Summary 5

Ireland

Food:

There is fresh fish and seafood, fresh meat and vegetables. The national dish is the Irish stew. The Irish are even more fond of drinking tea tan the English.

Sport:

The national sport is Gaelic football. Another Irish sport is hurling. On 26th December the Irish 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. Also dancing is popular and the show Riverdance was an international success. The Irish rock and pop bans are U2, Boyzone, Westlife, Enya and Van Morrison. The best-known traditional Irish song is ‘Danny Boy’.

The Economy´:

1995 to 2007 was an economic boom there. The economy grew fast. People called Ireland the ‘Celtic Tiger’ at this time. But on 2008 the economy got worse.

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. In 1916 there was The Easter Rising in Dublin. This was a part of the revolution by Irish Republicans against the English. Triny College, is the most important Irish university. In the library you can see the Book of Kells.

Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland. The Giant’s Causeways i son the east coast of Northern Ireland. In the walls of Barlney castle near the city of Cork is an ancient piece of bluestone called the Blarney  Stone.

The west coast of Ireland on the Atlantic Ocean is famous for its great beauty. The Lakes of Killarney are in a ring of mountains. The lakes are a good place to eat the local fish. In many places there are very tall round towers such as Rock of Cashel and Glendalough.

Iconic People:

There are many Irish heroes. Presidents of the USA had Irish ancestors, for example Teddy Roosevelt, J F Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton? Even Barack Obama’s mother family came from Ireland. There are many famous Irish writers and artists, Shaw, Yeats, Samuel Beckett and Heany. George Best was the greatest footballer in the world for the Nothern Irlend people. Bob Geldof was the leader of an Irish punk band, and became famous for his fight against world poverty. Mary Robinson was the first woman president of Ireland between 1990 and 1997.

Saint Patrick:

He wasn’t Irish but Irish pirates caught him, he was a slave in Ireland. He escaped, but returned to Ireland around CE 450. He converted the Irish people to Christianity.

The Irish celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on 17th March with special parades; there are a lot of countries that celebrate it.

Stories from the past:

There are lots of stories in Ireland about leprechauns or ‘the little people’. The legend says that if you catch a leprechaun, maybe you will find his pot of gold and he might give you three wishes. Also there are many Celtic legends, such as ‘Deirdre of the Sorrow’.

Also Ireland has not had an easy history. For centuries, the English controlled the country. It is divided into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland; there has been a difficult division between Roman Catholics a