1.
Northern Ireland
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Northern Ireland is a constituent unit of the United Kingdom in the north-east of Ireland. It is variously described as a country, province, region, or part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the total population. Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland by an act of the British parliament, Northern Ireland has historically been the most industrialised region of Ireland. After declining as a result of the political and social turmoil of the Troubles, its economy has grown significantly since the late 1990s. Unemployment in Northern Ireland peaked at 17. 2% in 1986, dropping to 6. 1% for June–August 2014,58. 2% of those unemployed had been unemployed for over a year. Prominent artists and sports persons from Northern Ireland include Van Morrison, Rory McIlroy, Joey Dunlop, Wayne McCullough, some people from Northern Ireland prefer to identify as Irish while others prefer to identify as British. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, and the rest of the UK are complex, in many sports, the island of Ireland fields a single team, a notable exception being association football. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games, and people from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games. The region that is now Northern Ireland was the bedrock of the Irish war of resistance against English programmes of colonialism in the late 16th century, the English-controlled Kingdom of Ireland had been declared by the English king Henry VIII in 1542, but Irish resistance made English control fragmentary. Victories by English forces in war and further Protestant victories in the Williamite War in Ireland toward the close of the 17th century solidified Anglican rule in Ireland. In Northern Ireland, the victories of the Siege of Derry and their intention was to materially disadvantage the Catholic community and, to a lesser extent, the Presbyterian community. In the context of open institutional discrimination, the 18th century saw secret, militant societies develop in communities in the region and act on sectarian tensions in violent attacks. Following this, in an attempt to quell sectarianism and force the removal of discriminatory laws, the new state, formed in 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was governed from a single government and parliament based in London. Between 1717 and 1775 some 250,000 people from Ulster emigrated to the British North American colonies and it is estimated that there are more than 27 million Scotch-Irish Americans now living in the US. By the close of the century, autonomy for Ireland within the United Kingdom, in 1912, after decades of obstruction from the House of Lords, Home Rule became a near-certainty. A clash between the House of Commons and House of Lords over a controversial budget produced the Parliament Act 1911, which enabled the veto of the Lords to be overturned. The House of Lords veto had been the unionists main guarantee that Home Rule would not be enacted, in 1914, they smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany for use by the Ulster Volunteers, a paramilitary organisation opposed to the implementation of Home Rule
2.
Belfast
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Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, the second largest on the island of Ireland, and the heart of the tenth largest Primary Urban Area in the United Kingdom. On the River Lagan, it had a population of 286,000 at the 2011 census and 333,871 after the 2015 council reform, Belfast was granted city status in 1888. Belfast played a key role in the Industrial Revolution, and was an industrial centre until the latter half of the 20th century. It has sustained a major aerospace and missiles industry since the mid 1930s, industrialisation and the inward migration it brought made Belfast Irelands biggest city at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, Belfast remains a centre for industry, as well as the arts, higher education, business, and law, additionally, Belfast city centre has undergone considerable expansion and regeneration in recent years, notably around Victoria Square. Belfast is served by two airports, George Best Belfast City Airport in the city, and Belfast International Airport 15 miles west of the city. Although the county borough of Belfast was created when it was granted city status by Queen Victoria in 1888, the site of Belfast has been occupied since the Bronze Age. The Giants Ring, a 5, 000-year-old henge, is located near the city, Belfast remained a small settlement of little importance during the Middle Ages. The ONeill clan had a presence in the area, in the 14th century, Cloinne Aodha Buidhe, descendants of Aodh Buidhe ONeill built Grey Castle at Castlereagh, now in the east of the city. Conn ONeill of the Clannaboy ONeills owned vast lands in the area and was the last inhabitant of Grey Castle, evidence of this period of Belfasts growth can still be seen in the oldest areas of the city, known as the Entries. Belfast blossomed as a commercial and industrial centre in the 18th and 19th centuries, industries thrived, including linen, rope-making, tobacco, heavy engineering and shipbuilding, and at the end of the 19th century, Belfast briefly overtook Dublin as the largest city in Ireland. The Harland and Wolff shipyards became one of the largest shipbuilders in the world, in 1886 the city suffered intense riots over the issue of home rule, which had divided the city. In 1920–22, Belfast became the capital of the new entity of Northern Ireland as the island of Ireland was partitioned, the accompanying conflict cost up to 500 lives in Belfast, the bloodiest sectarian strife in the city until the Troubles of the late 1960s onwards. Belfast was heavily bombed during World War II, in one raid, in 1941, German bombers killed around one thousand people and left tens of thousands homeless. Apart from London, this was the greatest loss of life in a raid during the Blitz. Belfast has been the capital of Northern Ireland since its establishment in 1921 following the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and it had been the scene of various episodes of sectarian conflict between its Catholic and Protestant populations. These opposing groups in conflict are now often termed republican and loyalist respectively. The most recent example of conflict was known as the Troubles – a civil conflict that raged from around 1969 to 1998
3.
Derry
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Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name Daire meaning oak grove, in 1613, the city was granted a Royal Charter by King James I and gained the London prefix to reflect the funding of its construction by the London guilds. While the city is usually known colloquially as Derry, Londonderry is also commonly used. The old walled city lies on the west bank of the River Foyle, the city now covers both banks. The population of the city was 83,652 at the 2001 Census, the district administered by Derry City and Strabane District Council contains both Londonderry Port and City of Derry Airport. Derry is close to the border with County Donegal, with which it has had a link for many centuries. In 2013, Derry was the inaugural UK City of Culture, according to the citys Royal Charter of 10 April 1662, the official name is Londonderry. This was reaffirmed in a High Court decision in 2007 when Derry City Council sought guidance on the procedure for effecting a name change. The council had changed its name from Londonderry City Council to Derry City Council in 1984, the decision of the court was that it had not but it was clarified that the correct procedure to do so was via a petition to the Privy Council. Derry City Council since started this process and were involved in conducting an equality impact assessment report, then the EQIA held two consultative forums, and solicited comments from the general public on whether or not the city should have its name changed to Derry. A total of 12,136 comments were received, of which 3,108 were broadly in favour of the proposal, and 9,028 opposed to it. Despite the official name, the city is usually known as Derry, which is an anglicisation of the Irish Daire or Doire. The name derives from the settlements earliest references, Daire Calgaich, the name was changed from Derry in 1613 during the Plantation of Ulster to reflect the establishment of the city by the London guilds. In McCaffertys survey of language use in the city, only very few interviewees—all Protestants—use the official form, apart from the name of Derry City Council, the city is usually known as Londonderry in official use within the UK. In the Republic of Ireland, the city and county are almost always referred to as Derry, on maps, in the media and in conversation. Whereas official road signs in the Republic use the name Derry, usage varies among local organisations, with both names being used. Most companies within the city choose local area such as Pennyburn. Londonderry railway station is referred to as Waterside railway station within the city but is called Derry/Londonderry at other stations
4.
Mural
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A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other permanent surface. A distinguishing characteristic of painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture. Some wall paintings are painted on canvases, which are then attached to the wall. Whether these works can be accurately called murals is a subject of controversy in the art world. Murals of sorts date to Upper Paleolithic times such as the paintings in the Chauvet Cave in Ardèche department of southern France, many ancient murals have been found within ancient Egyptian tombs, the Minoan palaces and in Pompeii. During the Middle Ages murals were executed on dry plaster. The huge collection of Kerala mural painting dating from the 14th century are examples of fresco secco, in Italy, circa 1300, the technique of painting of frescos on wet plaster was reintroduced and led to a significant increase in the quality of mural painting. In modern times, the became more well-known with the Mexican muralism art movement. There are many different styles and techniques, the best-known is probably fresco, which uses water-soluble paints with a damp lime wash, a rapid use of the resulting mixture over a large surface, and often in parts. The colors lighten as they dry, the marouflage method has also been used for millennia. Murals today are painted in a variety of ways, using oil or water-based media, the styles can vary from abstract to trompe-lœil. Initiated by the works of artists like Graham Rust or Rainer Maria Latzke in the 1980s, trompe-loeil painting has experienced a renaissance in private. The buon fresco technique consists of painting in pigment mixed with water on a layer of wet, fresh. The pigment is absorbed by the wet plaster, after a number of hours. After this the painting stays for a time up to centuries in fresh. Fresco-secco painting is done on dry plaster, the pigments thus require a binding medium, such as egg, glue or oil to attach the pigment to the wall. By the end of the century this had largely displaced the buon fresco method. This technique had, in reduced form, the advantages of a secco work, in Greco-Roman times, mostly encaustic colors applied in a cold state were used
5.
Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
6.
Irish republican
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Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic. This followed hundreds of years of British conquest and Irish resistance through rebellion and it launched the 1798 Rebellion with the help of French troops. The rebellion had some success, especially in County Wexford, before it was suppressed, a second rising in 1803, led by Robert Emmet, was quickly put down, and Emmet was hanged. The Young Ireland movement, formed in the 1830s, was initially a part of the Repeal Association of Daniel OConnell, primarily a political and cultural organisation, some members of Young Ireland staged an abortive rising, the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848. Its leaders were transported to Van Diemens Land, some of these escaped to the United States, where they linked up with other Irish exiles to form the Fenian Brotherhood. They staged another rising, the Fenian Rising, in 1867, in the early 20th century IRB members, in particular Tom Clarke and Seán MacDermott, began planning another rising. The execution of the Risings leaders, including Clarke, MacDermott, Patrick Pearse and James Connolly, the elected members did not take their seats but instead set up the First Dáil. Between 1919 and 1921 the Irish Republican Army, who were loyal to the Dáil, fought the British Army and Royal Irish Constabulary in the Irish War of Independence. Talks between the British and Irish in late 1921 led to a treaty by which the British conceded, not a 32-county Irish Republic and this led to the Irish Civil War, in which the republicans were defeated by their former comrades. That same year, the movement took the decision to focus on Northern Ireland thereafter. The Border Campaign, which lasted from 1956 to 1962, involved bombings, the failure of this campaign led the republican leadership to concentrate on political action, and to move to the left. Following the outbreak of The Troubles in 1968-9, the movement split between Officials and Provisionals at the beginning of 1970. The Provisional IRA, except during brief ceasefires in 1972 and 1975, kept up a campaign of violence for nearly thirty years, directed against security forces and civilian targets. This began to change with a speech by Danny Morrison in 1981, advocating what became known as the Armalite. Under the leadership of Gerry Adams, Sinn Féin began to focus on the search for a political settlement. When the party voted in 1986 to take seats in legislative bodies within Ireland, there was a walk-out of die-hard republicans, who set up Republican Sinn Féin and the Continuity IRA. Following the Hume–Adams dialogue, Sinn Féin took part in the Northern Ireland peace process led to the IRA ceasefires of 1994 and 1997. However, another split occurred, with anti-Agreement republicans setting up the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, today, Irish republicanism is divided between those who support the institutions set up under the Good Friday Agreement and the later St Andrews Agreement, and those who oppose them
7.
1981 Irish hunger strike
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The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners, in 1980, seven prisoners participated in the first hunger strike, which ended after 53 days. The second hunger strike took place in 1981 and was a showdown between the prisoners and the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, one hunger striker, Bobby Sands, was elected as a Member of Parliament during the strike, prompting media interest from around the world. The strike was called off after ten prisoners had starved themselves to death—including Sands, the strike radicalised Irish nationalist politics, and was the driving force that enabled Sinn Féin to become a mainstream political party. After the introduction of internment in 1971, Long Kesh—later known as HM Prison Maze—was run like a prisoner of war camp, internees lived in dormitories and disciplined themselves with military-style command structures, drilled with dummy guns made from wood, and held lectures on guerrilla warfare and politics. Special Category, or political, status meant prisoners were treated similarly to prisoners of war, for example, in 1976, as part of its policy of criminalisation, the British government brought an end to Special Category Status for newly convicted paramilitary prisoners in Northern Ireland. The policy was not introduced for existing prisoners, but for those convicted of offences after 1 March 1976. In 1978, after a number of attacks on prisoners leaving their cells to slop out, this escalated into the dirty protest, to mitigate the build-up of flies, they smeared their excrement on the walls of their cells. Initially, this protest did not attract a great deal of attention and it began to attract attention when Tomás Ó Fiaich, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, visited the prison and condemned the conditions there. Shortly after this, the broad-based National H-Block/Armagh Committee was formed, on a platform of support for the Five Demands, the period leading up to the hunger strike saw assassinations by both republicans and loyalists. On 27 October 1980, republican prisoners in HM Prison Maze began a hunger strike, many prisoners volunteered to be part of the strike, but a total of seven were selected to match the number of men who signed the Easter 1916 Proclamation of the Republic. The group consisted of IRA members Brendan Hughes, Tommy McKearney, Raymond McCartney, Tom McFeeley, Sean McKenna, Leo Green, and Irish National Liberation Army member John Nixon. On 1 December three prisoners in Armagh Womens Prison joined the strike, including Mairéad Farrell, followed by a hunger strike by several dozen more prisoners in HM Prison Maze. With the document in transit to Belfast, Hughes took the decision to save McKennas life, in January 1981 it became clear that the prisoners demands had not been conceded. Prison authorities began to supply the prisoners with officially issued civilian clothing, on 4 February the prisoners issued a statement saying that the British government had failed to resolve the crisis and declared their intention of hunger striking once more. The second hunger strike began on 1 March, when Bobby Sands, the republican movement initially struggled to generate public support for the second hunger strike. The Sunday before Sands began his strike,3,500 people marched through west Belfast, during the first hunger strike four months earlier the marchers had numbered 10,000. Five days into the strike, Independent Republican MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone Frank Maguire died, following a high-profile campaign the election took place on 9 April, and Sands was elected to the British House of Commons with 30,492 votes to Wests 29,046
8.
Bobby Sands
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Robert Gerard Sands, commonly known as Bobby Sands, was an Irish member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who died on hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Prison Maze. He was the leader of the 1981 hunger strike in which Irish republican prisoners protested against the removal of Special Category Status, during his strike he was elected to the British Parliament as an Anti H-Block candidate. His death and those of nine other hunger strikers were followed by a new surge of Provisional IRA recruitment, International media coverage brought attention to the hunger strikers, and the Republican movement in general, attracting both praise and criticism. Sands was born in 1954 to Roman Catholic parents, John and Rosaleen, after marrying, they relocated to the new development of Abbots Cross, Newtownabbey, County Antrim outside North Belfast. Sands was the eldest of four children and his younger sisters, Marcella and Bernadette, were born in 1955 and 1958, respectively. He also had a brother, John. Despite always having had Protestant friends, Sands suddenly found that none of them would even speak to him and he left school in 1969 at age 15, and enrolled in Newtownabbey Technical College, beginning an apprenticeship as a coach builder at Alexanders Coach Works in 1970. He was eventually confronted after leaving his shift in January 1971 by a number of his colleagues wearing the armbands of the local Ulster loyalist tartan gang. He was held at gunpoint and told that Alexanders was off-limits to Fenian scum and this event, by Sandss admission, proved to be the point at which he decided that militancy was the only solution. He attended his first Provisional IRA meeting in Twinbrook that month, by 1973, almost every Catholic family had been driven out of Rathcoole by violence and intimidation. In 1972, Sands joined the Provisional IRA and he was arrested and charged in October 1972 with possession of four handguns found in the house where he was staying. Sands was convicted in April 1973, sentenced to five years imprisonment, upon his release, he returned to his family home in West Belfast, and resumed his active role in the Provisional IRA. Sands and Joe McDonnell planned the October 1976 bombing of the Balmoral Furniture Company in Dunmurry, the showroom was destroyed but as the IRA men left the scene there was a gun battle with the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Leaving behind two wounded, Seamus Martin and Gabriel Corbett, the four tried to escape by car. One of the used in the attack was found in the car. In 1977 the four were sentenced to 14 years for possession of the revolver and they were not charged with explosive offences. Immediately after his sentence, Sands was implicated in a ruckus and spent the first 22 days on boards in Crumlin Road Prison,15 days naked, and a No.1 starvation diet every three days. In late 1980 Sands was chosen as Officer Commanding of the Provisional IRA prisoners in Long Kesh, Republican prisoners organised a series of protests seeking to regain their previous Special Category Status which would free them from some ordinary prison regulations
9.
Ballymurphy massacre
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The Ballymurphy Massacre was a series of incidents involving the killing of eleven civilians by the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment of the British Army in Ballymurphy, Belfast, Northern Ireland. The killings happened between 9 and 11 August 1971, during Operation Demetrius, the shootings have also been called Belfast Bloody Sunday, a reference to another massacre of civilians by the same battalion a few months later. The Northern Ireland Troubles had been ongoing for two years, and Belfast was particularly affected by political and sectarian violence, the British Army had been deployed in Northern Ireland in 1969, as events had gone beyond the control of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. On the morning of Monday 9 August 1971, the security forces launched Operation Demetrius, the plan was to arrest and intern anyone suspected of being a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. The unit selected for operation was the Parachute Regiment—the same regiment later responsible for the Bloody Sunday killings in Derry on 30 January 1972. Members of the Parachute Regiment stated that, as they entered the Ballymurphy area, they were shot at by republicans and returned fire. In 2016 Declan Morgan, the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, six civilians were killed on 9 August, these were, Francis Quinn, shot by a sniper while going to the aid of a wounded man. Hugh Mullan, a Catholic priest, shot by a sniper while going to the aid of a wounded man, joan Connolly, shot as she stood opposite the army base. Daniel Teggart, was fourteen times. Most of the entered his back, allegedly as he lay injured on the ground. Noel Phillips, shot as he stood opposite the army base, Joseph Murphy, shot as he stood opposite the army base. Murphy was subsequently taken into custody and after his release, as he was dying in hospital, he claimed that he had been beaten. When his body was exhumed in October 2015, a bullet was discovered in his body. One civilian was shot on 10 August, and another four were shot on 11 August, John Laverty and Joseph Corr were shot at separate points at the Top of the Whiterock Road. Laverty was shot twice, once in the back and once in the back of the leg, Corr was shot multiple times and died of his injuries on 27 August. John McKerr, shot by unknown attackers while standing outside the Roman Catholic church, paddy McCarthy got into a confrontation with a group of soldiers. Family allege an empty gun was put in his mouth and the trigger pulled, McCarthy suffered a heart attack and died shortly thereafter. In February 2015, the conviction of Terry Laverty, younger brother of John, was quashed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission and he had been convicted of riotous behaviour and sentenced to six months on the eye-witness evidence of a paratrooper
10.
McGurk's Bar bombing
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On 4 December 1971, the Ulster Volunteer Force, an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group, detonated a bomb at McGurks Bar in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The pub was frequented by Irish Catholics/nationalists, the explosion caused the building to collapse, killing fifteen Catholic civilians—including two children—and wounding seventeen more. It was the deadliest attack in Belfast during the Troubles, a report later found that the police were biased in favour of this view, and that this hindered their investigation. The victims relatives allege that the security forces deliberately spread disinformation to discredit the IRA, in 1977, UVF member Robert Campbell was sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the bombing and served fifteen years. The bombing sparked a series of bombings and shootings by loyalists and republicans. McGurks was a public house on the corner of North Queen Street and Great Georges Street. This was a mainly Irish nationalist and Catholic neighbourhood, and the regular customers were from the community. The pub was owned by Patrick and Philomena McGurk, who lived on the floor with their four children. The Ulster Volunteer Force was formed in Belfast in 1966, declaring war on the Irish Republican Army, until 1971, however, its actions were few and it scarcely existed in an organisational sense. The British Army was deployed in Northern Ireland following the August 1969 riots, in December 1969 the IRA split into two factions, the Official IRA and Provisional IRA. Both launched armed campaigns against the British Army, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, during 1971, the violence gradually worsened. There were daily bombings and shootings by republicans, loyalists and the security forces, during the first two weeks of December, there were about 70 bombings and about 30 people were killed. On 2 December, three prisoners escaped from Crumlin Road prison, not far from McGurks. Security was tightened and there was a heavy RUC and British Army presence in the area over the two days. Eyewitnesses asserted that the checkpoints around McGurks were removed just an hour before the attack, on the evening of Saturday 4 December 1971, a four-man UVF team met in the Shankill area of Belfast and were ordered to bomb a pub on North Queen Street. According to the only convicted bomber—Robert Campbell—they were told not to return until the job was done, Campbell said that their target had not been McGurks, but another pub nearby. It is believed this was a pub called The Gem, which was linked to the Official IRA. The 50 pounds bomb was disguised as a parcel, which they placed in a car
11.
Unionism in Ireland
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Unionism in Ireland is a political ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. Since the partition of Ireland, unionism in Ireland has focused on maintaining and preserving the place of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, in this context, a distinction may be made between the unionism in the province of Ulster and unionism elsewhere in Ireland. Irish nationalism is opposed to the ideology of unionism, most unionists come from Protestant backgrounds, most nationalists come from a Roman Catholic background. Exceptions to these generalisations exist, there are Protestant nationalists and there are Catholic unionists, the political relationship between England and Ireland dates from the 12th century with the establishment of the Lordship of Ireland. In 1542, the Crown of Ireland Act was passed by both the English and Irish Parliaments, the Act established a sovereign Kingdom of Ireland with Henry VIII as King of Ireland. Both parliaments later passed the Act of Union 1800 by which a new state was created - the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, twenty-six counties of Ireland gained autonomy from the U. K. as the Irish Free State, in 1949, the State was declared to be a Republic, the Republic of Ireland left the Commonwealth of Nations organisation. The remaining six counties of the island of Ireland constituted the territory of Northern Ireland, in 1927, the realm, consisting of combined territories of Northern Ireland and Great Britain, was renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Today, unionism is almost exclusively an issue for Northern Ireland and it is concerned with the governance of and relationship between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Unionism emerged as a force in opposition to William Ewart Gladstones Home Rule Bill of 1886. Irish nationalists believed in separation from Great Britain, whether through repeal of the 1800 Act of Union, home rule, Unionists believed in maintaining and deepening the relationship between the various nations of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. They expressed pride in symbols of Britishness, a key symbol for unionists is the Union Flag. Unionist areas of Northern Ireland often display this and other symbols to show the loyalty, Unionism is also known for its allegiance to the person of the British monarch, both historically and today. Historically, most unionists in Ireland have been Protestants and most nationalists have been Catholics, however, a significant number of Protestants have adhered to the nationalist cause, and likewise with Catholics and unionism. These phenomena continue to exist in Northern Ireland, both unionism and nationalism have had sectarian and anti-sectarian elements. While nationalism has had a number of Protestant leaders, unionism was invariably always led by Protestant leaders, newe, served in the Government of Northern Ireland. UUP leader and Nobel Peace Prize-winner David Trimble suggested that Northern Ireland had been a house for Catholics in the past. People espousing unionist beliefs are sometimes referred to as loyalists, the two words are sometimes used interchangeably, but the latter is more often associated with particularly hardline forms of unionism
12.
Ulster loyalism
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Ulster loyalism is a political ideology found primarily among working class Ulster Protestants in Northern Ireland, whose status as a part of the United Kingdom has remained controversial. Most Ulster Protestants are descendants of settlers from Great Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries, like unionists, loyalists are attached to the British monarchy, support the continued existence of Northern Ireland, and oppose a united Ireland. Ulster loyalism has been described as a kind of ethnic nationalism and it is strongly associated with paramilitarism. Ulster loyalism emerged in the late 19th century, as a response to the Irish Home Rule movement, although most of Ireland was Catholic, in the province of Ulster, Protestants were the majority. Ulster was also more industrialized than other parts of Ireland and was dependent on trade with Britain. Loyalism began as a movement among Ulster Protestants who did not want to become part of an autonomous Ireland. While some Irish Catholics were also unionist, loyalism emphasized a Protestant, loyalists often use Ulster as an alternative name for Northern Ireland. Since partition, most loyalists have supported upholding Northern Irelands status as a part of the United Kingdom, i. e. unionism. Historically, the terms unionist and loyalist were often used interchangeably, however, since the resurgence of loyalist paramilitarism in the 1960s, a distinction between the two is made more often. The term loyalist is now used to describe working class unionists who are willing to use, or tacitly support. Loyalists are also described as being loyal primarily to the Protestant British monarchy rather than to the British government, garret FitzGerald argued that loyalists are loyal primarily to Ulster rather than to the Union. A small minority of loyalists have called for an independent Ulster Protestant state, in Northern Ireland there is a long tradition of militaristic loyalist Protestant marching bands. There are hundreds of bands who hold numerous parades each year. The yearly Eleventh Night bonfires and The Twelfth parades are strongly associated with loyalism, the term loyalist was first used in Irish politics in the 1790s to refer to Protestants who opposed Catholic Emancipation and Irish independence from Great Britain. Upon the partition of Ireland in 1921, six of the nine counties in the province of Ulster didnt join the new independent Irish Free State and remained a part of the United Kingdom. Academically cited records from 1926 indicate that at that stage 33. 5% of the Northern Ireland population was Roman Catholic, tensions between Northern Irelands Catholic population and its Protestant population led to a long-running bloody conflict known as the Troubles from the late 1960s to the late 1990s. This includes the British National Front, the British Peoples Party, bigger and more moderate right-wing unionist parties like the Ulster Unionists or Democratic Unionists usually seek to distance themselves from loyalist paramilitary activity. Loyalist paramilitary and vigilante groups have been active since the early 20th century, in 1912, the Ulster Volunteers were formed to stop the British Government granting self-rule to Ireland, or to exclude Ulster from it
13.
Ulster Defence Association
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The Ulster Defence Association is the largest Ulster loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during the Troubles, for most of this time it was a legal organisation. Its declared goal was to defend Ulster Protestant loyalist areas and to combat Irish republicanism, in the 1970s, uniformed UDA members openly patrolled these areas armed with batons and held large marches and rallies. Within the UDA was a group tasked with launching paramilitary attacks, the British government outlawed the UFF in November 1973, but the UDA itself was not proscribed as a terrorist group until August 1992. The UDA/UFF was responsible for more than 400 deaths, the vast majority of its victims were Irish Catholic civilians, killed at random, in what the group called retaliation for IRA actions or attacks on Protestants. High-profile attacks carried out by the group include the Milltown massacre, the Sean Graham bookmakers shooting, the Castlerock killings, most of its attacks were in Northern Ireland, but from 1972 onward it also carried out bombings in the Republic of Ireland. The UDA/UFF declared a ceasefire in 1994 and ended its campaign in 2007, the other main loyalist paramilitary group during the conflict was the Ulster Volunteer Force. All three groups are Proscribed Organisations in the United Kingdom under the Terrorism Act 2000, the Ulster Defence Association emerged from a series of meetings during the middle of 1971 of loyalist vigilante groups called defence associations. The largest of these were the Shankill and Woodvale Defence Associations, with groups based in East Belfast. The first meeting was chaired by Billy Hull, with Alan Moon as its vice-chair, Moon was quickly replaced by Jim Anderson and had left the organisation by the time of its formal launch in September. Its most prominent early spokesperson was Tommy Herron, however, Andy Tyrie would emerge as soon after. Its original motto was Cedenta Arma Togae and it was an organisation until it was banned by the British Government on 10 August 1992. At its peak of strength it held around forty thousand members, the UDA enforced this general strike through widespread intimidation across Northern Ireland. The strike was led by VUPP Assemblyman and UDA member, Glenn Barr, the UDA were often referred to as Wombles by their rivals, mainly the Ulster Volunteer Force. The name is derived from the fictional creatures The Wombles. Its headquarters is in Gawn Street, off the Newtownards Road in east Belfast, and its current motto is Quis Separabit, the UDA had several womens units, which acted independent of each other. Although they occasionally helped man roadblocks, the units were typically involved in local community work and responsible for the assembly. This was a source of pride for the UDA, the first womens unit was founded on the Shankill Road by Wendy Bucket Millar, whose sons Herbie and James Sham Millar would later become prominent UDA members
14.
Ulster Volunteer Force
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The Ulster Volunteer Force is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It emerged in 1966 and is named after the original UVF of the early 20th century and its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British soldier. The group undertook a campaign of almost thirty years during the Troubles. It declared a ceasefire in 1994 and officially ended its campaign in 2007, although some of its members have continued to engage in violence, the group is classified as a terrorist organisation by the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and United States. The UVFs declared goals were to combat Irish republicanism – particularly the Irish Republican Army – and it was responsible for more than 500 deaths. The vast majority of its victims were Irish Catholic civilians, who were killed at random. During the conflict, its deadliest attack in Northern Ireland was the 1971 McGurks Bar bombing, the group also carried out attacks in the Republic of Ireland from 1969 onward. The biggest of these was the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, the no-warning car bombings had been carried out by units from the Belfast and Mid-Ulster brigades. Two UVF men were blown up in this poorly planned attack. The UVFs last major attack was the 1994 Loughinisland massacre, in which its members shot dead six Catholic civilians in a rural pub, until recent years, it was noted for secrecy and a policy of limited, selective membership. The other main loyalist paramilitary group during the conflict was the Ulster Defence Association, since the ceasefire, the UVF has been involved in rioting, organised crime, vigilantism and feuds with other loyalist groups. Some members have also found responsible for orchestrating a series of racist attacks. The UVFs stated goal was to combat Irish republicanism – particularly the Provisional Irish Republican Army –, the vast majority of its victims were Irish Catholic civilians, who were often killed at random. Whenever it claimed responsibility for its attacks, the UVF usually claimed that those targeted were IRA members or were giving help to the IRA. Other times, attacks on Catholic civilians were claimed as retaliation for IRA actions, many retaliatory attacks on Catholics were claimed using the covername Protestant Action Force, which first appeared in autumn 1974. They always signed their statements with the fictitious name Captain William Johnston, like the Ulster Defence Association, the UVFs modus operandi involved assassinations, mass shootings, bombings and kidnappings. It used sub machine-guns, assault rifles, pistols, grenades, incendiary bombs, booby trap bombs, referring to its activity in the early and mid-1970s, journalist Ed Moloney described no-warning pub bombings as the UVFs forte. Members were trained in bomb-making and it developed home-made explosives, however, from 1977 bombs largely disappeared from the UVFs arsenal owing to a lack of explosives and bomb-makers, plus a conscious decision to abandon their use in favour of more contained methods
15.
William III of England
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It is a coincidence that his regnal number was the same for both Orange and England. As King of Scotland, he is known as William II and he is informally known by sections of the population in Northern Ireland and Scotland as King Billy. William inherited the principality of Orange from his father, William II and his mother Mary, Princess Royal, was the daughter of King Charles I of England. In 1677, he married his fifteen-year-old first cousin, Mary, a Protestant, William participated in several wars against the powerful Catholic king of France, Louis XIV, in coalition with Protestant and Catholic powers in Europe. Many Protestants heralded him as a champion of their faith, in 1685, his Catholic father-in-law, James, Duke of York, became king of England, Ireland and Scotland. Jamess reign was unpopular with the Protestant majority in Britain, William, supported by a group of influential British political and religious leaders, invaded England in what became known as the Glorious Revolution. On 5 November 1688, he landed at the southern English port of Brixham, James was deposed and William and Mary became joint sovereigns in his place. They reigned together until her death on 28 December 1694, after which William ruled as sole monarch, Williams reputation as a staunch Protestant enabled him to take the British crowns when many were fearful of a revival of Catholicism under James. Williams victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 is still commemorated by the Orange Order and his reign in Britain marked the beginning of the transition from the personal rule of the Stuarts to the more Parliament-centred rule of the House of Hanover. William III was born in The Hague in the Dutch Republic on 4 November 1650, baptised William Henry, he was the only child of stadtholder William II, Prince of Orange, and Mary, Princess Royal. Mary was the eldest daughter of King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland, eight days before William was born, his father died of smallpox, thus William was the Sovereign Prince of Orange from the moment of his birth. Immediately, a conflict ensued between his mother the Princess Royal and William IIs mother, Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, over the name to be given to the infant. Mary wanted to name him Charles after her brother, but her mother-in-law insisted on giving him the name William or Willem to bolster his prospects of becoming stadtholder. William II had appointed his wife as his sons guardian in his will, however, Williams mother showed little personal interest in her son, sometimes being absent for years, and had always deliberately kept herself apart from Dutch society. Williams education was first laid in the hands of several Dutch governesses, some of English descent, including Walburg Howard, from April 1656, the prince received daily instruction in the Reformed religion from the Calvinist preacher Cornelis Trigland, a follower of the Contra-Remonstrant theologian Gisbertus Voetius. The ideal education for William was described in Discours sur la nourriture de S. H. Monseigneur le Prince dOrange, in these lessons, the prince was taught that he was predestined to become an instrument of Divine Providence, fulfilling the historical destiny of the House of Orange. From early 1659, William spent seven years at the University of Leiden for a formal education, under the guidance of ethics professor Hendrik Bornius. While residing in the Prinsenhof at Delft, William had a personal retinue including Hans Willem Bentinck, and a new governor, Frederick Nassau de Zuylenstein
16.
Battle of the Boyne
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The battle took place across the River Boyne near the town of Drogheda in the east of Ireland, and resulted in a victory for William. This turned the tide in Jamess failed attempt to regain the British crown, the battle took place on 1 July 1690O. S. Williams forces defeated Jamess army, which consisted mostly of raw recruits, although the Williamite War in Ireland continued until October 1691, James fled to France after the Boyne, never to return. The symbolic importance of this battle has made it one of the battles in the history of the British Isles. Its commemoration today is principally by the Protestant Orange Institution, which records the first commemorative parades as having held in 1791. It is regarded as a moment in the struggle between Irish Protestant and Catholic interests. The previous year William had sent the Duke of Schomberg to take charge of the Irish campaign and he was a 75-year-old professional soldier who had accompanied William during the Glorious Revolution. Under his command, affairs had remained static and very little had been accomplished, William, dissatisfied with the state of affairs in Ireland, decided to take charge in person. In an Irish context, the war was a sectarian and ethnic conflict, for the Jacobites, the war was fought for Irish sovereignty, religious tolerance for Catholicism, and land ownership. The Catholic upper classes had lost almost all their lands after Cromwells conquest, as well as the right to public office, practice their religion. They saw the Catholic King James as a means of redressing these grievances, to these ends, under Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnel, they had raised an army to restore James after the Glorious Revolution. By 1690, they controlled all of Ireland except for the province of Ulster, most of James IIs troops at the Boyne were Irish Catholics, however, there were also Scots-Irish Presbyterians fighting for James II. Conversely, for the Williamites, the war was about maintaining Protestant, in particular, they dreaded a repeat of the Irish Rebellion of 1641, which had been marked by widespread killing. For these reasons, Protestants fought en masse for William of Orange, Jamess supporters controlled much of Ireland and the Irish Parliament. James also enjoyed the support of his cousin, Louis XIV, Louis sent 6,000 French troops to Ireland to support the Irish Jacobites. William was already Stadtholder of the Netherlands and was able to call on Dutch, James was a seasoned officer who had proven his bravery when fighting for his brother – King Charles II – in Europe, notably at the Battle of the Dunes. William, although a seasoned commander, was one of historys great generals and had yet to win a major battle. Many of his battles ended in stalemates, prompting at least one historian to argue that William lacked an ability to manage armies in the thick of conflict
17.
Battle of the Somme
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The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British and French empires against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on both sides of the reaches of the River Somme in France. The battle was intended to hasten a victory for the Allies and was the largest battle of the First World War on the Western Front, more than one million men were wounded or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history. The French and British had committed themselves to an offensive on the Somme during Allied discussions at Chantilly, Oise, in December 1915. Initial plans called for the French army to undertake the main part of the Somme offensive, the first day on the Somme was, in terms of casualties, also the worst day in the history of the British army, which suffered 57,470 casualties. These occurred mainly on the front between the Albert–Bapaume road and Gommecourt, where the attack was defeated and few British troops reached the German front line, the battle is notable for the importance of air power and the first use of the tank. At the end of the battle, British and French forces had penetrated 10 km into German-occupied territory, the Anglo-French armies failed to capture Péronne and halted 5 km from Bapaume, where the German armies maintained their positions over the winter. Debate continues over the necessity, significance and effect of the battle, David Frum opined that a century later, the Somme remains the most harrowing place-name in the history of the British Empire. Allied war strategy for 1916 was decided at the Chantilly Conference from 6–8 December 1915, in December 1915, General Sir Douglas Haig replaced Field Marshal Sir John French as Commander-in-Chief of the BEF. Haig favoured a British offensive in Flanders close to BEF supply routes, to drive the Germans from the Belgian coast, Haig was not formally subordinate to Marshal Joseph Joffre but the British played a lesser role on the Western Front and complied with French strategy. A week later the Germans began an offensive against the French at Verdun, by 31 May, the ambitious Franco-British plan for a decisive victory, had been reduced to a limited offensive to relieve pressure on the French at Verdun with a battle of attrition on the Somme. The Chief of the German General Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn, intended to end the war by splitting the Anglo-French Entente in 1916, Falkenhayn chose to attack towards Verdun to take the Meuse heights and make Verdun untenable. The British would then have to begin a hasty relief offensive, Falkenhayn expected the relief offensive to fall south of Arras against the Sixth Army and be destroyed. If such Franco-British defeats were not enough, Germany would attack the remnants of armies and end the western alliance for good. Eloi, south of Ypres and reduced the German counter-offensive strategy north of the Somme, to one of passive, the Battle of Verdun began a week after Joffre and Haig agreed to mount an offensive on the Somme. The battle changed the nature of the offensive on the Somme, as French divisions were diverted to Verdun, German overestimation of the cost of Verdun to the French contributed to the concentration of German infantry and guns on the north bank of the Somme. The German offensive at Verdun was suspended in July, and troops, guns, the Brusilov Offensive, absorbed the extra forces that had been requested on 2 June by Fritz von Below, commanding the German Second Army, for a spoiling attack on the Somme. During the offensive the Russians inflicted c. 1,500,000 losses including c. 407,000 prisoners, three divisions were ordered from France to the Eastern Front on 9 June and the spoiling attack on the Somme was abandoned
18.
36th (Ulster) Division
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The 36th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, part of Lord Kitcheners New Army, formed in September 1914. The division served on the Western Front as a formation of the British Army during the Great War, the divisions insignia was the Red Hand of Ulster. The Ulster Volunteers were a unionist militia founded in 1912 to block Home Rule for Ireland, in 1913 they organised themselves into the Ulster Volunteer Force to give armed resistance to the prospective Third Home Rule Act. With a rival Irish Volunteers being formed by nationalists in response, however, the outbreak of World War I intervened, the Act was put in abeyance until after what was expected to be a short war. The 36th Division was commanded by Major-General Oliver Nugent from 1915 to 1918, the 36th Division was one of the few divisions to make significant gains on the first day on the Somme. It attacked between the Ancre and Thiepval against a known as the Schwaben Redoubt. According to military historian Martin Middlebrook, The leading battalions had been ordered out from the wood just before 7. 30am, at zero hour the British barrage lifted. Up sprang the Ulstermen and, without forming up in the adopted by other divisions. By a combination of tactics and Ulster dash, the prize that eluded so many. During the Battle of the Somme the Ulster Division was the division of X Corps to have achieved its objectives on the opening day of the battle. This came at a price, with the division suffering in two days of fighting 5,500 officers and enlisted men killed, wounded or missing. War correspondent Philip Gibbs said of the Division, Their attack was one of the finest displays of courage in the world. Of nine Victoria Crosses given to British forces in the battle, Thiepval – Somme Thiepval, as a battle memorial, commemorates the 1916 Anglo-French offensive on the Somme. It pays tribute and respect for those who died where it stands and is the biggest British war memorial to the missing of The Western Front and it was built in the late 1920s to early 1930s. The 36th Ulster Divisions sector of the Somme lay astride the valley of the river Ancre. Their task was to cross the ridge and take the German second line near Grandcourt, in their path lay not only the German front line, but just beyond it, the intermediate line within which was the Schwaben Redoubt. To their left flank was the 29th Division, which included the Newfoundlanders, for them in less than half an hour it was all over,801 men went into action and on the unwounded name call next day, only 68 answered. To their right flank was the 32nd Division, including the Grimsby Chums, prior to the attack at 07,28 a large mine was exploded beneath the German line, the Chums would then attack at 07,30
19.
Orange Order
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The Loyal Orange Institution, more commonly known as the Orange Order, is a Protestant fraternal organisation based primarily in Northern Ireland. It also has a significant presence in the Scottish Lowlands and lodges throughout the Commonwealth, the Orange Order was founded in County Armagh in 1795, during a period of Protestant–Catholic sectarian conflict, as a Masonic-style brotherhood sworn to maintain the Protestant Ascendancy. It is headed by the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, which was established in 1798 and its name is a tribute to the Dutch-born Protestant king William of Orange, who defeated the army of Catholic king James VII & II in the Williamite War in Ireland. Its members wear orange sashes and are referred to as Orangemen, the Order is best known for its yearly marches, the biggest of which are held on or around 12 July. Politically, the Orange Order is a conservative British unionist organisation with links to Ulster loyalism and it campaigned against Scottish independence in 2014. The Order sees itself as defending Protestant civil and religious liberties, whilst critics accuse the Order of being sectarian and it has also been criticised for associating with loyalist paramilitary groups. As a Protestant society, it does not accept non-Protestants as members unless they convert and adhere to the principles of Orangeism, Orange marches through mainly Catholic and nationalist neighbourhoods in Northern Ireland are controversial and have often led to violence. In particular, the Institution remembers the victories of William III and his forces in Ireland in the early 1690s and these followed a tradition started in Elizabethan England of celebrating key events in the Protestant calendar. By the 1740s there were organisations holding parades in Dublin such as the Boyne Club, throughout the 1780s, sectarian tension had been building in County Armagh, largely due to the relaxation of the Penal Laws. Here the number of Protestants and Catholics were of equal number. Drunken brawls between rival gangs had by 1786 become openly sectarian, in September 1795, at a crossroads known as The Diamond near Loughgall, Defenders and Protestant Peep o Day Boys gathered to fight each other. When a contingent of Defenders from County Tyrone arrived on 21 September, however, the Peep o Day Boys quickly regrouped and opened fire on the Defenders. According to William Blacker, the battle was short and the Defenders suffered not less than thirty deaths. After the battle had ended, the Peep o Days marched into Loughgall, and in the house of James Sloan they founded the Orange Order, the principal pledge of these lodges was to defend the King and his heirs so long as he or they support the Protestant Ascendancy. At the start the Orange Order was an organisation to the Defenders in that it was a secret oath-bound society that used passwords. One of the few landed gentry that joined the Orange Order at the outset. He says that a determination was expressed to driving from this quarter of the county the entire of its Roman Catholic population, with notices posted warning them to Hell or Connaught. Other people were warned by notices not to inform on local Orangemen or I will Blow your Soul to the Low hils of Hell And Burn the House you are in, within two months,7,000 Catholics had been driven out of County Armagh
20.
Ulster Protestants
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Ulster Protestants are an ethnoreligious group in the Irish province of Ulster, where they make up about 54% of the population. These settlers were mostly Lowland Scottish and Northern English people and predominantly from Galloway, begun privately in 1606, the Plantation of Ulster became government-sponsored in 1609, with much land for settlement being allocated to the Livery Companies of the City of London. By 1622 there was a settler population of about 19,000. Ulster Protestants descend from a variety of lineages, including Scots, English, Irish, and Huguenots. Another influx of an estimated 20,000 Scottish Protestants, mainly to the counties of Antrim, Down. This migration decisively changed the population of Ulster, giving it a Protestant majority, most Ulster Protestants are Presbyterian or Anglican, Scottish colonists were mostly Presbyterian and the English mostly members of the Church of England. Between 1717 and 1775, an estimated 200,000 migrated to what became the United States of America, some Presbyterians also returned to Scotland during this period, where the Presbyterian Church of Scotland was the state religion. This repression by Anglicans largely ended after the Irish Rebellion of 1798, as Belfast became industrialised in the 19th century, it attracted yet more Protestant immigrants from Scotland. Because of these migrations, Ulster has a proportion of Catholics than the other provinces of Ireland. The vast majority of Ulster Protestants live in Northern Ireland, which is part of the present-day United Kingdom, most tend to support its Union with Great Britain, and are thus known as unionists. Unlike Protestants in the rest of the Republic, some retain a sense of Britishness, most Ulster Protestants speak Ulster English, and some speak one of the Ulster Scots dialects. British nationalism Protestantism in Ireland Unionism in Ireland Amity and enmity, variety in Ulster Protestant culture Ulster Protestants - Blood & Belonging
21.
United Ireland
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This proposal is advocated by Irish nationalists, while Unionists and many British nationalists support Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom. The legally distinct region of Northern Ireland has been in existence since May 1921, such referenda may not take place within seven years of each other. The Government of Ireland Act 1914 provided for a unitary devolved Irish Parliament and it was signed into law in September 1914 in the midst of the Home Rule Crisis and at the outbreak of the First World War. On the same day, the Suspensory Act 1914 suspended its actual operation, in 1916, a group of revolutionaries led by the Irish Republican Brotherhood launched the Easter Rising, during which they issued a Proclamation of the Irish Republic. The rebellion was not successful and sixteen of the leaders were executed, the small separatist party Sinn Féin became associated with the Rising in its aftermath as several of those involved it were party members. The Irish Convention held between 1917 and 1918 sought to reach agreement on manner in which home rule would be implemented after the war, all Irish parties were invited, but Sinn Féin boycotted the proceedings. At the 1918 election Sinn Féin won 73 of the 105 seats, however, there was a strong regional divide, with the Ulster Unionist Party wining 23 of the 38 seats in Ulster. Sinn Féin had run on a manifesto of abstaining from the United Kingdom House of Commons, and from 1919 met in Dublin as Dáil Éireann, at its first meeting, the Dáil adopted the Declaration of Independence, a claim which it made in respect of the entire island. Supporters of this Declaration fought in the Irish War of Independence, section 3 of this Act provided that the parliaments may be united only by identical acts of parliament of the House of Commons of each parliament. A truce in the War of Independence was called in July 1921, from the Constitution of Ireland in 1937, this became the state of Ireland, and left the British Commonwealth in 1949, following the implementation of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948. Under the terms of the Treaty, it remained a matter for the Parliament of Northern Ireland to decide whether become part of the Irish Free State, the report of Boundary Commission in 1925 established under the Treaty did not lead to any alteration in the border. Sinn Féin favour a united Ireland, as does the Social Democratic, in 1999, Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish constitution were amended to abandon the Republics territorial claim on Northern Ireland, although it still refers to itself officially as Ireland. A united Ireland outside of the UK has long opposed by all unionist. This opposition initially manifested itself in an electoral repudiation, particularly in Ulster and also in parts of Dublin, the religious denominations of the citizens of Northern Ireland are only a stereotypical guide to their likely political preferences, as there are both Protestant nationalists and Catholic unionists. Surveys identify a significant number of Catholics who favour the union without identifying themselves as unionists or British. Unionist paramilitary groups have opposed a United Ireland since the early 1900s, recent immigrants to Ireland, and their descendants, some of whom are neither Catholic nor Protestant, have differing views on the issue. However only those with UK or Irish Citizenship, and who are resident in NI, have a vote on the matter, most were described in the records as king with opposition. What prevented the consolidation of national power even by the Ard Rí was the fact that the island was divided into a number of autonomous
22.
Falls Road, Belfast
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The Falls Road is the main road through west Belfast, Northern Ireland, running from Divis Street in Belfast city centre to Andersonstown in the suburbs. Its name is synonymous with the community in the city, whilst the neighbouring Shankill Road is predominantly loyalist. The road is referred to as the Falls Road, rather than as Falls Road. It is known as the Faas Raa in Ulster-Scots, the Falls Road derives its name from the Irish túath na bhFál, an Irish petty-kingdom whose name means territory of the enclosures. This territory was roughly the same as that of the parish of the Shankill. All of these have now closed or have been repurposed, the housing in the area developed in the 19th century and was organised in narrow streets of small terraced housing. Many of these streets were named after characters and events in the Crimean War which was occurring at that time and these included Raglan Street, Alma Street, Balaklava Street, Inkerman Street, and Sevastopol Street. The high point of this redevelopment was Divis Tower, built on top of the district formerly known as the Pound Loney. The Falls Road district can be divided into three sections. The Lower Falls which includes Divis Street starts near the city centre, the middle Falls district centres on Beechmount. The Upper Falls starts about the Donegall Road and continues into Andersonstown, Éamon de Valera lost heavily here in the 1918 UK General Election to the IPPs Joe Devlin. Connollys secretary Winifred Carney also lived on the Falls with her husband, George McBride, the past century has seen an ongoing contest between various versions of labour/socialist and nationalist/Irish republican for electoral leadership in the area. In the 1945 election, Harry Diamond won the standing for the Socialist Republican Party. He held the seat until 1969, when he was defeated by Paddy Devlin standing for the Northern Ireland Labour Party, in 1964, Billy McMillen stood as a Republican Clubs candidate for the Belfast West constituency in the Westminster election. His office was in Divis Street and the Irish tricolour alongside the Starry Plough of Connollys Irish Citizen Army was displayed in the window, the public display of the flag of the Republic of Ireland was banned by the Northern Ireland Government. Protestant preacher Ian Paisley insisted the Royal Ulster Constabulary remove the flag or he would organise a march, the police feared a backlash from Loyalists, and removed it, causing unrest and rioting by nationalists. Many Unionists saw NICRA as an Irish republican Trojan horse, designed to destabilize Northern Ireland, several streets around the Falls Road were burnt out by loyalists in August 1969. In response to the situation, the British Government deployed the British Army on the Falls Road
23.
Free Derry Corner
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Free Derry Corner is a historical landmark in the Bogside neighbourhood of Derry, Northern Ireland, which lies in the intersection of the Lecky Road, Rossville Street and Fahan Street. A free-standing gable wall commemorates Free Derry, a self-declared autonomous nationalist area of Derry that existed between 1969 and 1972, on the corner is a memorial to the 1981 hunger strikers and several murals. There is also a memorial to those who died engaging in activity as part of the Provisional IRAs Derry brigade. In January 1969 a local activist, John Caker Casey, painted a sign on a gable wall stating, the area in front of the wall became known as Free Derry Corner by the inhabitants. It and the streets were the scene of the Battle of the Bogside in 1969. The houses on Lecky Road and Fahan Street were subsequently demolished and it has been repainted at frequent intervals. The landmark has the feature of being located in the middle of three road junctions
24.
Battle of the Bogside
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The Battle of the Bogside was a very large communal riot that took place during 12–14 August 1969 in Derry, Northern Ireland. The fighting was between residents of the Bogside area, and the Royal Ulster Constabulary along with local unionists, the rioting erupted at the end of an Apprentice Boys parade which was passing along the city walls, past the Catholic Bogside. Fierce rioting broke out between local unionists and the police on one side and Catholics on the other, rioting between police and Bogside residents continued for three days. The police were unable to enter the area and eventually the British Army was deployed to restore order, the riot, which sparked widespread violence elsewhere in Northern Ireland, is commonly seen as one of the first major confrontations in the conflict known as the Troubles. Tensions had been building in Derry for over a year before the Battle of the Bogside, in part, this was due to long-standing grievances held by much of the citys population. The city had a majority Catholic and nationalist population, in 1961, for example, the population was 53,744, of which 36,049 was Catholic and 17,695 Protestant. However, because of gerrymandering after the partition of Ireland, it had ruled by the Ulster Unionist Party since 1925. Unionists maintained political control of Derry by two means, firstly, electoral wards were designed so as to give unionists a majority of elected representatives in the city. The Londonderry County Borough, which covered the city, had won by nationalists in 1921. It was recovered by unionists, however, following re-drawing of electoral boundaries by the unionist government in the Northern Ireland Parliament, secondly, only owners or tenants of a dwelling and their spouses were allowed to vote in local elections. Nationalists argued that these practices were retained by unionists after their abolition in Great Britain in 1945 in order to reduce the anti-unionist vote, figures show that, in Derry city, nationalists comprised 61. 6% of parliamentary electors, but only 54. 7% of local government electors. There was also widespread discrimination in employment, as a result, although Catholics made up 60% of Derrys population in 1961, due to the division of electoral wards, unionists had a majority of 12 seats to 8 on the city council. When there arose the possibility of nationalists gaining one of the wards, control of the city council gave unionists control over the allocation of public housing, which they allocated in such a way as to keep the Catholic population in a limited number of wards. This policy had the effect of creating a housing shortage for Catholics. In March 1968, a number of activists in the city founded the Derry Housing Action Committee. The groups founders were mostly members of the Northern Ireland Labour Party, such as Eamonn McCann. By the summer of 1968, this group had linked up with the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association and were agitating for a programme of reform within Northern Ireland. On 5 October 1968, these activists organised a march through the centre of Derry, when the marchers, including Members of Parliament Eddie McAteer and Ivan Cooper, defied this ban they were batoned by the Royal Ulster Constabulary
25.
Derry Journal
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The Derry Journal is a newspaper based in Derry, Northern Ireland, serving County Londonderry as well as County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. It is operated by a Johnston Press holding company entitled Derry Journal Newspapers, the paper is published on Tuesday and Friday and is a sister paper of the Sunday Journal, the only local newspaper published in Ireland on a Sunday. It is the second oldest newspaper still in existence in Ireland, the London-Derry Journal and General Advertiser was a four-page paper that cost one penny and was initially published on Wednesday and Saturday. In its early days, the editorial policy was that of the Protestant community who would become known as Unionists in the following decades. However, in 1829 the paper endorsed Catholic Emancipation, leading to the editor, William Wallen, to resign in protest to form the Londonderry Sentinel. The papers position became more nationalist throughout the century and was renamed the Derry Journal in 1880. The next major change to the paper took place in January 1958 when the paper reverted to its current publishing schedule, the Journal is also the only mainstream newspaper to have been banned on both sides of the border, firstly in 1932 and again in 1940. Under the McCarroll family, the paper was firmly nationalist and it is this that is believed to have been behind a ban on the newspaper in the Irish Free State in January 1932. The Journal had been calling for Donegal voters to back Fianna Fáil candidates in the election and had been a strong critic of the Cumann na nGaedheal government. On Monday 6 January, Gardaí across Donegal told newsagents not to sell the paper until further notice, however, the source of the ban remains unknown and was rescinded almost immediately. The second ban was enforced in Northern Ireland by the Unionist government on 1 June 1940 and this ban came again because of the papers nationalist point of view - it had sided with the neutral Éire government, which Stormont believed amounted to not supporting the Allied war effort. Johnston Press took ownership through the purchase of Local Press in November 2005 and it is now operated by the holding company Derry Journal Newspapers
26.
Great Famine (Ireland)
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The Great Famine or the Great Hunger was a period of mass starvation, disease, and emigration in Ireland between 1845 and 1852. It is sometimes referred to, mostly outside Ireland, as the Irish Potato Famine, during the famine, approximately one million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland, causing the islands population to fall by between 20% and 25%. The proximate cause of famine was potato blight, which ravaged potato crops throughout Europe during the 1840s, the famine was a watershed in the history of Ireland, which was then part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The famine and its effects permanently changed the demographic, political. For both the native Irish and those in the diaspora, the famine entered folk memory. Ireland sent 105 members of parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, between 1832 and 1859, 70% of Irish representatives were landowners or the sons of landowners. The laws had largely been reformed by 1793, and the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 allowed Irish Catholics to again sit in parliament, during the 18th century, the middleman system for managing landed property was introduced. Rent collection was left in the hands of the landlords agents and this assured the landlord of a regular income, and relieved them of direct responsibility, while leaving tenants open to exploitation by the middlemen. Catholics, the bulk of whom lived in conditions of poverty and insecurity despite Catholic emancipation in 1829, made up 80% of the population. At the top of the pyramid was the ascendancy class, the English and Anglo-Irish families who owned most of the land. Some of their estates were vast, for example, the Earl of Lucan owned over 60,000 acres, many of these landlords lived in England and were known as absentee landlords. The rent revenue—collected from impoverished tenants who were paid wages to raise crops. In 1843, the British Government considered that the question in Ireland was the root cause of disaffection in the country. They established a Royal Commission, chaired by the Earl of Devon, Daniel OConnell described this commission as perfectly one-sided, being composed of landlords, with no tenant representation. In February 1845, Devon reported, It would be impossible adequately to describe the privations which they habitually and silently endure, in many districts their only food is the potato, their only beverage water. Their cabins are seldom a protection against the weather, a bed or a blanket is a rare luxury. And nearly in all their pig and a manure heap constitute their only property, the Commission stated that bad relations between landlord and tenant were principally responsible. There was no loyalty, feudal tie, or mitigating tradition of paternalism as existed in England
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History of Ireland
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Christianity subsumed or replaced the earlier polytheism and other forms of Celtic paganism by the end of the 7th century. The Norman invasion of the late 12th century marked the beginning of more than 800 years of direct English rule and, later, in 1177 Prince John Lackland was made Lord of Ireland by his father Henry II of England at the Council of Oxford. The Crown did not attempt to assert control of the island until the rebellion of the Earl of Kildare threatened English hegemony. Henry VIII proclaimed himself King of Ireland and also tried to introduce the English Reformation, attempts to either conquer or assimilate the Irish lordships into the Kingdom of Ireland provided the initial impetus for a series of Irish military campaigns between 1534 and 1603. As the military and political defeat of Gaelic Ireland became more pronounced in the seventeenth century. The 1614 overthrow of the Catholic majority in the Irish Parliament was realised principally through the creation of new boroughs which were dominated by the new settlers. By the end of the century, recusants, representing some 85% of Irelands population, were then banned from the Irish Parliament. Protestant domination of Ireland was confirmed after two periods of war between Catholics and Protestants in 1641-52 and 1689-91, although promised a repeal of the Test Act, Catholics were not granted full rights until Catholic Emancipation was attained throughout the new UK in 1829. This was followed by the first Reform Act 1832, a condition of which was the removal of the poorer British and Irish freeholders from the franchise. The Easter Rising staged by two years later brought physical force republicanism back to the forefront of Irish politics. The six northeastern counties, known as Northern Ireland, remained within the United Kingdom, the Irish Civil War followed soon after the War of Independence. The history of Northern Ireland has since dominated by sporadic sectarian conflict between Irish nationalists and unionists. This conflict erupted into the Troubles in the late 1960s, until peace was achieved with the Belfast Agreement thirty years later, what is known of pre-Christian Ireland comes from references in Roman writings, Irish poetry and myth, and archaeology. While some possible Paleolithic tools have been found, none of the finds are convincing of Paleolithic settlement in Ireland. However a bear found in Alice and Gwendoline Cave, County Clare. The bone shows signs of cut marks with stone tools. The people remained hunter-gatherers until about 6000 BCE, some of these tombs, as at Knowth and Dowth, are huge stone monuments and many of them, such as the Passage Tombs of Newgrange, are astronomically aligned. Four main types of Irish Megalithic Tombs have been identified, dolmens, court cairns, passage tombs, in Leinster and Munster, individual adult males were buried in small stone structures, called cists, under earthen mounds and were accompanied by distinctive decorated pottery
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Irish mythology
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The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity. However, much of it was preserved in medieval Irish literature and this literature represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology. There are also a number of extant mythological texts that do not fit any of the cycles. Additionally, there are a number of recorded folk tales that, while not strictly mythological. Despite the dates of these sources, most of the material they contain predates their composition, the earliest of the prose can be dated on linguistic grounds to the 8th century, and some of the verse may be as old as the 6th century. The first of these part of the earliest known version of the Táin Bó Cúailnge and is housed in Trinity College. The other three are in the Royal Academy, when using these sources, it is, as always, important to question the impact of the circumstances in which they were produced. There was also a tendency to rework Irish genealogies to fit into the known schema of Greek or Biblical genealogy and it was once unquestioned that medieval Irish literature preserved truly ancient traditions in a form virtually unchanged through centuries of oral tradition back to the ancient Celts of Europe. A consensus has emerged which encourages the critical reading of the material, the Mythological Cycle, comprising stories of the former gods and origins of the Irish, is the least well preserved of the four cycles. The most important sources are the Metrical Dindshenchas or Lore of Places, Other manuscripts preserve such mythological tales as The Dream of Aengus, The Wooing Of Étain and Cath Maige Tuireadh, The Battle of Magh Tuireadh. One of the best known of all Irish stories, Oidheadh Clainne Lir, Lebor Gabála Érenn is a pseudo-history of Ireland, tracing the ancestry of the Irish back to before Noah. They faced opposition from their enemies, the Fomorians, led by Balor of the Evil Eye, Balor was eventually slain by Lug Lámfada at the second battle of Magh Tuireadh. With the arrival of the Gaels, the Tuatha Dé Danann retired underground to become the people of later myth. The Metrical Dindshenchas is the great work of early Ireland. It includes a lot of important information on Mythological Cycle figures and stories, including the Battle of Tailtiu, in which the Tuatha Dé Danann were defeated by the Milesians. It is important to note that by the Middle Ages the Tuatha Dé Danann were not viewed so much as gods as the shape-shifting magician population of an earlier Golden Age Ireland. Texts such as Lebor Gabála Érenn and Cath Maige Tuireadh present them as kings and heroes of the distant past, however, there is considerable evidence, both in the texts and from the wider Celtic world, that they were once considered deities. Even after they are displaced as the rulers of Ireland, characters such as Lug, a poem in the Book of Leinster lists many of the Tuatha Dé, but ends Although enumerates them, he does not worship them
29.
C. S. Lewis
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Clive Staples Lewis was a British novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian, broadcaster, lecturer, and Christian apologist. He held academic positions at both Oxford University and Cambridge University, Lewis and fellow novelist J. R. R. Tolkien were close friends. They both served on the English faculty at Oxford University, and were active in the informal Oxford literary group known as the Inklings, according to Lewiss memoir Surprised by Joy, he was baptised in the Church of Ireland, but fell away from his faith during adolescence. Lewis returned to Anglicanism at the age of 32, owing to the influence of Tolkien and other friends and his faith profoundly affected his work, and his wartime radio broadcasts on the subject of Christianity brought him wide acclaim. In 1956, he married American writer Joy Davidman, she died of cancer four years later at the age of 45, Lewis died on 22 November 1963 from renal failure, one week before his 65th birthday. In 2013, on the 50th anniversary of his death, Lewis was honoured with a memorial in Poets Corner in Westminster Abbey, Lewiss works have been translated into more than 30 languages and have sold millions of copies. The books that make up The Chronicles of Narnia have sold the most and have been popularised on stage, TV, radio and his works entered the public domain in 2014 in countries where copyright expires 50 years after the death of the creator, such as Canada. Clive Staples Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland, on 29 November 1898 and his father was Albert James Lewis, a solicitor whose father Richard had come to Ireland from Wales during the mid-19th century. His mother was Florence Augusta Lewis, née Hamilton, known as Flora and he had an elder brother, Warren Hamilton Lewis. When he was four, his dog Jacksie was killed by a car, at first, he would answer to no other name, but later accepted Jack, the name by which he was known to friends and family for the rest of his life. When he was seven, his family moved into Little Lea, as a boy, Lewis was fascinated with anthropomorphic animals, he fell in love with Beatrix Potters stories and often wrote and illustrated his own animal stories. He and his brother Warnie created the world of Boxen, inhabited, Lewis loved to read, his fathers house was filled with books, and he felt that finding a book to read was as easy as walking into a field and finding a new blade of grass. Lewis was schooled by tutors before being sent to the Wynyard School in Watford, Hertfordshire, in 1908. Lewiss brother had enrolled there three years previously, the school was closed not long afterwards due to a lack of pupils, the headmaster Robert Oldie Capron was soon after committed to a psychiatric hospital. Lewis then attended Campbell College in the east of Belfast about a mile from his home and he was then sent to the health-resort town of Malvern, Worcestershire, where he attended the preparatory school Cherbourg House, which Lewis calls Chartres in his autobiography. It was during this time that Lewis abandoned his childhood Christian faith and became an atheist, becoming interested in mythology, in September 1913, Lewis enrolled at Malvern College, where he remained until the following June. He found the school socially competitive, after leaving Malvern, he studied privately with William T. Kirkpatrick, his fathers old tutor and former headmaster of Lurgan College. As a teenager, Lewis was wonder-struck by the songs and legends of what he called Northernness and these legends intensified an inner longing he later called joy
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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis, published by Geoffrey Bles in 1950. Its the first published and best known of seven novels in The Chronicles of Narnia, among all the authors books it is also the most widely held in libraries. Although it was written as well as published first in the series, like the others, it was illustrated by Pauline Baynes, and her work has been retained in many later editions. Most of the novel is set in Narnia, a land of talking animals, in the frame story, four English children are relocated to a large, old country house following a wartime evacuation. The youngest visits Narnia three times via the magic of a wardrobe in a spare room, All four children are together on her third visit, which verifies her fantastic claims and comprises the subsequent 12 of 17 chapters except for a brief conclusion. In Narnia, the siblings seem fit to fulfill an old prophecy, Lewis wrote the book for, and dedicated it to, his goddaughter Lucy Barfield. She was the daughter of Owen Barfield, Lewiss friend, teacher, adviser, in 1940, four siblings – Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie – are among many children evacuated from London during World War II to escape the Blitz. They are sent to the countryside to live with professor Digory Kirke, Exploring the professors house, Lucy finds a wardrobe which doubles as a magic portal to a forest in a land called Narnia. At a lamppost oddly located in the forest, she meets Tumnus, a faun, there the faun confesses that he invited her not out of hospitality, but with the intention of betraying her to the White Witch. The witch has ruled Narnia for years, using magic to keep it frozen in a perpetual winter and she has ordered all Narnians to turn in any humans they come across. But now that he has come to know and like a human, Tumnus repents his original intention, Lucy returns through the wardrobe and finds that only a few seconds have passed in normal time during her absence. Her siblings do not believe her story about another world inside the wardrobe, during a game of hide-and-seek on some days later, Lucy again passes into Narnia. This time her brother Edmund chances to follow her and he meets Jadis, who calls herself Queen of Narnia. When she learns that he is human and has two sisters and a brother, she places an enchantment on him and she urges him to bring his siblings to her castle, promising in return to make him her heir. When Lucy and Edmund return together through the wardrobe, Edmund realizes that the queen he met and the witch Lucy describes are one and he denies to the others that he has been in Narnia at all. Peter and Susan are puzzled by Lucys insistence, and consult the Professor, soon afterward, all four children enter Narnia together after hiding in the wardrobe to avoid the professors dour housekeeper, Mrs. Macready. Remembering the winter cold ahead, they take coats from the wardrobe before exploring, Lucy guides them to Tumnuss cave, but they find it ransacked, with a notice from Jadis proclaiming his arrest for harbouring humans. A talking beaver intercepts them, proves himself a friend, there, he and Mrs. Beaver tell them of a prophecy that Jadiss power will fail when two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve fill the four thrones at Cair Paravel
31.
Bogside Artists
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The Bogside Artists are a trio of mural painters from Derry, Northern Ireland, consisting of Tom Kelly, his brother William Kelly, and Kevin Hasson. The Bogside Artists first began working together in 1993 to document the events surrounding the Northern Ireland Troubles, with supplies donated from local residents, they painted several murals on the walls of Rossville Street buildings commemorating the Battle of Bogside and Bloody Sunday. From 1994 to 2008, they painted a total of twelve murals on this street in the Bogside, the Peoples Gallery spans the entire length of Rossville Street, which runs through the centre of the Bogside. The gallery has never been promoted either by the council or by any other body including the tour bodies or arts bodies many of which are run by Sinn Féin. It was in the Bogside on 30 January 1972 that 13 civilians were killed by British Army paratroopers in the Bloody Sunday disturbances. The Bogside Artists have exhibited their work widely in various cities, including Boston, Sydney, Brisbane, Chicago, London and Washington and they have painted a number of other works, most notably a mural of Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington D. C. In September 2011 they painted a mural for the town of Vordernberg Austria on the theme of the New World Order. More recently they completed a mural for Europes City of Culture Maribor and they see their work as humanitarian and human as men speaking to men and have little time or interest in contemporary art. All real art is contemporary as it has its origins in the state of mind which is timeless. On their website you will find their manifesto and they were also featured in many documentaries What You See Is What You Get and Window on the West, etc. In November 2005, Walter Momper, president of the Berlin State Parliament and he criticised the artists for their partiality in only representing one side of the conflicts in Northern Ireland. The artists stated that the murals are intended to be a human document rather than a political or sectarian statement, list of Northern Irish artists Northern Irish murals The Bogside A The Bogside Artists Website rtists website Bogside Artists CAIN – Bogside Artists
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Smithsonian Institution
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The Smithsonian Institution, established in 1846 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge, is a group of museums and research centers administered by the Government of the United States. Originally organized as the United States National Museum, that ceased to exist as an administrative entity in 1967. Additional facilities are located in Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York City, Texas, Virginia, more than 200 institutions and museums in 45 states, Puerto Rico, and Panama are Smithsonian Affiliates. The Institutions thirty million annual visitors are admitted without charge and its annual budget is around $1.2 billion with 2/3 coming from annual federal appropriations. Other funding comes from the Institutions endowment, private and corporate contributions, membership dues, and earned retail, concession, Institution publications include Smithsonian and Air & Space magazines. The British scientist James Smithson left most of his wealth to his nephew Henry James Hungerford, Congress officially accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation, and pledged the faith of the United States to the charitable trust on July 1,1836. The American diplomat Richard Rush was dispatched to England by President Andrew Jackson to collect the bequest, Rush returned in August 1838 with 105 sacks containing 104,960 gold sovereigns. Once the money was in hand, eight years of Congressional haggling ensued over how to interpret Smithsons rather vague mandate for the increase, unfortunately, the money was invested by the US Treasury in bonds issued by the state of Arkansas which soon defaulted. The United States Exploring Expedition by the U. S. Navy circumnavigated the globe between 1838 and 1842, in 1846, the regents developed a plan for weather observation, in 1847, money was appropriated for meteorological research. The Institution became a magnet for young scientists from 1857 to 1866, the Smithsonian played a critical role as the U. S. partner institution in early bilateral scientific exchanges with the Academy of Sciences of Cuba. The Smithsonian Institution Building began construction in 1849, designed by architect James Renwick Jr. its interiors were completed by general contract Gilbert Cameron and the building opened in 1855. The Smithsonians first expansion came with construction of the Arts and Industries Building in 1881, Congress had promised to build a new structure for the museum if the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition generated enough income. It did, and the building was designed by architects Adolf Cluss and Paul Schulze, meigs of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The National Zoological Park opened in 1889 to accommodate the Smithsonians Department of Living Animals and this structure was designed by the D. C. architectural firm of Hornblower & Marshall. More than 40 years would pass before the museum, the Museum of History. It was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White. That same year, the Smithsonian signed an agreement to take over the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration, the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum opened in the Old Patent Office Building on October 7,1968. The first new building to open since the National Museum of Natural History was the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
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National Mall
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The National Mall is a national park in downtown Washington, D. C. the capital of the United States. The National Park Service administers the National Mall, which is part of its National Mall, a smaller designation, sometimes referred to as the Mall proper, excludes both the Capitol grounds and the Washington Monument grounds, applying only to an area between them. The National Mall contains a number of museums and memorials and receives approximately 24 million visitors each year, in his 1791 plan for the future city of Washington, D. C. The National Mall occupies the site of this grand avenue. The Washington Monument stands near the site of its namesakes equestrian statue. Mathew Careys 1802 map is reported to be the first to name the area west of the United States Capitol as the Mall, during the early 1850s, architect and horticulturist Andrew Jackson Downing designed a landscape plan for the Mall. Over the next century, federal agencies developed several naturalistic parks within the Mall in accordance with Downings plan. Two such areas were Henry Park and Seaton Park, in addition, railroad tracks crossed the Mall on 6th Street, west of the Capitol. Near the tracks, a market and a railroad station rose on the north side of the Mall. Greenhouses belonging to the U. S. Botanic Garden appeared near the east end of the Mall, the plan differed from LEnfants by replacing the 400 feet wide grand avenue with a 300 feet wide vista containing a long and broad expanse of grass. Four rows of American elm trees planted fifty feet apart between two paths or streets would line each side of the vista. Buildings housing cultural and educational institutions constructed in the Beaux-Arts style would line each outer path or street, on the opposite side of the path or street from the elms. In subsequent years, the vision of the McMillan plan was followed with the planting of American elms. In accordance with a plan that it completed in 1976, the NPS converted the two innermost boulevards into gravel walking paths, the two outermost boulevards remain paved and open to vehicular traffic. Although the Navy intended the buildings to provide quarters for the United States military during World War I. Much of the area then became Constitution Gardens, which was dedicated in 1976. From the 1970s to 1994, a model of a triceratops named Uncle Beazley stood on the Mall in front of the National Museum of Natural History. The life-size statue, which is now located at the National Zoological Park in Northwest Washington, in 2003, the 108th United States Congress enacted the Commemorative Works Clarification and Revision Act
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Provisional Irish Republican Army
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It was the biggest and most active republican paramilitary group during the Troubles. It saw itself as the successor to the original IRA and called simply the Irish Republican Army. It was also referred to as such by others. The Provisional IRA emerged in December 1969, following a split in the republican movement, the IRA initially focused on defence, but it began an offensive campaign in 1971. The IRAs primary goal was to force the British to negotiate a withdrawal from Northern Ireland and it used guerrilla tactics against the British Army and RUC in both rural and urban areas. It also carried out a campaign in Northern Ireland and England against what it saw as political. The IRA called a ceasefire in July 1997, after Sinn Féin was re-admitted into the Northern Ireland peace talks. It supported the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and in 2005 it disarmed under international supervision, the campaign was supported by arms and funding from Libya and from some Irish American groups. As a result, the IRA launched a new strategy known as the Long War and this saw them conduct a war of attrition against the British and increased emphasis on political activity, via the political party Sinn Féin. The success of the 1981 Irish hunger strike in mobilising support and winning elections led to the Armalite and ballot box strategy, with more time, the British demand was quickly dropped after the May 1997 general election in the UK. The IRA ceasefire was reinstated in July 1997 and Sinn Féin was admitted into all-party talks. The IRAs armed campaign, primarily in Northern Ireland but also in England and mainland Europe, the dead included around 1,100 members of the British security forces, and about 640 civilians. The IRA itself lost 275–300 members and an estimated 10,000 imprisoned at times over the 30-year period. The organisation remains classified as a proscribed terrorist group in the UK, two small groups split from the Provisional IRA, the Continuity IRA in 1986, and the Real IRA in 1997. Both reject the Good Friday Agreement and continue to engage in paramilitary activity and this new IRA group is estimated by Police Service of Northern Ireland intelligence sources to have between 250 and 300 active militants and many more supporting associates. The Provisional IRA was organised hierarchically, at the top of the organisation was the IRA Army Council, headed by the IRA Chief of Staff. All levels of the organisation were entitled to send delegates to IRA General Army Conventions, the GAC was the IRAs supreme decision-making authority. Since 1969, there have only three, in 1970,1986, and 2005, owing to the difficulty in organising such a large gathering of an illegal organisation in secret
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Easter Rising
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The Easter Rising, also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week, April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans to end British rule in Ireland and it was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798, and the first armed action of the Irish revolutionary period. Organised by a seven-man Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Rising began on Easter Monday,24 April 1916, the British Army brought in thousands of reinforcements as well as artillery and a gunboat. There was fierce fighting on the routes into the city centre. Elsewhere in Dublin, the fighting consisted of sniping and long-range gun battles. The main rebel positions were surrounded and bombarded with artillery. Germany had sent a shipment of arms to the rebels, Volunteer leader Eoin MacNeill had then issued a countermand in a bid to halt the Rising, which greatly reduced the number of rebels who mobilised. With much greater numbers and heavier weapons, the British Army suppressed the Rising, Pearse agreed to an unconditional surrender on Saturday 29 April, although sporadic fighting continued until Sunday, when word reached the other rebel positions. After the surrender the country remained under martial law, about 3,500 people were taken prisoner by the British, many of whom had played no part in the Rising, and 1,800 of them were sent to internment camps or prisons in Britain. Most of the leaders of the Rising were executed following courts-martial, the Rising brought physical force republicanism back to the forefront of Irish politics, which for nearly 50 years had been dominated by constitutional nationalism. It, and the British reaction to it, led to increased support for Irish independence. In December 1918, republicans, represented by the reconstituted Sinn Féin party and they did not take their seats, but instead convened the First Dáil and declared the independence of the Irish Republic, which led to the War of Independence. 485 people were killed in the Easter Rising, about 54% were civilians, 30% were British military and police, and 16% were Irish rebels. Many of the civilians were killed as a result of the British using artillery and heavy machine guns, others were caught in the crossfire in a crowded city. The shelling and the fires it caused left parts of inner city Dublin in ruins, from early on, many Irish nationalists opposed the union and the ensuing exploitation and impoverishment of the island, which led to a high level of depopulation. Opposition took various forms, constitutional, social and revolutionary, the Irish Home Rule movement sought to achieve self-government for Ireland, within the United Kingdom. In 1886, the Irish Parliamentary Party under Charles Stewart Parnell succeeded in having the First Home Rule Bill introduced in the British parliament, the Second Home Rule Bill of 1893 was passed by the House of Commons but rejected by the House of Lords. After the fall of Parnell, younger and more radical nationalists became disillusioned with parliamentary politics, the Gaelic Athletic Association, the Gaelic League and the cultural revival under W. B
36.
Michael Devine (hunger striker)
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Michael James Mickey Devine was an Irish founding member of the Irish National Liberation Army. He died in prison during the 1981 Irish hunger strike, Devine, also known as Red Mickey because of his red hair, was born into a family from the Springtown Camp, Derry, Northern Ireland. Devine was educated to a level at Holy Child Primary School, Creggan. After British soldiers shot dead two unarmed civilians, Dessie Beattie and Raymond Cusack, Devine joined the James Connolly Republican Club in Derry in July 1971, bloody Sunday had a deep impact on Devine. In the early 1970s, Devine joined the Labour Party and Young Socialists, Devine helped found the Irish National Liberation Army in 1975. In 1976, after a raid in County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. He was convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison and he joined the blanket protest before joining the hunger strike. Devine participated in a hunger strike in 1980, which was called off without fatalities. On 22 June 1981, Devine joined the 1981 Irish hunger strike and he died on 20 August, the tenth and last of the hunger strikers to die. Text of Clarke Sunday Times article, April 5,2009
37.
Cumann na mBan
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Although it was otherwise an independent organisation, its executive was subordinate to that of the Volunteers. A meeting chaired by Agnes OFarrelly on 2 April 1914 marked the foundation of Cumann na mBan, branches, which pledged to the Constitution of the organisation, were formed throughout the country and were directed by the Provisional Committee. The first branch was named the Ard Chraobh, which held their meetings in Brunswick Street before, the constitution of Cumann na mBan contained explicit references to the use of force by arms if necessary. At the time the Government of Ireland Bill 1914 was being debated, in addition to their local subscriptions, members of Cumann na mBan were expected to support the Defence of Ireland Fund, through subscription or otherwise. Its recruits were from diverse backgrounds, mainly workers and professional women. In September 1914, the Irish Volunteers split over John Redmonds appeal for its members to enlist in the British Army. The majority of Cumann na mBan members supported the rump of between 10,000 and 14,000 volunteers who rejected this call and who retained the original name, patrick Pearse was appointed overall Commandant-General and James Connolly Commandant-General of the Dublin Division. By nightfall, women insurgents were established in all the rebel strongholds throughout the city – except two, Bolands Mill and the South Dublin Union held by Éamon de Valera and Eamonn Ceannt. The majority of the women worked as Red Cross workers, were couriers, members also gathered intelligence on scouting expeditions, carried despatches and transferred arms from dumps across the city to insurgent strongholds. Some members of Cumann na mBan were also members of the Citizen Army, Constance Markievicz is said to have shot and killed a policeman at St Stephens Green during the opening phase of the hostilities. Helena Molony was among the Citizen Army company which attacked Dublin Castle and subsequently occupied the adjacent City Hall, at the Four Courts the women of Cumann na mBan helped to organise the evacuation of buildings at the time of surrender and to destroy incriminating papers. This was exceptional, more typical was the General Post Office, the building was then coming under sustained shell and machine-gun fire, and heavy casualties were anticipated. The following day the leaders at the GPO decided to negotiate surrender, Pearse asked Cumann na mBan member Elizabeth OFarrell to act as a go-between. Under British military supervision she brought Pearses surrender order to the units still fighting in Dublin. Jailed at the time, she became the Minister for Labour of the Irish Republic from 1919 to 1922, during the Anglo-Irish War, its members were active. They hid arms and provided safe houses for volunteers, helped run the Dáil Courts and local authorities, in the Irish elections of May 1921, Markievicz was joined by fellow Cumann na mBan members Mary MacSwiney, Dr. Ada English and Kathleen Clarke as Teachtaí Dála. On 7 January 1922 the Anglo-Irish Treaty was approved by the Second Dáil by a vote of 64–57. On 5 February a convention was held to discuss this, and 419 Cumann na mBan members voted against as opposed to 63 in favour, in the ensuing Civil War, its members largely supported the anti-Treaty Republican forces
38.
Operation Flavius
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Operation Flavius was a controversial military operation in which three members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army were shot dead by the British Special Air Service in Gibraltar on 6 March 1988. The three—Seán Savage, Daniel McCann, and Mairéad Farrell—were believed to be mounting an attack on British military personnel in Gibraltar. Plain-clothed SAS soldiers approached them in the forecourt of a station, then opened fire. All three were found to be unarmed, and no bomb was discovered in Savages car, leading to accusations that the British government had conspired to murder them. The deaths were the first in a chain of violent events in a period, they were followed by the Milltown Cemetery attack. When Savage, McCann and Farrell—known IRA members—travelled to Spain in preparation for the attack, they were tracked at the request of the British government. On the day of the shootings, Savage was seen parking a white Renault in the car used as the assembly area for the parade, McCann. After a military officer reported that Savages car should be treated as a suspected bomb. As soldiers were moving into position to intercept the trio, Savage split from McCann and Farrell, as soldiers caught up with Savage, he was alleged to have turned around to face them while reaching into his jacket, he was also shot multiple times. Almost two months after the shootings, the documentary Death on the Rock was broadcast on British television, using reconstructions and eyewitness accounts, it presented the possibility that the three IRA members had been unlawfully killed. The documentary proved extremely controversial, several British newspapers described it as trial by television, the inquest into the deaths began in September 1988. The soldiers each testified that they had opened fire in the belief that the bombers were reaching for weapons or a remote detonator. On 30 September, the inquest jury returned a verdict of lawful killing, dissatisfied, the families took the case to the European Court of Human Rights. The decision is cited as a case in the use of force by the state. The organisation was the result of a 1969 split within the previous Irish Republican Army, Daniel McCann, Seán Savage, and Mairéad Farrell were, according to journalist Brendan OBrien, three of the IRAs most senior activists. Savage was an expert and McCann was a high-ranking intelligence operative. The Special Air Service is a regiment of the British Army, the SAS was sporadically assigned to operations in Northern Ireland in the early stages of the British Armys deployment in the province, during which they were confined to South Armagh. The first large-scale deployment of SAS soldiers in the Troubles was in 1976, the SAS soon began to specialise in covert, intelligence-based operations against the IRA, using more aggressive tactics than regular army and police units operating in Northern Ireland
39.
British Armed Forces
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They also promote Britains wider interests, support international peacekeeping efforts, and provide humanitarian aid. Repeatedly emerging victorious from conflicts has allowed Britain to establish itself as one of the leading military. The Commander-in-chief of the British Armed Forces is the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the armed forces by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, as required by the Bill of Rights 1689. The armed forces are managed by the Defence Council of the Ministry of Defence, with the Acts of Union 1707, the armed forces of England and Scotland were merged into the armed forces of the Kingdom of Great Britain. Britain feared that Russian expansionism in the region would eventually threaten the Empire in India and this ultimately led to British involvement in the Crimean War against the Russian Empire. The beginning of the twentieth century served to reduce tensions between Britain and the Russian Empire, partly due to the emergence of a unified German Empire. Allied victory resulted in the defeat of the Central Powers, the end of the German Empire, the Treaty of Versailles, once again tensions accumulated in European relations, and following Germanys invasion of Poland in September 1939, the Second World War began. The conflict was the most widespread in British history, with British Empire and Commonwealth troops fighting in campaigns from Europe and North Africa, to the Middle East, approximately 390,000 British Empire and Commonwealth troops lost their lives. Allied victory resulted in the defeat of the Axis powers and the establishment of the United Nations, reflecting Britains new role in the world and the escalation of the Cold War, the country became a founding member of the NATO military alliance in 1949. By the mid-1970s, the forces had reconfigured to focus on the responsibilities allocated to them by NATO. While NATO obligations took increased prominence, Britain nonetheless found itself engaged in a number of low-intensity conflicts, however the Dhofar Rebellion and The Troubles emerged as the primary operational concerns of the armed forces. Perhaps the most important conflict during the Cold War, at least in the context of British defence policy, was the Falklands War. Since the end of the Cold War, an international role for the armed forces has been pursued, with re-structuring to deliver a greater focus on expeditionary warfare. In addition to the campaign, the British Army has trained and supplied allies on the ground. Figures released by the Ministry of Defence on 31 March 2016 show that 7,185 British Armed Forces personnel have lost their lives in medal earning theatres since the end of the Second World War. As Sovereign and head of state, Queen Elizabeth II is Head of the Armed Forces, the Queen, however, remains the ultimate authority of the military, with officers and personnel swearing allegiance to the monarch. It has been claimed that this includes the power to prevent unconstitutional use of the armed forces, responsibility for the management of the forces is delegated to a number of committees, the Defence Council, Chiefs of Staff Committee, Defence Management Board and three single-service boards. The Defence Council, composed of representatives of the services
40.
Manchester Martyrs
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The Manchester Martyrs – William Philip Allen, Michael Larkin, and Michael OBrien – were members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, an organisation dedicated to ending British rule in Ireland. They were executed for the murder of an officer in Manchester, England, in 1867. The trio were members of a group of 30–40 Fenians who attacked a police van transporting two arrested leaders of the Brotherhood, Thomas J. Kelly and Timothy Deasy, to Belle Vue Gaol. Police Sergeant Charles Brett, travelling inside with the keys, was shot, Allen, Larkin, and OBrien were publicly hanged on a temporary structure built on the wall of Salford Gaol, on 23 November 1867, in front of a crowd of 8, 000–10,000. Brett was the first Manchester City Police officer to be killed on duty, the whole of Ireland had been under British rule since the end of the Nine Years War in 1603. The Irish Republican Brotherhood was founded on 17 March 1858 by James Stephens, the Fenian Brotherhood was founded in New York in 1858 by John OMahony, ostensibly the IRBs American wing. By 1865 the IRB had an estimated 100,000 members, during the early hours of 11 September 1867, police arrested two men found loitering in Oak Street, Shudehill, suspecting them of planning to rob a shop. Both were charged under the Vagrancy Act and held in custody, the Manchester police were initially unaware of their identities, until their colleagues in the Irish police identified them as Kelly and Deasy. On 18 September 1867, Kelly and Deasy were being transferred from the courthouse to Belle Vue Gaol on Hyde Road and they were handcuffed and locked in two separate compartments inside a police van escorted by a squad of 12 mounted policemen. The van contained six prisoners, a 12-year-old boy who was being taken to a reformatory, as it passed under a railway arch, a man darted into the middle of the road, pointed a pistol at the driver and told him to stop. Simultaneously, a party of about 30–40 men leaped over a wall at the side of the road, surrounded the van and seized the horses, one of which they shot. Brett refused, so one of the rescuers placed his revolver at the keyhole of the van to blow the lock, the bullet passed through his eye into his brain and killed him. The door was opened one of the women prisoners took the keys from Bretts pocket. Brett was the first Manchester police officer to be killed on duty, the police suspected that Kelly and Deasy had been taken by their rescuers to Ancoats, considered at that time to be a Fenian area of Manchester. Anonymous letters alleged that the pair were being sheltered in a house on Every Street, despite a reward of £300 offered by the authorities, neither Kelly nor Deasy were recaptured. An article published in the 14 November edition of The Times newspaper reported that they had made their way to Liverpool, from where they had taken passage on a ship bound for New York. Amongst those arrested was Thomas Maguire, a young Royal Marine on leave, on 27 September 1867 committal proceedings were heard in front of a magistrate to establish whether there was a prima facie case against the 28 accused. I cannot disgrace the Bar by proceeding with the defence, all but two of the accused – Allen and Larkin – claimed that they had witnesses who would testify that they were elsewhere when the police van was attacked
41.
Short Strand
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The Short Strand is a working class, inner city area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a mainly Catholic and Irish nationalist enclave surrounded by the mainly Protestant and it is on the east bank of the River Lagan in the townland of Ballymacarret, which is part of County Down. The borders of the Short Strand are Albertbridge Road, Short Strand Road, Newtownards Road, at the Short Strands northeast corner is St Matthews Catholic church. For decades, Protestants and Catholics have regularly clashed at the edges of the Short Strand and this has led to fierce rioting and, occasionally, gun battles. Much of the Short Strand is surrounded by peace lines, in the 19th century, many Catholics moved from County Down to the area. Despite living close to the shipyard, they were excluded from working there. The ethno-political conflict known as The Troubles began in 1969, in the early years of the Troubles, Catholics in Short Strand numbered about 6,000, while their Protestant neighbours totalled about 60,000. The area was the scene of violence, including rioting. On 27 June 1970, the Provisional IRA fought a gun battle with loyalist militants around St Matthews church. This was the Provisional IRAs first major action and became known as the Battle of St Matthews, throughout the Troubles there was a Royal Ulster Constabulary base in the Short Strand. It was heavily fortified due to bomb and gun attacks by the IRA and it was shut in 2010 and demolished in February 2011. In June 2002, there was major rioting between rival republican and loyalist crowds, numbering over 1,000, and prolonged exchanges of gunfire between the rival paramilitaries, on 20 June 2011, a group of 60 to 100 men were reported to be attacking peoples homes. There were reports of injuries, as well as homes being damaged, two men were reported to have been shot. Fighting had started at an area between Mountpottinger Road and the lower Newtownards road. Chief Superintendent Alan McCrum of the PSNI said that the violence had been orchestrated by the UVF, two men were shot, and eleven shots were fired. A press photographer was shot on the night of riots. Assistant Chief Constable Alastair Finlay said that there was no sign that the UVF intended to finish the rioting, much of the film The Outsider is set in the Short Strand. The Short Strand, and St Matthews Church in particular, are settings for season 3 of the television show Sons of Anarchy
42.
Basque nationalism
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Basque nationalism is a form of nationalism that asserts that Basques are a nation and promotes the political unity of the Basques. Since its inception in the late 19th century, Basque nationalism has included separatist movements, Basque nationalism, spanning three different regions in two states is irredentist in nature as it favors political unification of all the Basque-speaking provinces. Basque nationalism is rooted in Carlism and the loss, by the laws of 1839 and 1876, the Spanish government suppressed the fueros after the Third Carlist War. The fueros were the decision making and justice system issued from consuetudinary law prevailing in the Basque territories and Pyrenees. They are first recorded in the Kingdom of Navarre, confirming its charter system also across the western Basque territories during the High Middle Ages, the Fueros guaranteed the Basques a separate position in Spain with their own tax and political status. While its corpus is extensive, prerogatives contained in them set out for one that Basques were not subject to direct levee to the Castilian army, the native Basque institutions and laws were abolished in 1876 after the Third Carlist War, and replaced by the Basque Economic Agreements. The levelling process with other Spanish regions disquieted the Basques, according to Sabino Aranas views, the Biscayan personality was being diluted in the idea of an exclusive Spanish nation fostered by centralist authorities in Madrid. Arana was inspired by his brother Luis, a co-designer of the Basque flag ikurriña, Sabino characterized Catholicism as a sort of shelter for Basque personality. This became a point of contention with other personalities holding like views, later industrialist and prominent Basque nationalist Ramon de la Sota dismissed Sabinos positions of Catholicism as inherent to the national issue. In 1893, the Gamazada popular uprising erupted in Navarre against the breach by the Spanish government of several foundations of the ending the Carlist Wars. Arana eagerly supported the Navarrese outbreak by travelling to the territory, the widespread protest in Navarre sparked solidarity in Biscay. This rebellion, called the Sanrocada, is held as the beginning of political Basque nationalism, in 1895, the Basque Nationalist Party was founded around Arana. His nationalism shifted from a focus on Biscay to the rest of Basque territories, the program of Arana was specified as follows, The Basques represent a nation, with their own history and culture. This nation consists of race, language and an own political system, the solution to all these problems is to restore independence, by breaking the political ties with France and Spain, and the construction of a Basque state with its own sovereignty. By the end of the 19th century, Arana differed clearly from the Carlists, the immigration had started after the boom of manufacturing related to the ore exportation to England and privatization of communal lands and exploitations as the fueros were lost. The nature of that document is still subject to discussion, Luis Arana took the reins of the Basque Nationalist Party. In the early 20th century, Basque nationalism, developed from a nucleus of enthusiasts in Bilbao to incorporate the agrarian Carlists in Biscay, the seeds of Seminal Basque nationalism bloomed also in Navarre and Álava early on on the heat of the Gamazada. The movement survived without major problems the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera under the guise of cultural, the Basque Nationalist Party split in the early 20s, and Comunión Nacionalista Vasca was created
43.
Cuban Revolution
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The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt conducted by Fidel Castros 26th of July Movement and its allies against the right-wing authoritarian government of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista. The revolution began in July 1953, and continued sporadically until the rebels finally ousted Batista on 1 January 1959, the 26th of July Movement later reformed along communist lines, becoming the Communist Party in October 1965. Castro’s organized attack set up on the end of Santiago de Cuba against the military barracks ended in despair. The Cuban Revolution had powerful domestic and international repercussions, in particular, it transformed Cubas relationship with the United States. Efforts to improve diplomatic relations have gained momentum in recent years, in the immediate aftermath of the revolution, Castros government began a program of nationalization and political consolidation that transformed Cubas economy and civil society. The revolution also heralded an era of Cuban intervention in military conflicts, including the Angolan Civil War. Although Batista had been relatively progressive during his first term, in the 1950s he proved far more dictatorial, Batista developed a powerful security infrastructure to silence political opponents. In the months following the March 1952 coup, Fidel Castro, then a lawyer and activist, petitioned for the overthrow of Batista. However, Castros constitutional arguments were rejected by the Cuban courts, after deciding that the Cuban regime could not be replaced through legal means, Castro resolved to launch an armed revolution. Striking their first blow against the Batista government, Fidel and Raúl Castro gathered 123 Movement fighters, on 26 July 1953, the rebels attacked the Moncada Barracks in Santiago and the barracks in Bayamo, only to be decisively defeated by government soldiers. The staged attack was in hope to spark a revolt against Batista’s government. He had around 150 factory and farm workers, after an hour of fighting the rebel leader fled to the mountains. Due to the large number of men, Hunt revised the number to be around 60 members taking at the opportunity to flee to the mountains along with Castro. Among the dead was Abel Santamaría, Castros second-in-command, who was imprisoned, tortured, numerous key Movement revolutionaries, including the Castro brothers, were captured shortly afterwards. In a highly political trial, Fidel spoke for four hours in his defense, ending with the words Condemn me. Through Castro’s defense he used nationalism, the representation and beneficial programs for the non-elite Cubans, Fidel was sentenced to 15 years in the Presidio Modelo prison, located on Isla de Pinos, while Raúl was sentenced to 13 years. However, in 1955, under political pressure, the Batista government freed all political prisoners in Cuba. Fidels Jesuit childhood teachers succeeded in persuading Batista to include Fidel, soon, the Castro brothers joined with other exiles in Mexico to prepare for the overthrow of Batista, receiving training from Alberto Bayo, a leader of Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War
44.
Ulster Volunteers
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The Ulster Volunteers was a unionist militia founded in 1912 to block domestic self-government for Ireland, which was then part of the United Kingdom. The Ulster Volunteers were based in the province of Ulster. Many Ulster Protestants feared being governed by a Catholic-majority parliament in Dublin and losing their local supremacy, in 1913, the militias were organised into the Ulster Volunteer Force and vowed to resist any attempts by the British Government to impose Home Rule on Ulster. Later that year, Irish nationalists formed a militia, the Irish Volunteers. In April 1914, the UVF smuggled 25,000 rifles into Ulster, the Home Rule Crisis was halted by the outbreak of World War I in August 1914. Many UVF members enlisted with the British Armys 36th Division and went to fight on the Western Front, after World War I, the British Government decided to set up two self-governing regions in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. However, by 1920 the Irish War of Independence was raging and the Irish Republican Army, as a response to these attacks, the UVF was revived. However, this revival was largely unsuccessful and the UVF was absorbed into the Ulster Special Constabulary, a unionist paramilitary group calling itself the Ulster Volunteer Force was formed in 1966. It claims to be a descendant of the older organisation and uses the same logo. By 1912, the Irish Parliamentary Party, an Irish nationalist party which sought devolution for Ireland, in April 1912, Prime Minister H. H. Asquith introduced the third Home Rule Bill. Home Rule was popular in all of Ireland apart from the northeast of Ulster, while Catholics were the majority in most of Ireland, Protestants were the majority in Ulster and in Britain. Many Ulster Protestants feared being governed by a Catholic-dominated parliament in Dublin and losing their local supremacy, at the start of 1912, leading unionists and members of the Orange Order began forming small local militias and drilling. On 9 April Carson and Andrew Bonar Law, leader of the Conservative & Unionist Party, on 13 January 1913, the Ulster Volunteer Force was formally established by the Ulster Unionist Council. Recruitment was to be limited to 100,000 men aged from 17 to 65 who had signed the Covenant, William GIbson was the first commander of the 3rd East Belfast Regiment of the Ulster Volunteers. The Ulster Unionists enjoyed the support of the British Conservative Party. On 23 September 1913, the 500 delegates of the Ulster Unionist Council met to discuss the practicalities of setting up a government for Ulster. On 25 November 1913, partly in response to the formation of the UVF, in March 1914, the British Armys Commander-in-Chief in Ireland was ordered to move troops into Ulster to protect arms depots from the UVF. However,57 of the 70 officers at the Armys headquarters in Ireland chose to resign rather than enforce Home Rule or take on the UVF
45.
Red Hand Commando
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The Red Hand Commando was a small secretive Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland, which is closely linked to the Ulster Volunteer Force. Its aim was to combat Irish republicanism – particularly the Irish Republican Army – and it is named after the Red Hand of Ulster. Writing in early 1973, Martin Dillon characterized the Red Hand thus, the composition of group was highly selective. Its membership was composed in the main of Protestant youths – the Tartans who roamed the streets at night looking for trouble and these youths longed for action, and McKeague let them have it. The RHC is a Proscribed Organisation in the United Kingdom under the Terrorism Act 2000, much of the group’s past is a mystery. The RHC was formed in 1972 in the Shankill area of west Belfast by John McKeague, William Plum Smith, membership was high in the Shankill, east Belfast, Sandy Row, Newtownabbey areas as well as in parts of County Down. In 1972, the RHC agreed to become an part of the Ulster Volunteer Force. It kept its own structures but in operational matters agreed to share weapons and personnel and it was proscribed by Secretary of State for Northern Ireland William Whitelaw on 12 November 1973. A number of senior Red Hand Commando members played a part in the formation of the Progressive Unionist Party. The RHC waged a campaign from 1972 until the loyalist ceasefires of 1994. According to the Sutton database of deaths at the University of Ulsters CAIN project, the RHC has allegedly killed 13 people, including 12 civilians, however it is known they killed and allowed other loyalist paramilitary groups to claim in their name, namely the Ulster Volunteer Force. 31 Oct 1972, The RHC shot dead a Catholic civilian at his workplace on Lisburn Road,11 Nov 1972, The RHC shot dead a Catholic civilian at his shop on Crumlin Road, Belfast. July 1974, In what was described as a no warning bomb spree, one man was killed and 100 people were wounded. 12 Apr 1975, The RHC claimed responsibility for a gun and bomb attack on Strand Bar, Anderson Street,19 Dec 1975, A car bomb exploded without warning at Kays Tavern in Dundalk, County Louth, Republic of Ireland. Two civilians were killed and twenty wounded, a short time later, there was a gun and bomb attack on Silverbridge Inn near Crossmaglen, County Armagh. Two Catholic civilians and an English civilian were killed in that attack, members of the Glenanne gang were believed to have been involved in these attacks. The RHC claimed responsibility for both,2 May 1976, The RHC shot dead a Catholic civilian near his home in Thistlecross, County Louth. 2 Jun 1976, The RHC shot dead a Protestant civilian at a house in Comber, a Catholic man was the intended target
46.
Drumcree conflict
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The Drumcree conflict or Drumcree standoff is an ongoing dispute over yearly parades in the town of Portadown, Northern Ireland. The Orange Order insists that it should be allowed to march its traditional route to-and-from Drumcree Church, however, most of this route is through the mainly Catholic/Irish nationalist part of town. The residents, who see the march as sectarian, triumphalist and supremacist, have sought to ban it from their area, the Orangemen see this as an attack on their traditions, they had marched the route since 1807, when the area was mostly farmland. The Drumcree parade is held on the Sunday before the Twelfth of July, there has been intermittent violence over the march since the 1800s. The onset of the Troubles led to the dispute intensifying in the 1970s and 1980s, at this time, the most contentious part of the route was the outward leg along Obins Street. After serious violence two years in a row, the march was banned from Obins Street in 1986, the focus then shifted to the marchs return leg along Garvaghy Road. The situation in Portadown was likened to a war zone and a siege, during this time, the dispute led to the killing of at least six Catholic civilians. In 1995 and 1996, residents succeeded in stopping the march and this led to a standoff at Drumcree between the security forces and thousands of Orangemen/loyalists. Following a wave of loyalist violence, the march was allowed through, in 1997, security forces locked-down the Catholic area and forced the march through, citing loyalist threats to kill Catholics. This sparked widespread protests and violence by nationalists, from 1998 onward the march was banned from Garvaghy Road and the Catholic area was sealed-off with large steel, concrete and barbed-wire barricades. Each year there was a standoff at Drumcree and widespread loyalist violence. Since 2001 things have been calm, but moves to get the two sides into face-to-face talks have failed. Portadown has long been mainly Protestant and unionist/loyalist, at the height of the conflict in the 1990s, about 70% of the population were from a Protestant background and 30% from a Catholic background. The towns Catholics and Irish nationalists, as in the rest of Northern Ireland, had suffered discrimination. Throughout the 20th century, the police—Royal Ulster Constabulary —was also almost wholly Protestant, each summer the town centre is bedecked with loyalist flags and symbols. A loyalist arch is raised over the Garvaghy Road at the Corcrain River and this is to coincide with the marching season, when numerous Protestant/loyalist marches are held in the town. Each July there are five Protestant/loyalist parades that enter the mainly Catholic/Irish nationalist district, The Drumcree Sunday parade from the centre, to Drumcree Church. This is the biggest of the parades and its traditional route was Obins Street→Corcrain Road→Dungannon Road→Drumcree Road→Garvaghy Road, but it is now banned from Obins Street and Garvaghy Road
47.
Ulster Special Constabulary
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The Ulster Special Constabulary was a quasi-military reserve Special constable police force in Northern Ireland. It was set up in October 1920, shortly before the partition of Ireland and it was an armed corps, organised partially on military lines and called out in times of emergency, such as war or insurgency. It performed this role in 1920–22 during the Irish War of Independence and in the 1950s, during its existence,95 USC members were killed in the line of duty. Most of these were killed in conflict with the IRA in the years 1921 and 1922, another 8 died during the Second World War, in air raids or IRA attacks. Of the remainder, most died in accidents but two officers were killed during the Troubles in the 1980s. The force was almost exclusively Ulster Protestant and as a result was viewed with great mistrust by Catholics and it carried out several revenge killings and reprisals against Catholic civilians in the 1920–22 conflict. Unionists generally supported the USC as contributing to the defence of Northern Ireland from subversion, the Special Constabulary was disbanded in May 1970, after the Hunt Report, which advised re-shaping Northern Irelands security forces to attract more Catholic recruits and disarming the police. Its functions and membership were largely taken over by the Ulster Defence Regiment, the Ulster Special Constabulary was formed against the background of conflict over Irish independence and the partition of Ireland. The 1919–1921 Irish War of Independence, saw the Irish Republican Army launch a campaign in pursuit of Irish independence. This was enacted by the British Parliament in the Government of Ireland Act 1920, two main factors were behind the formation of the Ulster Special Constabulary. One was the desire of the unionists, led by Sir James Craig, a second reason was that violence in the north was increasing after the summer of 1920. Furthermore, many unionists did not trust the RIC, which being a force was mostly Catholic. A third aim was to control unionist paramilitary groups, who threatened, in the words of Craig, a recourse to arms, which would precipitate civil war. Craig proposed to the British cabinet a new volunteer constabulary which must be raised from the population and organised, on military lines. He recommended that the organisation of the Ulster Volunteers should be used for this purpose, wilfrid Spender, the former UVF quartermaster in 1913–14, and by now a decorated war hero, was appointed by Craig to form and run the USC. UVF units were incorporated en masse into the new USC, Special Constabulary Acts had been enacted in 1832 and 1914, meaning that the administration in Dublin Castle only had to use existing laws to create it. The formation of the Ulster Special Constabulary was therefore announced on 22 October 1920, on 1 November 1920, the scheme was officially announced by the British government. The composition of the USC was overwhelmingly Protestant and unionist, for a number of reasons, several informal unionist constabulary groups had already been created, for example, in Belfast, Fermanagh and Antrim
48.
Ulster Defence Regiment
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The Ulster Defence Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. It was the largest infantry regiment in the British Army, formed with seven battalions plus another four added within two years and it consisted mostly of part-time volunteers until 1976, when a full-time cadre was added. Recruiting in Northern Ireland at a time of strife, some of its members were involved in sectarianism. It is doubtful if any unit of the British Army has ever come under the same sustained criticism as the UDR. Uniquely in the British Army, the regiment was on active service throughout its 22 years of service. It was also the first infantry regiment of the British Army to fully incorporate women into its structure, in 1992, the UDR was amalgamated with the Royal Irish Rangers to form the Royal Irish Regiment. In 2006, the regiment was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. The UDR was raised in 1970, soon after the beginning of the Northern Ireland Troubles, before then, the main security forces were the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Ulster Special Constabulary, the most notorious unit of which was the B Specials. Large scale intercommunal rioting in 1969 stretched police resources in Northern Ireland, on 28 August 1969 security in Northern Ireland, including the USC, was put under the direct control of the General Officer Commanding in Northern Ireland, General Ian Freeland. The USC, which had no training in riot control, was mobilised to assist the RUC, a catalogue of incidents ensued, such as Specials from Tynan shooting dead an unarmed civil rights demonstrator in Armagh on 14 August 1969. While the Northern Ireland cabinet remained supportive of the USC, it was put to them at a London meeting on 19 August that disbanding the USC was top of the British Governments agenda. The Hunt Report commissioned by the Government of Northern Ireland published on 3 October 1969, further, a locally recruited part-time force, under the control of the G. O. C. And that it together with the volunteer reserve, should replace the Ulster Special Constabulary. The new force was to be impartial in every sense and remove the responsibility of military operations from the police. The British Government accepted the findings of the Hunt Report and published a Bill, parliamentary debate in Westminster highlighted concerns that members of the USC were to be allowed to join the new force. A working party was set up at Headquarters Northern Ireland chaired by Major General A. J, dyball of the Royal Ulster Rifles, then the deputy director of operations in Northern Ireland. The team included an officer from the Ministry of Defence, a member of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Lieutenant Colonel S Miskimmon. After discussions they advocated a strength of 6,000 men, combat dress for duties, a dark green uniform, county shoulder titles
49.
James Joseph Magennis
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He was the only native of Northern Ireland to receive the Victoria Cross for Second World War service. Magennis was part of operations involving X-Craft midget submarines in attacks on Axis ships. In July 1945 Magennis was serving on HMS XE3 during Operation Struggle and his commanding officer Lieutenant Ian Fraser was also awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on 31 July 1945 during the operation. James McGinnes was born on 27 October 1919 at Majorca Street, West Belfast and he was from a working class Roman Catholic family and attended St Finians Primary School on the Falls Road, Belfast until 3 June 1935 when enlisted in the Royal Navy as a boy seaman. He served on several different warships between 1935 and 1942, when he joined the submarine branch, before joining the submarine branch, Magennis served on the destroyer Kandahar which was mined off Tripoli, Libya, in December 1941 whilst Magennis was on board. The ship was damaged and was scuttled the following day. In December 1942, Magennis was drafted into the Submarine service and in March 1943 he volunteered for special and Hazardous duties — which meant Midget submarines and he trained as a diver, and in September 1943 took part in the first major use of the X-craft during Operation Source. Two submarines, HMS X7 and HMS X6, penetrated Kåfjord, Norway, for his part in the attack Magennis was mentioned in dispatches or bravery and devotion to duty in 1943. In July 1945 Acting Leading Seaman Magennis was serving as the diver on the midget submarine HMS XE3 under the command of Lieutenant Ian Fraser and they were tasked with sinking the 10,000 ton Japanese cruiser Takao, the first of the Takao Class. She was berthed in the Straits of Johor, Singapore acting as an Anti-aircraft battery, the codename for the operation was Operation Struggle. On 30 July 1945 the XE3 was towed to the area by the submarine Stygian and she slipped her tow at 23,00 for the forty-mile journey through hazardous wrecks, minefields and listening posts to reach the Takao. After arriving at the Takao at 13,00 on 31 July 1945, Magennis slipped out of the wet-and-dry chamber and he attached limpet mines to the Japanese cruiser Takao under particularly difficult circumstances. He had to chip away at barnacles on the bottom of the cruiser for 30 minutes before being able to attach the limpets, during this time his breathing apparatus was leaking and he returned to the submarine after completion of his task very exhausted. On withdrawing, Lieutenant Ian Fraser found that one of the carriers which was being jettisoned would not release itself. Magennis immediately volunteered to free it commenting, Ill be all right as soon as Ive got my wind and this he did, after seven minutes of nerve-racking work with a heavy spanner. On completion Magennis returned to XE3 for the time, allowing the four man midget submarine to make its escape out to open sea to meet the waiting Stygian. The citation was published in a supplement to the London Gazette of 9 November 1945 and read, ADMIRALTY Whitehall, the KING has been graciously pleased to approve the award of the VICTORIA CROSS for valour to, — Temporary Acting Leading Seaman James Joseph MAGENNIS, D/JX. Leading Seaman Magennis served as Diver in His Majestys Midget Submarine XE-3 for her attack on 31 July 1945, the divers hatch could not be fully opened because XE-3 was tightly jammed under the target, and Magennis had to squeeze himself through the narrow space available
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