Of course pre Norman Ireland wasn't peaceful, neither was the rest of Europe. It was the dark fucking ages. As overlords go the Normans weren't so bad, they assimilated rather quickly. Irish surnames starting with Fitz are Norman in origin. things turned to shit when the English gained ascendancy over the Normans. Cromwell, the Penal laws and all the rest.
The difference with the unionist population is that they were installed in Ireland by a foreign power. And the loyalist remaining in the south after 1921 suffered absolutely no reprisals.
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