Come to think of it Greg, you're right: Ireland (with a capital "I")has never been united, gaelic and free. Prior to the Anglo-Norman invasion it was divided into local, quite mutually antagonistic rival kingdoms, after that it was ruled by the English - British until 1922, when it was divided.

This is of course a brief summary.

However it gets us no nearer to a modern day solution, which has to come from the people of NI themselves, tho that doesn't stop people in the home counties, America, etc having views on the matter.