THE SHORT HISTORY OF IRELAND

official source: Prout in a Nutshell Part 19

cross-references: none

this version: is the printed Prout in a Nutshell Part 19, 1st edition, version 
	(spelling mistakes only may have been corrected). I.e., this is the most 
	up-to-date version as of the present Electronic Edition.

      The British Parliament -- the Upper House or the House of Lords and the Lower House or the House of Commons -- has its seat in the capital of Great Britain, that is, in London. When English became the official language of Great Britain, the Welsh and Scottish languages lost their recognition. Nowadays, as a result of so many movements, the Welsh language is taught only at the primary stage, and the Scottish language has not as yet been recognised. That is, people in these countries have to read English, although English is not their natural tongue.

	Now, on the other side of the Irish Sea is the island of Ireland. England occupied all these three countries -- Wales, Scotland and Ireland -- and the country became known as Great Britain, The national anthem of the country became: "Rule Britannia, rule over the sea, rule Britannia..." In this conquered island, the Irish people were very reluctant to recognise the rule of Great Britain, so they started their struggle for independence.

	About forty to fifty years ago, they were successful in their fight. A girl from Ireland was married to a boy from Spain. The girl had much paternal property, so she did not go to Spain to her husband's house, rather her husband came to Ireland and settled down there. The name of that Spanish gentleman was Mr. Valera, and he and his wife had one son. The mother was Irish and the father was Spanish, but the son was born in Ireland and developed a deep Irish sentiment. He took the lead of the war of independence to free Ireland. His name was Mr. D. Valera, the hero of Ireland. As a result of continuous fighting for more than 20 years, Great Britain, recognised Ireland's suzerainty.

	When Ireland became a part of Great Britain, the name of the country was changed to Great Britain and Ireland. The abbrevia tion is the U.K., that is, the United Kingdoms of Britain and Ireland, with its capital at London; that is, the United Kingdoms of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

	Although Britain recognised the independent status -- the state - of Ireland, as you know the British followed the policy of `divide and rule'. As a result of continuous fighting for over 60 years, Britain recognised the independence of India, but while leaving the country, Britain divided India into India and Pakistan. The case with Ireland was similar. When the British handed over power to Mr. D. Valera, they divided the country into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. Many settlers came from England and settled down in the extreme northern portion of the country. In the same way the Chinese sent many people to settle in Tibet so that the Chinese population would outnumber the population of Tibet, and finally Tibet would become a part of China. When Manchuria was occupied by Japan it was renamed Manchu-ko, and many Japanese settlers were sent there so that the Manchurians would be outnumbered by the foreigners. The same thing happened in the case of Ireland. England sent many people to settle in the northern corner of the country.

	In Angadesh, many Bhojpurii speaking settlers have come into Bhagalpur and Purnea districts, and there is a chance of them becoming the majority community, outnumbering the Angiks. Many Bhojpurii speaking people have come to the Jamui sub-division of Magadh, and there is a chance of the Magadhis being outnumbered by the Bhojpuris. In the Manerampir Thana, Bihar area and Chor area, many Bhojpurii speaking people are coming from Ara and Satra, and there is a chance that the Magadhi people will be outnumbered by the Bhojpuris who may take the area as part of Bhojpuri. Many Bhojpurii speaking people have settled down inside those districts and there is every chance they may outnumber the local people.

	The case of Ireland was similar. With the instigation of Britain, the people of Northern Ireland, the settlers, started a movement demanding that, "We want to remain with Great Britain and with the United Kingdom and not with Ireland and D. Valera." So Britain followed its policy of divide and rule and divided Ireland into two portions, Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. Northern Ireland was about one fifth of the total area and Southern Ireland about four fifths of the total area. As per the Irish Act, Northern Ireland remains in the United Kingdom along with Great Britain. That is, nowadays, the United Kingdom means the United Kingdoms of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and Southern Ireland is a completely independent country. 

	Ireland is a damp country, saucer-like: the border portions are up and the middle portion is low. The main crop is potato; potato is the staple food. People eat potato, sweet potato, porridge, custard, etc. But the country is not industrially developed, and agriculturally also it is not developed much. Although this divided island, this truncated Ireland, got independence, Ireland is not yet united.

	Northern Ireland, which remained part of the United Kingdom, with Great Britain, is now known as Northern Ireland or Ulster, and has its capital at Belfast. Southern Ireland, that is four fifths of the land, which is known as Southern Ireland, the Irish Free State or Eire, has its capital at Dublin. The English pronounce Dublin as Dub-lin. Officially, its name is the Irish Free State. The first president was Mr. D. Valera. After his death a new president was chosen. The Irish people do not like the British people or the English people. The great literateur George Bernard Shaw was Irish.

Now I have given you the history of Ireland, Ulster and Eire in brief. The northern portion, Ulster, remains with the U.K. and Great Britain, while the southern portion is called the Irish Free State. The language of the Irish Free State is still Irish, but Irish is not a developed language. English is taught and read everywhere. The official language is also English, but the government is trying to develop the Irish language. This is the short history of Ireland. I hope you enjoyed it.

22 March 1988, Calcutta