Editing Munster (section)

==History==
{{Main|Kingdom of Munster}}
[[File:Rock of Cashel Uebersicht.jpg|thumb|The [[Rock of Cashel]], County Tipperary, historical seat of the [[Kings of Munster]]]]
In the early centuries AD, Munster was the domain of the [[Iverni]] peoples and the [[Clanna Dedad]] familial line, led by [[Cú Roí]] and to whom the king [[Conaire Mór]] also belonged. In the 5th century, [[Saint Patrick]] spent several years in the area and founded Christian churches and ordained priests. During the [[Early Middle Ages]], most of the area was part of the [[Kings of Munster|Kingdom of Munster]], ruled by the [[Eóganachta]] dynasty. Prior to this, the area was ruled by the [[Dáirine]] and [[Corcu Loígde]] overlords. Later rulers from the Eóganachta included [[Cathal mac Finguine]] and [[Feidlimid mac Cremthanin]]. Notable regional kingdoms and lordships of Early Medieval Munster were [[Iarmuman]] (West Munster), [[Osraige]] (Ossory), [[Uí Liatháin]], [[Uí Fidgenti]], [[Éile]], [[Múscraige]], [[Ciarraige Luachra]], [[Corcu Duibne]], [[Corcu Baiscinn]], and [[Déisi Muman]].

By the 9th century, the [[Gaels]] had been joined by [[Norsemen|Norse]] [[Vikings]] who founded towns such as [[Cork (city)|Cork]], [[Waterford]] and [[Limerick]], for the most part, incorporated into a maritime empire by the [[Uí Ímair|Dynasty of Ivar]], who periodically would threaten Munster with conquest in the next century. Around this period Ossory broke away from Munster. The Eóganachta dominated Munster until the 10th century,<ref>Downham, ''Medieval Ireland'', 2018, pp. 101-2</ref> which saw the rise of the [[Dál gCais|Dalcassian]] clan, who had earlier annexed [[Thomond]], north of the [[River Shannon]] to Munster. Their leaders were the ancestors of the [[O'Brien dynasty]] and spawned [[Brian Boru]], perhaps the most noted [[High King of Ireland]], and several of whose descendants were also high kings.

By 1118, Munster had fractured into the [[Kingdom of Thomond]] under the O'Briens, the [[Kingdom of Desmond]] under the [[MacCarthy dynasty]] (Eóganachta), and the short-lived Kingdom of Ormond under the [[Kennedy (Ireland)|O'Kennedys]] (another Dalcassian sept). The three crowns of the [[flag of Munster]] represent these three late kingdoms.

There was [[Hiberno-Norman|Norman]] influence from the 14th century, including by the [[FitzGerald]], [[de Clare]] and [[Butler dynasty|Butler]] houses, two of whom carved out [[earldom]]s within the [[Lordship of Ireland]], the [[Earls of Desmond]] eventually becoming independent potentates, while the [[Earl of Ormond (Ireland)|Earls of Ormond]] remained closer to England. The O'Brien of Thomond and MacCarthy of Desmond [[surrender and regrant|surrendered and regranted]] sovereignty to the [[House of Tudor|Tudors]] in 1543 and 1565, joining the [[Kingdom of Ireland]]. The impactful [[Desmond Rebellions]], led by the FitzGeralds, soon followed.

The area of Munster was then colonized in the mid to late 16th century by the British [[plantations of Ireland]] during the Tudor conquest of Ireland, a group known as the [[West Country Men]] played a role in the colonization of Munster,<ref>{{Cite book| first=Alan| last=Taylor| authorlink=Alan Taylor (historian)| title=American Colonies, The Settling of North America| publisher=Penguin| year=2001| isbn=0-14-200210-0| url=https://archive.org/details/americancolonies00tayl| url-access=registration| pages=[https://archive.org/details/americancolonies00tayl/page/119 119], 123}}</ref><ref>Somerset, Anne (2003), Elizabeth I (1st Anchor Books ed.), London: Anchor Books, ISBN 978-0-385-72157-8</ref> attempts to settle a joint stock colony at [[Kerrycurrihy]] in 1568 was made and [[Richard Grenville]] also seized lands for colonization at Tracton, to the west of Cork harbour. The Munster plantation was the largest colonial venture of the English at the time.<ref>Falkiner, Caesar Litton (1904). Illustrations of Irish history and topography, mainly of the 17th century. London: Longmans, Green, & Co. p. 117. ISBN 1-144-76601-X.</ref><ref>Moody, T. W.; Martin, F. X., eds. (1967). The Course of Irish History. Cork: Mercier Press. p. 370.</ref>

By the mid-19th century much of the area was hit hard in the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]], especially the west.<ref>In 1841, before the Great Famine, there were just under three million people living in the province, but the population dropped devastatingly low due to mass emigration in the 1840s and continued emigration up until the 1980s.</ref> The province was affected by events in the [[Irish War of Independence]] in the early 20th century, and there was a brief [[Munster Republic]] during the [[Irish Civil War]].

The Irish leaders [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]] and earlier [[Daniel O'Connell]] came from families of the old Gaelic Munster gentry.