Food:
The national dish, Irish stew, is made from lamb, potatoes, onions,
carrots and parsley. The Irish are even more fond of drinking tea
than the English, and an average Irish person drinks 6 cups a day.
Sport: The
national sport of Ireland is Gaelic football. Another Irish sport is
hurling. In this sport, you hit the ball with a stick. The day after
Christmas the Irish people go to horse races which has a long history
in Ireland. Other popular sports are rugby, football and golf.
Music
and dance :The love for typical Irish music is very strong. Irish
dancing is also popular and the show Riverdance was an international
success. There are many Irish rock and pop stars: U2, Boyzone,
Westlife, Enya or Van Morrison.The best-known traditional Irish song
is probably ‘Danny Boy’. The music is Irish but the words were
written by an Englishman.
The Economy: Ireland has been a poor country with many problems but from 1995 to 2007 there was an economy boom there. The economy grew fast. People called Ireland the ‘Celtic Tiger’ at this time. Unfortunately, as in many other countries, the Irish economy got worse after 2008.
The Economy: Ireland has been a poor country with many problems but from 1995 to 2007 there was an economy boom there. The economy grew fast. People called Ireland the ‘Celtic Tiger’ at this time. Unfortunately, as in many other countries, the Irish economy got worse after 2008.
Iconic
Places :Dublin is the capital of the Republic of Ireland. It has
Georgian buildings, a castle, art galleries and a famous theatre, the
Abbey theatre. The river Liffey passes through the centre. In 1916
there was The Easter Rising in Dublin. This was part of the
revolution by Irish Republicans against the English. Some of them
organised the revolution from inside the Post Office and you can
still see the bullet holes in the stone.Trinity College, Dublin, is
the most important Irish university. In the library you can see the
Book of Kells, a book that is more than 1,200 years old. It contains
parts of the Bible.Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland. For
many years it was divided between the Catholics and the Protestants.
There was a lot of fighting but since the Good Friday Agreement was
signed in 1998, it has been peaceful.The Giant’s Causeway is on the
east coast of Northern Ireland. It was formed by a volcano. There are
columns of rock which look like a man-made road.In the walls of
Blarney castle near the city of Cork an ancient piece of bluestone
called the Blarney Stone. People believe that if you kiss the stone
you will start to speak very well.The west coast of Ireland in the
Atlantic Ocean is famous for the great beauty. The lakes of Killarney
are in a ring of mountains. There is a good place to eat the local
fish, trout.In many places there are very tall round towers. The most
famous ones are: the Rock of Cashel and Glendalough. They were built
in the middle Ages.
Iconic
People: There are many Irish heroes. Did you know that some of the
Presidents of the USA had Irish ancestors? For ex.Teddy Roosevelt,
J.F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Even Barack Obama’s
mother came from Ireland. The famous outlaw Billy the Kid was Irish
too. There are many famous writers and artists: G.B.Shaw, W.B.Yeast,
Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney, who all won the Novel Prize. Oscar
Wilde was also Irish.George Best was the greatest footballer in the
world for the Northern Ireland people.Bob Geldof was the leader of an
Irish punk band, the Boomtown Rats, and soon became famous for his
fight against world poverty.Mary Robinson was the first woman
president of Ireland between 1990 and 1997 and later was the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. She has fought for the
rights of women and has also done a lot for the poor and hungry.
Saint
Patrick : He wasn’t Irish but Irish pirates caught him. He was
slave in Ireland. He escaped, but returned to Ireland around CE450.
He converted the Irish people to Christianity.The Irish celebrate
St.Patrick’s Day on 17thMarch with special parades. These take
place not just in Ireland but anywhere where there are Irish
Communities.
Stories from
the past: There are lots of stories in Ireland about leprechauns or
‘the little people’. Leprechauns 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. You shouldn’t trust them.
There
are many Celtic legends. One of them is ‘Deirdre of the Sorrows’.
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 they escaped to Scotland. After 7 years, they returned to
Ireland. But the king had died. Deirdre’s husband and his brothers
were killed and Deirdre died of a broken heart.Ireland has not an
easy history. For centuries, the English controlled the country. It
is divided into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It has
experienced the potato Famine, the War of independence and the
troubles. In the past many Irish people went to live in other
countries because they wanted to escape from poverty.
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