Saturday, 29 April 2017

WHY DO THE IRISH SEEM SO DIFFERENT TO THE ENGLISH?

Map of Ireland
Because they are different racially and culturally and have had totally different historical developments

Ireland was settled by successive waves of Celtic-speaking peoples in the first millennium B.C. The next settlers were the Vikings who established Ireland’s first towns along the East and South coasts in the ninth and tenth centuries A.D. At that time the Irish people were still living a tribal-pastoral life. 

England was also populated by Celts at one time, but it became a Roman colony two thousand years ago, and was settled by Germanic tribes in the fifth century A.D. 

More information: RTE

In the eleventh century, French-speaking rulers conquered England, establishing French as the language of the court and the high society. The amalgamation of Germanic peoples with French-speaking rulers created English as we know it; closer to German for basic communication, closer to French for more official, intellectual and refined matters. 

The Normans came to Ireland also but not in great numbers, and they soon took on the language and customs of Ireland. 

Industrialization, colonization and colonial power have significantly influenced the English character. 

The Irish character has been shaped by opposite factors; the continuity of the rural agricultural way of life combined with the experience of powerlessness under English colonial rule.

Source: Why do the Irish? by Fiana Griffin


 Why should Ireland be treated as a geographical fragment of England - Ireland is not a geographical fragment, but a nation. 

Charles Stewart Parnell

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