Gerry wrote
> Thanks Miguel. I knew that Great Britain was an island consisting
of England, Scotland and Wales. About the United Kingdom, I'm
surprised that it only includes a portion of Ireland (Northern) --
did South Ireland secede? Is it now a country unto it's own?
>
Yes, Gerry, it has been since 1921, although there was a movement for
Irish independence long before that. "The Home Rule movement led by
Charles Parnell was an attempt to re-establish an Irish parliament to
be responsible for internal affairs. William Gladstone [Prime
Minister of Britain under Queen Victoria] eventually became convinced
of the need for Irish independence and in 1886 he made the first
attempt to persuade Parliament to pass a Home Rule Bill. The bill
that proposed an Irish Parliament in Dublin was defeated in the House
of Commons. The proposal split the party and Parliament rejected the
measure.
William Gladstone was defeated in the polls in the 1886 General
Election but was once again elected to office in 1892. The following
year the Irish Home Rule Bill was passed in the House of Commons but
was defeated in the House of Lords.Gladstone tried again in 1893 but
it again failed to get through Parliament."
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Lhomerule.htm
In 1912 the Third Home Rule Bill passed the House of Commons. The
most notable difference from the bill of 1893 was that it would have
eventually given control of the police to Ireland. A tremendous
outcry arose in Protestant Ulster, which feared Roman Catholic
domination. Private armiesthe Ulster Volunteers (in the North) and
the Irish Volunteers (in the South)were raised, and civil war
threatened if the bill became law. In 1914, Commons again passed the
bill, but the House of Lords excluded Ulster from its provisions. The
Commons voted to allow Ulster to vote itself out of Home Rule for six
years. At the outbreak of World War I the bill was passed once again
with the proviso that it should not go into effect until after the
war. The law never took effect.
In 1918, Southern Ireland elected to the British Parliament only Sinn
Fein members pledged to republicanism instead of Home Rule. These
members did not go to Westminster; they set up their own Irish
assembly, the Dáil Éireann, which declared Ireland independent. There
followed a period of guerrilla war between the nationalist Irish
Republican Army (IRA) and a force of British irregulars known as the
Black and Tans.
In 1921 the British government entered into negotiations with the de
facto Irish government headed by Eamon De Valera. The Irish Free
State, with dominion status, was created by an Anglo-Irish treaty in
1921. Remaining ties with Great Britain were gradually discarded (see
Ireland, Republic of). The six counties of Northern Ireland (see
Ireland, Northern) remained part of the United Kingdom, their
government established under the provisions of the Fourth Home Rule
Bill of 1920, which was rendered void in the South by the
establishment of the Irish Free State. The continued British presence
in Northern Ireland was abhorrent to Irish nationalists, but except
for scattered IRA terrorism, the issue was dormant until Protestant
repression led to revived militant nationalism among Northern
Ireland's Catholics."
http://www.bartleby.com/65/ho/HomeRule.html
Ireland is thus a part of the geographical "British Isles" but has
not been part of Great Britain or of the United Kingdom for nearly 80
years. It was the first "Colony" from the British Empire to leave
the "British Commonwealth". It is as separate from the UK as Canada
is from the USA.
Hope this helps.
Regards
John