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What is the "Irish Question"?

The "Irish Question" is a complex problem that dates back to the twelfth century, when Great Britain imposed a feudal landowning system on Ireland. Feudal lords (noblemen) were granted estates (large tracts of land), which they rented to peasants (farm workers and other laborers) in exchange for crops and services. Most property owners were absentee land-lords—they lived in England—who levied high rents on their tenants. As a result, the landowners became wealthy while the peasants descended into extreme poverty. Social problems intensified during the 1700s when the English tried to impose Protestantism (a form of Christianity established in opposition to Roman Catholicism) on Ireland, which had a mainly Catholic population. In 1801 the Act of Union united England and Ireland, forming the United Kingdom. Soon the British government began to populate the six counties in northeastern Ireland (called...

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