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141-945: The Irish Sea is a 46,007 km (17,763 sq mi) body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain . It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Channel . Anglesey , North Wales , is the largest island in the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man . The term Manx Sea may occasionally be encountered ( Welsh : Môr Manaw , Irish : Muir Meann Manx : Mooir Vannin , Scottish Gaelic : Muir Mhanainn ). On its shoreline are Scotland to

282-744: A three-year guerrilla war , which ended in a truce in July 1921 (although violence continued until June 1922, mostly in Northern Ireland). In December 1921, the Anglo-Irish Treaty was concluded between the British government and representatives of the Second Dáil . It gave Ireland complete independence in its home affairs and practical independence for foreign policy, but an opt-out clause allowed Northern Ireland to remain within

423-611: A Home Rule bill through parliament, it looked certain that one would finally pass in 1914. To prevent this from happening, the Ulster Volunteers were formed in 1913 under the leadership of Edward Carson . Their formation was followed in 1914 by the establishment of the Irish Volunteers , whose aim was to ensure that the Home Rule Bill was passed. The Act was passed but with the "temporary" exclusion of

564-527: A basal Permian unconformity into at least the western part of the Caernarfon Bay Basin. The timing of gas generation presents the greatest exploration risk. Maximum burial of, and primary gas migration from, the source rocks could have terminated as early as the Jurassic , whereas many of the tilted fault blocks were reactivated or created during Paleogene inversion of the basin. However, it

705-472: A central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. Its lush vegetation is a product of its mild but changeable climate which is free of extremes in temperature. Much of Ireland was woodland until the end of the Middle Ages . Today, woodland makes up about 10% of the island, compared with a European average of over 33%, with most of it being non-native conifer plantations. The Irish climate

846-565: A century, with the migrations of the Celts being one of the more enduring themes of archaeological and linguistic studies. The most recent genetic research strongly associates the spread of Indo-European languages (including Celtic) through Western Europe with a people bringing a composite Beaker culture , with its arrival in Britain and Ireland dated to around the middle of the third millennium BC. According to John T. Koch and others, Ireland in

987-604: A continuation into British waters of Ireland's North Celtic Sea Basin, which has two producing gas fields. The basin comprises a south-easterly deepening half-graben near the Welsh coastline, although its internal structure becomes increasingly complex towards the southwest. Permian to Triassic, syn-rift sediments within the basin are less than 3 km (1.9 mi) thick and are overlain by up to 4 km (2.5 mi) of Jurassic strata, and locally also by up to 2 km (1.2 mi) of Paleogene fluvio-deltaic sediments. The basin has

1128-458: A corresponding dosage of radioactivity naturally occurring in the seafood consumed by this group of 148 μSv (0.0148 rem) and a total average dosage in Ireland from all sources of 3,620 μSv (0.362 rem). In terms of risk to this group, heavy consumption of seafood generates a 1 in 18 million chance of causing cancer. The general risk of contracting cancer in Ireland is 1 in 522. In

1269-524: A fusion and modification of aspects of the ship types they knew operating in both the Atlantic and Mediterranean, generalizing their use in the end of the century for inter-oceanic travel with a more advanced form of sail rigging that allowed much improved sailing characteristics in the heavy winds and waves of the Atlantic Ocean and a hull shape and size that permitted larger cargoes. In addition to

1410-681: A goddess in Irish mythology first recorded in the ninth century. The etymology of Ériu is disputed but may derive from the Proto-Indo-European root * h2uer , referring to flowing water. During the last glacial period , and until about 16,000 BC, much of Ireland was periodically covered in ice. The relative sea level was less than 50m lower resulting in an ice bridge (but not a land bridge ) forming between Ireland and Great Britain. By 14,000 BC this ice bridge existed only between Northern Ireland and Scotland and by 12,000 BC Ireland

1551-414: A large cargo and the provisions needed for very long voyages. The later carracks were square-rigged on the foremast and mainmast and lateen - rigged on the mizzenmast . They had a high rounded stern with aftcastle , forecastle and bowsprit at the stem. As the predecessor of the galleon , the carrack was one of the most influential ship designs in history; while ships became more specialized in

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1692-402: A large extent on whether the seabed is composed of rock , boulders , gravel , sand , mud or even peat . In the soft sediments seven types of community have been provisionally identified, variously dominated by brittle-stars , sea urchins , worms, mussels , tellins , furrow-shells , and tower-shells. Parts of the bed of the Irish Sea are very rich in wildlife. The seabed southwest of

1833-530: A new language and culture introduced directly by migration and genetic replacement). The earliest written records of Ireland come from classical Greco-Roman geographers. Ptolemy in his Almagest refers to Ireland as Mikra Brettania ("Little Britain"), in contrast to the larger island, which he called Megale Brettania ("Great Britain"). In his map of Ireland in his later work, Geography , Ptolemy refers to Ireland as Iouernia and to Great Britain as Albion . These 'new' names were likely to have been

1974-664: A plan to reintroduce grey whales by airlifting 50 of them from the Pacific Ocean to the Irish Sea was claimed to be logically and ethically feasible; it has not been implemented as of 2013. The common or harbour seal and the grey seal are both resident in the Irish Sea. Common seals breed in Strangford Lough, grey seals in southwest Wales and, in small numbers, on the Isle of Man. Grey seals haul out, but do not breed, off Hilbre and Walney islands, Merseyside ,

2115-521: A political reality until the Viking Age and even then was not a consistent one. Ireland did have a culturally unifying rule of law: the early written judicial system, the Brehon Laws , administered by a professional class of jurists known as the brehons . The Chronicle of Ireland records that in 431, Bishop Palladius arrived in Ireland on a mission from Pope Celestine I to minister to

2256-577: A proven petroleum system, with potentially producible gas reserves at the Dragon discovery near the UK/ROI median line, and oil shows in a further three wells. The Cardigan Bay Basin contains multiple reservoir targets, which include the Lower Triassic (Sherwood Sandstone), Middle Jurassic shallow marine sandstones and limestone (Great Oolite ), and Upper Jurassic fluvial sandstone, the reservoir for

2397-498: A republican rebellion inspired and led by the Society of United Irishmen , with the aim of creating an independent Ireland. Despite assistance from France the rebellion was put down by British and Irish government and yeomanry forces. The rebellion lasted from the 24th of May to the 12th of October that year and saw the establishment of the short lived Irish Republic (1798) in the province on Connacht . It saw numerous battles across

2538-532: A series of dramatic changes over the last 20,000 years as the last glacial period ended and was replaced by warmer conditions. At the height of the glaciation, the central part of the modern sea was probably a long freshwater lake. As the ice retreated 10,000 years ago, the lake reconnected to the sea. The Irish Sea was formed in the Neogene era. Notable crossings include several invasions from Britain. The Norman invasion of Ireland took place in stages during

2679-511: A sheep's tooth were carbon-dated to c. 4,350 BC. Field systems were developed in different parts of Ireland, including at the Céide Fields , that has been preserved beneath a blanket of peat in present-day Tyrawley . An extensive field system , arguably the oldest in the world, consisted of small divisions separated by dry-stone walls . The fields were farmed for several centuries between 3,500 BC and 3,000 BC. Wheat and barley were

2820-674: A sovereign state covering five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland , which is part of the United Kingdom . As of 2022, the population of the entire island is just over 7 million, with 5.1 million in the Republic of Ireland and 1.9 million in Northern Ireland, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. The geography of Ireland comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding

2961-643: A type of river barge. The Akkadian term is assumed to be derived from a Sumerian antecedent. A modern reflex of the word is found in Arabic and Turkish kelek "raft; riverboat". By the Late Middle Ages , the cog and cog-like square-rigged vessels equipped with a rudder at the stern , were widely used along the coasts of Europe, from the Mediterranean, to the Baltic. Given the conditions of

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3102-567: A year. Holyhead port handles most of the passenger traffic from Dublin and Dún Laoghaire ports, as well as 3.3 million tonnes (3,200,000 long tons; 3,600,000 short tons) of freight. Ports in the Republic handle 3,600,000 travellers crossing the sea each year, amounting to 92% of all Irish Sea travel. Ferry connections from Wales to Ireland across the Irish Sea include Fishguard Harbour and Pembroke to Rosslare , Holyhead to Dún Laoghaire and Holyhead to Dublin. From Scotland , Cairnryan connects with both Belfast and Larne . There

3243-538: Is accepted that such movements are notoriously difficult to identify. Historical linguists are skeptical that this method alone could account for the absorption of Celtic language, with some saying that an assumed processual view of Celtic linguistic formation is 'an especially hazardous exercise'. Genetic lineage investigation into the area of Celtic migration to Ireland has led to findings that showed no significant differences in mitochondrial DNA between Ireland and large areas of continental Europe, in contrast to parts of

3384-662: Is also a connection between Liverpool and Belfast via the Isle of Man or direct from Birkenhead . The world's largest car ferry , Ulysses , is operated by Irish Ferries on the Dublin Port–Holyhead route; Stena Line also operates between Britain and Ireland. "Irish Sea" is also the name of one of the BBC 's Shipping Forecast areas defined by the coordinates: Iarnród Éireann , Irish Ferries , Northern Ireland Railways , ScotRail , Stena Line and Transport for Wales Rail promote SailRail with through rail tickets for

3525-503: Is also possible that a secondary gas charge occurred during regional heating associated with intrusion of Paleogene dykes , such as those that crop out nearby on the coastline of north Wales. (Floodpage et al., 1999) have invoked this second phase of Paleogene hydrocarbon generation as an important factor in the charging of the East Irish Sea Basin's oil and gas fields. It is not clear as yet whether aeromagnetic anomalies in

3666-670: Is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean , in north-western Europe . It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel , the Irish Sea , and St George's Channel . Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles , the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest in the world. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Ireland ),

3807-690: Is bounded to the north and south by Lower Paleozoic massifs . Only two exploration wells have been drilled so far, and there remain numerous undrilled targets in tilted fault block plays . As in the East Irish Sea Basin, the principal target reservoir is the Lower Triassic, Sherwood Sandstone, top-sealed by younger Triassic mudstones and evaporites. Wells in the Irish Sector to the west have demonstrated that pre-rift, Westphalian coal measures are excellent hydrocarbon source rocks, and are at peak maturity for gas generation (Maddox et al., 1995). Seismic profiles clearly image these strata continuing beneath

3948-517: Is closely associated with sediment activity, with muddy deposits on the seabed acting as sinks, soaking up an estimated 200 kg (440 lb) of plutonium . The highest concentration is found in the eastern Irish Sea in sediment banks lying parallel to the Cumbrian coast. This area acts as a significant source of wider contamination as radionuclides are dissolved once again. Studies have revealed that 80% of current seawater contamination by caesium

4089-709: Is distributed in two closely related lobes. The first distribution lobe, or area, associates it with certain light and fast merchantmen found near Cyprus and Corfu . The second is an extensive attestation in the Oxyrhynchus corpus, where it seems most frequently to describe the Nile barges of the Ptolemaic pharaohs . Both of these usages may lead back through the Phoenician to the Akkadian kalakku , which denotes

4230-621: Is extant in Ireland as a voluntary donation. In turn, Henry assumed the title of Lord of Ireland which Henry conferred on his younger son, John Lackland , in 1185. This defined the Anglo-Norman administration in Ireland as the Lordship of Ireland . When Henry's successor died unexpectedly in 1199, John inherited the crown of England and retained the Lordship of Ireland. Over the century that followed, Norman feudal law gradually replaced

4371-450: Is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and thus very moderate, and winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, although summers are cooler than those in continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant. Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century AD. The island was Christianised from the 5th century onwards. During this period Ireland was divided into many petty kingships under provincial kingships (Cúige "fifth" of

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4512-516: Is no top-seal for reservoirs sub cropping the regional base Permian unconformity in the east of the basin, and Carboniferous strata crop out at the sea bed in the west. Previous exploration drilling in the Kish Bank Basin has confirmed the potential for petroleum generation with oil shows seen in a number of wells together with natural hydrocarbon seeps recorded from airborne surveys. New analysis of vintage 2-D seismic data has revealed

4653-464: Is sourced from sediment banks, whilst plutonium levels in the western sediment banks between the Isle of Man and the Irish coast are being maintained by contamination redistributed from the eastern sediment banks. The consumption of seafood harvested from the Irish Sea is the main pathway for exposure of humans to radioactivity. The environmental monitoring report for the period 2003 to 2005 published by

4794-566: Is unclear. However, a number of finds of Roman coins have been made, for example at the Iron Age settlement of Freestone Hill near Gowran and Newgrange . Ireland continued as a patchwork of rival kingdoms; however, beginning in the 7th century, a concept of national kingship gradually became articulated through the concept of a High King of Ireland . Medieval Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of high kings stretching back thousands of years, but some modern historians believe

4935-686: The Lebor Gabála Érenn , a medieval Christian pseudo-history of Ireland, along with the presence of Celtic culture, language and artefacts found in Ireland such as Celtic bronze spears, shields, torcs and other finely crafted Celtic associated possessions. The theory holds that there were four separate Celtic invasions of Ireland. The Priteni were said to be the first, followed by the Belgae from northern Gaul and Britain. Later, Laighin tribes from Armorica (present-day Brittany) were said to have invaded Ireland and Britain more or less simultaneously. Lastly,

5076-472: The São Gabriel had six sails: bowsprit, foresail, mainsail, mizzensail and two topsails. In the Republic of Ragusa , a kind of a three or four masted carrack called Dubrovačka karaka (Dubrovnik Carrack) was used between the 14th and the 17th century for cargo transport. In the middle of the 16th century, the first galleons were developed from the carrack. The galleon design came to replace that of

5217-622: The Act of Settlement 1701 . Daniel O'Connell led a subsequent campaign, for the repeal of the Act of Union, which failed. Later in the century, Charles Stewart Parnell and others campaigned for autonomy within the Union, or " Home Rule ". Unionists, especially those located in Ulster, were strongly opposed to Home Rule, which they thought would be dominated by Catholic interests. After several attempts to pass

5358-540: The Bahama and King William Banks to the east and north of the Isle of Man and the Kish Bank , Codling Bank, Arklow Bank and Blackwater Bank near the coast of Ireland. The Irish Sea, at its greatest width, is 200 km (120 mi) and narrows to 75 km (47 mi). The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Irish Sea (with St George's Channel) as follows, The Irish Sea has undergone

5499-873: The Douglas Complex the gas is piped by subsea pipeline to the Point of Ayr gas terminal for further processing. The gas is then sent by onshore pipeline to PowerGen 's combined cycle gas turbine power station at Connah's Quay . PowerGen is the sole purchaser of gas from the Liverpool Bay development. The Liverpool Bay development comprises four offshore platforms. Offshore storage and loading facilities. The onshore gas processing terminal at Point of Ayr. Production first started at each field as follows: Hamilton North in 1995, Hamilton in 1996, Douglas in 1996, Lennox (oil only) in 1996 and Hamilton East 2001. The first contract gas sales were in 1996. The quality of

5640-646: The Duke of Wellington . Steering the Catholic Relief Bill through Parliament, aided by future prime minister Robert Peel , Wellington prevailed upon a reluctant George IV to sign the Bill and proclaim it into law. George's father had opposed the plan of the earlier Prime Minister, Pitt the Younger , to introduce such a bill following the Union of 1801, fearing Catholic Emancipation to be in conflict with

5781-760: The Good Friday Agreement in 1998. In 1973, both the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, with Northern Ireland as part of it, joined the European Economic Community . Following a referendum vote in 2016, the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland included, left the European Union (EU) in 2020. Northern Ireland was granted a limited special status and allowed to operate within the EU single market for goods without being in

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5922-549: The Irish parliament passed the Statutes of Kilkenny in 1367. These were a set of laws designed to prevent the assimilation of the Normans into Irish society by requiring English subjects in Ireland to speak English, follow English customs and abide by English law. By the end of the 15th century, central English authority in Ireland had all but disappeared, and a renewed Irish culture and language, albeit with Norman influences,

6063-596: The Milesians ( Gaels ) were said to have reached Ireland from either northern Iberia or southern Gaul. It was claimed that a second wave named the Euerni, belonging to the Belgae people of northern Gaul, began arriving about the sixth century BC. They were said to have given their name to the island. The theory was advanced in part because of the lack of archaeological evidence for large-scale Celtic immigration, though it

6204-649: The North Atlantic at both its northern and southern ends. To the north, the connection is through the North Channel between Scotland and Northern Ireland and the Malin Sea . The southern end is linked to the Atlantic through the St George's Channel between Ireland and Pembrokeshire , and the Celtic Sea . It is composed of a deeper channel about 300 km (190 mi) long and 30–50 km (20–30 mi) wide on its western side and shallower bays to

6345-481: The North Channel to see if a tunnel between Ireland and Scotland was viable. Sixty years later, Harford Montgomery Hyde , Unionist MP for North Belfast, called for the building of such a tunnel. A tunnel project has been discussed several times in the Irish parliament . The idea for a 34-kilometre (21 mi) long rail bridge or tunnel continues to be mooted. Several potential projects have been proposed, including one between Dublin and Holyhead put forward in 1997 by

6486-477: The Protestant Ascendancy . The " Great Frost " struck Ireland and the rest of Europe between December 1739 and September 1741, after a decade of relatively mild winters. The winters destroyed stored crops of potatoes and other staples, and the poor summers severely damaged harvests. This resulted in the famine of 1740 . An estimated 250,000 people (about one in eight of the population) died from

6627-502: The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) reported that in 2005 average quantities of radioactive contamination found in seafood ranged from less than 1 Bq/kg (12 pCi/lb) for fish to under 44 Bq/kg (540 pCi/lb) for mussels. Doses of man-made radioactivity received by the heaviest consumers of seafood in Ireland in 2005 was 1.10 μSv (0.000110 rem). This compares with

6768-771: The Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the Williamite War . Irish losses during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (which, in Ireland, included the Irish Confederacy and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland ) are estimated to include 20,000 battlefield casualties. 200,000 civilians are estimated to have died as a result of a combination of war-related famine, displacement, guerrilla activity and pestilence throughout

6909-399: The Wirral , St Annes, Barrow-in-Furness Borough, and Cumbria. The Irish Sea has been described by Greenpeace as the most radioactively contaminated sea in the world with some "eight million litres of nuclear waste " discharged into it each day from Sellafield reprocessing plants, contaminating seawater, sediments and marine life. Low-level radioactive waste has been discharged into

7050-780: The sea duck , common scoter , spend winters feeding in shallow waters off eastern Ireland, Lancashire and North Wales . Whales, dolphins and porpoises all frequent the Irish Sea, but knowledge of how many there may be and where they go is somewhat sketchy. About a dozen species have been recorded since 1980, but only three are seen fairly often. These are the harbour porpoise , bottlenose dolphin and common dolphin . The more rarely seen species are minke whale , fin whale , sei whale , humpback whale , North Atlantic right whales which are now considered to be almost extinct in eastern North Atlantic, sperm whale , northern bottlenose whale , long-finned pilot whale , orca , white-beaked dolphin , striped dolphin and Risso's dolphin . In 2005,

7191-424: The 17th century left a deep sectarian division in Ireland. Religious allegiance now determined the perception in law of loyalty to the Irish King and Parliament. After the passing of the Test Act 1672 , and the victory of the forces of the dual monarchy of William and Mary over the Jacobites , Roman Catholics and nonconforming Protestant Dissenters were barred from sitting as members in the Irish Parliament. Under

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7332-525: The 9th century, waves of Viking raiders plundered Irish monasteries and towns. These raids added to a pattern of raiding and endemic warfare that was already deep-seated in Ireland. The Vikings were involved in establishing most of the major coastal settlements in Ireland: Dublin , Limerick , Cork , Wexford , Waterford , as well as other smaller settlements. On 1 May 1169, an expedition of Cambro-Norman knights, with an army of about 600 men, landed at Bannow Strand in present-day County Wexford . It

7473-457: The British engineering firm Symonds. At 80 km (50 mi), it would have been by far the longest rail tunnel on earth with an estimated cost approaching £20 billion. An offshore wind farm was developed on the Arklow Bank, Arklow Bank Wind Park , about 10 km (6.2 mi) off the coast of County Wicklow in the south Irish Sea. The site currently has seven GE 3.6 MW turbines , each with 104-metre (341 ft) diameter rotors ,

7614-479: The Chinese. That trade continued with few interruptions until 1638, when it was prohibited by the rulers of Japan on the grounds that the ships were smuggling Catholic priests into the country. The Japanese called Portuguese carracks " Black Ships " ( kurofune ), referring to the colour of the ship's hulls. This term would eventually come to refer to any Western vessel, not just Portuguese. The Islamic world also built and used carracks, or at least carrack-like ships, in

7755-456: The Dee Estuary and the estuaries are also important as nurseries for flatfish , herring and sea bass . Muddy seabeds in deeper waters are home to populations of the Dublin Bay prawn , also known as "scampi". The open sea is a complex habitat in its own right. It exists in three spatial dimensions and also varies over time and tide. For example, where freshwater flows into the Irish Sea in river estuaries its influence can extend far offshore as

7896-478: The Dragon discovery. The most likely hydrocarbon source rocks are Early Jurassic marine mudstones. These are fully mature for oil generation in the west of the British sector and are mature for gas generation nearby in the Irish sector. Gas-prone, Westphalian pre-rift coal measures may also be present at depth locally. The Cardigan Bay Basin was subjected to two Tertiary phases of compressive uplift, whereas maximum burial that terminated primary hydrocarbon generation

8037-651: The East Irish Sea Basin is at a mature exploration phase. Early Namurian basinal mudstones are the source rocks for these hydrocarbons. Production from all fields is from fault-bounded traps of the Lower Triassic formation, principally the aeolian Sherwood Sandstone reservoir, top-sealed by younger Triassic continental mudstones and evaporites . Future mineral exploration will initially concentrate on extending this play , but there remains largely untested potential also for gas and oil within widespread Carboniferous fluvial sandstone reservoirs. This play requires intraformational mudstone seal units to be present, as there

8178-425: The English church at the time, the Catholic Church , was published in 1216 and the Parliament of Ireland was founded in 1297. From the mid-14th century, after the Black Death , Norman settlements in Ireland went into a period of decline. The Norman rulers and the Gaelic Irish elites intermarried and the areas under Norman rule became Gaelicised . In some parts, a hybrid Hiberno-Norman culture emerged. In response,

8319-557: The European Union. Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the field of literature . Alongside mainstream Western culture , a strong indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games , Irish music , Irish language , and Irish dance . The island's culture shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football , rugby , horse racing , golf , and boxing . The names Ireland and Éire derive from Old Irish Ériu ,

8460-406: The Gaelic Brehon Law across large areas, so that by the late 13th century the Norman-Irish had established a feudal system throughout much of Ireland. Norman settlements were characterised by the establishment of baronies, manors, towns and the seeds of the modern county system. A version of Magna Carta (the Great Charter of Ireland ), substituting Dublin for London and the Irish Church for,

8601-456: The Irish "already believing in Christ". The same chronicle records that Saint Patrick , Ireland's best known patron saint , arrived the following year. There is continued debate over the missions of Palladius and Patrick, but the consensus is that they both took place and that the older druid tradition collapsed in the face of the new religion. Irish Christian scholars excelled in the study of Latin and Greek learning and Christian theology. In

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8742-701: The Irish Sea and its surrounding coastline, ranging from flower-like fan-worms to predatory swimming crabs to large chameleon -like cuttlefish . Some of the most significant for other wildlife are the reef-building species like the inshore horse mussel of Strangford Lough, the inter-tidal honeycomb worm of Morecambe Bay, Cumbria and Lancashire , and the sub-tidal honeycomb worm of the Wicklow Reef . These build up large structures over many years and, in turn, provide surfaces, nooks and crannies where other marine animals and plants may become established and live out some or all of their lives. There are quite regular records of live and stranded leatherback turtles in and around

8883-400: The Irish Sea are of international importance for birds. They are vital feeding grounds on migration flyways for shorebirds travelling between the Arctic and Africa. Others depend on the milder climate as a refuge when continental Europe is in the grip of winter. Twenty-one species of seabird are reported as regularly nesting on beaches or cliffs around the Irish Sea. Huge populations of

9024-405: The Irish Sea as part of operations at Sellafield since 1952. The rate of discharge began to accelerate in the mid- to late 1960s, reaching a peak in the 1970s and generally declining significantly since then. As an example of this profile, discharges of plutonium (specifically Pu ) peaked in 1973 at 2,755 terabecquerels (74,500 Ci) falling to 8.1 TBq (220 Ci) by 2004. Improvements in

9165-409: The Irish Sea. This species travels north to the waters off the British Isles every year following the swarms of jellyfish that form its prey. Loggerhead turtle, ridley sea turtle and green turtle are found very occasionally in the Irish Sea but are generally unwell or dead when discovered. They have strayed or been swept out of their natural range further south into colder waters. The estuaries of

9306-469: The Irish Volunteers' name and opposed Ireland's involvement in the war. The Easter Rising of 1916 was carried out by the latter group together with a smaller socialist militia, the Irish Citizen Army . The British response, executing fifteen leaders of the Rising over a period of ten days and imprisoning or interning more than a thousand people, turned the mood of the country in favour of the rebels. Support for Irish republicanism increased further due to

9447-413: The Isle of Man is particularly noted for its rarities and diversity, as are the horse mussel beds of Strangford Lough. Scallops and queen scallops are found in more gravelly areas. In the estuaries, where the bed is more sandy or muddy, the number of species is smaller but the size of their populations is larger. Brown shrimp , cockles and edible mussels support local fisheries in Morecambe Bay and

9588-527: The Late Bronze Age was part of a maritime trading-network culture called the Atlantic Bronze Age that also included Britain, western France and Iberia, and that this is where Celtic languages developed. This contrasts with the traditional view that their origin lies in mainland Europe with the Hallstatt culture . The long-standing traditional view is that the Celtic language, Ogham script and culture were brought to Ireland by waves of invading or migrating Celts from mainland Europe. This theory draws on

9729-423: The Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. A picture of an Ottoman barca on Piri Reis' map shows a deep-hulled ship with a tall forecastle and a lateen sail on the mizzenmast. The harraqa (Saracen: karaque ) was a type of ship used to hurl explosives or inflammable materials (firebomb in earthenware pots, naphtha , fire arrows). From the context of Islamic texts, there are two types of harraqa : The cargo ship and

9870-555: The Mediterranean, galley type vessels were extensively used there, as were various two masted vessels, including the caravels with their lateen sails. These and similar ship types were familiar to Portuguese navigators and shipwrights. As the Portuguese and Spaniards gradually extended their trade ever further south along Africa's Atlantic coast and islands during the 15th century, they needed larger, more durable and more advanced sailing ships for their long oceanic ventures. Gradually, they developed their own models of oceanic carracks from

10011-481: The Middle Jurassic section. The Liverpool Bay Development was BHP 's largest operated asset. It comprises the integrated development of five offshore oil and gas fields in the Irish Sea: Oil is produced from the Lennox and Douglas fields. It is then treated at the Douglas Complex and piped 17 km (11 mi) to an oil storage barge ready for export by tankers. Gas is produced from the Hamilton, Hamilton North and Hamilton East reservoirs. After initial processing at

10152-474: The North Channel of around six months with peak concentrations off the northeast Irish coast occurring 18–24 months after peak discharge. Less soluble elements such as plutonium are subject to much slower redistribution. Whilst concentrations have declined in line with the reduction in discharges they are markedly higher in the eastern Irish Sea compared to the western areas. The dispersal of these elements

10293-530: The Portuguese began trading with Japan, exchanging Chinese silk for Japanese silver; in 1550 the Portuguese Crown started to regulate trade to Japan , by leasing the annual "captaincy" to Japan to the highest bidder at Goa, in effect conferring exclusive trading rights for a single carrack bound for Japan every year. In 1557 the Portuguese acquired Macau to develop this trade in partnership with

10434-522: The Red Sea, and were often larger than Portuguese carracks. The Bengalis also used carracks, sometimes called naos mauriscas (Moorish carracks) by the Portuguese. Arabs merchants of Mecca apparently used carracks too, since Duarte Barbosa noted that the Bengali people have "great naos after the fashion of Mecca". The Italian word caracca and derivative words are popularly used in reference to

10575-534: The UK, the heaviest seafood consumers in Cumbria received a radioactive dosage attributable to Sellafield discharges of 220 μSv (0.022 rem) in 2005. This compares to average annual dose of naturally sourced radiation received in the UK of 2,230 μSv (0.223 rem). Discussions of linking Britain to Ireland began in 1895, with an application for £15,000 towards the cost of carrying out borings and soundings in

10716-512: The United Kingdom, was not neutral during the Second World War, and Belfast suffered four bombing raids in 1941. Conscription was not extended to Northern Ireland, and roughly an equal number volunteered from Northern Ireland as volunteered from the Republic of Ireland. Carrack In its most developed form, the carrack was a carvel-built ocean-going ship: large enough to be stable in heavy seas, and capacious enough to carry

10857-700: The United Kingdom, which it immediately exercised. Additionally, Members of the Free State Parliament were required to swear an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the Irish Free State and make a statement of faithfulness to the king. Disagreements over these provisions led to a split in the nationalist movement and a subsequent Irish Civil War between the new government of the Irish Free State and those opposed to

10998-526: The Y-chromosome pattern. When taking both into account, a study concluded that modern Celtic speakers in Ireland could be thought of as European "Atlantic Celts" showing a shared ancestry throughout the Atlantic zone from northern Iberia to western Scandinavia rather than substantially central European. In 2012, research showed that the occurrence of genetic markers for the earliest farmers was almost eliminated by Beaker-culture immigrants: they carried what

11139-400: The adjoining shores , the seabed and the open sea itself. The information on the invertebrates of the seabed of the Irish Sea is rather patchy because it is difficult to survey such a large area, where underwater visibility is often poor and information often depends upon looking at material brought up from the seabed in mechanical grabs. However, the groupings of animals present depend to

11280-625: The alleged Papal Bull Laudabiliter , issued by an Englishman, Adrian IV , in 1155. The document apparently encouraged Henry to take control in Ireland in order to oversee the financial and administrative reorganisation of the Irish Church and its integration into the Roman Church system. Some restructuring had already begun at the ecclesiastical level following the Synod of Kells in 1152. There has been significant controversy regarding

11421-484: The authenticity of Laudabiliter , and there is no general agreement as to whether the bull was genuine or a forgery. Further, it had no standing in the Irish legal system. In 1172, Pope Alexander III further encouraged Henry to advance the integration of the Irish Church with Rome. Henry was authorised to impose a tithe of one penny per hearth as an annual contribution. This church levy, called Peter's Pence ,

11562-440: The authorities, counterintelligence was a fundamental line of defence. With a regular army of only slightly over seven thousand men at the start of the war, and with limited supplies of modern weapons, the state would have had great difficulty in defending itself from invasion from either side in the conflict. Large-scale emigration marked most of the post-WWII period (particularly during the 1950s and 1980s), but beginning in 1987

11703-498: The authority of bishops and priests. Second, the mishandling of the paedophile scandals humiliated the Church, whose bishops seemed less concerned with the victims and more concerned with covering up for errant priests. Third, prosperity brought hedonism and materialism that undercut the ideals of saintly poverty. The financial crisis that began in 2008 dramatically ended this period of boom. GDP fell by 3% in 2008 and by 7.1% in 2009,

11844-521: The average tonnage naus, some naus (carracks) were also built in the reign of John II of Portugal , but were widespread only after the turn of the century. The Portuguese carracks were usually very large ships for their time, often over 1000 tons displacement , and having the future naus of the India run and of the China and Japan trade, also other new types of design. A typical three-masted carrack such as

11985-706: The carrack although carracks were still in use as late as the middle of the 17th century due to their larger cargo capacity. Starting in 1498, Portugal initiated for the first time direct and regular exchanges between Europe and India—and the rest of Asia thereafter—through the Cape Route , a voyage that required the use of more substantial vessels, such as carracks, due to its unprecedented duration, about six months. On average, four carracks connected Lisbon to Goa carrying gold to purchase spices and other exotic items, but mainly pepper. From Goa, one carrack went on to Ming China in order to purchase silks. Starting in 1541,

12126-628: The development of the linen industry, Ireland was largely passed over by the Industrial Revolution , partly because it lacked coal and iron resources and partly because of the impact of the sudden union with the structurally superior economy of England, which saw Ireland as a source of agricultural produce and capital. The Great Famine of 1845–1851 devastated Ireland, as in those years Ireland's population fell by one-third. More than one million people died from starvation and disease, with an additional million people emigrating during

12267-422: The early 20th century was followed by the partition of the island , leading to the creation of the Irish Free State , which became increasingly sovereign over the following decades until it declared a republic in 1948 ( Republic of Ireland Act, 1948) and Northern Ireland, which remained a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s . This subsided following

12408-424: The east. The depth of the western channel ranges from 80 m (260 ft) to 275 m (900 ft). Cardigan Bay in the south, and the waters to the east of the Isle of Man , are less than 50 m (160 ft) deep. With a total water volume of 2,430 km (580 cu mi) and a surface area of 47,000 km (18,000 sq mi), 80% is to the west of the Isle of Man. The largest sandbanks are

12549-461: The economy improved, and the 1990s saw the beginning of substantial economic growth. This period of growth became known as the Celtic Tiger . The Republic's real GDP grew by an average of 9.6% per annum between 1995 and 1999, in which year the Republic joined the euro . In 2000, it was the sixth-richest country in the world in terms of GDP per capita. Historian R. F. Foster argues the cause

12690-460: The emerging Penal Laws , Irish Roman Catholics and Dissenters were increasingly deprived of various civil rights, even the ownership of hereditary property. Additional regressive punitive legislation followed in 1703, 1709 and 1728. This completed a comprehensive systemic effort to materially disadvantage Roman Catholics and Protestant Dissenters while enriching a new ruling class of Anglican conformists. The new Anglo-Irish ruling class became known as

12831-407: The ensuing pestilence and disease. The Irish government halted export of corn and kept the army in quarters but did little more. Local gentry and charitable organisations provided relief but could do little to prevent the ensuing mortality. In the aftermath of the famine, an increase in industrial production and a surge in trade brought a succession of construction booms. The population soared in

12972-539: The famine, mostly to the United States and Canada. In the century that followed, an economic depression caused by the famine resulted in a further million people emigrating. By the end of the decade, half of all immigration to the United States was from Ireland. The period of civil unrest that followed until the end of the 19th century is referred to as the Land War . Mass emigration became deeply entrenched and

13113-629: The first attempt in 1799. According to contemporary documents and historical analysis, this was achieved through a considerable degree of bribery, with funding provided by the British Secret Service Office, and the awarding of peerages, places and honours to secure votes. Thus, the parliament in Ireland was abolished and replaced by a united parliament at Westminster in London, though resistance remained, as evidenced by Robert Emmet 's failed Irish Rebellion of 1803 . Aside from

13254-712: The following centuries, the basic design remained unchanged throughout this period. English carrack was loaned in the late 14th century, via Old French caraque , from carraca , a term for a large, square-rigged sailing vessel used in Spanish, Italian and Middle Latin. These ships were called carraca in Portuguese and Genoese , carraca in Spanish , caraque or nef in French , and kraak in Dutch . The origin of

13395-408: The freshwater is lighter and "floats" on top of the much larger body of salt water until wind and temperature changes mix it in. Similarly, warmer water is less dense and seawater warmed in the inter-tidal zone may "float" on the colder offshore water. The amount of light penetrating the seawater also varies with depth and turbidity. This leads to differing populations of plankton in different parts of

13536-478: The general progress of the expedition. He wanted to re-exert royal authority over the invasion which was expanding beyond his control. Henry successfully re-imposed his authority over Strongbow and the Cambro-Norman warlords and persuaded many of the Irish kings to accept him as their overlord, an arrangement confirmed in the 1175 Treaty of Windsor . The invasion was legitimised by reference to provisions of

13677-645: The geneticist David Reich , who says: "British and Irish skeletons from the Bronze Age that followed the Beaker period had at most 10 per cent ancestry from the first farmers of these islands, with other 90 per cent from people like those associated with the Bell Beaker culture in the Netherlands." He suggests that it was Beaker users who introduced an Indo-European language, represented here by Celtic (i.e.

13818-753: The greatest wildlife resource of the Irish Sea lies in its estuaries : particularly the Dee Estuary , the Mersey Estuary , the Ribble Estuary , Morecambe Bay , the Solway Firth , the Firth of Clyde , Belfast Lough , Strangford Lough , Carlingford Lough , Dundalk Bay , Dublin Bay and Wexford Harbour . However, a lot of wildlife also depends on the cliffs, salt marshes and sand dunes of

13959-415: The island has been shown, with evidence for Mesolithic communities around the island. Some time before 4,000 BC, Neolithic settlers introduced cereal cultivars , domesticated animals such as cattle and sheep, built large timber buildings, and stone monuments. The earliest evidence for farming in Ireland or Great Britain is from Ferriter's Cove , County Kerry , where a flint knife, cattle bones and

14100-579: The island with an estimated 30,000 dead. As a direct result of the 1798 rebellion in its aftermath in 1800, the British and Irish parliaments both passed Acts of Union that, with effect from 1 January 1801, merged the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain to create a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . The passage of the Act in the Irish Parliament was ultimately achieved with substantial majorities, having failed on

14241-582: The late 12th century from Porthclais near St. Davids , Wales , in Hulks , Snekkars , Keels and Cogs to Wexford Harbour , Leinster . The Tudors crossed the Irish Sea to invade in 1529 in caravels and carracks . In 1690 the English fleet set sail for the Williamite War in Ireland from Hoylake , Wirral , the departure becoming permanently known as King's Gap as a result. Because Ireland has neither tunnel nor bridge to connect it with Great Britain ,

14382-558: The latter part of this century and the architectural legacy of Georgian Ireland was built. In 1782, Poynings' Law was repealed, giving Ireland legislative independence from Great Britain for the first time since 1495. The British government, however, still retained the right to nominate the government of Ireland without the consent of the Irish parliament. In 1798, members of the Protestant Dissenter tradition (mainly Presbyterian ) made common cause with Roman Catholics in

14523-482: The local names for the islands at the time. The earlier names, in contrast , were likely to have been coined before direct contact with local peoples was made. The Romans referred to Ireland by this name too in its Latinised form, Hibernia , or Scotia . Ptolemy records sixteen nations inhabiting every part of Ireland in 100 AD. The relationship between the Roman Empire and the kingdoms of ancient Ireland

14664-608: The many carved stone crosses that still dot the island today. A mission founded in 563 on Iona by the Irish monk Saint Columba began a tradition of Irish missionary work that spread Celtic Christianity and learning to Scotland , England and the Frankish Empire on continental Europe after the fall of Rome. These missions continued until the late Middle Ages , establishing monasteries and centres of learning, producing scholars such as Sedulius Scottus and Johannes Eriugena and exerting much influence in Europe. From

14805-845: The monastic culture that followed the Christianisation of Ireland, Latin and Greek learning was preserved in Ireland during the Early Middle Ages in contrast to elsewhere in Western Europe, where the Dark Ages followed the Fall of the Western Roman Empire . The arts of manuscript illumination , metalworking and sculpture flourished and produced treasures such as the Book of Kells , ornate jewellery and

14946-505: The north, England to the east, Wales to the southeast, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to the west. The Irish Sea is of significant economic importance to regional trade, shipping and transport, as well as fishing and power generation in the form of wind power and nuclear power plants . Annual traffic between Great Britain and Ireland is over 12 million passengers and 17 million tonnes (17,000,000 long tons; 19,000,000 short tons) of traded goods. The Irish Sea joins

15087-606: The ongoing war in Europe, as well as the Conscription Crisis of 1918 . The pro-independence republican party, Sinn Féin , received overwhelming endorsement in the general election of 1918 , and in 1919 proclaimed an Irish Republic , setting up its own parliament ( Dáil Éireann ) and government. Simultaneously the Volunteers, which became known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA), launched

15228-446: The partners are currently advancing a focused work programme in order to better understand and hopefully mitigate these risks. However, given its location in shallow water and close proximity to shore, the prospect is of great interest as exploration drilling, together with any future development costs, are likely to be low. Below is a list of cities and towns around the Irish Sea coasts in order of size: The most accessible and possibly

15369-400: The population continued to decline until the mid-20th century. Immediately prior to the famine the population was recorded as 8.2 million by the 1841 census . The population has never returned to this level since. The population continued to fall until 1961; County Leitrim was the final Irish county to record a population increase post-famine, in 2006. The 19th and early 20th centuries saw

15510-530: The potential defence of Northern Ireland. Despite their country's neutrality, approximately 50,000 volunteers from independent Ireland joined the British forces during the war, four being awarded Victoria Crosses . The German intelligence was also active in Ireland. Its operations ended in September 1941 when police made arrests based on surveillance carried out on the key diplomatic legations in Dublin. To

15651-653: The presence of a large undrilled structural closure at Lower Triassic level situated about 10 kilometres (6 mi) offshore Dublin. This feature, known as the Dalkey Island exploration prospect, may be prospective for oil, as there are prolific oil productive Lower Triassic reservoirs nearby in the eastern Irish Sea offshore Liverpool. Whilst the Dalkey Island exploration prospect could contain about 870 million barrels (140,000,000 m) of oil in place, this undrilled prospect still has significant risk and

15792-436: The principal crops. The Bronze Age began around 2,500 BC, with technology changing people's everyday lives during this period through innovations such as the wheel, harnessing oxen , weaving textiles , brewing alcohol and metalworking , which produced new weapons and tools, along with fine gold decoration and jewellery, such as brooches and torcs . How and when the island became Celtic has been debated for close to

15933-610: The rise of modern Irish nationalism , primarily among the Roman Catholic population. The pre-eminent Irish political figure after the Union was Daniel O'Connell . He was elected as Member of Parliament for Ennis in a surprise result and despite being unable to take his seat as a Roman Catholic . O'Connell spearheaded a vigorous campaign that was taken up by the Prime Minister, the Irish-born soldier and statesman,

16074-489: The scheme was constructed in the 8th century to justify the status of powerful political groupings by projecting the origins of their rule into the remote past. All of the Irish kingdoms had their own kings but were nominally subject to the high king. The high king was drawn from the ranks of the provincial kings and ruled also the royal kingdom of Meath , with a ceremonial capital at the Hill of Tara . The concept did not become

16215-401: The sea and varying communities of animals that feed on these populations. However, increasing seasonal storminess leads to greater mixing of water and tends to break down these divisions, which are more apparent when the weather is calm for long periods. Plankton includes bacteria, plants ( phytoplankton ) and animals ( zooplankton ) that drift in the sea. Most are microscopic, but some, such as

16356-472: The six counties of Ulster, which later became Northern Ireland. Before it could be implemented, however, the Act was suspended for the duration of the First World War . The Irish Volunteers split into two groups. The majority, approximately 175,000 in number, under John Redmond , took the name National Volunteers and supported Irish involvement in the war. A minority, approximately 13,000, retained

16497-574: The smaller longship (galley-like) that was used for fighting. It is unclear whether the nomenclature harraqa has a connection with European carraca (carrack), or whether one influences the other. One Muslim harraqa named Mogarbina was captured by the Knights of St. John in 1507 from the Ottoman Turks and renamed Santa Maria . Gujarati ships are usually called naos (carracks) by the Portuguese. Gujarati naos operated between Malacca and

16638-460: The southeast of Caernarfon Bay are imaging a continuation of the dyke swarm into this area too, or whether they are instead associated with deeply buried Permian syn-rift volcanics . Alternatively, the fault block traps could have been recharged by exsolution of methane from formation brines as a direct result of the Tertiary uplift (cf. Doré and Jensen, 1996). The Cardigan Bay Basin forms

16779-595: The term carraca is unclear, perhaps from Arabic qaraqir "merchant ship", itself of unknown origin (maybe from Latin carricare "to load a car" or Greek καρκαρίς "load of timber") or the Arabic القُرْقُورُ ( al-qurqoor ) and from thence to the Greek κέρκουρος ( kerkouros ) meaning approximately "lighter" (barge) literally, "shorn tail", a possible reference to the ship's flat stern). Its attestation in Greek literature

16920-469: The traditional provinces) vying for dominance and the title of High King of Ireland . In the late 8th century to early 11th century AD Viking raids and settlement took place culminating in the Battle of Clontarf on 23 April 1014 which resulted in the ending of Viking power in Ireland. Following the 12th century Anglo-Norman invasion , England claimed sovereignty. However, English rule did not extend over

17061-887: The train and the ferry. The British ship LCT 326 sank in the Irish sea and was discovered in March 2020. In September 2021, the British Navy ship HMS Mercury was discovered; it sank in 1940. The British ship SS Mesaba was sunk by the Imperial German Navy U-118 in 1918 and discovered in 2022. This ship is well known for sailing near the Titanic and for attempting to warn the Titanic about dangerous icebergs. The Caernarfon Bay basin contains up to 7 cubic kilometres (1.7 cu mi) of Permian and Triassic syn-rift sediments in an asymmetrical graben that

17202-466: The treatment of waste in 1985 and 1994 resulted in further reductions in radioactive waste discharge although the subsequent processing of a backlog resulted in increased discharges of certain types of radioactive waste. Discharges of technetium in particular rose from 6.1 TBq (160 Ci) in 1993 to a peak of 192 TBq (5,200 Ci) in 1995 before dropping back to 14 TBq (380 Ci) in 2004. In total 22 petabecquerels (590 kCi) of Pu

17343-531: The treaty, led by Éamon de Valera . The civil war officially ended in May 1923 when de Valera issued a cease-fire order. During its first decade, the newly formed Irish Free State was governed by the victors of the civil war. When de Valera achieved power, he took advantage of the Statute of Westminster and political circumstances to build upon inroads to greater sovereignty made by the previous government. The oath

17484-460: The various species of jellyfish and sea gooseberry , can be much bigger. Diatoms and dinoflagellates dominate the phytoplankton. Although they are microscopic plants, diatoms have hard shells and dinoflagellates have little tails that propel them through the water. Phytoplankton populations in the Irish Sea have a spring "bloom" every April and May, when the seawater is generally at its greenest. Crustaceans , especially copepods , dominate

17625-531: The vast majority of heavy goods trade is done by sea. Northern Ireland ports handle 10 million tonnes (9,800,000 long tons; 11,000,000 short tons) of goods trade with the rest of the United Kingdom annually; the ports in the Republic of Ireland handle 7.6 million tonnes (7,500,000 long tons; 8,400,000 short tons), representing 50% and 40% respectively of total trade by weight. The Port of Liverpool handles 32 million tonnes (31,000,000 long tons; 35,000,000 short tons) of cargo and 734,000 passengers

17766-460: The war. A further 50,000 were sent into indentured servitude in the West Indies . Physician-general William Petty estimated that 504,000 Catholic Irish and 112,000 Protestant settlers died, and 100,000 people were transported, as a result of the war. If a prewar population of 1.5 million is assumed, this would mean that the population was reduced by almost half. The religious struggles of

17907-517: The water in Liverpool Bay was historically contaminated by dumping of sewage sludge at sea but this practice became illegal in December 1988 and no further sludge was deposited after that date. With 210 billion cubic metres (7.5 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas and 176 million barrels (28,000,000 m) of petroleum estimated by the field operators as initially recoverable hydrocarbon reserves from eight producing fields (DTI, 2001),

18048-518: The whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest , which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain . In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters , and was extended during the 18th century. With the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom . A war of independence in

18189-517: The world's first commercial application of offshore wind turbines over three megawatts in size. The operating company, Airtricity , has indefinite plans for nearly 100 further turbines on the site. Further wind turbine sites include: Ireland in Europe  (dark grey) Ireland ( / ˈ aɪər l ə n d / IRE -lənd ; Irish : Éire [ˈeːɾʲə] ; Ulster-Scots : Airlann [ˈɑːrlən] )

18330-541: The worst year since records began (although earnings by foreign-owned businesses continued to grow). The state has since experienced deep recession, with unemployment, which doubled during 2009, remaining above 14% in 2012. Northern Ireland resulted from the division of the United Kingdom by the Government of Ireland Act 1920 , and until 1972 was a self-governing jurisdiction within the United Kingdom with its own parliament and prime minister. Northern Ireland, as part of

18471-465: The zooplankton. However, many animals of the seabed, the open sea and the seashore spend their juvenile stages as part of the zooplankton. The whole plankton "soup" is vitally important, directly or indirectly, as a food source for most species in the Irish Sea, even the largest. The enormous basking shark , for example, lives entirely on plankton and the leatherback turtle 's main food is jellyfish. A colossal diversity of invertebrate species live in

18612-486: Was a combination of a new sense of initiative and the entry of American corporations. He concludes the chief factors were low taxation, pro-business regulatory policies, and a young, tech-savvy workforce. For many multinationals, the decision to do business in Ireland was made easier still by generous incentives from the Industrial Development Authority . In addition European Union membership

18753-517: Was abolished and in 1937 a new constitution was adopted. This completed a process of gradual separation from the British Empire that governments had pursued since independence. However, it was not until 1949 that the state was declared, officially, to be the Republic of Ireland . The state was neutral during World War II , but offered clandestine assistance to the Allies , particularly in

18894-537: Was again dominant. English Crown control remained relatively unshaken in an amorphous foothold around Dublin known as The Pale , and under the provisions of Poynings' Law of 1494, Irish Parliamentary legislation was subject to the approval of the English Privy Council . The title of King of Ireland was re-created in 1542 by Henry VIII , the then King of England , of the Tudor dynasty . English rule

19035-502: Was completely separated from Great Britain. Later, around 6,100 BC, Great Britain became separated from continental Europe. Until recently, the earliest evidence of human activity in Ireland was dated at 12,500 years ago, demonstrated by a butchered bear bone found in a cave in County Clare . Since 2021, the earliest evidence of human activity in Ireland is dated to 33,000 years ago. By about 8,000 BC, more sustained occupation of

19176-506: Was discharged over the period 1952 to 1998. Current rates of discharge for many radionuclides are at least 100 times lower than they were in the 1970s. Analysis of the distribution of radioactive contamination after discharge reveals that mean sea currents result in much of the more soluble elements such as caesium being flushed out of the Irish Sea through the North Channel about a year after discharge. Measurements of technetium concentrations post-1994 has produced estimated transit times to

19317-475: Was helpful, giving the country lucrative access to markets that it had previously reached only through the United Kingdom, and pumping huge subsidies and investment capital into the Irish economy. Modernisation brought secularisation in its wake. The traditionally high levels of religiosity have sharply declined. Foster points to three factors: First, Irish feminism, largely imported from America with liberal stances on contraception, abortion and divorce, undermined

19458-559: Was led by Richard de Clare , known as 'Strongbow' owing to his prowess as an archer. The invasion, which coincided with a period of renewed Norman expansion, was at the invitation of Dermot Mac Murrough , King of Leinster . In 1166, Mac Murrough had fled to Anjou , France, following a war involving Tighearnán Ua Ruairc , of Breifne , and sought the assistance of the Angevin King Henry II , in recapturing his kingdom. In 1171, Henry arrived in Ireland in order to review

19599-588: Was probably around the end of the Cretaceous , or earlier if Cretaceous strata, now missing, were never deposited in the basin. Despite the Tertiary structuration, the Dragon discovery has proved that potentially commercial volumes of hydrocarbons were retained at least locally in Cardigan Bay. In addition to undrilled structural traps, the basin contains the untested potential for stratigraphic entrapment of hydrocarbons near synsedimentary faults, especially in

19740-645: Was reinforced and expanded in Ireland during the latter part of the 16th century, leading to the Tudor conquest of Ireland . A near-complete conquest was achieved by the turn of the 17th century, following the Nine Years' War and the Flight of the Earls . This control was consolidated during the wars and conflicts of the 17th century, including the English and Scottish colonisation in the Plantations of Ireland ,

19881-420: Was then a new Y-chromosome R1b marker, believed to have originated in Iberia about 2,500 BC. The prevalence amongst modern Irish men of this mutation is a remarkable 84%, the highest in the world, and closely matched in other populations along the Atlantic fringes down to Spain. A similar genetic replacement happened with lineages in mitochondrial DNA. This conclusion is supported by recent research carried out by

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