Ireland

Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Ireland fought or stood against, from the first to today.

1. Norse Vikings795 to 1014

   Viking raids begin in 795. Norse settlers found Dublin in 841, then Wexford, Waterford and Limerick. Their power is broken at Clontarf in 1014, where Brian Boru defeats a Leinster and Norse army but is killed.

2. 🇬🇧 Angevin kings of England1169 to 1216

   Anglo-Norman knights land in 1169, and Henry II arrives in 1171 to claim the lordship of Ireland. His son John, Lord of Ireland, extends royal government from Dublin. Norman lords take much of the east and south.

3. 🇬🇧 Kingdom of England1534 to 1603

   The Tudors reconquer the island: the Kildare revolt of 1534, the Desmond rebellions and the Nine Years' War led by Hugh O'Neill. A Spanish force lands at Kinsale in 1601 and is defeated with the Irish. O'Neill submits in 1603.

4. 🇬🇧 Commonwealth of England1649 to 1653

   Oliver Cromwell lands in 1649 to crush the Confederate Catholics and royalists. His army storms Drogheda and Wexford, killing garrisons and civilians. The conquest ends in 1653 with vast confiscations of Catholic land.

5. 🇬🇧 Kingdom of England1689 to 1691

   Irish Catholics back the deposed James II against William III. William's victory at the Boyne in 1690 and the Jacobite defeat at Aughrim in 1691 end the war with the Treaty of Limerick.

6. 🇬🇧 Kingdom of Great Britain1798

   The United Irishmen, inspired by the French Revolution, rise in 1798. Rebels win early fights in Wexford but are beaten at Vinegar Hill, and a French force that lands at Killala surrenders in September.

7. 🇬🇧 United Kingdom1916 to 1921

   The Easter Rising of 1916 and the War of Independence from 1919 pit Irish republicans against British forces. A truce in July 1921 leads to the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the Irish Free State, without the six counties of Northern Ireland.

8. 🇬🇧 United Kingdom1937 to 1999

   The 1937 constitution claims the whole island. During the Troubles, from the late 1960s to 1998, more than 3,500 people die in Northern Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement ends the dispute, and Ireland rewrites its territorial claim in 1999.

Today

Ireland now

C. Norse invasions that began in the late 8th century finally ended when King Brian BORU defeated the Danes in 1014. Norman invasions began in the 12th century and set off more than seven centuries of Anglo-Irish struggle marked by fierce rebellions and harsh repressions. The Irish famine of the mid-19th century caused an almost 25-percent decline in the island's population through starvation, disease, and emigration.

Capital

Dublin

Government

parliamentary republic

Head of government

Micheál Martin

Head of state

Catherine Connolly

Languages

English, Irish

Area

70,280 km²

Through time

Then and now

• Population5.2 million2023 · 2.9 million in 1950
• Life expectancy82.4 years2023 · 65.6 years in 1950
• GDP per person$60,2572022 · $5,504 in 1950
• Living in cities65%2025 · 41% in 1950
• Literacy99%1950
• Political regimeLiberal democracy2025 · Liberal democracy in 1950
• Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
• Military spending0.2% of GDP2025
• War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.