Minister for Education Mary Hanafin yesterday launched an education booklet marking the 400th anniversary of the Flight of the Earls.
The Flight of the Earls document study pack was created by the cultural services section of Donegal County Council to coincide with the anniversary of the Flight of the Earls from Rathmullan, Co Donegal in 1607.
It contains a detailed overview of the period when the Earls of Tyrconnell and Tyrone lived, including information on the Battle of Kinsale of 1601, the aftermath of their flight when they left for Spain but never returned, and the subsequent plantation of Ulster.
The pack includes worksheets for students and copies of colourful maps, letters, proclamations and drawings from the time. It is being made available to all second-level schools on the island of Ireland.
The pack was funded by Donegal County Council and the International Fund for Ireland and was compiled by the council's archive service.
"The Flight of the Earls was a very significant event in Irish history following on as it did from the battle of Kinsale, the failure of that and, of course, the fall of the chieftains," Ms Hanafin said yesterday.
"It is seen as a watershed in Irish history because it meant that all of the chieftains and earls left the country, but in fact from a cultural and literary point of view it meant that the Irish language and literature spread throughout the whole of Europe.
"It led to a huge revival of interest in Irish literature and the protection of it at a time when in Ireland it could actually have died. It's a very colourful pack and I think it's a good way of making schoolchildren focus on that part of our history which they don't normally learn much about," the Minister said.