Northern Ireland: References & Edit History

Additional Reading

Land

The geomorphology of the island of Ireland as a whole is found in G.L. Herries Davies and Nicholas Stephens, Ireland (1978); and A.R. Orme, Ireland (1970). Emrys Jones, A Social Geography of Belfast (1960, reissued 1965), considers historical and environmental matters.

People and economy

Social and economic conditions are discussed in James H. Johnson, The Human Geography of Ireland (1994). A general introduction to Belfast is R.H. Buchanan and B.M. Walker (eds.), Province, City & People: Belfast and Its Region (1987). The character of one part of Northern Ireland is admirably portrayed in E. Estyn Evans, Mourne Country: Landscape and Life in South Down, 4th ed. (1989). An introduction to the economy is provided in Paul Bew, Henry Patterson, and Paul Teague, Northern Ireland—Between War and Peace: The Political Future of Northern Ireland, 2nd ed. (2000).

Government and society

The contemporary political situation is treated in Arthur Aughey and Duncan Morrow (eds.), Northern Ireland Politics (1996); Brendan O’Leary and John McGarry, The Politics of Antagonism: Understanding Northern Ireland, 2nd ed. (1996); Joseph Ruane and Jennifer Todd, The Dynamics of Conflict in Northern Ireland: Power, Conflict, and Emancipation (1996); and Colin Coulter, Contemporary Northern Irish Society: An Introduction (1999).

Cultural life

Youth culture is described in Desmond Bell, Acts of Union: Youth Culture and Sectarianism in Northern Ireland (1990). The visual arts are the subject of Liam Kelly, Thinking Long: Contemporary Art in the North of Ireland (1996). Sporting life is discussed in John Sugden and Alan Bairner, Sport, Sectarianism, and Society in a Divided Ireland (1993).

Emrys Jones Jim Smyth

History

General historical surveys include Patrick Buckland, A History of Northern Ireland (1981); A.T.Q. Stewart, The Narrow Ground: The Roots of Conflict in Ulster, rev. ed. (1993); T.W. Moody, The Ulster Question, 1603–1973, 4th ed. (1980); Sean Cronin, Irish Nationalism: A History of Its Roots and Ideology (1980); Maurice Irvine, Northern Ireland: Faith and Faction (1991); and Jonathan Bardon, A History of Ulster, new updated ed. (2001).

Helpful studies of specific historical events and periods include M. Perceval-Maxwell, The Scottish Migration to Ulster in the Reign of James I (1973, reissued 1999); Philip S. Robinson, The Plantation of Ulster: British Settlement in an Irish Landscape, 1600–1670 (1984, reissued 1994); Raymond Gillespie, Colonial Ulster: The Settlement of East Ulster, 1600–1641 (1985); Brian Mac Cuarta (ed.), Ulster 1641: Aspects of the Rising, rev. ed. (1997); Patrick Macrory, The Siege of Derry (1980, reprinted 1988); J.C. Beckett and R.E. Glasscock (eds.), Belfast: The Origin and Growth of an Industrial City (1967); David W. Miller, Queen’s Rebels: Ulster Loyalism in Historical Perspective (1978); Marianne Elliott, The Catholics of Ulster: A History (2000, reissued 2002); A.T.Q. Stewart, A Deeper Silence (1993, reissued, 1998); and Nicholas Mansergh, The Unresolved Question: The Anglo-Irish Settlement and Its Undoing, 1912–72 (1991).

Extensive discussion of 20th-century problems includes Reginald James Lawrence, The Government of Northern Ireland: Public Finance and Public Services, 1921–1964 (1965); Padraig O’Malley, The Uncivil Wars: Ireland Today, 3rd ed. (1997); J. Bowyer Bell, The Irish Troubles: A Generation of Violence, 1967–1992 (1993); and Paul Bew, Peter Gibbon, and Henry Patterson, Northern Ireland, 1921–2001: Political Forces and Social Classes, rev. and updated ed. (2002). The historical roots of the conflict in Northern Ireland are discussed in Thomas Hennessey, A History of Northern Ireland (1997, reissued 1999).

Two good introductions to contemporary politics are Paul Dixon, Northern Ireland: The Politics of War and Peace (2001); and Jonathan Tonge, Northern Ireland: Conflict and Change, 2nd ed. (2002). An international mediator’s account of the peace negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement is George J. Mitchell, Making Peace (1999). A useful collection of essays on post-Good Friday Agreement Northern Ireland is Rick Wilford (ed.), Aspects of the Belfast Agreement (2001). Two views of the IRA’s campaign can be found in Peter Taylor, Provos: The IRA and Sinn Fein (1997; also published as Behind the Mask: The IRA and Sinn Fein, 1999); and M.L.R. Smith, Fighting for Ireland?: The Military Strategy of the Irish Republican Movement (1995, reissued 1997). The role of Britain’s intelligence services in Northern Ireland is the subject of Tony Geraghty, The Irish War: The Hidden Conflict Between the IRA and British Intelligence (1998, reissued 2000).

Karl S. Bottigheimer Arthur H. Aughey

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

Other Contributors

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Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Country Profile: Added Head of government. Aug 22, 2024
Cross-references added. Aug 04, 2024
In the History section, added a description of the restoration of the Executive in February 2024. Feb 06, 2024
Link added. Jul 19, 2023
In the History section, added cross-reference. Apr 27, 2023
Added cross-refrerence. Mar 13, 2023
Corrected display issue. Mar 13, 2023
Add new Web site: Official Site of the Northern Ireland. Aug 14, 2022
In the History section, added the results of the May 2022 elections for the Northern Ireland Assembly. May 10, 2022
In the History section, added a description of the changes to the DUP leadership in 2021. Oct 01, 2021
Corrected display issue. Feb 12, 2021
In the History section, added a description of events leading up to the “New Decade, New Approach” agreement. Feb 11, 2020
In the History section, changed the “December 2020” snap election date to “December 2019.” Feb 11, 2020
Added a description of the ongoing negotiations to form a new Executive and of Northern Ireland's centrality to the Brexit withdrawal agreement. Dec 14, 2018
Add new Web site: Official Tourism Site of Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. Mar 01, 2018
Country Profile: Added cross-references to the Country Profile. Jan 11, 2018
Added locator map to the Introduction. Jun 23, 2017
In the History section, added results for the June 2017 election for the House of Commons. Jun 20, 2017
In Constitutional framework section, noted that the number of members in the Northern Ireland assembly was reduced from 108 to 90 in 2017. Mar 07, 2017
Added a description of the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal that prompted a snap election in March 2017 and the results of that election. Mar 07, 2017
Added a description of events that led to the "A Fresh Start" agreement, noted the resignation of Peter David Robinson as first minister, and summarized the results of the May 2016 election for the Assembly. Aug 23, 2016
Image of Northern Ireland's unofficial flag deleted from the introduction. Jan 05, 2016
In the Local government section described the reorganization of local government that was implemented in April 2015. Jul 13, 2015
Noted that there are six representatives from each of the 18 constituencies in the assembly in the Constitutional framework section and added a description of changes to the "eleven-plus" examination in the Education section. May 10, 2013
Changed "Ulster Trust for Nature Conservation" to "Ulster Wildlife Trust" in the Plant and animal section. May 10, 2013
Changed "Ulster Television PLC" to "UTV" in Media and publishing section and added David Park and Eoin McNamee to list of novelists in The arts section. May 10, 2013
Updated Resources and power, Finance, Trade, and Service sections. May 10, 2013
Country Profile: Updated area and population figures. Apr 12, 2013
Add new Web site: Maps of World - Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. Dec 28, 2012
Added description of the historic handshake between Martin McGuinness and Elizabeth II on June 27, 2012. Jun 27, 2012
Added results of 2011 Assembly elections. May 09, 2011
Article revised and updated. Sep 24, 2010
Country Profile: Cross-reference added. May 26, 2010
Country Profile: Created new Country Profile. Apr 22, 2010
Changed "Belfast Agreement" to "Good Friday Agreement." Feb 11, 2010
Changed "Belfast Agreement" to "Good Friday Agreement." Feb 11, 2010
New political and physical maps added. Jun 18, 2009
Added mention of footballers George Best and Pat Jennings. Made clear that all constituent members of the U.K. field national football teams. Mar 06, 2009
Article revised and updated. Jul 18, 2008
Added new Web site: How Stuff Works - Geography - Geography of Northern Ireland. Jul 14, 2008
Added new Web site: Lonely Planet - Northern Ireland. Jul 09, 2008
Media added. Dec 18, 2007
Added new Web site: The Official Site of Northern Ireland. Dec 07, 2007
Article revised and updated. Aug 01, 2007
Added reference to withdrawal of English troops. Aug 01, 2007
Added new Web site: Land Forces of Britian, the Empire and Commonwealth - Northern Ireland District [UK]. Jul 27, 2007
Added new Web site: Geographia - Northern Ireland. Jul 27, 2007
Media added. Jul 18, 2007
Article revised and updated. Jun 15, 2007
Article revised and updated. May 11, 2007
Article revised and updated. Mar 28, 2007
Added new Web site: Official Site of the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Dec 22, 2006
Bibliography revised. Nov 10, 2006
Removed reference to taoiseach. Nov 10, 2006
Article thoroughly revised. Nov 10, 2006
Article revised. Jul 19, 2002
Article revised. Feb 16, 2001
Article revised. Dec 17, 1999
Article added to new online database. Jul 26, 1999
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