britain), all speaking Insular Celtic languages , inhabited the islands at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. Much of Brittonic-occupied Britain was conquered by the Roman Empire from AD 43. The first Anglo-Saxons arrived as Roman power waned in
16512-487: Was that larger taxpayers had a greater motive to see that the tax money was spent properly. The Representation of the People Act 1884 created a much larger electorate that had very different needs and inevitably wanted to elect local representatives from outside a narrow social élite. By now public works such as roads and bridges were being funded increasingly by central government via the Office of Public Works . In 1838 Ireland
16641-483: Was transferred from Waterford City to South Kilkenny , but Ardnaree remained in North Sligo rather than East Mayo . Under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919 , the electoral system for local elections in Ireland was changed to single transferable vote (STV) in multi-member districts. This had been used in the election to Sligo Corporation in 1919 (provided under separate local legislation ), and then for
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