BRIEF HISTORY: The first people who settled in Ireland were hunters, probably from Scotland, who arrived in Co. Antrim c. 7000 BC. By 3000 BC tribes from the Mediterranean were building megalithic tombs all over Ireland which reveal a high degree of civilization. The most spectacular are the passage graves at Newgrange, Co. Meath, Carrowmore and Lough Crew, all of which can be visited. The National Museum in Dublin has a collection of masterpieces from this period: gold collars, torcs, dress fasteners and hair ornaments. The Celts arrived around 300 BC bringing their distinctive culture, laws and customs. The Irish language derives from a dialect of Celtic, and "The Tain" is an epic account of Celtic life at that time. In the 5th century ST. PATRICK brought Christianity from Britain, establishing monasteries which became not only centres of learning but in effect small towns. Places associated with Patrick include Slane, Co. Meath, where he lit a Paschal fire in defiance of the Druids, Tara where he used the shamrock to convince the high king about the Trinity and Downpatrick where a crude slab marks his grave. Irish monks produced a large number of beautifully illustrated manuscripts, among them the Books of Durrow, Armagh and Kells, which can be seen in Trinity College Dublin. The monasteries of Clonmacnoise, Glendalough and Kildare drew scholars from all over Europe. In turn Irish missionaries took education and religion to every corner of Europe. At the same time craftsmen were producing exquisite reliquaries, brooches, belts and personal adornments made of gold and studded with precious stones (see the Ardagh Chalice and Cross of Cong in the National Museum). This period is rightly known as the golden age. The wealth of the monasteries and their towns attracted the Vikings, who swept in burning and killing. Distinctive round towers and bell towers were built as a refuge from them. Later the Vikings settled around the coast and founded towns such as Cork, Waterford, Limerick and Dublin . They were finally defeated by BRIAN BORU at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. On his death, inter-kingdom rivalry led to a century of chaos until the Normans arrived from England and brought order and prosperity. They were so well assimilated into Irish society that the English crown decided a reconquest was needed. Ulster put up fierce resistance under Hugh O'NEILL and Hugh O' DONNELL but they were finally defeated at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601. Their exile and that of the Gaelic aristocracy is known as the "flight of the earls." The systematic dispossession of the natives and settlement of migrants from England and Scotland followed. This division of Protestant settler and native Catholic has had repercussions ever since. The campaign of Oliver CROMWELL in Ireland is infamous and lives on in folk memory as the "curse of Cromwell." His approach to the Irish problem was drastic: the remaining lands were taken from their owners; those who could prove themselves loyal were exiled to Connacht, while others were put to death. JAMES II was deposed from the English throne for trying to impose Catholicism on the English by WILLIAM of ORANGE in 1688. William then defeated him at the Battle of the Boyne on 12 July 1690. This battle is celebrated each year as Orangeman's Day, a public holiday in Northern Ireland. James was replaced by Patrick SARSFIELD, and the war dragged on until the signing of the Treaty of Limerick, which was accompanied by the imposition of harsh penal laws. This oppression, coupled with grinding poverty and recurring food shortages, set the pattern for more than a century. A series of revolts at the end of the 18th century culminated with the French invasion of Killala, Co. Mayo. Although initially successful it was finally suppressed with great slaughter. The Act of Union in 1800 abolished the Dublin parliament and removed power to London. Daniel O' CONNELL's election to Westminster (which, as a Catholic, he was forbidden to enter) led to the repeat of the more oppressive laws and to Catholic emancipation. A firm believer in non-violence, he came near to the repeal of the union but his final years were clouded by the Great Famine when nearly a million died and two million emigrated. PARNELL became leader of the Home Rule Party in 1877, and, with GLADSTONE's support, a home rule bill nearly succeeded. Other leaders followed: Arthur GRIFFITH founded Sinn Fein as a non-violent movement and James LARKIN and James CONNOLLY became key people in the labour movement. In 1912 the Commons passed the home rule bill. Ireland was to have self-government after WWI. There was no rejoicing among the Protestants in Ulster. They quickly armed themselves to fight to maintain the link with Britain. In Dublin a group of volunteers decided they could not wait for the end of the war, and began the Easter Rising of 1916. Although unsuccessful and condemned by most Irish people, the executing of its leaders changed public opinion. The Anglo-Irish war lasted from 1919 to 1921. The Treaty of 1921 gave independence to 26 of the 32 counties: six of the Ulster counties remained under British rule with a parliament in Belfast. A sector of the Republican movement opposed this compromise and a bitter civil war followed, culminating in the death of Michael COLLINS, the young Cork man who masterminded the war of independence. WWII imposed great strains on the Free State (economically stagnant for many years) which stayed neutral. Sean LEMASS later adopted a more vigorous, expansionist economic policy which brought new prosperity and paved the way for Ireland's entry to the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1972. Today the Republic of Ireland is a parliamentary democracy with a president as head of state.