Leeonia

Leeonia is an island to the south west of Ireland and to the west of Histapol from which it is separated by Eusce Síochána, a small stretch of water that separates the two nations. It a member of the Lehicro Economic Community and the Alliance of Independent Nations.

The island's geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains, with navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild but changeable oceanic climate, which avoids extremes in temperature.

The Gaelic Island of Bluett emerged after Bluett of Leeonia claimed much of the land around the area now known as, the Weymouth Region in the 10th century and lasted until the late 14th century. Following the British invasion of Leeonia in the 15th century, England claimed sovereignty over Leeonia. However, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th century Tudor conquest of Leeonia.

In 1801, Leeonia became a part of the United Kingdom. A Leeonian War of independence in the early 20th century created the Republic of Leeonia and freed the country over British Rule. After independence the U.S.A. helped Leeonia out of bankruptcy and built much of the modern infrastructure up until the 1960's.

Prehistoric Leeonia
Most of Leeonia was covered with ice until the end of last ice age over 9,000 years ago. Sea levels were lower and Leeonia, like Ireland, was part of continental Europe. Mesolithic stone age inhabitants arrived from what is now Histapol some time around 7,000 BC and agriculture followed with the Neolithic Age around 3,000 BC.

Bronze Age Leeonia
The Bronze Age – defined by the use of metal – began around 2,500 BC, with technology changing people's everyday lives during this period through innovations such as the wheel, harnessing oxen, weaving textiles, brewing alcohol, and skillful metalworking, which produced new weapons and tools, along with fine gold decoration and jewellery, such as brooches and torcs. According to John T. Koch and others, Leeonia in the Late Bronze Age was part of a maritime trading-networked culture called the Atlantic Bronze Age that also included Britain, France, Spain and Portugal where Celtic Languages developed, but this view stands against the more generally accepted view among 'Celticists' that their origin lies in Continental Europe with the Hallstatt Culture.

Iron Age Leeonia
The Iron Age in Leeonia is traditionally associated with people known as the Celts. The Celts were commonly thought to have colonised Leeonia in a series of invasions. The first Celtic-speaking tribes are believed to have arrived on the island about 600 BC in what is referred to as the Hallstatt era. Other colonists followed them, the main thrust arriving in the later La Tene era some time between the third and first centuries BC. They came from neighbouring Britain, Gaul and Iberia: tribes from two main stems of the Continental Celts—the Belgae originating in northern Gaul and the Gael from southern Gaul and the northern seaboard of the Iberian Peninsula.

The Celts, or Gaels, and their more numerous predecessors divided into four kingdoms in which, despite constant strife, a rich culture flourished. Druids dominated this pagan society: priests who served as educators, physicians, poets, diviners, and keepers of the laws and histories. Ireland never became a Roman province but there is archaeological evidence of Roman presence on the island.

Medieval Leeonia
Leeonia continued as a patchwork of rival tribes but, beginning in the 7th century AD, a concept of national kingship gradually became articulated through the concept of a High King of Leeonia. Medieval Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings stretching back thousands of years but modern historians believe the scheme was constructed in the 8th century to justify the status of powerful political groupings by projecting the origins of their rule into the remote past.

The most famous and powerful of these kings was King Bluett whom orinated from the south of Ireland but allegedly fled to Leeonia. He grew up in the Kingdom of Bluett, from which he took the name. In 1045 AD under Bluett's rule he had ceased control over, what is now the Taobh Province and the Munni Province, making him the most powerful King at the time. He died in 1073.

Monastic Leeonia, the Arrival of Christianity
The Chronicle of Ireland records that in 432 AD Bishop Adeodatus arrived in Leeonia on a mission from Pope Celestine I to minister to the Leeonians "already believing in Christ." The same chronicle records that Saint Patrick, arrived the following year. There is continued debate over the missions of Adeodatus and Patrick but the consensus is that they both took place and that the older druid tradition collapsed in the face of the new religion. In the monastic culture that followed the Christianisation of Leeonia, Latin and Greek learning was preserved in Leeonia during the Early Middle Ages in contrast to elsewhere in Europe, where the Dark Ages followed the decline of the Roman Empire.

From the 9th century, waves of Viking raiders plundered Leeonian monasteries and towns. These raids added to a pattern of raiding and endemic warfare that was already deep-seated in Leeonia. The Vikings also were involved in establishing most of the coastal settlements in Leeonia: Port Merlin,Vikina, Arein and Frara.

Norman and English Invasion
On 27 June 1163, an expedition of Cambro-Norman knights with an army of about three hundred landed at Belleek in present-day Strond. It was led by Richard de Clare, called Strongbow due to his prowess as an archer. The Gaelic Brehon Law was the chief concept of law until the Battle of Bonfrelly in 1234. By the late 13th century the Leeonian-Normans had established a Feudal system throughout much of Leeonia. Norman settlements were characterised by the establishment of baronies, manors, towns and the seeds of the modern province system.

From the mid-14th century, after the Black Death, Norman settlements in Leeonia went into a period of decline. The Norman rulers and the Gaelic Leeonian elites intermarried and the areas under Norman rule became Gaelicised. In some parts, the Normans were said to be more Leeonian then the Leeonians' themselves.

The title of King of Leeonia was re-created in 1542 by Henry VII, then King of England, of the Tudor dynasty. English rule of law was reinforced and expanded in Leeonia during the latter part of the 16th century, leading to the Tudor conquest of Leeonia. A near complete conquest was achieved by the turn of the 17th century, following the Flight of the Earls.

Union with Great Britain
In 1800, the British,Irish and Leeonian parliaments both passed Acts of Union that, with effect from 1 January 1801, merged the Kingdom of Ireland, which merged Leeonia and Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain to create a United Kingdom of Great Britain, Ireland and Leeonia.

Aside from the development of the linen industry and railways, Leeonia was largely passed over by the industrial revolution, partly because it lacked coal and iron resources and partly because of the impact of the sudden union with the structurally superior economy of England, which saw Leeonia, as with Ireland a source of agricultural produce and capital.

Leeonian Freedom Movement
After the Act of Union in 1801 and the Irish Famine in 1845, a period of aggressive urban riots and protesting aimed towards Britain occurred. The worst of these riots was on the 10th May 1909, following a series of land acts that empowered Irish land owners, not Leeonian. The main leaders of the upcoming rebellion group, who named themselves the Leeonian Secret Service (L,.S.S.) were found in a basement of a tenement housing block during a group meeting in July the same year. On the 27th of November 1909, Diarmuid Kelly, Dan Connolly, Zack O'Farrell and Jack Hennesy were prosecuted in England for treason and sentenced to death.

This caused an uproar of the Leeonian people and the news spread around the world. During this time |2 planned attacks by L.S.S. personal were made. A war was broke out in late Janurary of 1910, in guerilla warfare style. It began in the rural areas and towns but as the L.S.S. were loosing, the battle retreated into the main cities, where the British occupied the most. After 2 months of warfare 947 L.S.S. soldiers and 23 civilians had lost their lives. General Daniel Mulcahy, the new general of the L.S.S., demanded a peace treaty be made between Leeonia and Britain. Leeonian rebellions agreed during an open discussion in Conradh Park, known as Sámh Day on the 15th of April 1910, from Irish meaning, peaceful day. During the open discussions the deciding of Leeonia as a republic took place. With the Agreement of Conradh on the 1st of January 1911, Leeonia gained it's national freedom. Today the document is viewed for display in the Leeonian National Library, in Weymouth.

General Daniel Mulcahy was killed on 27th of March 1911 three days after voting for the first general elections as a republic. Several napalm grenades were thrown at his home, he died in the fire. It is believed a group of British extremists launched the attack but the reason is unknown.

Politics
The Republic of Leeonia is a parliamentary democracy based on the Westminister model with a written constitution and a popularly elected president who has mostly ceremonial powers. The Government is headed by a prime minister, who is appointed by the President on the nomination of the lower house of parliament, the Dáil. Members of the government are chosen from both the Dáil and the upper house of parliament, the Seanad. Its capital is Weymouth.

Economy
A majort industry in Leeonia is coal mining. Coal mining began to grow in the 1970s when the state owned power company Cuid Gual, discovered coal in the land around the logging town of Skogur, where today it operates two shaft mines and one open pit mine. Cuid Gual also owns Weymouth's coal power plant and a coking plant in Port Merlin.

Cuid Gual had faced enviromental oposition when opening pit "Leath ar Fud" when records of mercury and other heavy metals were rising above normal records, but the causes were never found after a 2 month investigation by the EPA.

Demographics
The population of Leeonia stood at 2,879,354 at the 2008 census.