What is History of Ireland?
The '''history of Ireland''' begins in [[Prehistoric Britain|prehistoric]] times. People began [[farming]] on [[Ireland]] thousands of years ago. The [[Celts]] moved there about 2,500 years ago and divided Ireland into many small [[Kingdom|kingdoms]]. In the [[5th century]], [[Saint Patrick]] brought [[Christians|Christianity]] to Ireland; it is still the dominant [[religion]] on the island today. The [[Vikings]] and later the [[Normans]] [[Invasion|invaded]] in the [[Middle Ages]].[[File:Celtic cross, Irish National Heritage Park - geograph.org.uk - 1251387.jpg|thumb|Celtic cross in Irish National Heritage Park]]Eventually, Ireland became part of the [[United Kingdom]]. After the [[Irish War of Independence]] in 1919-1921, most of Ireland became an [[Republic of Ireland|independent country]], the [[Republic of Ireland]]. However, Northern Ireland stayed in the United Kingdom, and is still a part of the U.K. today. == Prehistory == ''Also see: [[Prehistoric Britain]]'' === Stone Age === Nobody knows exactly when the first people came to Ireland. In 2016 [[Scientist|scientists]] used [[radiometric dating]] on a [[bear]] [[bone]] that had been found in an Irish [[cave]]. They found 12,500-year-old, man-made [[knife]] marks on the bone, showing that people lived in Ireland during the [[Palaeolithic|Paleolithic era]] (the first part of the [[Stone Age]]).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35863186|title=Earliest evidence of humans in Ireland|date=2016-03-21|work=BBC News|access-date=2020-05-05|language=en-GB}}</ref> By 7900 BCE, [[hunter-gatherer]]s (people who ate wild plants and animals) definitely lived in Ireland.<ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Driscoll|first=Killian|date=2006|title=The Mesolithic and Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Ireland chapter 3|publisher=National University of Ireland, Galway|url=https://lithicsireland.ie/mlitt_mesolithic_west_ireland_chap_3.html}}</ref> Around 4000 BCE, they started farming and keeping farm animals. Stone Age people in Ireland also made [[To