The Troubles in Northern Ireland
Melanie Santamaria
Nothern Ireland
Aside from the highlands, drumlins, and bogs, about 50 percent of the land of Ireland is suitable for productive farming , but much of that is so intermingled with bogs that it makes it difficult at best. I earlier centuries vast stands of oak and birch also limited the amount of arable land ;how ever, so much woodland has been cleared since the mid-1500s that today forests cover less than 5 percent of the land.
Troubles Started
Between 1969 and 1997 , sectarian violence left almost 3,600 people dead . The conflict is often called 'The Troubles.In the 20th century , the world watched in despair as Northern Ireland collapsed into unrest and violence .These differences became more marked during the reign of Henry VIII. His break from Rome placed him at loggerheads with Catholic Europe and introduced religion into Irish politics for the first time. Resistance to the British Crown came in 1534 when the Kildare heir, Lord Offaly, led a Catholic revolt against the Protestant English King in Ireland. It was swiftly put down and those involved were executed.
Elizabeth I continued her father’s legacy in Ireland. A bid for independence by Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, was ultimately defeated by the Queen’s army, with a harsh post-war settlement impeding future uprisings from the Catholic majority.
Pre-Twentieth Century
The origins of problems in the region stretch centuries back to the Anglo-Norman intervention of Ireland in 1167, when England first laid roots in the area. Despite some intermingling of the English and Irish population, the two were never completely united. As a result, two disparate populations, with differing interests, found themselves living in a small island side by side.