BBC News
By Ciaran McCauley
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The partition of Ireland came after a series of seismic events - World War One, the Easter Rising, the War of Independence among them.
In the thick of these defining times were people who came to dominate the debate over Ireland s present - and to shape its future.
These are people who would become iconic figures - for better or worse - in the two entities that emerged from partition.
Here were the major players in Belfast, Dublin and London.
image copyrightPA Media
Edward Carson
The Dublin-born lawyer was the face and voice of unionism when the road to partition was being laid, but he had a complex relationship with the idea of a separate Northern Ireland.