northernireland

Danny Boy

Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.

And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me.
And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be
If you'll not fail to tell me that you love me
I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.
I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.

Recent excavations have revealed the existence of human settlements in the north of Ireland dating back to about 7000 BC. How the forerunners of these settlers reached Ireland is still a matter of debate, but they may well have come across what were then land-bridges connecting Ulster and Scotland which have important geological features in common.

At its narrowest, the North Channel separating Northern Ireland from Great Britain is only some 10 miles wide. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom which has a land-border with another state -the Republic of Ireland. The people of either part of Ireland are free to enter, or to settle in the other without formality.

The people who inhabit Northern Ireland are of diverse origins. To understand their ethnic background we must keep in mind Northern Ireland's close proximity to Scotland and parts of northern England as well as, in former times, its relative isolation from the rest of Ireland behind the barrier of mountains, lakes and broken hill-country spread along its southern border. In our day these are not serious impediments to movement; but in an age of primitive and difficult communications by land they formed a considerable obstacle.

Having opted to remain outside the provisions of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, Northern Ireland has since then been separately administered as part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.