Ireland
“The wind on the sea bore a strange melody of an island that sings.” – Dora Sigerson
"Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.” – W B Yeats
Ireland is the 20th largest island in the world. Population: 4.5 m. Capital: Dublin. There are 4 provinces: Ulster, Munster, Leinster, Connacht. Land mass: 70280sqm. Longest river: Shannon 386km. Highest mountain: Carrauntoohil 1038m. Official emblem: The Harp. Most popular sport: Gaelic football. Biggest rock band: U2. Most famous brand: Guinness. Sheep population: 5.5m
The first inhabitants of Ireland were hunter gatherers using stone implements. Around 3000bc they evolved into Bronze Age people who cultivated crops, raised domestic animals, and made weapons, tools, and jewellery out of bronze. They created fine stone implements and traded abroad. Around 2000bc, they built megaliths - massive stone sanctuaries and tombs
Surrounded by dizzying drops, Dunluce Castle perches on a headland overlooking the north Antrim coast, with a sea cave called the Mermaid’s Cave. Stories tell how, in 1639, the kitchen fell into the sea, along with the cooks and servants.
In the famous novel, Ulysses, by James Joyce, Leopold Bloom commented that it would be a good puzzle to try and cross Dublin without passing a pub.
The Book of Kells is a masterpiece of Celtic art unrivalled for the exquisite quality of its decoration, intricate designs, and visionary concept. It is regarded as one of the world’s greatest illuminated manuscripts with decoration so stunning and lavish that it was thought to be the work of angels.
“It’s bad manners to talk about ropes in the house of a man whose father was hanged.” – Irish proverb
The youngest child in a large Irish Protestant family of modest means, Sean O’Casey was born John Casey in Dublin on March 30, 1880. He was the third child in his family to be named John; two of his siblings with that name had died in infancy. Later, in his
Samuel Beckett was born in Dublin on April 13, 1906, into a middle class Protestant family. He was educated at the Portora Royal School in County Fermanagh as Oscar Wilde had been before him. A natural athlete, he excelled at sport especially cricket. From 1923 to 1927 he studied French,
Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin on October 16, 1854. His mother, Lady Jane Francesca Wilde, was the poet ‘Speranza’, and a journalist active in the women’s rights movement. His father, Sir William Wilde, also a gifted writer, was an eminent specialist in diseases of the eye
George Bernard Shaw, dramatist and a leading figure in 20th century theatre, was born in Dublin on July 26, 1856. He was man of many causes, among them, defender of women’s rights and advocate for equality of income and the equitable division of land. He supported radical change in the
Brendan Behan was born February 9, 1923, in Dublin, Ireland, the first child of Stephen and Kathleen (Kearney) Behan, though his mother had two sons by a previous marriage. Born into a family with radical political leanings, Behan was reared on a double dose of IRA propaganda and Catholicism. The