Was Oliver Cromwell the first republican in Ireland?
406779
No, he was a dictator and a genocidal maniac.
1019141
Let me declare an interest before I post my answer to your question. My grandmother, a young girl with eight sisters, were sent from Mayo by their family to the safety of England. They lived in a workhouse in Oldham, Lancashire. \nMy father was brought up catholic and became an altar boy. He married my mother, a protestant. My mum and dad were shunned by dad's side of the family until 12 years after teh wedding when, in 1958, I was born.\nMost of us in England only took an interest in Irish / Ulster affairs when the bombing and terror came to 'the mainland'. As a young child, accompanying my dad's family to the Irish Land League club in Oldham, i was accustomed to seeing the shamrock of Sinn Fein. It was an image that held no fear for me.\nTo me, one thing is clear. We stole Ireland from the Irish and we can never give it back. Our countries were different places at the time of partition. The time in which a United Ireland my have explored its new 'Irishness' has passed. The age has already dawned of 'the global village.' Where i live now, fellow mancunians oriniginate from Poland and eastern europe, from all points of Africa and Asia; from South America and Australasia. What was 'Englishness' has gone and some mourn; and with it the era in which a United irishness might have been explored and culivated.\nI love Ireland: i love its music and liteature, i love its people and its landscape. I am truly sorry, as a born and brought up Brit, for all that my mother country perpetrated upon my father's mother's country.\nI feel at home in Mayo, but i know it can never be my home. It is a comfort to know I can go there any time I like and have a beer or two at Molloy's.\nIreland, like England, belongs to the world now. It's yours, but it's mine, too.\n\nWith respect and warm regards\n\nScannan
1138723
Abraham Lincoln was the first "Republican" President, elected in 1860.  It is simplistic to think that one side was Democrat and the other was Republican.  Just like today, there are Democrats and Republicans in all States.  The correct way to look at this would be in terms of political ideology rather than parties.  That is "Federalists"; those that believed in a strong national government and "Anti-federalists"; those that believed in strong states rights and a weak national government.  The "North" was "Federalist" and the "South" was "Anti-federalist"\n** Note:Prior to the 1860 election, the two major parties were the Whigs and the Democrart-Rebublicans (Democrats for short) originally founded by Thomas Jefferson.
688940
Led the revolution that got Charles I's head chopped off and significantly reduced the power of the English throne.\n\nHe's not the most important man in history, but he did change the course of events.
637477
First people will want to know if you are Welsh or Irish and whether you are a prophet or sorcerer.  Oh... and is it Britain or do you have a lot Gaul?\n\nAnswers to these particulars will be helpful before giving further consent to a Constitutional Republic.
781468
It was not the capital, but in its earliest territorial days, Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth) was the largest city and home of the first territorial governor - Phillip Carteret.  There was no capital at this time, but it was where most government business was carried out.
458389
The Anglo-Irish Treaty was narrowly ratified by the Dáil in December 1921 but was rejected by a large minority, resulting in the Irish Civil War which lasted until 1923. In 1922, in the middle of this civil war, the Irish Free State came into being. For its first years the new state was governed by the victors of the Civil War. However in the 1930s Fianna Fáil, the party of the opponents of the treaty, were elected into government. The party introduced a new constitution in 1937 which renamed the state to simply "Éire or in the English language, Ireland" (preface to the Constitution).\n\nThe state was neutral during World War II but offered some assistance to the Allies, especially in Northern Ireland. In 1949 the state declared itself to be a republic and that henceforth it should be described as the Republic of Ireland. The state was plagued by poverty and emigration until the mid-1970's. The 1990's saw the beginning of unprecedented economic success, in a phenomenon known as the "Celtic Tiger". By the early 2000's, it had become one of the richest countries (in terms of GDP per capita) in the European Union, moving from being a net recipient to a net contributor and from a population with net emigration to one with net immigration.
749381
I don't think so.  It was Julius Caesar who was the dictator.
409978
Try: http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/history/
263673
Grenada, St. Patrick, & the Irish\nBy Margaret Hughes.\n\nSpanning slavery, war, education and the Catholic Church, Grenada has an intimate association with Ireland. One outstanding sign of this is the parish of St. Patricks which carries the name of Ireland's patron saint.\n\nPatrick was captured and brought to Ireland as a slave from Europe about the year 400AD. He worked as a shepherd for some years, escaped and made it back home across the sea. Later, when he became a Bishop, he asked Rome to send him to Ireland to bring Christianity. He arrived in 432 AD. There was a Celtic festival at the beginning of Spring each year when the High King was the first to light the dawn fire on the hill of Tara, seat of the Kings. This established the power of the King. Patrick was a remarkable stratagist and, in order to get an audience with the King, decided he would light the first fire on the hill facing Tara. The ruse worked and the King sent for this audacious man. Patrick brought the Good News of Christianity and the King and his Kingdom were converted without bloodshed\n\nPatrick's writings exist to this day and his most famous hymn is called the Breastplate of St. Patrick. The Seat of the Catholic Church is still at Armagh where Patrick established it. He is portrayed in bishops outfit carrying a staff and a Shamrock. The shamrock, which is the national emblem, is a native three leaf plant which Patrick is alleged to have picked and displayed to demonstrate the Trinity---three in one.!\n\nIn the 1600's, the dispossessed of Ireland presented a problem.Their lands had been taken away by the English. They were rebellious. One solution was found in carting them off to the sugar plantations of the Caribbean. So began the process of forced emigration. In the Treaty of Galway document, 1660, it is amazing to learn that one quarter of the city was sent to Barbados."Barbadoing" was a dreaded word. It meant than any hapless person found wandering about would be picked up and sent to the WestIndies. These captives were found to be useless at cutting cane under tropic sun due to the tenderness of their skin---and so became known as "Red Legs"\n\nIn 1779 the next significant group of Irish arrived in Grenada. It was the military contingent called the Irish Brigade under Count Arthur Dillon and his brother Edward. The Irish Brigade known as "The Wild Geese" were the leaders and their followers who left Ireland after the Plantation of 1601 to form armies in Europe to fight the English. These fearless soldiers arrived in Grenada with D'Estaing as part of the French Army. After a brillant manoevre by the invaders, the English surrendered without a fight and the town of St. Georges was handed to the Irish troops for looting. It is said that the Irish behaved in an exemplary fashion due to their own personal experience at home. It is interesting to note that families of D'Estaing and Dillon are well and alive today---direct descendants became Prime Ministers of France and Ireland respectively in the 1970s\n\nThe number of Irish wandering the earth increased dramatically in the 19th Century due to the Great Famine---the last famine in Europe---when 4 million Irish died or emigrated across the English speaking world. The numbers of these to arrive in Grenada were legion: O'Neal, O'Halloran, O'Brien, O'Reilly, O'Sullivan, Murphy, McCann, McGuire, McSweeney,McCarthy, McCabe, Quinn and of course, Grenada's own Galway Donovan, mentor of national hero, Teddy Marryshow\n\nIn 1827, the first Irish priest arrived in Grenada, a Fr. O'Callaghan. He was followed by Fr. Anthony O Hannan, who caused a rift in the Catholic Church in St.Georges and set up his own church for six years at the building in Lucas Street, still known today as La Chapelle.\n\nThe last formal group to arrive were the Irish educators. Kiltegan Fathers, Presentation Brothers and Sisters of Cluny who have done enormo
16551
Patrick Bartholemew Ahern. Also called Bertie Ahern.\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Prime_Ministers_of_Ireland#.C3.89ire_.28known_as_the_Republic_of_Ireland_after_1949.29\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertie_Ahern
576660
You need to draw a distinction when giving opinions on the situation in Ireland, as there are two very different situations in place. The Republic of Ireland is a democratic independent country for nearly 80 years, while Northern Ireland is still part of the UK. The history of both states has been very different since the 1920's, when the partition of the country was introduced.\n\nIn the Republic of Ireland, things were very tough, right up to the 1990's, with widespread emigration, high unemployment and very low income per capita. It was a poor country, often referred to as the "sick man of Europe". It was primarily an agricultural country, and the Catholic Church had huge prominence in the country, because the government did not have the resources to invest in schools and hospitals. The only thing it did have going for it was a good education system. But since the 1990's things have improved significantly. EU membership and massive inward investment, particularly from US IT companies and healthcare companies, propelled Ireland from the bottom of the league right to the top. It is now one of the richest countries in Europe, and huge amounts of money are being spent on bringing the infrastructure up to date. The Catholic church's influence has declined greatly and the country is at full employment. Most people in Ireland look at the country primarily from an economic perspective. Politically it is very stable and democratic, with no major conflicts and issues internally or with other countries. Most issues these days tend to be economic and how to cope with the demands of an increasing economy. \n\nNorthern Ireland was set up as a kind of British enclave, on the lines of a Protestant state for a Protestant people, notwithstanding the fact that it had a sizable Catholic population in its midst. Demands for greater Catholic civil rights in  the 1960's lead to riots and eventually the onset of the Troubles where the IRA decided to fight Britain using guerrilla warfare tactics. 3500 dead people later, the IRA decided to call it quits, and now things have begun to normalise in Northern Ireland. It's a much more peaceful place with an economy that is beginning to find its own feet. However huge scars still exist - Catholics and Protestants are still very divided, and it will probably take generations for these old divisions to be properly sorted out. The real issue for Northern Ireland nowadays is how the two communities can reach an accomodation with each other, and how the political leaders in the region can take full ownership over their own local problems. Re-integration with the rest of Ireland is a long way down the road. Nobody, except the most hardline, want to go back to the bad old days of the Troubles.
662490
The office of first minister goes way back to the time of Henry VIII when the monarch needed to delegate much of government to specialists. So the government was led by PMs in all but name prior to Robert Walpole by, most notably, Thomas Cromwell under Henry VIII, Robert Cecil under Elizabeth I and Sidney Godolphin under Queen Anne.\n\nWalpole is historically recognised as the first Prime Minister as we would understand the term but he and subsequent ministers refused to use the term formally for a long time afterwards. The first official recognition of the title in government documents was during the term of Disraeli and it finally replaced 'First Lord Of The Treasury'(the actual office PMs still officially and formally hold) in the order of precedence in 1905.
720142
Well, there were a large number of Irish immigrants to the United States, but most of them came between 1840-1860.\nhttp://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/immig/irish2.html\n\nThe part about his coming to America to flee legal problems - many, many people did.\n\nBars and bare knuckle wrestling would have been common in Boston in the 1880s and 1890s. The kind of boss played by Colm Meaney would have been common as well (JFK's grandfather was just that sort of boss)\n\nIrish in America:\nhttp://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug03/omara-alwala/IrishKennedys.html\n\nHere are several sites on the Oklahoma Land Rush:\nhttp://www.library.cornell.edu/Reps/DOCS/landrush.htm\nhttp://www.pan-tex.net/usr/l/drlocke/\nhttp://www.rit.edu/~kecncp/Courses/Materials/FarAndAway/Research/okla-lr.htm
1123469
In the first sentence of a book called "The Regicides and the Execution of Charles I" by Jason Peacey it says something about Oliver Cromwell looking at Charles's body in the coffin with the head surgically reattached.  \nThis was a good question:  I never knew the head had been reattached before now.
112679
St. Patrick, as a boy in England, was kidnapped and brought to work as a slave in Ireland.  Since he was brought up in a Christian household in England, he used the time in Ireland to become closer to God.  Somehow he was able to leave Ireland and go back home to England.  It was back in England, that he went to live as a monk.  One day he realized that he was needed back in Ireland to teach the heathens about Jesus.  So, he did go back to Ireland and spread the gospel to a country that hadn't heard about Jesus before.\n  Whether or not he actually got rid of all the snakes in Ireland is something that I don't think has ever been proven.
255826
Actually, St Patrick wasn't even Irish.  He was brought there as a slave and when he was freed, he stayed to convert the people.