IRELAND

 1. Ireland has won the Nobel prize for literature on four occasions with George Bernard Shaw, William Butler Yeats, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney.

2. The famous Titanic ship was built in Belfast. 

3. John Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the U.S.A.was born in Massachusetts in 1917. The Kennedy family were descendants of Irish emigrants to the U.S.A. in the nineteenth century.

4. The island of Ireland is politically seperated into two divisions the Republic of Ireland with 26 counties and Northern Ireland with 6 counties.Ireland is traditionally divided into the four provinces of Leinster, Munster, Connacht, and Ulster. Most of Ulster is now part of Northern Ireland.

5. The Republic of Ireland is divided into 26 counties. They are the counties of Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford, and Wicklow, in Leinster Province; Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, and Waterford, in Munster Province; Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, and Sligo, in Connacht Province; and Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan, in Ulster Province. Each county is governed by at least one county council.

6. An Irish person will often greet you with the expression "how are ye(you)?, the simple fact is that they are being polite, they do not want your medical history, the normal reply would be along the lines of, "not too bad now, and yourself?" or "can't complain now, thanks." You might also be asked "how ye keeping?" this means the same thing as above and merits the same reply.

7. There are more mobile phones in Ireland than there are people.

8. Interesting facts recently released show that there are now more Polish speakers in Ireland than native Irish Speakers. Over 5% percent of the population of Ireland is Polish.

9. According to Irish legend, on judgement day Christ will be the judge all nations, but St. Patrick will be the judge of the Irish. 

Irish Lace 

Lace-making has always been an important part of the Irish needlework tradition. When times were hard women always had to find ways of supporting their family. This was particularly true during and after the great potato famine of the 1840s. In those days most women could do needlework, so it was only a short step to lace-making. Irish Crochet and Tatting travelled particularly well as equipment needed was simple, a ball of cotton and a shuttle for Tatting and simple crochet hook and cotton for Irish Crochet lace.

Irish crochet is a type of lace, which has its origin in the famine years of the 19th century in Ireland. Charity groups sought to revive the economy by teaching crochet lace technique at no charge to anyone willing to learn. This type of lace is characterized by separately crocheted motifs which were later assembled into a mesh background. Other types of Irish crochet include Rosslea and Clones lace.



Irish Crochet Lace is made with a very fine crochet hook and fine crochet cotton or linen thread. You start by outlining your pattern on a piece of cloth. You then crochet each motif separately. The motifs are then stitched onto the cloth in the shape of the pattern. You then take up the cloth in your hand and join up the motifs using chains and picots. When all the motifs have been joined together forming one piece of lace the whole piece is removed from the background thus revealing your completed Irish Crochet Lace.

Irish Symbols: What They are and What They Mean

The Irish Flag: the Tricolour 

The Irish Flag has three vertical strips of green, white and orange and was first used in 1848. It's colours held important significance for the political situation in Ireland  at the time. The green represented the Catholic majority while the orange was the colour of the Protestant population. The middle stripe of white symbolised a hope of peace or unity between the two.

The Shamrock

Simply put, a shamrock is a single-stemmed plant with three leaves growing from that single stem. It grows in quantity on the hills of Ireland. More importantly, it has become a kind of unofficial symbol of Ireland, featured on postcards and souvenirs.
It was probably made most famous by St. Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland. He used the shamrock to help explain the mystery of the Holy Trinity to the pagans, in his quest to bring Christianity to the country. Today, it remains a strong symbol of his life in our yearly St. Patrick's Day celebrations, on the 17th of March. Most Irish people will wear a small quantity of shamrock on that day and many will engage in the time-honored tradition of "drowning the shamrock" - taking a few drinks (preferably Guinness) in the local pub.

The Celtic Cross

This large cross is a mixture of the traditional Christian cross and the pagan worship of the sun. Each cross is intricately carved with images from the Bible and Celtic symbols like knots and spirals.

The Leprechaun

Th legend of the leprechaun has never quite left Ireland. Traditionally dressed in green with a cocked hat and leather apron, he is about 2 feet tall and possesses a pot of gold. If you can find a leprechaun and keep him in your sight he must tell you where the gold is. While many have claimed to see a leprechaun (usually after a long day in the pub!) his existence has yet to be proven.

The Harp

The harp has long been the traditional symbol of Ireland. The musicians of ancient chieftains played the harp and today we'll see it on coins, the presidential flag, uniforms, state seals and so on. The Celtic harp is said to stand for immortality of the soul.

The Claddagh Ring

Probably the most famous of Irish jewellery, the Claddagh ring has a long and rich history. Earliest examples of the ring date back to the 1700s and link the ring to the ancient fishing village of Claddagh just outside the walls of the City of Galway.