Ireland
From Familypedia
Ireland, or "The Emerald Isle", (with adjective "Irish") is a sizeable island west of Great Britain off the coast of mainland Europe. Hundreds of smaller islands surround it. It is the third-largest island in Europe, coming after Great Britain and Iceland.
Its north-eastern sector, about one-sixth of the total area, contains Northern Ireland, which has been a formally-defined separate part of the United Kingdom since 1921. The remainder forms the Republic of Ireland, known as "Éire" (in the Irish language) since 1937 and commonly called just "Ireland".
Its highest census population was a little over 8 million in 1841. In 1845 began the Great Famine, which is estimated to to have killed a million people and led a larger number to emigrate. The population continued declining, to about 4 million in the 1930s, but has since recovered to about 6 million.
In 1171, King Henry II of England claimed sovereignty over the island, which was "finally" conquered in 1603. From 1801 until 1921, the whole of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. After rebellions in 1916 and 1919, independence was granted by the British with a treaty in 1921. Another civil war, the Irish Civil War, followed because a minority did not want the treaty. The treaty stood; it allowed the largely Protestant six north-east counties to remain with Great Britain if they chose; they did.
In both areas, county names generally have the word "County" at the start of the name. The 32 counties are spread over four provinces: Ulster (which contains the six counties of Northern Ireland and three others), Connacht, Leinster, and Munster.
Ireland remains effectively still one country in many fields, such as: churches, most sports (with soccer being the notable exception), and the observance of St Patrick's Day, 17 March.
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