Modern day Ireland is divided into two separate countries: Northern Ireland, which remains a part of the United kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, which makes up 5/6’s of Irelands landmass and is not a part of the United Kingdom. The capital and largest city of the north is Belfast, which holds 333 thousand of Northern Ireland’s population of 1.8 million. The Republic of Ireland is a country of 4.6 million and it’s largest city and capital is Dublin, which holds 527,000 people.
Ireland’s recent history has been of violent struggles between the Irish and the British, as well as between the mostly Catholic Republicans dominant in today’s Republic of Ireland and mostly Protestant Unionists/Loyalists in traditionally dominant in Northern Ireland.
Ireland: Political Past 