Ireland, not the country, but the island, is an island of Irish people, inhabited by Irish people, and yet, not owned by the Irish people. The entire island encompasses thirty-two counties, of which twenty-six are owned and governed by the Irish. These twenty-six counties make up the Republic of Ireland; however, the other six counties located on the northern most part of Ireland make up a dependent country of the fully owned and controlled by the U.K. Until the early 1900s Ireland was under complete control of the British Crown, as it had been for many years. The people of Ireland have historically been Catholic, but there has been, and still is, a small minority of Protestants whom mostly live in the northern section of the island. The Catholic Irish have long considered themselves Irish people, independent from Britain, and subjected to oppression by their British Invaders. .
On the other, hand the Protestant Irish generally consider themselves less Irish than British, often identifying as "Ulster " (Ulster being the geographic area of Northern Ireland where most Irish Protestants live). These Protestants differ much from the Catholics in the fact that they pledge allegiance to the British Crown and government and very much want the northern part of Ireland to remain part of the U.K. and many years ago, all of Ireland to do so. The irony of the Northern-Protestant Irish claim is that these people are not historically Irish, but rather their ancestors were given free land after the Irish Jacobites lost the Williamite-Jacobite War in Ireland. From the very beginning of English Protestant rule over Ireland, Irish Catholics have fought for their right to self-determination and sovereignty from England. The argument is that Northern Ireland should be able to democratically decide their allegiance, but this is unjust. If the Unification of Ireland is to be decided democratically then that is to mean foreign invaders are given the right to decide the future of the native Irish people.
