Facts about Ireland
Ireland, the third largest island in Europe, and the twenty-sixth largest island in the world, covers an area of 70,273 sq km.
English (official) is the language generally used, Irish (official) (Gaelic or Gaeilge) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard.
The Religions practised in Ireland are Roman Catholic 88.4%, Church of Ireland 3%, other Christian 1.6%, other 1.5%, unspecified 2%, none 3.5% (2002 census).
The Republic of Ireland is a sovereign state and covers about 80% of the Irish island. The capital is Dublin.
Northern Ireland is part of the UK, is on the same standard of currency, and covers the remaining 20% of the Irish island. Its capital is Belfast.
Traditionally, Ireland was divided into four provinces: Connacht, Leinster, Munster, and Ulster.All of which you can see from the top of the Hill of Tara, ceremonial center of Ancient Ireland.
Between the 13th and 17th centuries Ireland was divided into 32 counties; six in the north and twenty-six in what is now the Republic of Ireland.
Dividing the country into its four original provinces, Leinster has the highest population at 2,295, 123 with its capital being Dublin.
Ireland became an island very shortly after the last Ice Age about 10,000 years ago.
The habitats in Ireland are diverse and include farmland, open woodlands, broadleaf and mixed forests, conifer (evergreen) areas, bogs, and many types of coastal environments.
The town of Dingle is named for the dolphins that live in the waters around the town.
There are more than 400 species of birds in Ireland. Many migrate, including the commonly seen Barn Swallow.
Most of Ireland's birds come from such far-flung places as Iceland, Greenland, and Africa.
The most common lizard is the only reptile that’s native to Ireland.
Animals that were extinct in Ireland, such as the Golden Eagle, are successfully being introduced to their former home.
There are 32 natural habitat preserves, especially for large animals that need space.
Until medieval times Ireland was heavily forested with oak, pine, beech and birch. Forests now cover about 9%, or one million acres, of the country.
Hedgerows, which were traditionally maintained for marking land boundaries, now act as a refuge for wildflowers and other native plants.
The Southeast enjoys more hours of sunshine than the rest of Ireland, and Northern Ireland gets less sunshine than the rest of the country.
The Irish look for any excuse to celebrate. There’s bound to be a festival somewhere anytime of the year.
The word 'fleadh' means festival and likely as not, there’ll be a spontaneous one that pops up along the way. The common thread of all festivals is music, regardless of their theme, size, or organization.
Ballygally Castle in County Antrim, currently a hotel owned by a major chain, is allegedly one of the most haunted places in the country.
Lady Isobel Shaw, whose husband built the castle in 1625, is said to knock on doors at night and then disappear. While alive, Ms. Shaw was locked in her room by her husband and starved, until she leapt to her death from a window.
Ireland's top star in the sport of hurling is Sean Og O'Hailpin, who was born to an Irish father and Fijian mother on the tiny island of Rotuma, an isolated atoll about 400 miles north of Fiji.
O'Hailpin, whose very Pacific appearance is a bit of an anomoly in Irish sports, has been declared "Hurler of the Year" and "Sports Personality of the Year" by RTE. He plays for the Cork County team.
A village known as "Dun Bleisce" recently won the right to change it's name back to an old-time local favorite. The town will now be called "Fort of the Harlot," as it was in the distant past.
Late Show host David Letterman once described the uilleann pipes as "a sofa cushion hooked up to a stick."
On April 15th, Mike Morgan of County Donegal was crowned Irish National Surfing Champion after a two-day competition in the brutally cold waters off Easkey, County Sligo.
The longest place name in Ireland is Muckanaghederdauhaulia, in County Galway.
An odd Irish birthday tradition is to lift the birthday child upside down and give his head a few gentle bumps on the floor for good luck. The number of bumps should allegedly correspond to the child’s age plus one.
Wooden truncheons, which have been carried by Irish police since the 1800s, with notches, fancy carvings and names cut into them, were often passed down generations of gardai.
The original Guinness Brewery in Dublin has a 9,000 year lease on it's property, at a perpetual rate of 45 Irish pounds per year.
One traditional Irish cure for a hangover was to be buried up to the neck in moist river sand.
The island of Montserrat is sometimes called "The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean," and has a shamrock carved above the door of the governor's home, areas called Cork and Kinsale, and people with names like O'Garra and Riley.
County Mayo's Carne Golf Links, which was built between 1987 and 1993, was constructed mainly by farmers using hand spades and rakes.
Celtic rock group the Pogues were originally called "Pogue Mahone," which translates into "kiss my a**" in Gaelic.
The "Oscar" statuette handed out at the Academy Awards was designed by Cedric Gibbons, who was born in Dublin in 1823.
The Irish Academy of Engineers has recommended that a tunnel be built under the sea linking Ireland and Wales.
Couples in Ireland could marry legally on St. Brigid's Day (February 1st) in Teltown, County Meath, as recently as the 1920’s by simply walking towards each other. If the marriage failed, they could "divorce'" by walking away from each other at the same spot, on St. Brigid’s day the following year.
One of the most popular radio shows in rural Ireland is still the weekly broadcast of local obituaries.
An old legend says that, while Christ will judge all nations on judgment day, St. Patrick will be the judge of the Irish.
The last witch in Ireland was supposedly Dame Alice Kytler, born in Kilkenny in 1280. All four of her husbands died, and she was accused of poisioning them. Today you can dine at Kytler's Inn in Kilkenny, which operates in her old home.
The word quiz was allegedly invented in the 1830’s by a Dublin theater owner named Richard Daly, who made a bet that he could make a nonsense word known throughout the city in just 48 hours.
Legend says that Daly gave his employees cards with the word “quiz” written on them, and told them to write it on walls all over the city.
Belfast, the capital city of Northern Ireland is where the famous ship, the Titanic was built. From the time the ship's keel was laid in 1909, till its launch in 1911, the glorious ship dominated the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
Catherine Kelly, who died in 1785, was allegedly the smallest Irish woman ever. With a total height of just 34 inches and a weight of 8 pounds, she was known as “The Irish Fairy.”
The first Irish Constitution was signed at Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel. The Shelbourne, a favorite spot for sophisticated travelers to stay or dine, is currently about to reopen after a major facelift.
According to one rather obscure Irish legend, a ringing in your ears means a deceased friend stuck in Purgatory is ringing a bell to ask for you to pray for him/her.
Ireland’s Saint Fiacre, born in the sixth century, is the patron saint of gardeners.
The original seven “Celtic Nations” are: Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, Cornwall, Brittany (in France) and Galicia (in Spain).
Montgomery Street in Dublin was once the largest red light district in all of Europe, with over 1600 prostitutes plying their trade. An old Irish song called “Take Me Up To The Monto” memorializes this era.
According to some historians, over 40% of all American presidents have had some Irish ancestry.
Saint Brendan is said to have discovered America 1,000 years before Columbus.
The Newgrange passage tomb in County Meath was constructed around 3200 BC, making it more than 600 years older than the Giza Pyramids in Egypt, and 1,000 years older than Stonehenge.
In olden days, a pig was often allowed to live in the house with the family on an Irish farm. He (or she) was commonly referred to as "the gentleman who pays the rent."
A single day of good weather that pops up in a long stretch of bad days is known in Ireland as a "pet day."
"11th Night" is a celebration still widely observed by Protestant groups in northern Ireland, who build huge bonfires across the country on the night of July 11th. The fires are lit on the night before the July 12th commemoration of William of Orange’s defeat of King James, a Catholic, in 1690 in the Battle of the Boyne.
"Keening" is the Irish version of loud crying at wakes practiced in several European cultures (Italy in particular). It involves wailing and expressing endearments in Gaelic to the deceased. At some wakes, the Keening goes on for hours, with many participants.
Famous wit Oscar Wilde was born Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde in Dublin in 1854.
Bram Stoker was working as a civil servant in Dublin when he wrote “Dracula” in 1897.
In 1859, Irish scientist John Tyndall was the first to correctly explain why the sky is blue.
Dublin was originally called "Dubh Linn," which means "Black Pool." The name refers to an ancient treacle lake in the city, which is now part of a penguin enclosure at the Dublin City Zoo.
A small number of devotees still go to holy wells in Ireland to "pay rounds," by circling a well three times and making a sign of the cross over it with a pebble.
The Vikings founded Dublin in 988.
The lyrics to "Danny Boy" were allegedly written by an English barrister named Fred Weatherly, while he was riding on a commuter train.
The first three days of April are called the "Borrowed Days" and are traditionally associated with bad weather. This derives from an old legend where a mythical cow boasted about March being unable to kill her. The result was that March borrowed three days of terrible weather from April to try and finish the cow off.
The very first St. Patrick's Day parade in America was hosted by the Charitable Irish Society of Boston in 1737.
Historians believe St. Patrick’s real name was "Maewyn Succat."
“Gulliver’s Travels” writer Jonathan Swift is buried in St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin.
In 1800, the population of Ireland was almost twice as large as that of the United States. By 2000, America’s population was about 60 times that of Ireland.
Ireland’s first saint was not Saint Patrick. He was Saint Abban, who went to preach in England during the 2nd century.
St. Patrick introduced the Roman alphabet and Latin literature into Ireland. After his death, Irish monasteries became Europe’s leading intellectual centers.
The national symbol of Ireland is the Celtic harp, not the shamrock.
In the days of sailing ships, Irish sea captains often carried pebbles from Scattery Island, the home of the Saint Cannera, the patron saint of sailors.
There are seven huge stone forts on the Aran Islands: Dun Aonghasa, Dun Ducathair, Dun Eoghanachta and Dun Eochla on Inishmore; Dun Chonchuir and Dun Fearbhai on Inishmaan, and Dun Formna on Inisheer. The preface "Dun" means "fort of a chieftain."
Kilkenny-born architect James Hoban designed the original White House in Washington after winning a competition sponsored by President George Washington and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson in 1792. It's said that Jefferson submitted his own design under a pseudonym but failed to take top prize.
When the White House was burned by the British during the war of 1812, Hoban was called in to oversee a three-year-long restoration of the building.
Grace O'Malley, known as the "Queen of the Pirates," commanded a ship with a crew of over 200 men off the west coast of Ireland the 1500's.
The tune of the "Star Spangled Banner" was composed by the great blind harper Turlough O’Carolan, who died about 35 years before the American revolution.
Medieval laws in Ireland allowed a man to divorce his wife if she damaged his honor through infidelity, thieving or “making a mess of everything.”
“Tallaght” in Dublin is an old name that means “The Plague cemetery.”
Killyleagh Castle, in County Down, Northern Ireland, is the oldest occupied castle in Ireland. Built in the 13th century, it is still in use as a private home.
Temple Bar district in Dublin got its name from Sir William Temple, whose home and gardens were located there in the 17th century.
According to tradition, a wedding party should always take the longest road home from church.
Ernest Shackleton, famed for his participation in the 1901-1904 Antarctic expedition across the Ross Ice Shelf, was born in Kilkee, County Clare.
The first American general to die in The Revolution was Richard Montgomery, who was born in Donegal.
Aran Island sweaters have a variety of "family weaves." These were developed because when a fisherman drowned, his sweater would often be the only thing washed up on shore. The distinctive weave would tell a family their loved one had been lost.
Achill Island is the largest island off Ireland’s coast. It’s 56 miles square, with dramatic landscape featuring wild cliffs and moors.
The northern Spanish town of Santiago de Compostela is known as "el Dingle de Santiago" in memory of a journey that Irish religious pilgrims made there in medieval times.
Killary Bay, on the Mayo-Galway border, is the only true fjord in Ireland. A fjord is a long, narrow inlet from the sea between high slopes.
Ireland’s 15 principal railway stations are named after the leaders of the 1916 uprising.
An “An Fáinne” is a lapel pin, worn by some fluent Irish speakers to invite others to speak to them in the traditional language.
Director John Huston filmed the New Bedford, Massachusetts scenes in his 1956 movie "Moby Dick" in Youghal, County Cork.
Famed Hollywood movie director John Ford was born Sean O’Feeney in 1894, in Spiddal, County Galway.
The scenic “Wicklow Way” is the oldest and most popular hiking route in Ireland.
James Joyce once called Guinness stout "the wine of Ireland."
Ireland has virtually no coal deposits, even though it’s just 60 miles from Wales, one of the world’s richest coal fields.
Muhammad Ali has some Irish heritage. His great grandfather was born in Ennis, County Clare, and emigrated to Kentucky in the 1860s.
Baileys Irish Cream which was launched in Ireland in the early seventies, is now the most popular liqueur in the world.
About 30% of the people in Australia are of Irish descent.
Ireland is the world’s only country with a musical instrument for a national symbol - the harp.
It’s not the custom in Ireland to wear green ties, hats or other green clothes on St. Patrick's Day. A sprig of shamrock in the coat lapel is the preferred display.
One old Irish superstition holds that May is an unlucky month to get married in, because of its association with the Virgin Mary.
The Irish tricolor flag, created in 1848, was designed to reflect the country's political realities. Orange stands for Irish Protestants, green for Irish Catholics and the white stripe for the hope that peace might eventually be reached between them.
The tallest identical twins ever born were the Knipe Brothers from Magherafelt in County Derry who were 7ft 2in. They were born in 1761.
The red kite, an almost extinct species, was reintroduced in County Wicklow Ireland in the fall of 2007.
Ireland’s highest mountain is Carrantouhill, in County Kerry (3,445 feet).
Trinity College in Dublin, which happens to be Ireland's oldest university, has famous alumni including Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker.
Pop singer Christina Aguilera’s mother is Irish-American.
Belleek Pottery will celebrate it’s 150th anniversary by reissuing 15 items from deep within it’s archives, including a 19th century Round Tower centerpiece.
President Barack Obama’s maternal great, great, great grandfather Fulmuth Kearney came from Moneygall, in County Offaly. Mr. Kearney came to America in 1850.
Irish people greet each other with the expression, "How are you? or "How ye keeping?". By this expression they mean to be polite and expect a brief "Can't complain now, thanks." in reply.
Gaelic football and hurling are two unique Irish sports popular across the country. Gaelic football is a mix of rugby and soccer, whereas hurling is similar to hockey or lacrosse.
The Irish census revealed that the most popular boy's name in Ireland is Sean and the most popular girl's name is Emma.
Irish people are also known for their sense of humor with respect to death, religion and relationships.
The country's first divorce took place in 1997.
People are quite techno-savvy, especially with respect to mobile phones. Ireland houses more mobile phones as compared to people.
One of the Ireland facts is quite remarkable and is a record holder! The first female president of Ireland was Mary Robinson.
Another woman, Mary McAleese succeeded Robinson, and this is the only instance in the world where one female president has been replaced by another.
The constitution of Ireland guarantees freedom of worship.
In Ireland, the President appoints the Prime Minister of the Country. He or she is known as the 'Taoiseach'..
The military of Ireland is organized under the Irish Defense Force.
For the patrons of arts, the Tory Island beckons the most in Ireland. The island is a home to a small community of artists and has its own art gallery.
The Giant's Causeway, situated on the North East coast of Northern Ireland, is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption.
Most of the basalt columns are hexagonal in shape.
The Northern Ireland Assembly was established as part of the Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement).
The Highest point of Ireland is Slieve Donard mountain 848 m (2782 ft).
The Longest river of Ireland is River Bann 129 kilometres (80 miles).
The Largest Lake of Ireland is Lough Neagh - 151 square miles (392 km²). Also the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles.
A typical Irish traditional wedding would include dressing up both the bride and groom in a kilt (skirt) made from the tartan representing their clan.
Irish people prepare much for Easter Sunday by doing “spring cleaning”. This is usually done before the blessing by the local priest in a religious ceremony which exists hundreds of years ago.
Eamon De Valera was the first President of the Irish Republic was born in Manhattan, New York City.
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