IRELAND

Food

You can eat well in Ireland; there is fresh fish and seafood and fresh meat and vegetables. Irish stew is the national dish, and is made from lamb, potatoes, onions, carrots and parsley.

Tea is the most famous drink, and Irish person drinks six cups a day more or less.

Sport

The national sport of Ireland is Gaelic football, witch is a sport than there are fifteen players in each team, the goals are H-shaped, and you can hit the ball with your hand as well as kicking it.

Another sport is hurling, a sport than you hit the ball with a stick.

On 26^th of December, Irish people go to the horse races.

Other popular sports are rugby, football and golf.

Music and Dance

The love for typical Irish music is still very strong. Irish dancing is also popular and the show Riverdance was an international success. There are also many Irish rock and pop stars, like U2, Boyzone, Enya, Van Morrison…

The best-known traditional Irish song is probably “Danny Boy”.

The Economy

Ireland has been a poor country with many problems but from 1995 to 2007 there was an economic boom there.

Lots of new hauses were built, new companies grew, there were more jobs and lots of people from the new European countries moved there.

People called Ireland the “Celtic Tiger”.

Iconic places

Dublin is the capital of the Republic of Ireland. The River Liffey passes through the centre of Dublin, and there are many famous bridges too.

In 1916 there was The Easter Rising in Dublin. This was a revolution by Irish Republicans against the English.

Some of the Republicans organised the revolution from inside the Post Office.

Trinity College is the most important Irish university. In the library you can see the Book of Kells, which contains parts of the Bible and detailed pictures were painted by Irish monks.

Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland. It was divided between the Catholics and the Protestants.

The Giant’s Causeway is on the east coast of Northern Ireland. It was formed naturally by a volcano. There is a legend which says that an Irish giant made this type of bridge by throwing rocks in the sea so that he could cross to Scotland to fight a Scottish giant.

In the walls of Blarney castle you can found an ancient piece of bluestone called the Blarney Stone. People believe that if you kiss it you will start to speak very well.

The west coast of Ireland, the Lakes of Killarney, and the tall round towers (Rock of Cashel and Glendalough) are famous buildings of Ireland too.

Iconic People

There are many Irish heroes, for example, Teddy Roosvet, J.F.Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and the mother’s family of Barack Obama.

There are many famous Irish writers and artists, for example G.B.Shaw, W.B.Yeats, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney.

“George Best” was the greatest footballer in the world, and he was from Ireland.

Bob Geldof was the leader of an Irish punk band.

Mary Robinson was the first woman president of Ireland.

Saint Patrick

He wasn’t Irish but pirates caught him.

He was a salve in Ireland.

He escaped, but returned to Ireland.

He converted the Irish people to Christianity.

A legend says that Saint Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland and today there are no wild snakes there.

The Irish celebrate St.Patrick’s day on 17^th March with special parades. These take place in Irish communities.

Stories from the past

There are lots of stories in Ireland about leprechauns or “the little people”. They are little old men who wear green or red jackets, carry a stick and wear a tall hat. If you catch a leprechaun, maybe you will find his pot of gold and he might give you three wishes. Many Irish people don’t like this image of leprechauns, which they think is something just to please the tourists.

There are many Celtic legends too. Deirdre of the Sorrows was a very famous one. Deirdre was a beautiful young woman but when she was a baby, the druids said that she would cause the death of many men. The King sent her to live in the forest until she was a teenager. Then he wanted to marry her. But Deirdre fell in love with another man and married him, and then they escaped to Scotland. After seven years, the King said that he forgave them, so they returned to Ireland. But the king had lied. Deirdre’s husband and his brothers were killed and Deirdre died of a broken heart.

Ireland has not had an easy history. For centuries, the English controlled the country. In the past many Irish people went to live in other countries, because they wanted to escape from poverty. But anyone with Irish blood is proud to be Irish.