NORTHERN IRELAND
According to Ehealthfacts, Northern Ireland is one of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the capital being Belfast. Northern Ireland is located in the northeastern part of the island of Ireland and borders the Republic of Ireland to the south and west. The country covers 14,139 km², about one sixth of the island’s total area. When a census was conducted in the UK in 2001, the population was 1,685,000, about a third of the island’s total population and about 3% of the UK population. Northern Ireland consists of six of the traditional nine counties of the historic Irish province of Ulster.
TIMELINE:
about 8000 BCE – Ireland’s history dates back to the time when the first hunters and gatherers left Britain and continental Europe for Ireland, probably via a seaweed of dry land. It may also be possible that at this time there was a land connection to Ireland between present-day Scotland and Northern Ireland, where the distance is shortest. Very few traces are found of an early population, but descendants left large Neolithic sites such as Newgrange.
600 BCE – The Iron Age begins in the country.
800-1166 – Attacks by Vikings created carnage and chaos among the population and in the various regional royal families as well as in the Irish monastic culture, which was the flourishing and widespread Celtic Christianity core. However, they proved strong enough to survive the attacks and assimilate the immigrants. The Vikings helped found many cities; most famous are Dublin, Limerick,
Wexford and Waterford. Written accounts from the time (about 840) show that the Vikings, via the rivers, came further inland on their looting expeditions and then retreated to their settlements along the coasts. The Battle of Clontarf in 1014 marked the beginning of the end for the power of the Vikings in Ireland. However, the towns founded by the Vikings continued to flourish and trade became an important part of the Irish economy.
1801 – January 1. The entire island kingdom (from 1541-1800) joined the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the terms of the Act of Union, under which the kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain joined together into a government and a monarchy based in London.
1912 – April 15. RMS Titanic was the pride of the shipping company White Star Line and the second ship in the Olympic class. It was the largest steam-powered ship of the time. It was built at the shipyard Harland & Wolff in Belfast, which had recently built the sister ship Olympic. The Titanic sank on the night between 14 and 15 April 1912 in the Atlantic Ocean. The shipwreck went down in history as one of the greatest shipwrecks in peacetime.
1968-1998 – The conflict in Northern Ireland.
1972 – January 30. On Sunday, 26 protesters were shot dead by British troops in Londonderry (or Derry ), of whom 14 died. The protesters were part of a larger demonstration for better civil rights for the Roman Catholic minority. The day has subsequently become known as Bloody Sunday (“Bloody Sunday”).
WALES
Wales is a peninsula in southwestern Britain, and is one of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom, along with England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Wales has an area of approx. 20,768 km² and in 2011 had a population of 3,063,456. The capital is Cardiff.
The nation has been dependent on England since the 12th century. However, the Celtic identity has been preserved and from the 19th century
onwards formed the basis of a national movement, Plaid Cymru – Party of Wales, which in 1966 had a representative in Parliament.
The earliest traces of settlements are approx. 30,000 years old, but only after the last ice age did there be permanent settlements throughout the area. Hunter-Collectors immigrated to England and Wales in the Stone Age. While large amounts of water were still bound in the northern part of the ice cap, England was landlocked with the continent and Ireland.
Wales is i.a. known for its beautiful and at times wild nature. Snowdon is the highest mountain in England and Wales, but the Brecon Beacons are also a well-known and popular holiday destination for the British, including their special forces.
TIMELINE:
4000-2000 BCE – People have lived in Llanfair on the Welsh island of Anglesey since the Neolithic period. For centuries it was always a small village. in 1563 only approx. 80 people in 16 cabins. The number grew by 1801, where 385 lived in 83 houses, most of it in the old town. What suddenly made the village famous was when the town invented a new name for the railway station, making it the world’s longest name: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllant-ysiliogogogoch.
48 – The first written account of Wales is from the year 48. The Roman historian Tacitus described how smaller tribes had been under attack from the Silurians and therefore wanted peace and cooperation with the Romans. The Romans built a number of forts in southern Wales and began, among other things. to extract gold. Later, forts were also built further north.
878 – For a time, the Celts of Wales were allied with the Scandinavian
Vikings in the fight against the Anglo-Saxons in England, and in the year 878, an Anglo-Saxon English army was defeated by united Welsh and Vikings. This brought peace with the English neighbors for more than 100 years.
1282 – All of Wales was in practice laid under the English crown during Edward first. This was followed by a period of revolt, while the English built a series of castles to fortify their position. Wales was governed by Welsh law, but in 1536 Wales was formally annexed to England and English law was introduced. The English also tried to suppress Welsh language and culture, and almost succeeded.
1955 – It became official practice to use the term ” England and Wales ” instead of just England about the part of Britain that was not Scotland or Northern Ireland. Cardiff was proclaimed the capital of Wales.
1964 – When the Bond film ” Goldfinger ” premieres on September 17 in England, Welsh singer Shirley Bassey helped make it more popular with the title track ” Goldfinger ”
1965 – A dam is built to create a drinking water reservoir for Liverpool
and an entire village is relocated. This gave rise to fierce dissatisfaction with English rule, and Welsh nationalism grew. Two militant groups ( Free Wales Army and Welsh Defense Movement ) carried out bomb attacks on infrastructure and public buildings.
1969 – Prince Charles is installed as Prince of Wales.
1981 – July 29. The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, married Lady Diana Frances Spencer, who died on 31 August 1997 in a controversial car accident. The couple, who divorced on August 28, 1996, had two sons, Prince William and Prince Henry.
