Irish people: Encyclopedia II - Irish people - Recent history

Irish people - Recent history

In Northern Ireland over half of the population are Protestant, whilst a large minority are Roman Catholic at approximately 43.8% (2001).

After Ireland became subdued by England in 1603 the English – under James I of England (reigned 1603–25), Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell (term 1653–58), William III of England (reigned 1689–1702) and their successors – began the settling of Protestant English and later Scottish colonists into Ireland, where they settled most heavily in the northern province of Ulster. However, they did not intermarry heavily or integrate with the native Irish like the Normans did centuries earlier.

Tens of thousands of native Irish were displaced during the 17th Plantations of Ireland from parts of Ulster and replaced by English and Scottish planters.

It is predominately religion, history and political differences (Irish nationalism versus British unionism) that divide the two communities, as many of the Scotch-Irish settlers are in part of Gaelic origin themselves and therefore related to their Irish Catholic neighbours. Conversely, many Irish people would have at least some English (Anglo-Norman) or Scottish (gallowglass families from the Highlands) ancestry.

In 1921, with the formation of the Irish Free State, six counties in the northeast remained in the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland.

"Ulster-Irish" surnames tend to differ based on which community families originate from. Ulster Protestants tend to have either English or Scottish surnames while Irish Catholics tend to have Irish surnames, although this is not always the case.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Recent history", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki