Ireland in pre-history....the unknown past, symbolised by the Question Mark and continuing with -

 St. Patrick
Enshrined in the hearts of the people as Patron Saint of Ireland. St. Patrick changed the course of Irish history when. In the early fifth century, he began his mission of converting Ireland from paganism to the Christian religion. There were in fact, small Communities of Christians here before he came but it was due to his life of prayer and work that Christianity became so wisely accepted in his life time and continued to spread after his death. St. Patrick has a special importance too as the author of the first document known to have been written in Ireland, he thus marks the transition from an oral to a written literature.
 
Round Tower
These are associated with the monastic period and date from the 6th Century onward. They were probably originally intended as bell- towers but were very soon needed for the storage of food and as places of refuge in times of invasion.

 Viking Warrior
During the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries there were repeated Viking attacks round the coasts of Ireland. A systematic attempt to gain control of the whole country was defeated by Brian Boru at the battle of Clontarf, At 1014. But the Norsemen retained the towns they had established notably Dublin, Wexford Waterford, Cork and Limerick, as self governing communities and carried on trade with the continent. They became Christians and intermarried with the Irish, but the Church and the great schools had suffered grievously in the years of raids and invasion

 Norman Soldier
In the 12th Century the invaders were Norman, Flemish and Norman- Welsh. and their language and customs were French. Their "over lord" was the French speaking Henry Angevin, who had, among his many titles, the important one of Henry II of England. Because the Church in Ireland had not fully completed the great 12th Century reform the Irish Church leaders encouraged the spread of Norman influence. This never became a "Norman-conquest", but was used later as an excuse by the Tudor monarchs of England in their attempts at conquest.

 Dublin Castle
The first Dublin Castle was built on the order of King John ("for the custody of our treasure... for the administration of justice and if need he for the defence of the city") between 1204 and 1224. From then on it was the centre of Anglo-Norman power, and later of English power. Eventually it became a symbol that increasingly provoked the hostility of the native Irish. Nowadays it is the scene of many State and European Community functions, the State apartments being used for important official receptions and for Presidential inaugurations. The many beautiful rooms are open regularly for visits by the public.

 King William
1690 AD. Protestant King William defeated his father-in-law, Catholic James II at the Battle of the Boyne. In Europe this was seen as an important setback to French King Louis XIV and was celebrated by a Te Deum in Catholic Vienna; in England it meant the end of the Stuart monarchy; in Ireland it assured Protestant ascendancy from then on and its the corner stone of the Irish "problem" today.

 Union Flag
In 1800 AD the Irish Parliament was abolished and direct rule from London began. All Ireland had benefited from a modest prosperity under Grattan's Parliament and nobody wanted Union. It was forced through by bribery on a grand scale because England feared a French invasion through Ireland. The cross of St. Patrick was added to the Union Jack.

 Skeleton juggling with potatoes.
The "Hungry Forties" of the 19th Century. When the potato crops failed repeatedly there was a widespread famine and hundreds of thousands died of starvation. For political reasons in England, the London government failed to alleviate the suffering; private agencies tried to help, though with pitifully inadequate resources.

 Emigrant Ship
Before the famines the Irish had shown themselves reluctant to emigrate even when encouraged to do so by Government or landlords. After the experience of the famines there was "an almost hysterical rush" to leave the country and emigration figures went from an earlier average of 50,000 per year to 250,000 in 1851. Most west to USA, some to Canada and the bitterness felt by the Irish in America as well as by those left at home had much to do with the subsequent hostile relations between England and Ireland.

 G.P.O. Dublin
The Republic of Ireland was proclaimed from the General Post Office at the start of the Easter Rising, in 1916. The building itself was largely destroyed and the Rising was militarily a failure, but it led to the War of Independence which eventually brought about the setting up of the modem Irish State.

 The Border
By the treaty of 1921 six of the counties of Ulster were separated from the rest of Ireland and became a province of the UK under the title "Northern Ireland". The 26 counties became "The Irish Free State". In 1938 the Irish Free State resumed control of the ports which England had kept for defensive purposes, and in 1948 the Irish Free State became "The Republic of Ireland".

Ireland Quo Vadis...?The question mark now symbolises the unknown future.