The Ire in Northern Ireland

You've heard of the Irish Republican Army, or maybe even the Ulster Volunteer Force. But do you know how Ireland became so divided? The answer lies in the tangled, bloody history of Anglo-Irish relations.

By the early 13th century, English law ruled most of the Emerald Isle. During the 14th century, however, local Irish lords reasserted themselves. In time, they reduced the English crown's control to a small area around Dublin, "the Pale," which expanded and contracted for 200 years. The English treated lands "beyond the Pale" as savage. And among the most "savage" were lands in the northern province of Ulster--most of which is now Northern Ireland.

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