History of Ireland

Union With Great Britain. During the 1700’s the British kept tight control over Ireland and limited the powers of the Irish Parliament. Many Irish Protestants objected to the restrictions, and Parliament, led by Henry Grattan, demanded legislative freedom. Great Britain met the demands in 1782, and the all-Protestants Irish Parliament ruled the country for the next 18 years. Parliament restored to Catholics their rights to hold land and lifted the restrictions on their religious right. But it refused to give them any political rights.
Some Protestants in Parliament tried to gain more rights for Catholics. After their attempts failed, they formed a group called the United Irishmen. At first, this group sought equal rights for all Irish people. Later, it demanded complete independence for Ireland from British rule. In 1798, the United Irishmen staged an unsuccessful rebellion. After the rebellion, the British Prime Minister, William Pitt, persuaded the British and Irish parliaments to pass the Act of Union. Under the act, which went into effect in 1801, Ireland officially became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Irish Parliament was then ended, and Ireland sent representatives to the British Parliament. In 1829, Daniel O’Connell, an Irish Catholic leader, helped Catholics win the right to serve in the British Parliament and to hold other public offices.

meaning of three saints from UK and Union Jack

What is Union Jack ?

Union Jack is the national flag of the United Kingdom. It is called Union Jack because it consists of three emblems of three countries which are united under one Kingdom. Union Jack consist of three flags; St. George from England, St. Andrews from Scotland, and St. Patrick from Northern Ireland. Wales’s flag doesn’t give any contribution because Wales has united with England a few years ago before United Kingdom created.
The name of Union Jack comes from Queen Anne ( 1702 – 1714 ), but from where the name is taken still uncertain. Many opinions about where Jack is taken. Maybe it is from ‘jack-et’ which take from the name of the English or Scottish soldiers; or from the name of James I which was the King of the United Kingdom in 1603, James, either in Latin or French is from Jacobus or Jacques; or ‘Jack’ which meant small, the name may be derived from a royal proclamation issued by Charles II that the Union Flag should be flown only by ship of The Royal Navy as a jack ( a small flag at the bow spirit ).
Each of the flags which are united become Union Jack has their own meaning and story.

 St. George

In 1194, Richard I of England introduced the Cross of St. George, a red cross on a white ground, as the National Flag of England.
Actually, St. George was a brave Roman soldier who protested against the Romans' torture of Christians and died for his beliefs. The popularity of St. George in England stems from the time of the early Crusades when it is said that the Normans saw him in a vision and were victorious.
One of the best-known stories about St. George is his fight with a dragon. But it is highly unlikely that he ever fought a dragon, and even more unlikely that he ever actually visited England. Despite this, St. George is known throughout the world as the dragon-slaying patron saint of England.
St. George is always depicted as a knight carrying a shield with a red cross (or a banner with a red cross), generally sits upon a horse and always kills a dragon.


 St. Andrew

Saint Andrew is the Patron Saint of Scotland. The flag of Scotland is the Cross of St. Andrew, and this is widely displayed as a symbol of national identity.
The "Order of Saint Andrew" or the "Most Ancient Order of the Thistle" is an order of Knighthood which is restricted to the King or Queen and sixteen others. It was established by James VII of Scotland in 1687.
Just a few things are known about St. Andrew. He was thought as a fisherman in Galilee (now part of Israel), along with his elder brother Simon Peter (Saint Peter). Both of them became followers of Jesus Christ, founder of the Christian religion.
St. Andrew is said to have been responsible for spreading the tenets of the Christian religion though Asia Minor and Greece. Tradition suggests that St. Andrew was killed by the Romans in Patras, Southern Greece by being pinned to a cross (crucified). The diagonal shape of this cross is said to be the basis for the Cross of St. Andrew which appears on the Scottish Flag.


 St. Patrick
Saint Patrick was known as a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland.
When he was 16 years old, he was caught by Irish riders and taken as a slave in Ireland. But he tried to escape, and turned back to his family. After he entered into the church, he came back to Ireland as an ordained bishop in the north and west of the island, but not all of the people knew about the places where he worked and there is no contemporary evidence for any link between Patrick and any known church building.
By the eighth century he had come to be revered as the patron saint of Ireland.

The Defintion of County.

Definition of county;

1. County is an earldom,the domain of a count or earl.
2. A circuit or particular portion of a state or kingdom, separated from the rest of the territory, for certain purposes in the administration of justice and public affairs; called also a shire.
3. County is a count; an earl or lord.
4. It's a region created by territorial division for the purpose of local government; "the county has a population of 12,345 people".
5. The largest administrative district within a state; "the county plans to build a new road".