2. Timeline of Anglo-Irish relations Prior to the Anglo-Norman invasion , Ireland was ruled through a system of small kingdoms. There was very little unity, with only Brian Boru, King of Munster, achieving anything like total dominion. This dissolved when he was killed defeating his rivals at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. The first Anglo-Norman intervention in Ireland came in 1167. Henry landed with a large army in 1171, and by 1175 had succeeded in gaining nominal control of most of the island. By the middle of the 14th century the island had reverted to Irish control through conquest. In 1315, Edward Bruce(Scottish) was invited to lead the expedition to finish off the Normans but was killed in battle in 1318. Nonetheless, the English colony in Dublin was in dire straits. Henry VIII imposed his Reformation by force - In 1541, he was declared king of Ireland by the Irish parliament. New policies for controlling the colonised island were attempted, including 'plantation', English settlers were given lands confiscated from rebellious Irish families, and the native Irish were supposed to be driven out.
3. In the early 17th century, a bid for independence by Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone and the last of the great Irish chieftains, was ultimately defeated by the armies of Elizabeth I in the Nine Years War. O'Neill's surrender at Mellifont in 1603. The now leaderless Irish were unable to oppose the plantation of Ulster, where many of the new settlers were Scottish Presbyterians. Oliver Cromwell: Massacres and atrocities were committed by both sides, Catholic and Protestant. Cromwell finally subdued Catholic Ireland in 1653. James II (Catholic) was decisively defeated by William in Ireland, at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. The post-war settlement was harsh and designed by Ireland's Protestant 'Ascendancy class' to prevent a future uprising by the Catholic majority. A reform movement of 'patriots' began to lobby for representation (for the Protestant middle class only) in parliament, thereby sowing the early seeds of Irish nationalism. Act of Union A Bill joining Ireland and England comes into force in 1801. Prime Minister William Pitt, who had promised Catholic emancipation after Union, resigns when it is vetoed by George III.
8. Cartoon: ’The Reformation! showing Wellington on his knees before the Pope and O‘Connell at his “conversion‘, 1829
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13. We know their dream; enough To know they dreamed and are dead. And what if excess of love Bewildered them till they died? I write it out in a verse -- MacDonagh and MacBride And Connolly and Pearse Now and in time to be, Wherever green is worn, Are changed, changed utterly: A terrible beauty is born. -- William Butler Yeats. Easter 1916 , William Butler Yeats Video
15. The impact of the Easter Rising – the leaders were executed An artist´s impression of the scene inside the Dublin GPO British troops in the ruins of the GPO after the Rising
