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147-534: The mountains and hills of the British Isles are categorised into various lists based on different combinations of elevation , prominence , and other criteria such as isolation . These lists are used for peak bagging , whereby hillwalkers attempt to reach all the summits on a given list, the oldest being the 282 Munros in Scotland, created in 1891. A height above 2,000 ft, or more latterly 610 m,
294-647: A § Hewitts ), is used as the criterion. The idea of the Simm was introduced by Alan Dawson in June 2010, who noted that a Simm was the "broadest credible definition of what could be objectively conceived as a mountain in Britain". As of October 2018, 6,414 people had registered themselves as having climbed all 282 Scottish Munros, by March 2020 11 people had registered climbing all 1,557 Marilyns of Great Britain, while by Aug 2021 only four people had registered completion of
441-513: A British island' and Κεφ. γʹ Ἀλβουίωνος νήσου Βρεττανικῆς θέσις , Albouíōnos nḗsou Brettanikê̄s thésis , 'Ch. 3, position of Albion, a British island'. In Arabic geography and cartography in the medieval Islamic world , the British Isles are known as Jazāʾir Barṭāniya or Jazāʾir Barṭīniya . Arabic geographies, including the Kitāb az-Zīj of al-Battānī , mention
588-736: A Catholic king pushing for religious tolerance in opposition to a Protestant parliament in England. The king's army was defeated at the Battle of the Boyne and at the militarily crucial Battle of Aughrim in Ireland. Resistance held out, eventually forcing the guarantee of religious tolerance in the Treaty of Limerick . However, the terms were never honoured and a new monarchy was installed. The Kingdoms of England and Scotland were unified in 1707 creating
735-819: A Hillwalkers' Register, recording the names of people who have reached all the summits of various categories of hills in England, Wales and the Southern Uplands of Scotland. These include the Wainwright Hills in the Lake District, and the County Tops of England and Wales. Records for the Scottish Highlands are maintained by the Scottish Mountaineering Club . This article about an organisation in
882-478: A Munro top, now recognised as being of only 912.5 metres (2,994 ft). Unlike most other lists, the Munros do not depend on a rigid prominence criterion for entry; instead, those that satisfy the subjective measure of being a "separate mountain" are regarded as Munros , while subsidiary summits are given the status of Munro Tops. There are 282 Munros, and 226 further Munro Tops, totalling 508 summits, all of them in
1029-541: A P500 mountain classification: summits with a prominence above 500 metres (1,640 feet). The Marilyns are mountains and hills in the British Isles that have a topographical prominence above 150 metres (490 feet), regardless of absolute height or other merits. As of April 2020, there were 1,552 Marilyns in Great Britain and associated islands: 1,219 in Scotland, 175 in England, and 158 in Wales ( Black Mountain , on
1176-521: A complex geology that records a huge and varied span of Earth's history. Of particular note was the Caledonian orogeny during the Ordovician and early Silurian periods, when the craton Baltica collided with the terrane Avalonia to form the mountains and hills in northern Britain and Ireland. Baltica formed roughly the north-western half of Ireland and Scotland. Further collisions caused
1323-532: A drop of at least 150 metres all round. A list of British hills with over 150 metres prominence was first published in 1992 by Alan Dawson in The Relative Hills of Britain , with the subset from 2000 to 2500 feet referred to as Elsies (LCs, short for Lesser Corbetts). The Elsies were later named Grahams after the late Fiona Torbet ( née Graham) who published her own list of Scottish hills from 2000 to 2500 feet six months later. Dawson continues to maintain
1470-422: A list of 2,000 ft Irish summits with a 50 ft drop aided by Rev CRP Vandeleur. Lynam updated his list, and published it in the book, Mountaineering in Ireland (1976) by Claude Wall, and later made a metric version published in 1997. There are 275 Vandeleur-Lynams in Ireland. The Arderins are mountains in Ireland above 500 m (1,640 ft), with a prominence over 30 m (98 ft). The list
1617-453: A metric measurement for the topological prominence (e.g. Murdos, Hewitts, and Nuttalls. No British Isles classification uses a quantitative metric of topographic isolation (such as the distance to the next point of equal height). However, the concept is embedded in the qualitative definition of a Scottish Munro , and the Scottish Mountaineering Club requirement of "sufficient separation". The Database of British and Irish Hills ( DoBIH )
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#17327725917641764-406: A mild climate and varied soils, giving rise to a diverse pattern of vegetation. Animal and plant life is similar to that of the north-western European mainland . There are however, fewer numbers of species, with Ireland having even less. All native flora and fauna in Ireland is made up of species that migrated primarily from Great Britain. The only window when this could have occurred was prior to
1911-731: A number of unusual arrangements between the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom. For example, citizens of Northern Ireland are entitled to the choice of Irish or British citizenship or both, and the Governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom consult on matters not devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive . The Northern Ireland Executive and the Government of Ireland also meet as
2058-544: A problem until the 17th century. By the 18th century, most of Britain's forests were consumed for shipbuilding or manufacturing charcoal and the nation was forced to import lumber from Scandinavia, North America, and the Baltic. Most forest land in Ireland is maintained by state forestation programmes. Almost all land outside urban areas is farmland. However, relatively large areas of forest remain in east and north Scotland and in southeast England. Oak, elm, ash and beech are amongst
2205-606: A prominence between 15–30 m (49–98 ft); in 2018, Ireland had 124 Arderin Begs. In 2013, Simon Stewart, publisher of Irish mountain database MountainViews Online Database , published A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arderins . In the book, Stewart proposed a new classification of an Irish mountain, being one with a height above 500 m (1,640 ft), and
2352-531: A prominence either over 200 metres (660 ft) (of which there are 88), or a prominence over 100 metres (330 ft) (of which there are 130), but the term is not in widespread use. The Murdos apply a quantitive criterion to the Munros and their associated tops, and comprise all of the summits in Scotland over 3,000 feet (914.4 m) with a prominence above 30 metres (98 ft). There are 442 Murdos, compared to 282 Munros (or 508 Munros plus Munro Tops); one of
2499-448: A prominence over 100 feet (30.5 m), but the prominence of Donald Tops can range from 16–220 feet (4.9–67.1 m). Donalds can be Corbetts or Grahams and the SMC state that: "Percy Donald's original Tables are seen as a complete entity, unlike the Munros, Corbetts and Grahams." As of April 2020, there are 140 Donalds, comprising 89 Donald Hills and 51 Donald Tops. Given the complexity of
2646-442: A prominence over 100 m (328 ft). Stewart identified 222 Irish peaks as meeting his new classification. MountainViews used this definition to create the list of 100 Highest Mountains in Ireland , which has also become popular in Ireland. MountainViews and Database of British and Irish Hills recognise a list of 337 summits as Carns , having height above 100 m (328 ft) and below 400 m (1,312 ft), and with
2793-541: A prominence over 30 metres (98 ft). MountainViews and Database of British and Irish Hills recognise a list of 484 summits as Binnions , having a prominence of at least 100 m (328 ft) and a height below 400 m (1,312 ft). Binnion Hill is a peak of 250 metres (820 ft) in height in County Donegal , site of the Battle of Binnion Hill , and possibly the source of the name. British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in
2940-522: A prominence threshold above 30 metres (98.43 ft). Many classifications use the term "Tops" for peaks with prominence between 30–150 metres (98.43–492.1 ft) (e.g. Donald Tops), while other classifications ignore height and just focus purely on prominence (e.g. P600s, Marilyns, and HuMPs). Prominence requirements feature in International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) classifications of Himalayan mountains. In 1994,
3087-556: A relative height of at least 15 metres (49 ft). There were 444 Nuttalls in the original list (254 in England and 190 in Wales), compiled by John and Anne Nuttall and published in 1989–90 in two volumes, The Mountains of England & Wales . After updates, the total of Nuttalls reached 446 in August 2018 with the inclusion of Miller Moss . By including high points that rise by as little as 15 metres (49 ft) above their surroundings,
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#17327725917643234-517: A similar nature. Viking invasions began in the 9th century, followed by more permanent settlements, particularly along the east coast of Ireland, the west coast of modern-day Scotland and the Isle of Man. Though the Vikings were eventually neutralised in Ireland, their influence remained in the cities of Dublin , Cork , Limerick , Waterford and Wexford . England, however, was slowly conquered around
3381-599: A single political unit, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands remaining as Crown Dependencies . The expansion of the British Empire and migrations following the Irish Famine and Highland Clearances resulted in the dispersal of some of the islands' population and culture throughout the world, and rapid depopulation of Ireland in the second half of
3528-493: Is Loch Lomond at 27.5 square miles (71 km ), and Loch Ness (by volume) whilst Loch Morar is the deepest freshwater body in the British Isles, with a maximum depth of 310 m (1,017 ft). There are a number of major rivers within the British Isles. The longest is the Shannon in Ireland at 224 mi (360 km). The river Severn at 220 mi (354 km) is the longest in Great Britain. The climate of
3675-682: Is a team chosen from each national team and undertakes tours of the Southern Hemisphere rugby-playing nations every four years. Ireland plays as a united team, represented by players from both Northern Ireland and the Republic. These national rugby teams play each other each year for the Triple Crown as part of the Six Nations Championship . Also, since 2001, the professional club teams of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and South Africa compete against each other in
3822-410: Is a threshold over 30 metres (98 ft). Most lists consider a prominence between 30 and 150 metres (98.43 and 492.1 ft) as a "top" (e.g. many Hewitts and Simms). Marilyns, meanwhile, have a prominence above 150 metres (492.1 ft), with no additional height threshold. They range from small 150-metre (490 ft) hills to the largest mountains. Prominences above 600 metres (1,969 ft), meet
3969-570: Is also true for birds and insects. Notable exceptions include the Kerry slug and certain species of woodlouse native to Ireland but not Great Britain. Domestic animals include the Connemara pony, Shetland pony, English Mastiff, Irish wolfhound and many varieties of cattle and sheep. England has a generally high population density, with almost 80% of the total population of the islands. Elsewhere in Great Britain and Ireland, high density of population
4116-433: Is considered necessary to be classified as a mountain – as opposed to a hill – in the British Isles. With the exception of Munros, all the lists require a prominence above 15 metres (49.21 ft). A prominence of between 15 and 30 metres (49.21 and 98.43 ft) (e.g. some Nuttalls and Vandeleur-Lynams), does not meet the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) definition of an "independent peak", which
4263-732: Is limited to areas around a few large cities. The largest urban area by far is the Greater London Built-up Area with 9 million inhabitants. Other major population centres include the Greater Manchester Built-up Area (2.4 million), West Midlands conurbation (2.4 million) and West Yorkshire Urban Area (1.6 million) in England, Greater Glasgow (1.2 million) in Scotland and Greater Dublin Area (1.9 million) in Ireland. The population of England rose rapidly during
4410-562: Is no height or prominence threshold. A Vandeleur-Lynam is the Irish equivalent of a Nuttall, except that the definition is fully metric with a height requirement of 600 metres (1,969 ft), and a prominence requirement of 15 metres (49 ft). As with the Nuttalls, Vandeleur-Lynams do not meet the UIAA requirements for a "peak" or for a "mountain". In 1952, Irish climber Joss Lynam made
4557-441: Is recognised as the sports governing body for the discipline of "long distance walking" in England, Wales and Scotland. The LDWA has over 40 local groups, which organise challenge events and social walks. It publishes a journal, Strider, three times a year, and maintains a data base of long-distance paths, and registers of achievements in hillwalking and trail walking. Walks fall into two categories: The annual "Hundred"
Lists of mountains and hills in the British Isles - Misplaced Pages Continue
4704-464: Is the LDWA's flagship event and has been recognised as the longest-running 100-mile ultramarathon in the world, although it is not a race. It is held every year in a different part of the country, on the late May bank holiday, when up to 500 people gather to walk or run 100 miles in a maximum 48 hours. All participants will have completed a qualifying event of at least 50 miles. The first 100-mile event held
4851-525: The British Islands , not to be confused with the British Isles. The oldest rocks are 2.7 billion years old and are found in Ireland, Wales and the north-west of Scotland. During the Silurian period, the north-western regions collided with the south-east, which had been part of a separate continental landmass. The topography of the islands is modest in scale by global standards. Ben Nevis ,
4998-596: The Cuillin Hills and the Torridon Hills . All British Isles-wide mountain classifications, and most country-specific classifications, include an explicit minimum topographical prominence threshold (also called relative height, or drop, or re-ascent, between neighbouring peaks), which is typically 30–600 m (98–1,969 ft). The lowest prominence threshold is 15 metres (49.21 ft) (e.g. Nuttalls, and Vandeleur-Lynams), but most classifications have
5145-527: The DoBIH has had a data-sharing agreement with the Irish online database of mountains and hills known as MountainViews . The P600s are mountains in the British Isles that have a topographical prominence of at least 600 metres (1,969 feet), regardless of absolute height or other merits. The list initially used a 2,000 ft metric (or 609.6 m, the P610s) but this was subsequently reduced to 600 m and
5292-605: The England–Wales border , is counted as being in Wales). There are 454 Marilyns in Ireland (389 in the Republic of Ireland and 66 in Northern Ireland), and five on the Isle of Man , bringing the total for the British Isles to 2,011. The list was first compiled in 1992 by Alan Dawson. The name was coined as a humorous contrast to the designation Munro , which is homophonous with [Marilyn] Monroe . The Marilyns are one of
5439-721: The European beaver has been reintroduced in parts of Scotland. Wild boar have also been reintroduced to parts of southern England, following escapes from boar farms and illegal releases. Many rivers contain otters and grey and common seals are numerous on coasts. There are about 250 bird species regularly recorded in Great Britain, and another 350 that occur with varying degrees of rarity. The most numerous species are wren , robin , house sparrow , woodpigeon , chaffinch and blackbird . Farmland birds are declining in number, except for those kept for game such as pheasant , red-legged partridge , and red grouse . Fish are abundant in
5586-596: The Indo-European family . The Insular Celtic languages of the Goidelic sub-group ( Irish , Manx and Scottish Gaelic ) and the Brittonic sub-group ( Cornish , Welsh and Breton , spoken in north-western France ) are the only remaining Celtic languages —the last of their continental relations were extinct before the 7th century. The Norman languages of Guernésiais , Jèrriais and Sercquiais spoken in
5733-700: The Kingdom of Great Britain . Following an attempted republican revolution in Ireland in 1798 , the Kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain were unified in 1801 , creating the United Kingdom . The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands remaining outside of the United Kingdom, but with their ultimate good governance being the responsibility of the British Crown (effectively the British government). Although
5880-655: The Late Middle Ages , Great Britain was separated into the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland, while control in Ireland fluxed between Gaelic kingdoms , Hiberno-Norman lords and the English-dominated Lordship of Ireland , soon restricted only to The Pale . The 1603 Union of the Crowns , Acts of Union 1707 and Acts of Union 1800 aimed to consolidate Great Britain and Ireland into
6027-623: The North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe , consisting of the islands of Great Britain , Ireland , the Isle of Man , the Inner and Outer Hebrides , the Northern Isles ( Orkney and Shetland ), and over six thousand smaller islands. They have a total area of 315,159 km (121,684 sq mi) and a combined population of almost 72 million, and include two sovereign states ,
Lists of mountains and hills in the British Isles - Misplaced Pages Continue
6174-667: The North/South Ministerial Council to develop policies common across the island of Ireland. These arrangements were made following the 1998 Good Friday Agreement . Another body established under the Good Friday Agreement, the British–Irish Council, is made up of all of the states and territories of the British Isles. The British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly ( Irish : Tionól Pharlaiminteach na Breataine agus na hÉireann ) predates
6321-710: The Northern Ireland Assembly , the States of Jersey , the States of Guernsey and the High Court of Tynwald (Isle of Man). The Council does not have executive powers but meets biannually to discuss issues of mutual importance. Similarly, the Parliamentary Assembly has no legislative powers but investigates and collects witness evidence from the public on matters of mutual concern to its members. Reports on its findings are presented to
6468-590: The Quaternary Period , the most recent being the Devensian . As this ended, the central Irish Sea was deglaciated and the English Channel flooded, with sea levels rising to current levels some 8,000 years ago, leaving the British Isles in their current form. There are about 136 permanently inhabited islands in the group, the largest two being Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain is to
6615-537: The Republic of Ireland (which covers roughly five-sixths of Ireland), and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . The Channel Islands , off the north coast of France , are normally taken to be part of the British Isles, even though geographically they do not form part of the archipelago . Under the UK Interpretation Act 1978, the Channel Islands are clarified as forming part of
6762-536: The Scottish Highlands . Real Munro is used to describe Munros with a prominence of over 150 metres (490 ft) (the Marilyn prominence threshold), and there are 202 Real Munros in Scotland. Of the 282 Scottish Munros, 54 meet the 600 metres (1,969 ft) prominence threshold to be classified as P600s. Metric Munro is used to describe the Munros with an elevation above 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) and
6909-500: The Tusker Tunnel between the ports of Rosslare and Fishguard proposed by The Institute of Engineers of Ireland in 2004. A rail tunnel was proposed in 1997 on a different route, between Dublin and Holyhead , by British engineering firm Symonds. Either tunnel, at 50 mi (80 km), would be by far the longest in the world, and would cost an estimated £15 billion or €20 billion. A proposal in 2007, estimated
7056-626: The United Rugby Championship . The Ryder Cup in golf was originally played between a United States team and a team representing Great Britain and Ireland. From 1979 onwards, this was expanded to include the whole of Europe. London Heathrow Airport is Europe's busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic, and the Dublin-London route is the busiest air route in Europe collectively, the busiest route out of Heathrow and
7203-411: The Variscan orogeny in the Devonian and Carboniferous periods, forming the hills of Munster , south-west England, and southern Wales. Over the last 500 million years the land that forms the islands has drifted north-west from around 30°S, crossing the equator around 370 million years ago to reach its present northern latitude. The islands have been shaped by numerous glaciations during
7350-405: The § Database of British and Irish Hills . The Database of British and Irish Hills recognises as Synges the 647 Lake District summits in Tim Synge's The Lakeland Summits: Survey of the Fells of the Lake District National Park (1995). Two hills have been added to the original list: High Rigg in 2017 and Oakhowe Crag in 2020. The current list is available on the Hill Bagging website. There
7497-424: The "P" of Pretannia to the "B" of Britannia by the Romans occurred during the time of Julius Caesar. Greco-Egyptian Claudius Ptolemy referred to the larger island as great Britain (μεγάλη Βρεττανία megale Brettania ) and to Ireland as little Britain (μικρὰ Βρεττανία mikra Brettania ) in his work Almagest (147–148 AD). According to Philip Freeman in 2001, Ptolemy "is the only ancient writer to use
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#17327725917647644-417: The 19th and 20th centuries, whereas the populations of Scotland and Wales showed little increase during the 20th century; the population of Scotland has remained unchanged since 1951. Ireland for most of its history had much the same population density as Great Britain (about one-third of the total population). However, since the Great Irish Famine , the population of Ireland has fallen to less than one-tenth of
7791-437: The 19th century. Most of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom after the Irish War of Independence and the subsequent Anglo-Irish Treaty (1919–1922), with six counties remaining in the UK as Northern Ireland. As a term, "British Isles" is a geographical name and not a political unit. In Ireland, the term is controversial , and there are objections to its usage. The Government of Ireland does not officially recognise
7938-718: The 2,531 Simms of Great Britain, three of whom have also declared completion of all 2,755 Simms of the British Isles. July 2020 saw one summit promoted and one deleted, and by 24/07/2020 all of the three initial completers had "topped up". In 2010, Mark Jackson further expanded the HuMPS and compiled the TuMPs (Thirty and upwards Metre Prominence), a list of all hills in Britain having a prominence above 30 m (98 ft). By definition, all Murdos, Corbett Tops, Graham Tops, Hewitts and Deweys are also TuMPs. As of April 2020, there are 17,127 TuMPs; approximately half of that number that did not appear in previously researched lists were researched by Mark Jackson between 2006 and 2009. Since 2012
8085-424: The 2013 book, "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arderins". According to the MountainViews Online Database, Ireland has 407 Arderins, of which 207 are over 2,000 ft and classed as Hewitts, and the 222 are over 600 m and classed as Simms. In addition, Mountainviews uses the term Arderin Begs for the additional class of peaks over 500 m (1,640 ft) in height, and with
8232-454: The 282 Scottish Munros, and 10 of the 34 Non-Scottish Munros called § Furths ; these 64 British Isles' mountains meet the designation of being above 3,000 feet (914 metres) in height, and 600 metres (1,969 feet) in prominence. P600 is an international mountain classification criterion, along with P1500 (or Ultras ), for a prominence above 1,500 metres (4,921 feet). The online version of The Database of British and Irish Hills also offers
8379-413: The 5th century, and eventually they dominated the bulk of what is now England. Viking invasions began in the 9th century, followed by more permanent settlements and political change, particularly in England. The Norman conquest of England in 1066 and the later Angevin partial conquest of Ireland from 1169 led to the imposition of a new Norman ruling elite across much of Britain and parts of Ireland. By
8526-674: The Brettanic Isles as Brettanoi ". Strabo used Βρεττανική ( Brettanike ), and Marcian of Heraclea , in his Periplus maris exteri , used αἱ Πρεττανικαί νῆσοι ( the Prettanic Isles ) to refer to the islands. According to A. L. F. Rivet and Colin Smith in 1979 "the earliest instance of the name which is textually known to us" is in The Histories of Polybius , who referred to them as: αἱ Βρεταννικαί νήσοι , romanized : hai Bretannikai nēsoi , lit. 'the Brettanic Islands' or 'the British Isles'. According to Rivet and Smith, this name encompassed "Britain with Ireland". According to Thomas O'Loughlin in 2018,
8673-442: The British Isles is mild, moist and changeable with abundant rainfall and a lack of temperature extremes. It is defined as a temperate oceanic climate, or Cfb on the Köppen climate classification system, a classification it shares with most of north-west Europe. The North Atlantic Drift ("Gulf Stream"), which flows from the Gulf of Mexico, brings with it significant moisture and raises temperatures 11 °C (20 °F) above
8820-407: The British Isles as twelve islands. John Skelton 's English translation of Diodorus Siculus's Bibliotheca historica , written in the middle 1480s, mentions the British Isles as the yles of Bretayne . Thomas Twyne 's English translation of Dionysius Periegetes 's Orbis descriptio , published in 1572, mentions the British Isles as the Iles of Britannia . The earliest citation of
8967-434: The British Isles was "a concept already present in the minds of those living in continental Europe since at least the 2nd–cent. CE". Historians today, though not in absolute agreement, largely agree that these Greek and Latin names were probably drawn from native Celtic-language names for the archipelago. Along these lines, the inhabitants of the islands were called the Πρεττανοί ( Priteni or Pretani ). The shift from
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#17327725917649114-445: The British Isles were repeatedly submerged beneath an ice sheet which extended into the middle of the North Sea, with a larger ice sheet that covered a significant proportion of Scandinavia on the opposite side. Around 1.9 million years ago these two ice sheets frequently merged, essentially creating a land bridge between Scandinavia and northern Great Britain. Further south, there was a direct land bridge, now known as Doggerland , which
9261-403: The British Isles, the most prominent of which is association football. While this is organised separately in different national associations, leagues and national teams, even within the UK, it is a common passion in all parts of the islands. Rugby union is also widely enjoyed across the islands with four national teams from England , Ireland , Scotland and Wales . The British and Irish Lions
9408-400: The British Isles: Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . Ireland, sometimes called the Republic of Ireland, governs five-sixths of the island of Ireland, with the remainder of the island forming Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, usually shortened to simply "the United Kingdom", which governs
9555-407: The British sense of citizenship proposed to end this arrangement, arguing that "the right to vote is one of the hallmarks of the political status of citizens; it is not a means of expressing closeness between countries". In addition, some civil bodies are organised throughout the islands as a whole—for example, the Samaritans , which is deliberately organised without regard to national boundaries on
9702-430: The British–Irish Council and was established in 1990. Originally it comprised 25 members of the Oireachtas , the Irish parliament, and 25 members of the parliament of the United Kingdom , with the purpose of building mutual understanding between members of both legislatures. Since then the role and scope of the body has been expanded to include representatives from the Scottish Parliament , the Senedd (Welsh Parliament),
9849-437: The British–Irish Council's work. The United Kingdom and Ireland have separate media, although British television, newspapers and magazines are widely available in Ireland, giving people in Ireland a high level of familiarity with the culture of the United Kingdom. Irish newspapers are also available in the UK, and Irish state and private television are widely available in Northern Ireland. Certain reality TV shows have embraced
9996-420: The Channel Islands are similar to French, a language also spoken there. A cant , called Shelta , is spoken by Irish Travellers , often to conceal meaning from those outside the group. However, English, including Scots , is the dominant language, with few monoglots remaining in the other languages of the region. The Norn language of Orkney and Shetland became extinct around 1880. 2.5 million years ago
10143-447: The Channel Islands to this day. A century later, the marriage of the future Henry II of England to Eleanor of Aquitaine created the Angevin Empire , partially under the French Crown . At the invitation of Diarmait Mac Murchada , a provincial king, and under the authority of Pope Adrian IV (the only Englishman to be elected pope), the Angevins invaded Ireland in 1169. Though initially intended to be kept as an independent kingdom,
10290-630: The Channel Islands. Jackson maintains a "Hall of Fame" for climbers who have summited 1,200 HuMPs. A Simm is a mountain in the British Isles that is over 600 m (1,969 ft) high and has a prominence of at least 30 m (98 ft). The word comes from Six-hundred Metre Mountain . As of April 2020, there are 2,755 recorded Simms in the British Isles, including 2,190 Scottish Simms, 192 English Simms, 149 Welsh Simms, one Isle of Man Simm, and 223 Irish Simms. By definition all Simms are also TuMPs (see below) and most, if not all, are mountains, depending on whether 600 metres or 2,000 feet (610 m) (e.g.
10437-437: The Crown dependencies, any resident can vote in general elections, but in Jersey and the Isle of Man only British citizens can run for office. These pre-date European Union law, and in both jurisdictions go further than what was required by European Union law (EU citizens may only vote in local elections in both states and European elections in Ireland). In 2008, a UK Ministry of Justice report investigating how to strengthen
10584-514: The Crown of Ireland also. The subsequent 17th century was one of political upheaval, religious division and war. English colonialism in Ireland of the 16th century was extended by large-scale Scottish and English colonies in Ulster . Religious division heightened, and the king of England came into conflict with parliament over his tolerance towards Catholicism. The resulting English Civil War or War of
10731-745: The Donald classification, the simpler New Donalds was introduced by Alan Dawson in his 1995 book The Grahams and the New Donalds , with an explicit prominence threshold of 30 m (98.4 ft); there are 118 New Donalds, and while all Donald Hills are New Donalds, 22 Donald Tops are not. The Hughs (Hills Under Graham Height) are a list compiled by Andrew Dempster, who published The Hughs: Scotland's Best Wee Hills Under 2,000 Feet: Volume 1: The Mainland in 2015. Dempster describes them as "hills with attitude, not altitude" and says "the three key words are prominence, position, panorama". He lists 100 summits in
10878-600: The Governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom. During the February 2008 meeting of the British–Irish Council, it was agreed to set up a standing secretariat that would serve as a permanent 'civil service' for the Council. Leading on from developments in the British–Irish Council, the chair of the British–Irish Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, Niall Blaney , has suggested that the body should shadow
11025-556: The Hiberni and Picts. In time, Anglo-Saxon demands on the British became so great that they came to culturally dominate the bulk of southern Great Britain, though recent genetic evidence suggests Britons still formed the bulk of the population. This dominance created what is now England and left culturally British enclaves only in the north of what is now England , in Cornwall and what is now known as Wales. Ireland had been unaffected by
11172-746: The HuMPS, titled More Relative Hills of Britain . The DoBIH is available as a downloadable database, or in an online version under the title Hill Bagging . As of July 2023 the database included 20,742 hills, including all Marilyns , HuMPs , TuMPs , Simms , Dodds , Munros and Tops, Corbetts and Tops, Grahams and Tops, Donalds and Tops, Furths , Hewitts , Nuttalls , Buxton & Lewis , Bridges , Yeamans , Clems , Murdos , Deweys , Donald Deweys , Highland Fives , Wainwrights , Birketts , Synges , Fellrangers , Ethels , County tops , SIBs (Significant Islands of Britain), Dillons , Arderins , Vandeleur-Lynams , Carns and Binnions . Since 2012,
11319-713: The Irish component was compiled and maintained by Clem Clements up to his death in 2012; it is now maintained by the DoBIH along with his list of Irish Marilyns. The list is a subset of the Nuttall classification (see below), and excludes the 125 least prominent Nuttalls from the list. As of March 2019, the DoBIH listed 525 Hewitts, 209 in Ireland, 180 in England and 136 in Wales. Since their publication in 1997, Birks Fell and Calf Top in England and Mynydd Graig Goch have been added and Black Mountain deemed to be in Wales only. The combination of Murdos, Corbett Tops and Graham Tops comprise
11466-460: The Isle of Man, and 24 in the Republic of Ireland, brought the total number of P600 mountains in the British Isles to 119. Later, the Welsh peak Moel Siabod 's prominence was remapped at 600 metres (2,000 ft) and the list of P600s expanded to 120. In 2018 a GNSS survey gave a prominence of 599.9m. Although the margin of error means the result is not conclusive, it was accepted by Mark Trengove, who
11613-784: The King of England from being vassal of the King of France . In 1534, King Henry VIII, at first having been a strong defender of Roman Catholicism in the face of the Reformation, separated from the Roman Church after failing to secure a divorce from the Pope. His response was to place the King of England as "the only Supreme Head in Earth of the Church of England ", thereby removing the authority of
11760-492: The Kingdoms of England and Scotland . Power in Ireland fluxed between Gaelic kingdoms , Hiberno-Norman lords and the English-dominated Lordship of Ireland . A similar situation existed in the Principality of Wales , which was slowly being annexed into the Kingdom of England by a series of laws. During the course of the 15th century, the Crown of England would assert a claim to the Crown of France, thereby also releasing
11907-557: The Lakeland Fells . There are 214 Wainwrights in the seven guides, and there are no qualifications for inclusion other than Wainwright's choice, although in the introduction he stated that he would include all summits over 1,000-feet in height, with a prominence above 50 feet. An exception was made for Castle Crag in Borrowdale, at 951 feet (290 m); Wainwright stated that although it was below his 1,000-feet criterion, it
12054-522: The Munros does not qualify as a Murdo ( Maoile Lunndaidh ), and 66 of the Munro Tops do not qualify as Murdos. Alan Dawson first compiled the list in 1995 as an objective and quantitative alternative to the more qualitative SMC definition of a Munro. Dawson's threshold is in line with the 1994 UIAA declaration that an "independent peak" has to have a prominence of over 30 metres (98 ft). Unlike all other Scottish mountain and hill classifications,
12201-461: The P600 (the "Majors") classification, which is the UIAA international classification of a "major" mountain. There is no worldwide consensus on the definition of mountain versus a hill, but in Great Britain and Ireland it is usually taken to be any summit with an elevation of at least 2,000 feet (or 610 metres). The UK government legally defines mountain land as that over 600 metres (1,969 ft) for
12348-555: The Pope from the affairs of the English Church. Ireland, which had been held by the King of England as Lord of Ireland, but which strictly speaking had been a feudal possession of the Pope since the Norman invasion was declared a separate kingdom in personal union with England. Scotland meanwhile had remained an independent Kingdom. In 1603, that changed when the King of Scotland inherited the Crown of England , and consequently
12495-515: The Roman Empire as far as the British Isles" (Greek: μέχρι τῶν Βρεττανικῶν νήσων , romanized: mékhri tôn Brettanikôn nḗsōn ), and remarks on the region "about the British Isles" ( τὸ περὶ τὰς Βρεττανικὰς νήσους , tò perì tàs Brettanikàs nḗsous ). According to Philip Freeman in 2001, "it seems reasonable, especially at this early point in classical knowledge of the Irish, for Diodorus or his sources to think of all inhabitants of
12642-625: The Romans except, significantly, for being Christianised —traditionally by the Romano-Briton, Saint Patrick. As Europe, including Britain, descended into turmoil following the collapse of Roman civilisation, an era known as the Dark Ages, Ireland entered a golden age and responded with missions (first to Great Britain and then to the continent), the founding of monasteries and universities. These were later joined by Anglo-Saxon missions of
12789-431: The SMC does not maintain an official list of Murdos. All Murdos are either SMC Munros or SMC Munro Tops. The Corbetts are peaks in Scotland that are between 2,500 and 3,000 feet (762.0 and 914.4 m) high with a prominence of at least 500 feet (152.4 m). The list was compiled in the 1920s by John Rooke Corbett , a Bristol-based climber and SMC member, and was published posthumously after his sister passed it to
12936-637: The SMC. As of April 2020, there were 222 Corbetts. Climbers who climb all of the Corbetts are called Corbetteers ; the first being Corbett himself who completed in 1943. A list of Corbett Tops, covering mountains in Scotland between 2,500 and 3,000 feet (762.0 and 914.4 m) in height and with between 100 and 500 feet (30.48 and 152.4 m) of prominence, was published by Alan Dawson in 2001. There are 455 Corbett Tops, and thus 677 Corbetts and Corbett Tops in total. The Grahams are hills in Scotland between 600 and 762 metres (1,969 and 2,500 feet) high, with
13083-587: The Scottish equivalent of the Hewitts, but their author Alan Dawson regards those classifications as obsolete. Hewitts are a sub-class of the newer 2010 British Isles classification, the § Simms , or "metric Hewitt", with a 600 metres (1,968.5 ft) height threshold, and a 30 metres (98.4 ft) prominence threshold. Dawson still maintains a list of Hewitts. The Nuttalls are mountains in England and Wales only that are over 2,000 feet (610 m), and with
13230-665: The Simms, which include all mountains in Britain over 600 metres high with at least 30 metres prominence. The Donalds are mountains in the Scottish Lowlands over 2,000 ft (610 m), amongst other criteria. The list was compiled by Percy Donald in 1935, and is maintained by the SMC. The classification is determined by a complicated formula which also contains qualitative elements around "sufficient topographical interest". The formula necessitates splitting Donalds into Donald Hills and Donald Tops; in general, Donald Hills have
13377-463: The Three Kingdoms led to a revolutionary republic in England. Ireland, largely Catholic, was mainly loyal to the king, but by military conquest was subsumed into the new republic. Following defeat to the parliament's army, large scale land distributions from loyalist Irish nobility to English commoners in the service of the parliamentary army created a new Ascendancy class which obliterated
13524-505: The UIAA stated that for a "peak" to be independent (and not a sub-peak), it needed a prominence over 30 metres (98 ft), and a "mountain" had to have a prominence above 300 metres (980 ft). Unlike the single measurement of elevation, prominence requires the measurement of all contours around the peak and is therefore subject to greater revision over time, and thus classification lists based on prominence are subject to change. Some definitions use an imperial measurement for height, but
13671-703: The UK as a whole. Ireland, the United Kingdom and the three Crown dependencies are all parliamentary democracies , with their own separate parliaments. All parts of the United Kingdom return Members of Parliament (MPs) to parliament in London . In addition to this, voters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland return members to a devolved parliament in Edinburgh and in Cardiff and an assembly in Belfast . Governance in
13818-442: The UK or Ireland. The Mercury Music Prize is handed out every year to the best album from a British or Irish musician or group. Many globally popular sports had their modern rules codified in the British Isles, including golf, association football , cricket , rugby , snooker and darts, as well as many minor sports such as croquet , bowls , pitch and putt , water polo and handball . A number of sports are popular throughout
13965-688: The Welsh Munros. There are 34 furths; 15 in Wales, 13 in Ireland and six in England. The highest is Snowdon . Of these 34 SMC identified Furths, 33 have a prominence above 30 m (98 ft) (e.g. the Murdo Furths), 14 have a prominence above 150 m (490 ft) (e.g. the Real Munro Furths), and 10 have a prominence above 600 m (2,000 ft) (e.g. the P600 Furths). The Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) maintains
14112-408: The basis for his 1994 book Complete Lakeland Fells . There are 541 of these tops, and they include 209 of the 214 Wainwrights, and 59 of the 116 Wainwright Outlying Fells. The five Wainwrights that are not Birketts are Armboth Fell , Baystones , Castle Crag (which, at 951 feet (290 m), is Wainwright's only sub-1,000 ft summit), Graystones and Mungrisdale Common ; Birketts are listed in
14259-408: The basis that a service which is not political or religious should not recognise sectarian or political divisions. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), a charity that operates a lifeboat service, is also organised throughout the islands as a whole, covering the waters of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. The Northern Ireland peace process has led to
14406-578: The colonies of North America that would become the United States of America were lost by the start of the 19th century, the British Empire expanded rapidly elsewhere. A century later, it would cover one-third of the globe. Poverty in the United Kingdom remained desperate, however, and industrialisation in England led to terrible conditions for the working classes. Mass migrations following the Irish Famine and Highland Clearances resulted in
14553-551: The cost of building a bridge from County Antrim in Northern Ireland to Galloway in Scotland at £3.5bn (€5bn). British-Irish Isles, the (geography) see British Isles Long Distance Walkers Association The Long Distance Walkers Association ( LDWA ) is a British not for profit, volunteer-led association whose aim is "to further the common interests of those who enjoy Long Distance Walking " in rural, urban, mountainous, coastal and moorland areas. The LDWA
14700-480: The distribution of the islands' population and culture throughout the world and a rapid de-population of Ireland in the second half of the 19th century. Most of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom after the Irish War of Independence and the subsequent Anglo-Irish Treaty (1919–1922), with the six counties that formed Northern Ireland remaining as an autonomous region of the UK. There are two sovereign states in
14847-478: The earliest evidence of human activity on the island of Ireland dates from 12,500 years ago. At the time of the Roman Empire, about two thousand years ago, various tribes, which spoke Celtic dialects of the Insular Celtic group, were inhabiting the islands. The Romans expanded their civilisation to control southern Great Britain but were impeded in advancing any further, building Hadrian's Wall to mark
14994-602: The east and covers 83,700 sq mi (217,000 km ). Ireland is to the west and covers 32,590 sq mi (84,400 km ). The largest of the other islands are to be found in the Hebrides , Orkney and Shetland to the north, Anglesey and the Isle of Man between Great Britain and Ireland, and the Channel Islands near the coast of France. The most densely populated island is Portsea Island , which has an area of 9.5 sq mi (25 km ) but has
15141-474: The event's half-century. Three people completed the event at the age of 81, although all were slightly younger than Henry Bridge, who became the oldest-ever finisher in 1992, also aged 81. A documentary video series produced by the LDWA media team follows the personal stories of various participants navigating a largely off-road route taking in Birmingham , Stratford-upon-Avon and Coventry . The LDWA has
15288-477: The failure of the Irish High King to ensure the terms of the Treaty of Windsor led Henry II, as King of England, to rule as effective monarch under the title of Lord of Ireland . This title was granted to his younger son, but when Henry's heir unexpectedly died, the title of King of England and Lord of Ireland became entwined in one person. By the Late Middle Ages , Great Britain was separated into
15435-545: The global average for the islands' latitudes. Most Atlantic depressions pass to the north of the islands; combined with the general westerly circulation and interactions with the landmass, this imposes a general east–west variation in climate. There are four distinct climate patterns: south-east, with cold winters, warm and dry summers; south-west, having mild and very wet winters, warm and wet summers; north-west, generally wet with mild winters and cool summers; and north-east with cold winters, cool summers. The islands enjoy
15582-400: The highest mountain, rises to only 1,345 metres (4,413 ft), and Lough Neagh , which is notably larger than other lakes in the island group, covers 390 square kilometres (151 sq mi). The climate is temperate marine, with cool winters and warm summers. The North Atlantic drift brings significant moisture and raises temperatures 11 °C (20 °F) above the global average for
15729-413: The highest point on the islands at 1,345 m (4,413 ft). Other mountainous areas include Wales and parts of Ireland, although only seven peaks in these areas reach above 1,000 m (3,281 ft). Lakes on the islands are generally not large, although Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland is an exception, covering 150 square miles (390 km ). The largest freshwater body in Great Britain (by area)
15876-665: The island of Ireland. This area required formal recognition in 1997 during the course of negotiations for the Amsterdam Treaty of the European Union, and (together with the Crown dependencies) is now known as the Common Travel Area . As such, Ireland is not part of the Schengen Area , which allows passport-free travel between most EU member states, and is the only member state with an opt-out from
16023-496: The latitude. This led to a landscape that was long dominated by temperate rainforest, although human activity has since cleared the vast majority of forest cover . The region was re-inhabited after the last glacial period of Quaternary glaciation , by 12,000 BC, when Great Britain was still part of a peninsula of the European continent . Ireland may have been connected to Great Britain by way of an ice bridge before 14,000 BC, and
16170-589: The list became known as the "Majors". The list is authored by Mark Trengove. The definitive version is published on his Europeak website and in the Database of British and Irish Hills. It is one of the shortest of the classification lists of mountains in the British Isles as it has testing threshold criteria. In 2006, 93 P600s were identified in Great Britain: 82 in Scotland, four in England and seven in Wales. These, together with one in Northern Ireland, one on
16317-468: The list has been published and maintained by the editors of The Database of British and Irish Hills . The Munros are mountains in Scotland with elevation of over 3,000 feet (914.4 m). The list was originally compiled by Sir Hugh Munro in 1891, and is modified from time to time by the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC), an example being the delisting in December 2020 of Stob Coire na Cloiche as
16464-547: The list of Furths and records claims of Munroists who go on to complete the Furths (called "Furthists"). The Hewitts , named after the initials of their definition, are "hills in England, Wales and Ireland over two thousand" feet (609.6 m), with a relative height of at least 30 metres (98 ft). The English and Welsh, lists were compiled and are maintained by Alan Dawson. Dawson originally called them "Sweats" in his book, from "Summits – Wales and England Above Two thousand".
16611-527: The list of Nuttalls is sometimes criticised for including too many insignificant minor tops; the Hewitts (see above) are one attempt to avoid this. Some Nuttalls would not be considered peaks or mountains under UIAA definitions. With the exception of Pillar Rock, a rocky outcrop on Pillar in the Lake District , the peaks of all of the Nuttalls can be reached without resort to rock climbing . As of October 2018, 302 people are recorded as having completed
16758-541: The list, though this includes some who did not climb Pillar Rock, which the authors permit. They have also announced that Tinside Rigg and Long Fell (added to the list in 2016) need not be summited as they are in a restricted area of Warcop Artillery Range . The Wainwrights are mountains or hills (locally known as fells ) in the English Lake District National Park that have a chapter in one of Alfred Wainwright 's Pictorial Guides to
16905-516: The list, which as of December 2022 comprised 231 hills from 600 to 762 metres high. Two of the original Grahams no longer qualify: Cnoc Coinnich was found to be above the 762 metres (2,500 ft) height threshold, while Stob na Boine Druim-fhinn was found to have less than 150 metres prominence. In 2004, Dawson published a list of Graham Tops covering every summit in Scotland between 2,000 and 2,500 feet (609.6 and 762.0 m) high with over 30 metres of prominence. This list has since been superseded by
17052-506: The mainland volume, and plans a second volume to list 100 summits on the islands. As of 2021 they are not listed in the DBIH but have attracted attention from peakbaggers. Furths are mountains in Great Britain and Ireland that are furth of (i.e. "outside") Scotland, and which would otherwise qualify as Scottish Munros or Munro Tops. They are sometimes referred to as the Irish, the English or
17199-450: The melting of the ice bridge between the two islands 14,000 years ago approaching the end of the last ice age. As with most of Europe, prehistoric Britain and Ireland were covered with forest and swamp. Clearing began around 6000 BC and accelerated in medieval times. Despite this, Britain retained its primeval forests longer than most of Europe due to a small population and later development of trade and industry, and wood shortages were not
17346-664: The most common trees in England. In Scotland, pine and birch are most common. Natural forests in Ireland are mainly oak, ash, wych elm , birch and pine. Beech and lime , though not native to Ireland, are also common there. Farmland hosts a variety of semi-natural vegetation of grasses and flowering plants. Woods, hedgerows , mountain slopes and marshes host heather , wild grasses, gorse and bracken . Many larger animals, such as wolves, bears and European elk are today extinct. However, some species such as red deer are protected. Other small mammals, such as rabbits , foxes , badgers , hares , hedgehogs , and stoats , are very common and
17493-594: The most comprehensive online database of long-distance paths in the UK. Access is available to members and non-members alike, with members receiving additional benefits, for example unlimited downloadable GPX files of routes. The association also maintains a National Trails Register, with membership categories for people who report completion of five, 10, 15 or all 19 of the National Trails (in England and Wales) and Great Trails (in Scotland). It also maintains
17640-503: The most popular lists for peak baggers, and because of the lack of any height threshold, the classification includes a wide range of hills and mountains, and some sea stacks (pictured right). The Marilyns were expanded in 2007 by the HuMPs (Hundred and upwards Metre Prominence), which reduced the prominence requirement to 100 m (330 ft); all British Isles Marilyns are British Isles HuMPS (but not vice versa). Though he did not use
17787-533: The name "Little Britain" for Ireland, though in doing so he is well within the tradition of earlier authors who pair a smaller Ireland with a larger Britain as the two Brettanic Isles". In the second book of Ptolemy's Geography ( c. 150 AD ), the second and third chapters are respectively titled in Greek: Κεφ. βʹ Ἰουερνίας νήσου Βρεττανικῆς θέσις , romanized: Iouernías nḗsou Brettanikê̄s thésis , lit. 'Ch. 2, position of Hibernia,
17934-464: The norm is by majority rule; however, Northern Ireland uses a system of power sharing whereby unionists and nationalists share executive posts proportionately and where the assent of both groups is required for the Northern Ireland Assembly to make certain decisions. (In the context of Northern Ireland, unionists are those who want Northern Ireland to remain a part of the United Kingdom and nationalists are those who want Northern Ireland to join with
18081-464: The northern frontier of their empire in 122 AD. At that time, Ireland was populated by a people known as Hiberni, the northern third or so of Great Britain by a people known as Picts and the southern two thirds by Britons. Anglo-Saxons arrived as Roman power waned in the 5th century AD . Initially, their arrival seems to have been at the invitation of the Britons as mercenaries to repulse incursions by
18228-758: The obligation to join the Schengen Zone. Reciprocal arrangements allow British and Irish citizens specific voting rights in the two states. In Ireland, British citizens can vote in General and local elections, but not in European Parliament elections, constitutional referendums or presidential elections (for which there is no comparable franchise in the United Kingdom). In the United Kingdom, Irish and Commonwealth citizens can vote in every election for which British citizens are eligible. In
18375-565: The phrase Brytish Iles in the Oxford English Dictionary is in a work by John Dee dated 1577. Other names used to describe the islands include the Anglo-Celtic Isles , Atlantic archipelago (a term coined by the historian J. G. A. Pocock in 1975 ), British-Irish Isles , Britain and Ireland , UK and Ireland , and British Isles and Ireland . Owing to political and national associations with
18522-460: The population of the British Isles. The famine caused a century-long population decline, drastically reduced the Irish population and permanently altered the demographic make-up of the British Isles. On a global scale, this disaster led to the creation of an Irish diaspora that numbers fifteen times the current population of the island. The linguistic heritage of the British Isles is rich, with twelve languages from six groups across four branches of
18669-618: The purposes of freedom of access . When Calf Top in Cumbria was re-surveyed in 2016 and confirmed to be 6 millimetres above the 609.6 m threshold for a 2,000 ft peak, the Ordnance Survey described Calf Top as England's "last mountain". Regardless of the technical definition of a mountain, cultural norms also feature, with mountains in Scotland being frequently referred to as hills irrespective of their height; examples being
18816-469: The remainder of the archipelago with the exception of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The Isle of Man and the two Bailiwicks of the Channel Islands, Jersey and Guernsey , are known as the Crown Dependencies . They exercise constitutional rights of self-government and judicial independence; responsibility for international representation rests largely with the UK (in consultation with
18963-447: The remnants of Old English (Hiberno-Norman) and Gaelic Irish nobility in Ireland. The new ruling class was Protestant and English, whilst the populace was largely Catholic and Irish. This theme would influence Irish politics for centuries to come. When the monarchy was restored in England, the king found it politically impossible to restore the lands of former landowners in Ireland. The " Glorious Revolution " of 1688 repeated similar themes:
19110-631: The respective governments); and responsibility for defence is reserved by the UK. The United Kingdom is made up of four constituent parts : England, Scotland and Wales, forming Great Britain, and Northern Ireland in the northeast of the island of Ireland. Of these, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved governments, meaning that each has its own parliament or assembly and is self-governing with respect to certain matters set down by law. For judicial purposes, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England and Wales (the latter being one entity) form separate legal jurisdictions, with there being no single law for
19257-585: The rest of Ireland.) The British monarch is the head of state of the United Kingdom, while in the Republic of Ireland the head of state is the President of Ireland . Ireland is the only part of the isles that is a member state of the European Union (EU). The UK was a member between 1 January 1973 and 31 January 2020, but the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands were not. Since the partition of Ireland , an informal free-travel area has existed across
19404-668: The rivers and lakes, in particular salmon, trout, perch and pike . Sea fish include dogfish , cod, sole , pollock and bass, as well as mussels, crab and oysters along the coast. There are more than 21,000 species of insects. Few species of reptiles or amphibians are found in Great Britain or Ireland. Only three snakes are native to Great Britain: the adder , the barred grass snake and the smooth snake ; none are native to Ireland. In general, Great Britain has slightly more variation and native wildlife, with weasels, polecats , wildcats, most shrews , moles , water voles , roe deer and common toads also being absent from Ireland. This pattern
19551-516: The second-busiest international air route in the world. The English Channel and the southern North Sea are the busiest seaways in the world. The Channel Tunnel , opened in 1994, links Great Britain to France and is the second-longest rail tunnel in the world. The idea of building a tunnel under the Irish Sea has been raised since 1895, when it was first investigated. Several potential Irish Sea tunnel projects have been proposed, most recently
19698-665: The term HuMP, Eric Yeaman's Handbook of the Scottish Hills (1989) is considered an early source as it included lists of hills with a prominence above 100 m. The name and first formal British Isles list was compiled by Mark Jackson from a number of sources and published online in 2010 in More Relative Hills of Britain . As of April 2020, there were 2,984 HuMPs in the British Isles: 2,167 in Scotland, 833 in Ireland, 441 in England, 368 in Wales and 11 in
19845-480: The term, and its embassy in London discourages its use. "Britain and Ireland" is used as an alternative description, and "Atlantic Archipelago" has also seen limited use in academia. In official documents created jointly by Ireland and the United Kingdom, such as the Good Friday Agreement , the term "these islands" is used. The earliest known references to the islands as a group appeared in
19992-537: The third highest population behind Great Britain and Ireland. The islands are at relatively low altitudes, with central Ireland and southern Great Britain particularly low-lying: the lowest point in the islands is the North Slob in County Wexford , Ireland, with an elevation of −3.0 metres (−9.8 ft). The Scottish Highlands in the northern part of Great Britain are mountainous, with Ben Nevis being
20139-628: The turn of the first millennium AD, and eventually became a feudal possession of Denmark . The relations between the descendants of Vikings in England and counterparts in Normandy , in northern France, lay at the heart of a series of events that led to the Norman conquest of England in 1066 . The remnants of the Duchy of Normandy , which conquered England, remain associated to the English Crown as
20286-524: The whole of the islands, for example The X Factor , seasons 3, 4 and 7 of which featured auditions in Dublin and were open to Irish voters, whilst the show previously known as Britain's Next Top Model became Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model in 2011. A few cultural events are organised for the island group as a whole. For example, the Costa Book Awards are awarded to authors resident in
20433-426: The word British , the Government of Ireland does not use the term British Isles and in documents drawn up jointly between the British and Irish governments, the archipelago is referred to simply as "these islands". British Isles is the most widely accepted term for the archipelago. The British Isles lie at the juncture of several regions with past episodes of tectonic mountain building. These orogenic belts form
20580-657: The writings of seafarers from the ancient Greek colony of Massalia . The original records have been lost; however, later writings, e.g. Avienius 's Ora maritima , that quoted from the Massaliote Periplus (6th century BC) and from Pytheas 's On the Ocean (around 325–320 BC) have survived. In the 1st century BC, Diodorus Siculus has Prettanikē nēsos , "the British Island", and Prettanoi , "the Britons", describes Julius Caesar as having "advanced
20727-431: Was a perfect mountain in miniature and demanded inclusion. A further 116 summits were included in the supplementary guide, The Outlying Fells of Lakeland , and are known as the Wainwright Outlying Fells. The Birketts are all the tops over 1,000 feet (304.8 m) within the boundaries of the Lake District National Park . Height and location, but not prominence, are the criteria. The list was devised by Bill Birkett as
20874-445: Was created in 2001 "with the intention of providing a comprehensive, up-to-date resource for British hillwalkers". It is maintained by a team of seven editors, and is described by the Long Distance Walkers Association as "now the most reliable online source for all Registers" (i.e. all lists of summits attained). The DoBIH has been used as a source by books, hillwalking websites and smartphone apps, including Mark Jackson's 2010 book on
21021-447: Was drawn up in 2002 by the Irish MountainViews publisher Simon Stewart from an early listing of the Myrddyn Deweys with hills from the Vandeleur-Lynams which meet the higher prominence criterion. The name Arderins was first used in 2009, and comes from the 527-metre (1,729 ft) hill Arderin , which is the County Top for County Laois and County Offaly in Ireland, and translates as "Height of Ireland". The Arderins were published in
21168-405: Was gradually submerged as sea levels rose. However, the Irish Sea was formed before Doggerland was completely covered in water, with Ireland becoming an island roughly 6,000 years before Great Britain did. The first evidence of human activity on the islands dates from 840,000 or 950,000 years ago, based in flint tools found near Happisburgh on the Norfolk coast of Great Britain. In contrast,
21315-462: Was not inhabited until after 8000 BC. Great Britain became an island by 7000 BC with the flooding of Doggerland . The Gaels (Ireland), Picts (northern Great Britain) and Britons (southern Great Britain), all speaking Insular Celtic languages , inhabited the islands at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. Much of Brittonic-occupied Britain was conquered by the Roman Empire from AD 43. The first Anglo-Saxons arrived as Roman power waned in
21462-403: Was present on the survey, bringing the total back to 119. More recently available LIDAR data for the col would give a prominence of 599.7m. In February 2020 a GNSS survey of Beinn Odhar Bheag in conjunction with OS trig point data for Rois-Bheinn found the former to be 1 metre higher. Accordingly, Beinn Odhar Bheag has replaced Rois-bheinn in the P600 list. The British Isles' P600s contain 54 of
21609-451: Was the Downsman 100 in 1973. There have been two years without a hundred-mile event: 2001, when foot and mouth closed the countryside, and 2020, when COVID-19 prevented the event taking place. COVID-19 also affected the 2021 event which was run as the Sir Fynwy virtual 100, with participants walking their own routes and providing evidence of completion. The 50th Hundred, the Elephant, Bear and Bull 100, took place in May 2023 and also marked
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