What are the two ethnic groups in Northern Ireland?

The cultural differences that underlie many of Northern Ireland’s contemporary social problems have a long and troubled history. The region has had lasting links with parts of western Scotland, strengthened by constant population movements. After the Tudor invasions and particularly after the forced settlements, or plantations, of the early 17th century, English and Scottish elements were further differentiated from the native Irish by their Protestant faith. Two distinct and often antagonistic groupings—the indigenous Roman Catholic Irish and the immigrant Protestant English and Scots—date from that period, and they have played a significant role in molding Northern Ireland’s development. The settlers dominated County Antrim and northern Down, controlled the Lagan corridor toward Armagh, and also formed powerful minorities elsewhere.

2. Supply the word or phrase from the vocabulary list which correctly completes the sentence:

Hibernia, gallowglasses, the English Pale, undertakers, six counties, lord deputy, blight, the Fenian Brotherhood, jigs, a Celtic language, Beltain, sheela-na-gig, the Giants Causeway, Banshee, Saint Patrick.

1. The patron saint of Ireland is called Saint Patrick. 2. Irish is the Celtic language of the Irish people. 3. The Republic of Ireland occupies the greater part of the island, named Hibernia by the ancient Romans. 4. In the 14^th century Irish chieftains hired Scottish mercenaries called gallowglasses who were more than a match for the Romans. 5. The Great Famine was caused by (potato) blight which is a plant decease caused either by insects or fungus. 6. A secret society founded in 1846 to establish an Irish Republic was called the Fenian Brotherhood. 7. jigs are lively, leaping dances and the music for them. 8. Beltain celebrated on the 1st of May comes from " bright fire" in Old Irish. 9. The two most revered Irish pagan goddesses are Banshee and sheela-na-gig. 10. Northern Ireland consists of six counties that were originally the part of Ulster. 11. The English Pale was a narrow stretch of territory on the east coast of Ireland. 12. Notable Englishmen to whom Queen Elizabeth I gave estates in Ireland were called undertakers. 13. A title given throughout English history to a person appointed to govern a distant territory in the absence of the English monarch is lord deputy. 14. A most unusual geographical feature of Northern Ireland is believed to be the Giants Causeway.

3. Decide whether the statements are true or false:

1. Belfast is the capital of the Republic of Ireland. – F

2. The Island Ireland is part of the British Isles. – F

3. Today's emblem of the Republic of Ireland is a version of Brian Boru's harp. – T

4. The first people settled in Ireland in 3000 B.C. – F

5. The revolt of Hugh O'Neill and Red Hugh O'Donnell was the greatest threat that Queen Elizabeth had to face in Ireland. – T

6. King James won at the Battle of the Boyne. – F

7. The Great Famine was one of the main reasons for Irish immigration to the United Statues. – T

8. Fenians wanted to support the English monarch in Ireland. – F

9. Sinn Fein was successful from the very beginning. – T

10. The Leaders of the Easter Rising were Thomas Clarke, Patrick Pearse and Sean MacDermott. – T

11. All the political parties in the Republic of Ireland support the reunification of the country by peaceful means. – F

12. Irish is not widely spoken in Ireland nowadays. – T

13. The Republic of Ireland has elected a woman as its president for the third time. – T

14. Eire and Poland are strongholds of the Roman Catholic Church in Northern Europe. – T

15. Camogie and hurling are two completely different games. – F

4. Write the letter of the best answer according to the information in the text:

a) Ulster is the name of one of the four original provinces of Ireland; +

b) Ulster is the name of the Six Counties;

c) Ulster is the same as Northern Ireland.

a) " Beyond the pale" means " beyond the boundary"

b) " Beyond the pale" means " beyond the boundaries of acceptable behaviour" +

c) “Beyond the pale” means “beyond human possibilities”

a) Plantations in Irish history were attempts to plant as many potatoes as possible;

b) Plantations in Irish history were attempts to “plant” English mentality in Ireland;

c) Plantations in Irish history were attempts to “plant” English Settlers on Irish soil. +

a) Riverdance is a theatrical show consisting of traditional Celtic step dancing; +

b) Riverdance is traditional Irish dance by a river;

c) Riverdance is the name of a Concert Hall;

a) Stout is a kind of hisky;

b)Stout is a bitter beer; +

c) Stout is a fizzy drink.

a) The Troubles is the name of a pub in Belfast.

b) The Troubles is the difficulty in reading Irish Gaelic words.

c) The Troubles is a way of describing sectarian violence. +

a) Norn Iron is the material used for shipbuilding in Belfast.

b) Norn Iron is a joking way of describing a Northern Irish accent.+

c) Norn Iron is an alternative name for the sick used in Hurling.

a) The name Dublin comes from the Irish for 'Black Pool'. +

b) The name Dublin is Manx for 'another pint of Guinness'.

c) The name Dublin is the name of an ancient Celtic god.

a) Coffin ships are ship carrying coffins for sale.

b) Coffin ships is the name given by the Irish to those vessels used for their passage to America. +

c) Coffin ships are ships for transportation of dead bodies.

5. Identify the events in Irish history related to the following names:

Finn McCool – Fionn mac Cumhaill (in early texts Finn or Find mac Cumail or mac Umaill, anglicised to Finn McCool in the Romantic Period of the 19th century) was a mythical hunter-warrior of Irish mythology, occurring also in the mythologies of Scotland and the Isle of Man. The stories of Fionn and his followers, the Fianna, form the Fenian cycle or Fiannaidheacht, much of it purported to be narrated by Fionn's son, the poet Oisí n.

Fionn or Finn is actually a nickname meaning " fair" (in reference to hair and/or skin colour), " white", or " bright". His childhood name was Deimne " Sureness, Certainty", and several legends tell how he gained the nickname when his hair turned prematurely white. The name " Fionn" is related to the Welsh name Gwyn, as in the mythological figure Gwyn ap Nudd, and to the continental/Roman British Celtic Vindos, also a 'nickname' for a god such as Belenos.

The 19th century Irish revolutionary organisation known as the Fenian Brotherhood took its name from these legends. The Scottish name Fingal comes from a retelling of these legends in epic form by the 18th century poet James Macpherson.

King Cormac mac Airt - (son of Art), also known as Cormac ua Cuinn (grandson of Conn) or Cormac Ulfada (long beard), was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He is probably the most famous of the ancient High Kings, and may have been an authentic historical figure, although many legends have attached themselves to him, and his reign is variously dated as early as the 2nd century and as late as the 4th. He is said to have ruled from Tara, the seat of the High Kings of Ireland, for forty years, and under his rule Tara flourished. He was famous for his wise, true, and generous judgments. In the Annals of Clonmacnoise, translated in 1627, he is described as:

" absolutely the best king that ever reigned in Ireland before himself...wise learned, valiant and mild, not given causelessly to be bloody as many of his ancestors were, he reigned majestically and magnificently".

The hero Fionn mac Cumhaill is supposed to have lived in Cormac's time, and most of the stories of the Fenian Cycle are set during his reign.

Brian Boru - Brian Bó ruma mac Cenné tig, (c. 941–23 April 1014), (English: Brian Boru, Middle Irish: Brian Bó ruma, Irish: Brian Bó roimhe), was an Irish king who ended the domination of the so-called High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Né ill. Building on the achievements of his father, Cenné tig mac Lorcain, and especially his elder brother, Mathgamain, Brian first made himself King of Munster, then subjugated Leinster, making himself ruler of the south of Ireland. He is the founder of the O'Brien dynasty.

Rory O'Connor - (1883–1922) was an Irish republican activist. He is best remembered for his role in the Irish Civil War 1922-1923, which led to his execution. He did not accept the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, which established the Irish Free State, but which abolished the Irish Republic declared in 1916 and 1919, which O'Connor and his comrades had sworn to uphold. On 26 March 1922, the anti-treaty officers of the IRA held a convention in Dublin, in which they rejected the Treaty compromise and repudiated the authority of the Dá il, the elected Irish Parliament.

On 14 April 1922 O'Connor, with 200 other hardline anti-treaty IRA men under his command, took over the Four Courts building in the centre of Dublin in defiance of the Provisional Government. They wanted to provoke the British troops (whom were still in the country) into attacking them, which they thought would re-start the war with Britain, and re-unite the IRA against their common enemy. They also occupied other smaller buildings thought to be associated with the former British administration, such as the Ballast Office and the Freemasons' Hall in Molesworth Street, but the Four Courts remained the focus of interest.

In the following months Michael Collins tried desperately to persuade O'Connor and his men to leave the building before fighting broke out. In June 1922, after the Four Courts garrison had kidnapped JJ O'Connell, a general in the new Free State Army, Collins shelled the Four Courts with borrowed British artillery. O'Connor surrendered after two days of fighting and was arrested and held in Mountjoy Prison. This incident sparked the Irish Civil War - as fighting broke out around the country between pro and anti treaty factions.

King William of Orange - William III (4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702) was a sovereign Prince of Orange by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange (Dutch: Willem III van Oranje) over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland, and as William II over Scotland.He is informally known in Northern Ireland and Scotland as " King Billy ".A member of the House of Orange-Nassau, William won the English, Scottish, and Irish crowns following the Glorious Revolution, in which his uncle and father-in-law, James II, was deposed. In the British Isles, William ruled jointly with his wife, Mary II, until her death on 28 December 1694. The period of their joint reign is often referred to as " William and 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. Largely because of that reputation, William was able to take the British crowns when many were fearful of a revival of Catholicism under James. William's victory over James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 is commemorated by the Orange Institution in Northern Ireland to this day. His reign marked the beginning of the transition from the personal rule of the Stuarts to the more-Parliament-centred rule of the House of Hanover.

Thomas Clarke - Thomas James " Tom" (11 March 1858[1] – 3 May 1916) was an Irish revolutionary leader and arguably the person most responsible for the 1916 Easter Rising. Clarke was stationed in the headquarters at the General Post Office during the events of Easter Week, where rebel forces were largely composed of Irish Citizen Army members under the command of Connolly. Though he held no formal military rank, Clarke was recognised by the garrison as one of the commanders, and was active through out the week in the direction of the fight, and shared the fortunes of his comrades.Following the surrender on April 29, Clarke was held in Kilmainham Jail until his execution by firing squad on May 3 at the age of 59. He was the second person to be executed, following Patrick Pearse.

Patrick Pearse (nationalist and political activist who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916. He was declared " President of the Provisional Government" of the Irish Republic in one of the bulletins issued by the Rising's leaders, a status that was however disputed by others associated with the rebellion both then and subsequently.) and Sean MacDermott (Seá n Mac Diarmada (February 28, 1883 – May 12, 1916) (born John MacDermott, usually used the name Sean MacDermott) was one of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland.)

Wolfe Tone - Theobald Wolfe Tone (20 June 1763 – 19 November 1798), commonly known as Wolfe Tone, was a leading figure in the United Irishmen Irish independence movement and is regarded as the father of Irish republicanism.

William Glad­stone - (29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four times (1868–1874, 1880–1885, February–July 1886 and 1892–1894), more than any other person. Gladstone was 84 years old - still physically vigorous albeit with failing hearing and eyesight - when he resigned for the last time, making him Britain's oldest Prime Minister. He also served as Chancellor of the Exchequer four times (1853–1855, 1859–1866, 1873–1874, and 1880–1882).

John O'Mahony - (1816 Kilbeheny, County Limerick, Ireland - February 7, 1877) was a Gaelic scholar and the founding member of the Fenian Brotherhood in the United States, sister organisation to the Irish Republican Brotherhood.

Arthur Griffith – third leader of Sinn Fé in and later President of Dá il É ireann

David Lloyd George – (1863 – 1945) was a British Liberal politician and statesman. He was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the head of a wartime coalition government between the years 1916-1922 and was the Leader of the Liberal Party from 1926-1931.

Michael Collins – (1890 – 1922) was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance and Teachta Dá la, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations.

William T. Cosgrave – (1880 – 1965) was an Irish politician who succeeded Michael Collins as Chairman of the Irish Provisional Government from August to December 1922. He served as the first President of the Executive Council (prime minister) of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1932.

Mary McAleese – (1951) is the eighth and current President of Ireland.

Seamus Heany – (1939) is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer. Regarded as an elder statesman of poetry.

Bob Geldof – (1951) is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement.

Veronica Guerin – (1958 – 1996) was an Irish crime reporter who was murdered on 26 June 1996 by drug lords, an event, which alongside the murder of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe three weeks earlier, helped establish the Criminal Assets Bureau.

6. Match the events in the first column to the dates in the second column:

1. The Statutes of Kilkenny (1367) 4- 6000 B.C.
2. The First Viking raid to Ireland 3- 1590
3. Irish revolt against queen Elizabeth(1- 1350
4. First Settlers in Ireland (8000 B.C) 7- 1685
5. Elizabeth confiscated 202 00 hectares from Irish owners 6- 2000 B.C.
6. Metal workers arrived in Ireland 8- 1689
7. Accession of King James to the English Throne 2- 795 A.D.
8. The Battle of Boyne 9- 1798
9. The Races of Castlebar 5- 1597
10. Foundation of the Home Rule Movement 10- 1870s
11. The Easter Rising 12- 2004
12. The second term of Mary McAleese as President 13- 1937
13. Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act and a new Constitution 11- 23 April 1916

7. Match the following words and word combinations to their correct meaning:

Orangemen – Those who want to maintain the Act of Union

Live Aid – A multi-venue rock music concert organised by Bob Geldof

The gift of the gab – Having the ability to persuade eloquently

Tinkers – Irish travelling people

Races of Castlebar – A battle on the flat areas in 1798

Leprechauns – Elfish warriors in Celtic mythology

Craic – Excellent story-telling, having fun in pubs

Bloomsday – A festival named after the central character in Ulysses

Unionists – Protestant Unionists called after William II of England who

defeated the deposed catholic king

The Book of kells – Exquisitely illustrated rendition of the four Gospels