The Anglo Saxon English kings had not ruled Wales, and at the Norman invasion was a collection of small kingdoms. It took the Normans some 200 years to gain control of the whole of Wales. The 8 royal castles like Harlech (left) kept a lid on rebellion in the meantime. The last major Welsh uprising was by Owain Glyndwr between 1400 and 1408
Finally the Act of Union in 1536 "incorporated, united and annexed" Wales to England. Since then English law and government has rules in Wales. A solution that appears to have satisfied most Welsh people. Until the middle of the 18th century Wales remained a rural backwater. Population was sparse, and the topography meant that farming was not a viable proposition on any scale.Then the exploitation of coal and iron brought the Industrial revolution to Wales
The need for labour in the south Wales coalfields brought an influx of English into this area which brought about an erosion of the Welsh language, though Welsh continued to be spoken extensively in North Wales. Today the mining of Welsh coal has all but disappeared, but the language continues to be spoken reasonably widely as a second language.
Wales has been governed from London via the Welsh Office, under a cabinet minister. Following the referendum on limited devolution in 1997, the Welsh were seen to be virtually equally spilt on the subject, with the more rural "Welsh" areas being for devolution, and the more industrial areas being against it.

Ireland

The Normans invaded Britain in 1066, they landed in Ireland a century later in 1169. For most of the Middle Ages Ireland was ruled as a separate kingdom under the British Crown. Although the area they controlled was not the whole country, just the eastern part shown in dark red on the left. Gradually they extended their control, but it was not till 1603 that a victory over the Irish in Ulster allowed Britain complete control of Ireland
To ensue continuing control over the troublesome province of Ulster, the land was confiscated and given to small Scottish farmers. The idea being to ensue that they remained there and did not sell the land back to the native Irish. The success of this policy is the foundation of the problem of Northern Ireland today. But it is worth remembering that the Ulster Protestants have been there longer than the settlers in North America.
There next major event was the Cromwellian army's campaign in Ireland immediately after the English Civil War.