Gold Silver Coin 3D Irish Revolution Ireland 1916 Proclamation St Patricks Day

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Seller: Top-Rated Seller anddownthewaterfall ✉️ (33,562) 99.8%, Location: Manchester, GB, Ships to: WORLDWIDE, Item: 315241708254 Gold Silver Coin 3D Irish Revolution Ireland 1916 Proclamation St Patricks Day . IRELAND 100 Years of Independance 1921 - 1920 Silver & Gold Plated Coin in the Shape of Ireland to Commemorate 100 Years of Irish Independance The Map has the irish colours Green, White Silver and Orange Gold with Loch Neagh Silver in the Gold Section It has the Gaelic words "Tiocfaidh ar la" which translates to "Our Day Will Come" which was a slogan for Irish Independance It also has the 100 years of Irish Independence Logo The back has the Proclamtion of Ireland from 1916 in Gaelic it also has the colours of the Irish Flag and Faces of the Heros of the Irish Revolution War It is 70mm across from the West of Cork to the North of Antrim and weights approx 27 grams or 1 ounce   Would make an Excellent Gift, Lucky Charm or Collectable Keepsake Give someone the Luck of the Irish Starting at a Penny...With No Reserve..If your the only bidder you win it for 1p....Grab a Bargain!!!! I have a lot more Old Coins on Ebay >>> Check out my  other items ! Bid with Confidence - Check My Almost 100% Positive Feedback from over 15,000 Satisfied Customers I always combine multiple items and discount postage on them so Why Not Check out my other items !  All Payment Methods in All Major Currencies Accepted.  Instant Automatic Feedback Left Immediatly after Reciving Payment Be sure to add me to your favourites list ! All Items Dispatched within 24 hours of Receiving Payment

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The Countries I Send to Include  Afghanistan * Albania * Algeria * American Samoa (US) * Andorra * Angola * Anguilla (GB) * Antigua and Barbuda * Argentina * Armenia * Aruba (NL) * Australia * Austria * Azerbaijan * Bahamas * Bahrain * Bangladesh * Barbados * Belarus * Belgium * Belize * Benin * Bermuda (GB) * Bhutan * Bolivia * Bonaire (NL)  * Bosnia and Herzegovina * Botswana * Bouvet Island (NO) * Brazil * British Indian Ocean Territory (GB) * British Virgin Islands (GB) * Brunei * Bulgaria * Burkina Faso * Burundi * Cambodia * Cameroon * Canada * Cape Verde * Cayman Islands (GB) * Central African Republic * Chad * Chile * China * Christmas Island (AU) * Cocos Islands (AU) * Colombia * Comoros * Congo * Democratic Republic of the Congo * Cook Islands (NZ) * Coral Sea Islands Territory (AU) * Costa Rica * Croatia * Cuba * Curaçao (NL)  * Cyprus * Czech Republic * Denmark * Djibouti * Dominica * Dominican Republic * East Timor * Ecuador * Egypt * El Salvador * Equatorial Guinea * Eritrea * Estonia * Ethiopia * Falkland Islands (GB) * Faroe Islands (DK) * Fiji Islands * Finland * France * French Guiana (FR) * French Polynesia (FR) * French Southern Lands (FR) * Gabon * Gambia * Georgia * Germany * Ghana * Gibraltar (GB) * Greece * Greenland (DK) * Grenada * Guadeloupe (FR) * Guam (US) * Guatemala * Guernsey (GB) * Guinea * Guinea-Bissau * Guyana * Haiti * Heard and McDonald Islands (AU) * Honduras * Hong Kong (CN) * Hungary * Iceland * India * Indonesia * Iran * Iraq * Ireland * Isle of Man (GB) * Israel * Italy * Ivory Coast * Jamaica * Jan Mayen (NO) * Japan * Jersey (GB) * Jordan * Kazakhstan * Kenya * Kiribati * Kosovo * Kuwait * Kyrgyzstan * Laos * Latvia * Lebanon * Lesotho * Liberia * Libya * Liechtenstein * Lithuania * Luxembourg * Macau (CN) * Macedonia * Madagascar * Malawi * Malaysia * Maldives * Mali * Malta * Marshall Islands * Martinique (FR) * Mauritania * Mauritius * Mayotte (FR) * Mexico * Micronesia * Moldova * Monaco * Mongolia * Montenegro * Montserrat (GB) * Morocco * Mozambique * Myanmar * Namibia * Nauru * Navassa (US) * Nepal * Netherlands * New Caledonia (FR) * New Zealand * Nicaragua * Niger * Nigeria * Niue (NZ) * Norfolk Island (AU) * North Korea * Northern Cyprus * Northern Mariana Islands (US) * Norway * Oman * Pakistan * Palau * Palestinian Authority * Panama * Papua New Guinea * Paraguay * Peru * Philippines * Pitcairn Island (GB) * Poland * Portugal * Puerto Rico (US) * Qatar * Reunion (FR) * Romania * Russia * Rwanda * Saba (NL)  * Saint Barthelemy (FR) * Saint Helena (GB) * Saint Kitts and Nevis * Saint Lucia * Saint Martin (FR) * Saint Pierre and Miquelon (FR) * Saint Vincent and the Grenadines * Samoa * San Marino * Sao Tome and Principe * Saudi Arabia * Senegal * Serbia * Seychelles * Sierra Leone * Singapore * Sint Eustatius (NL)  * Sint Maarten (NL)  * Slovakia * Slovenia * Solomon Islands * Somalia * South Africa * South Georgia (GB) * South Korea * South Sudan * Spain * Sri Lanka * Sudan * Suriname * Svalbard (NO) * Swaziland * Sweden * Switzerland * Syria * Taiwan * Tajikistan * Tanzania * Thailand * Togo * Tokelau (NZ) * Tonga * Trinidad and Tobago * Tunisia * Turkey * Turkmenistan * Turks and Caicos Islands (GB) * Tuvalu * U.S. Minor Pacific Islands (US) * U.S. Virgin Islands (US) * Uganda * Ukraine * United Arab Emirates * United Kingdom * United States * Uruguay * Uzbekistan * Vanuatu * Vatican City * Venezuela * Vietnam * Wallis and Futuna (FR) * Yemen * Zambia * Zimbabwe The Irish War of Independence was a guerrilla conflict between the British state and its forces in Ireland and Irish republican guerrillas in the Irish Volunteers or Irish Republican Army. The war is usually said to have run between 1919 and 1921, but violence both preceded these dates and continued afterwards. Parallel with the military campaign was the political confrontation between  the separatist Sinn Fein party, who after  winning the General Election of 1918, declared an Irish Republic, and the British administration based in Dublin Castle. A third strand of the conflict lay in the northern province of Ulster, which was majority unionist or pro-British and which opposed Sinn Fein. This led to violence between the majority Protestant unionists and the mainly Catholic Irish nationalist minority in the north.   Home Rule versus Republic In 1912, as a result of a political deal between the Irish Parliamentary party and the Liberal Party at Westminster, the British government introduced a Bill for Home Rule, or limited autonomy for Ireland within the United Kingdom as Irish nationalists had been demanding since the 1880s. However, this was opposed by Ulster Unionists, who formed their own militia, the Ulster Volunteers to oppose Irish self-government. Irish nationalists in response formed a rival militia, the Irish Volunteers to ensure Home Rule was passed. Tensions between the two sides were eased by the outbreak of the First World War, when both sides agreed to support the British war effort. However, in 1916, a more radical Irish nationalist element in the Irish Volunteers, largely directed by the Irish Republican Brotherhood, unhappy with support for Britain in the war and believing that Home Rule fell too far short of Irish independence, launched an insurrection known as the Easter Rising in Dublin, proclaiming an Irish Republic. See the Easter Rising, an overview. The rebellion was put down within a week with about 500 deaths, but the British reaction, executing the leaders and arresting 3,000 nationalist activists antagonized Irish public opinion. However, British policy was inconsistent. In 1916-17, in a bid to restart negotiations on Home Rule, all of the prisoners from the Easter Rising were released. Many of them joined the Sinn Fein party and led a very popular campaign against the introduction of conscription into Ireland for the Great War. From this point on there were riots and confrontations between Sinn Fein and Irish Volunteer activists and the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and British Army. Several hundred republicans were arrested in 1918 under charges of conspiring with Germany. More were detained under legislation banning public parades. In December 1918, Sinn Fein decisively won the Irish vote in the General Election taking 73 seats out 105 (being a majority everywhere except Ulster) and declared an Irish Republic. The first republican parliament or Dáil, met in January 1919, though more than half the Sinn Fein members of parliament were imprisoned at the time.   War begins On the same day that the Dáil first met, two RIC constables were shot dead by Irish Volunteers under Dan Breen at Soloheadbeg in Tipperary and the explosives they were carrying seized. This is commonly presented as the opening shots of the war but there had been deaths in 1918 and only 17 more people were killed in 1919. In Dublin, Michael Collins the Volunteers or IRA Director of Intelligence formed a ‘Squad’ to assassinate detectives who coordinated the arrest of republican activists. Late in the year his men attempted but failed to kill John French, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Alongside the limited armed campaign there was significant passive resistance including hunger strikes by prisoners (many of whom were released in March 1920) and a boycott by railway workers on carrying British troops. There were also significant disturbances in rural areas as small farmers attempted to seize parts of large ‘ranches’. Violence intensified in early 1920. Much of the Sinn Fein political leadership had been arrested. Eamon de Valera, the President of the Republic, had gone to America to raise funds. The two leaders of the IRA, Collins and Richard Mulcahy, ordered Volunteer units around the country to raid RIC barracks for arms. Though the Dáil eventually endorsed the IRA’s campaign in 1921, some Sinn Fein figures such as Arthur Griffith disliked the use of violence. A  series of attacks on rural police barracks ensued in early 1920. The RIC withdrew from its smaller stations into fortified barracks in towns and the abandoned posts were systematically burnt by the IRA around the country on the night of Easter Sunday 1920. By the summer of 1920, many RIC men were resigning their commissions and in many localities the IRA were in the ascendant. In other places the RIC responded to attacks on them with assassination of republicans such as Tomas MacCurtain, the Lord mayor of Cork. At the same time, in the summer of 1920, Sinn Fein won local government elections across most of Ireland and took over functions of government from the state such as tax collection and law enforcement. In some places the RIC was replaced by Irish Republican police and the Court system by the Sinn Fein or Dáil Courts. To put down this insurgency, the British government under Lloyd George proposed autonomous governments in Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland and also deployed new corps of paramilitary police from Britain, the Black and Tans and Auxiliary Division, made up largely of war veterans from the First World War. Lloyd George also passed the Restoration of Order in Ireland Act, giving special powers to the police and military.   Escalation British troops search suspects in Dublin, 1921. This triggered a grave escalation of the conflict as the new forces carried out reprisals on the civilian population for IRA attacks – in the summer of 1920 burning extensive parts of the towns of Balbriggan and Tuam for example. The IRA in response formed  full-time Flying Columns (also called Active Service Units), which in some parts of the country became much more ruthless and efficient at guerrilla warfare. In the north there was severe rioting in Belfast, Derry and in Lisburn after a IRA killing of two northern Protestant police officers in separate incidents, after which loyalists attacked Catholic areas. Up to 100 people were killed and hundreds of Catholic homes burnt out. Another 7,000 Catholics were expelled from their jobs in the Belfast shipyards. The Northern Ireland authorities also formed the Ulster Special Constabulary  as an armed, mostly unionist, police force. The autumn and winter of 1920 saw a new ruthlessness on both sides. On November 21, IRA units in Dublin launched a mass assassination attack on British Intelligence officers, killing 14 men, of whom at least 8 were Intelligence Officers. In revenge, a force of RIC Black and Tans and Auxiliaries shot dead 15 civilians at a football match in Dublin’s Croke Park, in a day known as Bloody Sunday. A week later a patrol of 17 Auxiliaries was wiped out in an IRA ambush at Kilmichael in Cork and shortly after that much of Cork city centre was destroyed in a fire set by Crown forces. By the end of 1920 some 500 people had been killed. There were attempts to call a truce in December but this was prevented by Hamar Greenwood, the Chief Secretary for Ireland who insisted that the IRA surrender its weapons first. In the first 6 months of 1921, around 1,000 people were killed in the fighting. The violence was most intense in Dublin city, south Munster and Belfast, although there was some guerrilla activity in most areas. County Cork saw almost 500 people killed (in actions like the Upton ambush) and Dublin 300, while at the other end of the spectrum County Cavan saw only 9 deaths and Wicklow 7 (See here). In addition some 6,000 republicans were imprisoned. Martial or military law was declared in the province of Munster. The regular British Army was deployed in greater numbers, mounting, ‘sweeps’ across the countryside and the British authorities began ‘official reprisals’ including house burnings and executions, in response to IRA attacks. The IRA retaliated by stepping up shootings of informers (real and alleged), eventually extending attacks to off-duty British personnel and burning the property of loyalists. When the British began executing prisoners the IRA also began shooting captured British soldiers and police. By the summer of 1921, the IRA was very short of ammunition and weapons and many fighters had been imprisoned, notably in the raid on the Customs House in Dublin. British forces claimed they were on the verge of defeating them but the guerrillas had also improved their bomb making capabilities, were still inflicting casualties and no immediate end was in sight to the conflict. The fighting was brought to an end however, on July 11, 1921, when a truce was negotiated between British and Irish Republican forces so that talks on a political settlement could begin. In the north, though, the second half of 1921 was more violent than the first with extensive fighting between republicans and loyalists, Catholics and Protestants, especially in Belfast.   Truce and Treaty The truce allowed the IRA to regroup, recruit and train openly. Many of their activists believed at first that it was just a temporary end to hostilities. However, in December 1921, an Irish delegation led by Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith, signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which disestablished the Irish Republic of 1919 but created the Irish Free State, an entity comprising 26 of Ireland’s 32 counties which had much more independence than the Home Rule Act of 1912 would have granted. Much of the IRA was unhappy with the settlement though and this eventually led to civil war among nationalists in 1922-23, before the new Irish Free State government was established. (See Overview of the Irish Civil War). Violence did not totally end with the truce in the south of Ireland. British troops remained in garrisons until the spring of 1922 and the final 6,000 soldiers did not leave until December 1922. There were a substantial number of killings of serving and former RIC personnel, and some killing of civilians, by the IRA – notably 13 Protestant civilians around Dunmanway in Cork, it is thought because they were suspected informers, in April 1922. However, the last major spasm of violence was in Northern Ireland, whose existence was confirmed under the Treaty. In early 1922, both pro and anti-Treaty wings of the IRA fought a clandestine campaign against Northern Ireland, tacitly supported by elements of the Provisional Free State Government led by Michael Collins. This culminated in a failed IRA offensive in May 1922, in which the guerrillas fought a number of sizable engagements with British troops at the villages of Pettigo and Beleek in Fermanagh, but overall failed to coordinate their actions and were imprisoned in large numbers by the Northern government. Loyalists, in a number of cases with the help of the RIC and the Ulster Special Constabulary launched attacks on Catholic areas of Belfast in reprisal. In one instance wiping out the male members of a Catholic family – the McMahons in revenge for the killing of policeman. The IRA in Belfast also carried out killings of Protestants, including bombing the trams taking workers to the shipyards. However the civil war in the south that broke out in June 1922 and the Northern government’s introduction of wholesale internment led to the complete defeat of the republicans there by mid 1922.   Results If taken from 1917 up to mid 1922, the conflict produced in the region of 2,500 deaths. Its political results were the creation of the substantially independent Irish Free State (since 1948, the Republic of Ireland and fully independent) and Northern Ireland, which remained part of the United Kingdom. The Irish Free State and later Republic was the first fully independent functional Irish state in recorded history. The memory of the War of Independence was tarnished by the subsequent civil war but it was openly celebrated up to the 1970s as marking the foundation of the Irish state. After the outbreak of the Northern Ireland conflict in 1969, public memory began to be more critical with more focus on the killing of civilians and the lack of democratic endorsement of the IRA campaign. However since end of the Northern conflict after the late 1990s, more positive views of the 1919-21 period are again in the ascendant in nationalist Ireland – though aspects of it continue to be bitterly debated. Ireland This article is about the island in Europe. For the sovereign state of the same name, see Republic of Ireland. For the part of the United Kingdom, see Northern Ireland. For other uses, see Ireland (disambiguation). Ireland     Éire  (Irish)     Airlann  (Ulster Scots) Satellite image of Ireland Satellite image, October 2010 Map of Ireland in Europe.svg Location of Ireland (dark green) in Europe (green & dark grey) Geography Location Northwestern Europe Coordinates 53°25′N 8°0′WCoordinates: 53°25′N 8°0′W Adjacent bodies of water Atlantic Ocean Area 84,421 km2 (32,595 sq mi)[1] Area rank 20th[2] Coastline 6,226 km (3868.7 mi)[3][4] Highest elevation 1,041 m (3415 ft) Highest point Carrauntoohil Administration Republic of Ireland Largest city Dublin (pop. 553,165) United Kingdom Country Northern Ireland Largest city Belfast (pop. 333,000) Demographics Demonym Irish Population 6,572,728 (2016)[a][5] Population rank 19th Pop. density 77.8/km2 (201.5/sq mi) Languages English, Irish, Ulster Scots, Shelta Ethnic groups     96.4% White     1.7% Asian     1.1% Black     0.8% Other[6][7] Additional information Time zone     Greenwich Mean Time (UTC)  • Summer (DST)     Irish Standard Time / British Summer Time (UTC+1) Patron saints Saint Patrick Saint Brigit Saint Colmcille     ^ Including surrounding islands. Ireland (/ˈaɪərlənd/ (About this soundlisten); Irish: Éire [ˈeːɾʲə] (About this soundlisten); Ulster-Scots: Airlann [ˈɑːrlən]) is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth.[8] Geopolitically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Ireland), which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. In 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.6 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. As of 2016, 4.8 million live in the Republic of Ireland, and 1.8 million live in Northern Ireland.[5] The geography of Ireland comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. Its lush vegetation is a product of its mild but changeable climate which is free of extremes in temperature. Much of Ireland was woodland until the end of the Middle Ages. Today, woodland makes up about 10% of the island, compared with a European average of over 33%,[9] and most of it is non-native conifer plantations.[10][11] There are twenty-six extant land mammal species native to Ireland.[12] The Irish climate is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and thus very moderate,[13] and winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, although summers are cooler than those in continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant. The earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC.[14] Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century AD. The island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the 12th century Anglo-Norman invasion, England claimed sovereignty. However, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, and was extended during the 18th century. With the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. A war of independence in the early 20th century was followed by the partition of the island, creating the Irish Free State, which became increasingly sovereign over the following decades, and Northern Ireland, which remained a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s. This subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973 the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, and Northern Ireland, as part of it, did the same. Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the field of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, a strong indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music and the Irish language. The island's culture shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing, and golf. Etymology The names Ireland and Éire derive from Old Irish Ériu, a goddess in Irish mythology first recorded in the ninth century. The etymology of Ériu is disputed but may derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *h2uer, referring to flowing water.[15] History Part of a series on the History of Ireland HIBERNIAE REGNUM tam in praecipuas ULTONIAE, CONNACIAE, LAGENIAE, et MOMONIAE, quam in minores earundem Provincias, et Ditiones subjacentes peraccuraté divisum     vte Main article: History of Ireland Prehistoric Ireland Main article: Prehistoric Ireland During the last glacial period, and until about 10,000 BC, most of Ireland was periodically covered in ice. Sea levels were lower and Ireland, like Great Britain, formed part of continental Europe. By 16,000 BC, rising sea levels caused by ice melting caused Ireland to become separated from Great Britain.[16] Later, around 6000 BC, Great Britain became separated from continental Europe.[17] The earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC, demonstrated by a butchered bear bone found in a cave in County Clare.[14] By about 8000 BC, more sustained occupation of the island has been shown, with evidence for Mesolithic communities around the island.[18] Some time before 4000 BC, Neolithic settlers introduced cereal cultivars, domesticated animals such as cattle and sheep, large timber buildings, and stone monuments.[19] The earliest evidence for farming in Ireland or Great Britain is from Ferriter's Cove, County Kerry, where a flint knife, cattle bones and a sheep's tooth were carbon-dated to c. 4350 BC.[20] Field systems were developed in different parts of Ireland, including at the Céide Fields, that has been preserved beneath a blanket of peat in present-day Tyrawley. An extensive field system, arguably the oldest in the world,[21] consisted of small divisions separated by dry-stone walls. The fields were farmed for several centuries between 3500 BC and 3000 BC. Wheat and barley were the principal crops.[22] The Bronze Age began around 2500 BC, with technology changing people's everyday lives during this period through innovations such as the wheel; harnessing oxen; weaving textiles; brewing alcohol; and skilful metalworking, which produced new weapons and tools, along with fine gold decoration and jewellery, such as brooches and torcs. Emergence of Celtic Ireland How and when the island became Celtic has been debated for close to a century, with the migrations of the Celts being one of the more enduring themes of archaeological and linguistic studies. The most recent genetic research strongly associates the spread of Indo-European languages (including Celtic) through Western Europe with a people bringing a composite Beaker culture, with its arrival in Britain and Ireland dated to around the middle of the third millennium BC.[23] According to John T. Koch and others, Ireland in the Late Bronze Age was part of a maritime trading-network culture called the Atlantic Bronze Age that also included Britain, western France and Iberia, and that this is where Celtic languages developed.[24][25][26][27] This contrasts with the traditional view that their origin lies in mainland Europe with the Hallstatt culture.[28] The Uragh Stone Circle, a Neolithic stone circle in Tuosist, close to Gleninchaquin Park, County Kerry The long-standing traditional view is that the Celtic language, Ogham script and culture were brought to Ireland by waves of invading or migrating Celts from mainland Europe. This theory draws on the Lebor Gabála Érenn, a medieval Christian pseudo-history of Ireland, along with the presence of Celtic culture, language and artifacts found in Ireland such as Celtic bronze spears, shields, torcs and other finely crafted Celtic associated possessions. The theory holds that there were four separate Celtic invasions of Ireland. The Priteni were said to be the first, followed by the Belgae from northern Gaul and Britain. Later, Laighin tribes from Armorica (present-day Brittany) were said to have invaded Ireland and Britain more or less simultaneously. Lastly, the Milesians (Gaels) were said to have reached Ireland from either northern Iberia or southern Gaul.[29] It was claimed that a second wave named the Euerni, belonging to the Belgae people of northern Gaul, began arriving about the sixth century BC. They were said to have given their name to the island.[30][31] The theory was advanced in part because of lack of archaeological evidence for large-scale Celtic immigration, though it is accepted that such movements are notoriously difficult to identify. Historical linguists are skeptical that this method alone could account for the absorption of Celtic language, with some saying that an assumed processional view of Celtic linguistic formation is 'an especially hazardous exercise'.[32][33] Genetic lineage investigation into the area of Celtic migration to Ireland has led to findings that showed no significant differences in mitochondrial DNA between Ireland and large areas of continental Europe, in contrast to parts of the Y-chromosome pattern. When taking both into account, a study concluded that modern Celtic speakers in Ireland could be thought of as European "Atlantic Celts" showing a shared ancestry throughout the Atlantic zone from northern Iberia to western Scandinavia rather than substantially central European.[34] In 2012, research showed that occurrence of genetic markers for the earliest farmers was almost eliminated by Beaker-culture immigrants: they carried what was then a new Y-chromosome R1b marker, believed to have originated in Iberia about 2500 BC. The prevalence amongst modern Irish men of this mutation is a remarkable 84%, the highest in the world, and closely matched in other populations along the Atlantic fringes down to Spain. A similar genetic replacement happened with lineages in mitochondrial DNA.[20][35] This conclusion is supported by recent research carried out by the geneticist David Reich, who says: “British and Irish skeletons from the Bronze Age that followed the Beaker period had at most 10 percent ancestry from the first farmers of these islands, with other 90 percent from people like those associated with the Bell Beaker culture in the Netherlands.” He suggests that it was Beaker users who introduced an Indo-European language, represented here by Celtic (i.e. a new language and culture introduced directly by migration and genetic replacement).[23] Late antiquity and early medieval times Main article: History of Ireland (800–1169) The Scoti were Gaelic-speaking people from Ireland who settled in western Scotland in the 6th century or before. The earliest written records of Ireland come from classical Greco-Roman geographers. Ptolemy in his Almagest refers to Ireland as Mikra Brettania ("Little Britain"), in contrast to the larger island, which he called Megale Brettania ("Great Britain").[36] In his later work, Geography, Ptolemy refers to Ireland as Iouernia and to Great Britain as Albion. These 'new' names were likely to have been the local names for the islands at the time. The earlier names, in contrast, were likely to have been coined before direct contact with local peoples was made.[37] The Romans referred to Ireland by this name too in its Latinised form, Hibernia, or Scotia.[38][39] Ptolemy records sixteen nations inhabiting every part of Ireland in 100 AD.[40] The relationship between the Roman Empire and the kingdoms of ancient Ireland is unclear. However, a number of finds of Roman coins have been made, for example at the Iron Age settlement of Freestone Hill near Gowran and Newgrange.[41] Ireland continued as a patchwork of rival kingdoms; however, beginning in the 7th century, a concept of national kingship gradually became articulated through the concept of a High King of Ireland. Medieval Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of high kings stretching back thousands of years, but modern historians believe the scheme was constructed in the 8th century to justify the status of powerful political groupings by projecting the origins of their rule into the remote past.[42] All of the Irish kingdoms had their own kings but were nominally subject to the high king. The high king was drawn from the ranks of the provincial kings and ruled also the royal kingdom of Meath, with a ceremonial capital at the Hill of Tara. The concept did not become a political reality until the Viking Age and even then was not a consistent one.[43] Ireland did have a culturally unifying rule of law: the early written judicial system, the Brehon Laws, administered by a professional class of jurists known as the brehons.[44] Gallarus Oratory, one of the earliest churches built in Ireland The Chronicle of Ireland records that in 431, Bishop Palladius arrived in Ireland on a mission from Pope Celestine I to minister to the Irish "already believing in Christ".[45] The same chronicle records that Saint Patrick, Ireland's best known patron saint, arrived the following year. There is continued debate over the missions of Palladius and Patrick, but the consensus is that they both took place[46] and that the older druid tradition collapsed in the face of the new religion.[47] Irish Christian scholars excelled in the study of Latin and Greek learning and Christian theology. In the monastic culture that followed the Christianisation of Ireland, Latin and Greek learning was preserved in Ireland during the Early Middle Ages in contrast to elsewhere in Western Europe, where the Dark Ages followed the Fall of the Western Roman Empire.[47][48][page needed] The arts of manuscript illumination, metalworking and sculpture flourished and produced treasures such as the Book of Kells, ornate jewellery and the many carved stone crosses[49] that still dot the island today. A mission founded in 563 on Iona by the Irish monk Saint Columba began a tradition of Irish missionary work that spread Celtic Christianity and learning to Scotland, England and the Frankish Empire on continental Europe after the fall of Rome.[50] These missions continued until the late Middle Ages, establishing monasteries and centres of learning, producing scholars such as Sedulius Scottus and Johannes Eriugena and exerting much influence in Europe.[citation needed] From the 9th century, waves of Viking raiders plundered Irish monasteries and towns.[51] These raids added to a pattern of raiding and endemic warfare that was already deep-seated in Ireland. The Vikings were involved in establishing most of the major coastal settlements in Ireland: Dublin, Limerick, Cork, Wexford, Waterford, as well as other smaller settlements.[52][unreliable source?] Norman and English invasions Main articles: Norman invasion of Ireland, History of Ireland (1169–1536), and Tudor conquest of Ireland See also: Bruce campaign in Ireland Remains of the 12th-century Trim Castle in County Meath, the largest Norman castle in Ireland On 1 May 1169, an expedition of Cambro-Norman knights, with an army of about 600 men, landed at Bannow Strand in present-day County Wexford. It was led by Richard de Clare, known as 'Strongbow' owing to his prowess as an archer.[53] The invasion, which coincided with a period of renewed Norman expansion, was at the invitation of Dermot Mac Murrough, King of Leinster.[54] In 1166, Mac Murrough had fled to Anjou, France, following a war involving Tighearnán Ua Ruairc, of Breifne, and sought the assistance of the Angevin King Henry II, in recapturing his kingdom. In 1171, Henry arrived in Ireland in order to review the general progress of the expedition. He wanted to re-exert royal authority over the invasion which was expanding beyond his control. Henry successfully re-imposed his authority over Strongbow and the Cambro-Norman warlords and persuaded many of the Irish kings to accept him as their overlord, an arrangement confirmed in the 1175 Treaty of Windsor. The invasion was legitimised by the provisions of the Papal Bull Laudabiliter, issued by an Englishman, Adrian IV, in 1155. The bull encouraged Henry to take control in Ireland in order to oversee the financial and administrative reorganisation of the Irish Church and its integration into the Roman Church system.[55] Some restructuring had already begun at the ecclesiastical level following the Synod of Kells in 1152.[56] There has been significant controversy regarding the authenticity of Laudabiliter,[57] and there is no general agreement as to whether the bull was genuine or a forgery.[58][59] In 1172, Pope Alexander III further encouraged Henry to advance the integration of the Irish Church with Rome. Henry was authorised to impose a tithe of one penny per hearth as an annual contribution. This church levy, called Peter's Pence, is extant in Ireland as a voluntary donation. In turn, Henry accepted the title of Lord of Ireland which Henry conferred on his younger son, John Lackland, in 1185. This defined the Irish state as the Lordship of Ireland.[citation needed] When Henry's successor died unexpectedly in 1199, John inherited the crown of England and retained the Lordship of Ireland. Irish soldiers, 1521 – by Albrecht Dürer Over the century that followed, Norman feudal law gradually replaced the Gaelic Brehon Law so that by the late 13th century the Norman-Irish had established a feudal system throughout much of Ireland. Norman settlements were characterised by the establishment of baronies, manors, towns and the seeds of the modern county system. A version of the Magna Carta (the Great Charter of Ireland), substituting Dublin for London and the Irish Church for, the English church at the time, the Catholic Church, was published in 1216 and the Parliament of Ireland was founded in 1297. From the mid-14th century, after the Black Death, Norman settlements in Ireland went into a period of decline. The Norman rulers and the Gaelic Irish elites intermarried and the areas under Norman rule became Gaelicised. In some parts, a hybrid Hiberno-Norman culture emerged. In response, the Irish parliament passed the Statutes of Kilkenny in 1367. These were a set of laws designed to prevent the assimilation of the Normans into Irish society by requiring English subjects in Ireland to speak English, follow English customs and abide by English law.[60] By the end of the 15th century, central English authority in Ireland had all but disappeared, and a renewed Irish culture and language, albeit with Norman influences, was dominant again. English Crown control remained relatively unshaken in an amorphous foothold around Dublin known as The Pale, and under the provisions of Poynings' Law of 1494, the Irish Parliamentary legislation was subject to the approval of the English Privy Council.[61] The Kingdom of Ireland Main article: Kingdom of Ireland A scene from The Image of Irelande (1581) showing a chieftain at a feast A 16th century perception of Irish women and girls, illustrated in the manuscript "Théâtre de tous les peuples et nations de la terre avec leurs habits et ornemens divers, tant anciens que modernes, diligemment depeints au naturel". Painted by Lucas d'Heere in the 2nd half of the 16th century. Preserved in the Ghent University Library.[62] The title of King of Ireland was re-created in 1542 by Henry VIII, the then King of England, of the Tudor dynasty. English rule was reinforced and expanded in Ireland during the latter part of the 16th century, leading to the Tudor conquest of Ireland. A near-complete conquest was achieved by the turn of the 17th century, following the Nine Years' War and the Flight of the Earls. This control was consolidated during the wars and conflicts of the 17th century, including the English and Scottish colonisation in the Plantations of Ireland, the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the Williamite War. Irish losses during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (which, in Ireland, included the Irish Confederacy and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland) are estimated to include 20,000 battlefield casualties. 200,000 civilians are estimated to have died as a result of a combination of war-related famine, displacement, guerrilla activity and pestilence throughout the war. A further 50,000[Note 1] were sent into indentured servitude in the West Indies. Physician-general William Petty estimated that 504,000 Catholic Irish and 112,000 Protestant settlers died, and 100,000 people were transported, as a result of the war.[65] If a prewar population of 1.5 million is assumed, this would mean that the population was reduced by almost half. The religious struggles of the 17th century left a deep sectarian division in Ireland. Religious allegiance now determined the perception in law of loyalty to the Irish King and Parliament. After the passing of the Test Act 1672, and the victory of the forces of the dual monarchy of William and Mary over the Jacobites, Roman Catholics and nonconforming Protestant Dissenters were barred from sitting as members in the Irish Parliament. Under the emerging Penal Laws, Irish Roman Catholics and Dissenters were increasingly deprived of various and sundry civil rights even to the ownership of hereditary property. Additional regressive punitive legislation followed in 1703, 1709 and 1728. This completed a comprehensive systemic effort to materially disadvantage Roman Catholics and Protestant Dissenters, while enriching a new ruling class of Anglican conformists.[66] The new Anglo-Irish ruling class became known as the Protestant Ascendancy. Half-hanging of suspected United Irishmen The "Great Frost" struck Ireland and the rest of Europe between December 1739 and September 1741, after a decade of relatively mild winters. The winters destroyed stored crops of potatoes and other staples, and the poor summers severely damaged harvests.[67][page needed] This resulted in the famine of 1740. An estimated 250,000 people (about one in eight of the population) died from the ensuing pestilence and disease.[68] The Irish government halted export of corn and kept the army in quarters but did little more.[68][69] Local gentry and charitable organisations provided relief but could do little to prevent the ensuing mortality.[68][69] In the aftermath of the famine, an increase in industrial production and a surge in trade brought a succession of construction booms. The population soared in the latter part of this century and the architectural legacy of Georgian Ireland was built. In 1782, Poynings' Law was repealed, giving Ireland legislative independence from Great Britain for the first time since 1495. The British government, however, still retained the right to nominate the government of Ireland without the consent of the Irish parliament. Union with Great Britain Main article: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland In 1798, members of the Protestant Dissenter tradition (mainly Presbyterian) made common cause with Roman Catholics in a republican rebellion inspired and led by the Society of United Irishmen, with the aim of creating an independent Ireland. Despite assistance from France the rebellion was put down by British and Irish government and yeomanry forces. In 1800, the British and Irish parliaments both passed Acts of Union that, with effect from 1 January 1801, merged the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain to create a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.[70] The passage of the Act in the Irish Parliament was ultimately achieved with substantial majorities, having failed on the first attempt in 1799. According to contemporary documents and historical analysis, this was achieved through a considerable degree of bribery, with funding provided by the British Secret Service Office, and the awarding of peerages, places and honours to secure votes.[70] Thus, the parliament in Ireland was abolished and replaced by a united parliament at Westminster in London, though resistance remained, as evidenced by Robert Emmet's failed Irish Rebellion of 1803. Aside from the development of the linen industry, Ireland was largely passed over by the industrial revolution, partly because it lacked coal and iron resources[71][72] and partly because of the impact of the sudden union with the structurally superior economy of England,[73] which saw Ireland as a source of agricultural produce and capital.[74][75] A depiction of the Great Famine from Our Boys in Ireland by Henry Willard French (1891) The Great Famine of 1845–1851 devastated Ireland, as in those years Ireland's population fell by one-third. More than one million people died from starvation and disease, with an additional million people emigrating during the famine, mostly to the United States and Canada.[76] In the century that followed, an economic depression caused by the famine resulted in a further million people emigrating.[77] By the end of the decade, half of all immigration to the United States was from Ireland. The period of civil unrest that followed until the end of the 19th century is referred to as the Land War. Mass emigration became deeply entrenched and the population continued to decline until the mid-20th century. Immediately prior to the famine the population was recorded as 8.2 million by the 1841 census.[78] The population has never returned to this level since.[79] The population continued to fall until 1961; County Leitrim was the final Irish county to record a population increase post-famine, in 2006. The 19th and early 20th centuries saw the rise of modern Irish nationalism, primarily among the Roman Catholic population. The pre-eminent Irish political figure after the Union was Daniel O'Connell. He was elected as Member of Parliament for Ennis in a surprise result and despite being unable to take his seat as a Roman Catholic. O'Connell spearheaded a vigorous campaign that was taken up by the Prime Minister, the Irish-born soldier and statesman, the Duke of Wellington. Steering the Catholic Relief Bill through Parliament, aided by future prime minister Robert Peel, Wellington prevailed upon a reluctant George IV to sign the Bill and proclaim it into law. George's father had opposed the plan of the earlier Prime Minister, Pitt the Younger, to introduce such a bill following the Union of 1801, fearing Catholic Emancipation to be in conflict with the Act of Settlement 1701. Daniel O'Connell led a subsequent campaign, for the repeal of the Act of Union, which failed. Later in the century, Charles Stewart Parnell and others campaigned for autonomy within the Union, or "Home Rule". Unionists, especially those located in Ulster, were strongly opposed to Home Rule, which they thought would be dominated by Catholic interests.[80] After several attempts to pass a Home Rule bill through parliament, it looked certain that one would finally pass in 1914. To prevent this from happening, the Ulster Volunteers were formed in 1913 under the leadership of Edward Carson.[81] Their formation was followed in 1914 by the establishment of the Irish Volunteers, whose aim was to ensure that the Home Rule Bill was passed. The Act was passed but with the "temporary" exclusion of the six counties of Ulster that would become Northern Ireland. Before it could be implemented, however, the Act was suspended for the duration of the First World War. The Irish Volunteers split into two groups. The majority, approximately 175,000 in number, under John Redmond, took the name National Volunteers and supported Irish involvement in the war. A minority, approximately 13,000, retained the Irish Volunteers' name and opposed Ireland's involvement in the war.[81] Sackville Street (now O'Connell Street), Dublin, after the 1916 Easter Rising The Easter Rising of 1916 was carried out by the latter group together with a smaller socialist militia, the Irish Citizen Army. The British response, executing fifteen leaders of the Rising over a period of ten days and imprisoning or interning more than a thousand people, turned the mood of the country in favour of the rebels. Support for Irish republicanism increased further due to the ongoing war in Europe, as well as the Conscription Crisis of 1918.[82] The pro-independence republican party, Sinn Féin, received overwhelming endorsement in the general election of 1918, and in 1919 proclaimed an Irish Republic, setting up its own parliament (Dáil Éireann) and government. Simultaneously the Volunteers, which became known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA), launched a three-year guerrilla war, which ended in a truce in July 1921 (although violence continued until June 1922, mostly in Northern Ireland).[82] Partition Main article: Partition of Ireland In December 1921, the Anglo-Irish Treaty was concluded between the British government and representatives of the Second Dáil. It gave Ireland complete independence in its home affairs and practical independence for foreign policy, but an opt-out clause allowed Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom, which (as expected) it immediately exercised. Additionally, Members of the Free State Parliament were required to swear an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the Irish Free State and make a statement of faithfulness to the King.[83] Disagreements over these provisions led to a split in the nationalist movement and a subsequent Irish Civil War between the new government of the Irish Free State and those opposed to the treaty, led by Éamon de Valera. The civil war officially ended in May 1923 when de Valera issued a cease-fire order.[84] Independence Main articles: History of the Republic of Ireland and Economy of the Republic of Ireland Annotated page from the Anglo-Irish Treaty that established the Irish Free State and independence for 26 out of 32 Irish counties During its first decade, the newly formed Irish Free State was governed by the victors of the civil war. When de Valera achieved power, he took advantage of the Statute of Westminster and political circumstances to build upon inroads to greater sovereignty made by the previous government. The oath was abolished and in 1937 a new constitution was adopted.[82] This completed a process of gradual separation from the British Empire that governments had pursued since independence. However, it was not until 1949 that the state was declared, officially, to be the Republic of Ireland. The state was neutral during World War II, but offered clandestine assistance to the Allies, particularly in the potential defence of Northern Ireland. Despite their country's neutrality, approximately 50,000[85] volunteers from independent Ireland joined the British forces during the war, four being awarded Victoria Crosses. The German intelligence was also active in Ireland.[86] Its operations ended in September 1941 when police made arrests based on surveillance carried out on the key diplomatic legations in Dublin. To the authorities, counterintelligence was a fundamental line of defence. With a regular army of only slightly over seven thousand men at the start of the war, and with limited supplies of modern weapons, the state would have had great difficulty in defending itself from invasion from either side in the conflict.[86][87] Large-scale emigration marked most of the post-WWII period (particularly during the 1950s and 1980s), but beginning in 1987 the economy improved, and the 1990s saw the beginning of substantial economic growth. This period of growth became known as the Celtic Tiger.[88] The Republic's real GDP grew by an average of 9.6% per annum between 1995 and 1999,[89] in which year the Republic joined the euro. In 2000, it was the sixth-richest country in the world in terms of GDP per capita.[90] Historian R. F. Foster argues the cause was a combination of a new sense of initiative and the entry of American corporations. He concludes the chief factors were low taxation, pro-business regulatory policies, and a young, tech-savvy workforce. For many multinationals, the decision to do business in Ireland was made easier still by generous incentives from the Industrial Development Authority. In addition European Union membership was helpful, giving the country lucrative access to markets that it had previously reached only through the United Kingdom, and pumping huge subsidies and investment capital into the Irish economy.[91] Modernisation brought secularisation in its wake. The traditionally high levels of religiosity have sharply declined. Foster points to three factors: Irish feminism, largely imported from America with liberal stances on contraception, abortion, and divorce undermined the authority of bishops and priests. Second, the mishandling of the pedophile scandals humiliated the Church, whose bishops seemed less concerned with the victims and more concerned with covering up for errant priests. Third, prosperity brought hedonism and materialism that undercut the ideals of saintly poverty.[92] The financial crisis that began in 2008 dramatically ended this period of boom. GDP fell by 3% in 2008 and by 7.1% in 2009, the worst year since records began (although earnings by foreign-owned businesses continued to grow).[93] The state has since experienced deep recession, with unemployment, which doubled during 2009, remaining above 14% in 2012.[94] Northern Ireland Main articles: History of Northern Ireland and Economy of Northern Ireland Northern Ireland resulted from the division of the United Kingdom by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, and until 1972 was a self-governing jurisdiction within the United Kingdom with its own parliament and prime minister. Northern Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom, was not neutral during the Second World War, and Belfast suffered four bombing raids in 1941. Conscription was not extended to Northern Ireland, and roughly an equal number volunteered from Northern Ireland as volunteered from the south. Edward Carson signing the Solemn League and Covenant in 1912, declaring opposition to Home Rule "using all means which may be found necessary" Although Northern Ireland was largely spared the strife of the civil war, in decades that followed partition there were sporadic episodes of inter-communal violence. Nationalists, mainly Roman Catholic, wanted to unite Ireland as an independent republic, whereas unionists, mainly Protestant, wanted Northern Ireland to remain in the United Kingdom. The Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland voted largely along sectarian lines, meaning that the government of Northern Ireland (elected by "first-past-the-post" from 1929) was controlled by the Ulster Unionist Party. Over time, the minority Catholic community felt increasingly alienated with further disaffection fuelled by practices such as gerrymandering and discrimination in housing and employment.[95][96][97] In the late 1960s, nationalist grievances were aired publicly in mass civil rights protests, which were often confronted by loyalist counter-protests.[98] The government's reaction to confrontations was seen to be one-sided and heavy-handed in favour of unionists. Law and order broke down as unrest and inter-communal violence increased.[99] The Northern Ireland government requested the British Army to aid the police and protect the Irish Nationalist population. In 1969, the paramilitary Provisional IRA, which favoured the creation of a united Ireland, emerged from a split in the Irish Republican Army and began a campaign against what it called the "British occupation of the six counties".[citation needed] Other groups, on both the unionist side and the nationalist side, participated in violence and a period known as the Troubles began. Over 3,600 deaths resulted over the subsequent three decades of conflict.[100] Owing to the civil unrest during the Troubles, the British government suspended home rule in 1972 and imposed direct rule. There were several unsuccessful attempts to end the Troubles politically, such as the Sunningdale Agreement of 1973. In 1998, following a ceasefire by the Provisional IRA and multi-party talks, the Good Friday Agreement was concluded as a treaty between the British and Irish governments, annexing the text agreed in the multi-party talks. The substance of the Agreement (formally referred to as the Belfast Agreement) was later endorsed by referendums in both parts of Ireland. The Agreement restored self-government to Northern Ireland on the basis of power-sharing in a regional Executive drawn from the major parties in a new Northern Ireland Assembly, with entrenched protections for the two main communities. The Executive is jointly headed by a First Minister and deputy First Minister drawn from the unionist and nationalist parties. Violence had decreased greatly after the Provisional IRA and loyalist ceasefires in 1994 and in 2005 the Provisional IRA announced the end of its armed campaign and an independent commission supervised its disarmament and that of other nationalist and unionist paramilitary organisations.[101] The Assembly and power-sharing Executive were suspended several times but were restored again in 2007. In that year the British government officially ended its military support of the police in Northern Ireland (Operation Banner) and began withdrawing troops. On 27 June 2012, Northern Ireland's deputy first minister and former IRA commander, Martin McGuinness, shook hands with Queen Elizabeth II in Belfast, symbolising reconciliation between the two sides. Politics Main article: Politics of Ireland Political entities on the island of Ireland The island is divided between the Republic of Ireland, an independent state, and Northern Ireland (a constituent country of the United Kingdom). They share an open border and both are part of the Common Travel Area. The Republic of Ireland is a member of the European Union while the United Kingdom is a former member, having both acceded to its precursor entity, the European Economic Community [EEC], in 1973, and as a consequence there is free movement of people, goods, services and capital across the border. Republic of Ireland Áras an Uachtaráin, the official residence of the President of Ireland The Republic of Ireland is a parliamentary democracy based on the British model, with a written constitution and a popularly elected president who has mostly ceremonial powers. The government is headed by a prime minister, the Taoiseach, who is appointed by the President on the nomination of the lower house of parliament, the Dáil. Members of the government are chosen from both the Dáil and the upper house of parliament, the Seanad. Its capital is Dublin. The republic today ranks amongst the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita[102] and in 2015 was ranked the sixth most developed nation in the world by the United Nations' Human Development Index.[103] A period of rapid economic expansion from 1995 onwards became known as the Celtic Tiger period, was brought to an end in 2008 with an unprecedented financial crisis and an economic depression in 2009. Northern Ireland Parliament Buildings, in Stormont Estate, seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom with a local executive and assembly which exercise devolved powers. The executive is jointly headed by the first and deputy first minister, with the ministries being allocated in proportion with each party's representation in the assembly. Its capital is Belfast. Ultimately political power is held by the UK government, from which Northern Ireland has gone through intermittent periods of direct rule during which devolved powers have been suspended. Northern Ireland elects 18 of the UK House of Commons' 650 MPs. The Northern Ireland Secretary is a cabinet-level post in the British government. Along with England and Wales and with Scotland, Northern Ireland forms one of the three separate legal jurisdictions of the UK, all of which share the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom as their court of final appeal. All-island institutions As part of the Good Friday Agreement, the British and Irish governments agreed on the creation of all-island institutions and areas of cooperation. The North/South Ministerial Council is an institution through which ministers from the Government of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Executive agree all-island policies. At least six of these policy areas must have an associated all-island "implementation bodies," and at least six others must be implemented separately in each jurisdiction. The implementation bodies are: Waterways Ireland, the Food Safety Promotion Board, InterTradeIreland, the Special European Union Programmes Body, the North/South Language Body and the Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission. The British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference provides for co-operation between the Government of Ireland and the Government of the United Kingdom on all matters of mutual interest, especially Northern Ireland. In light of the Republic's particular interest in the governance of Northern Ireland, "regular and frequent" meetings co-chaired by the ROI Minister for Foreign Affairs and the UK Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, dealing with non-devolved matters to do with Northern Ireland and non-devolved all-Ireland issues, are required to take place under the establishing treaty. The North/South Inter-Parliamentary Association is a joint parliamentary forum for the island of Ireland. It has no formal powers but operates as a forum for discussing matters of common concern between the respective legislatures. Economy Main articles: Economy of the Republic of Ireland and Economy of Northern Ireland See also: International Financial Services Centre Despite the two jurisdictions using two distinct currencies (the euro and pound sterling), a growing amount of commercial activity is carried out on an all-Ireland basis. This has been facilitated by the two jurisdictions' shared membership of the European Union, and there have been calls from members of the business community and policymakers for the creation of an "all-Ireland economy" to take advantage of economies of scale and boost competitiveness.[104] There are two multi-city regions on the island of Ireland:     Dublin-Belfast corridor – 3.3 m     Cork-Limerick-Galway corridor – 1 m Below is a comparison of the regional GDP on the island of Ireland. Republic of Ireland: Border Midlands & West Republic of Ireland: Southern & Eastern United Kingdom: Northern Ireland €30 bn[105] €142 bn (Dublin €72.4bn)[105] €43.4 bn (Belfast €20.9 bn)[106] €23,700 per person[106] €39,900 per person[106] €21,000 per person[106] Area Population Country City 2012 GDP € GDP per person € 2014 GDP € GDP per person € Dublin Region 1,350,000 ROI Dublin €72.4 bn €57,200 €87.238 bn €68,208 South-West Region 670,000 ROI Cork €32.3 bn €48,500 €33.745 bn €50,544 Greater Belfast 720,000 NI Belfast €20.9 bn €33,550 €22.153 bn €34,850 West Region 454,000 ROI Galway €13.8 bn €31,500 €13.37 bn €29,881 Mid-West Region 383,000 ROI Limerick €11.4 bn €30,300 €12.116 bn €31,792 South-East Region 510,000 ROI Waterford €12.8 bn €25,600 €14.044 bn €28,094 Mid-East Region 558,000 ROI Bray €13.3 bn €24,700 €16.024 bn €30,033 Border Region 519,000 ROI Drogheda €10.7 bn €21,100 €10.452 bn €20,205 East of Northern Ireland 430,000 NI Ballymena €9.5 bn €20,300 €10.793 bn €24,100 Midlands Region 290,000 ROI Athlone €5.7 bn €20,100 €6.172 bn €21,753 West and South of Northern Ireland 400,000 NI Newry €8.4 bn €19,300 €5.849 bn €20,100 North of Northern Ireland 280,000 NI Derry €5.5 bn €18,400 €9.283 bn €22,000 Total 6.6 m €216.7 bn €241 bn [107] The GDP of the Republic of Ireland as of 2018 was $382.754 billion (nominal),[108] and in Northern Ireland as of 2016 it was €43 billion (nominal).[109] The GDP per capita in the Republic of Ireland was $78,335 (nominal) as of 2018,[108] and in Northern Ireland (as of 2016) was €23,700.[109] Tourism Main article: Tourist destinations in Ireland Inisheer (Inis Oírr), Aran Islands. There are three World Heritage Sites on the island: the Brú na Bóinne, Skellig Michael and the Giant's Causeway.[110] Several other places are on the tentative list, for example the Burren, the Ceide Fields[111] and Mount Stewart.[112] Some of the most visited sites in Ireland include Bunratty Castle, the Rock of Cashel, the Cliffs of Moher, Holy Cross Abbey and Blarney Castle.[113] Historically important monastic sites include Glendalough and Clonmacnoise, which are maintained as national monuments in the Republic of Ireland.[114] Dublin is the most heavily touristed region[113] and home to several of the most popular attractions such as the Guinness Storehouse and Book of Kells.[113] The west and south west, which includes the Lakes of Killarney and the Dingle peninsula in County Kerry and Connemara and the Aran Islands in County Galway, are also popular tourist destinations.[113] Achill Island lies off the coast of County Mayo and is Ireland's largest island. It is a popular tourist destination for surfing and contains 5 Blue Flag beaches and Croaghaun one of the worlds highest sea cliffs. Stately homes, built during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries in Palladian, Neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles, such as Castle Ward, Castletown House, Bantry House, and Glenveagh Castle are also of interest to tourists. Some have been converted into hotels, such as Ashford Castle, Castle Leslie and Dromoland Castle.     World Heritage Sites     Giant's Causeway, County Antrim     Skellig Michael, County Kerry     Newgrange, County Meath Energy Turf-cutting near Maam Cross by the road to Leenane, Co. Galway. Ireland has an ancient industry based on peat (known locally as "turf") as a source of energy for home fires. A form of biomass energy, this source of heat is still widely used in rural areas. However, because of the ecological importance of peatlands in storing carbon and their rarity, the EU is attempting to protect this habitat by fining Ireland for digging up peat. In cities, heat is generally supplied by natural gas or heating oil, although some urban suppliers distribute sods of turf as "smokeless fuel" for domestic use. The island operates as a single market for electricity.[115] For much of their existence, electricity networks in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland were entirely separate. Both networks were designed and constructed independently post-partition. However, they are now connected with three interlinks[116] and also connected through Great Britain to mainland Europe. The situation in Northern Ireland is complicated by the issue of private companies not supplying Northern Ireland Electricity with enough power. In the Republic of Ireland, the ESB has failed to modernise its power stations, and the availability of power plants has recently averaged only 66%, one of the worst such rates in Western Europe. EirGrid has started building a HVDC transmission line between Ireland and Great Britain with a capacity of 500 MW,[117] about 10% of Ireland's peak demand. As with electricity, the natural gas distribution network is also now all-island, with a pipeline linking Gormanston, County Meath, and Ballyclare, County Antrim.[118] Most of Ireland's gas comes through interconnectors between Twynholm in Scotland and Ballylumford, County Antrim and Loughshinny, County Dublin. Supplies come from the Corrib Gas Field, off the coast of County Mayo, with a decreasing supply coming from the Kinsale gas field off the County Cork coast.[119][120] The County Mayo field faces some localised opposition over a controversial decision to refine the gas onshore. The Republic has a strong commitment to renewable energy and ranks as one of the top 10 markets for clean-technology investment in the 2014 Global Green Economy Index.[121] Research and development in renewable energy (such as wind power) has increased since 2004. Large wind farms have been constructed in Cork, Donegal, Mayo and Antrim. The construction of wind farms has in some cases been delayed by opposition from local communities, some of whom regard the wind turbines as unsightly. The Republic is hindered by an ageing network that was not designed to handle the varying availability of power that comes from wind farms. The ESB's Turlough Hill facility is the only power-storage facility in the state.[122] Economic history Main article: Economic history of Ireland Prior to partition in 1921, Ireland had a long history as an economic colony - first of the Norse (9th to 10th centuries CE), and later of England. Though the climate and soil favoured certain forms of agriculture,[123] trade barriers frequently hobbled its development. Repeated invasions and "plantations" disrupted land-ownership, and multiple failed uprisings also contributed to repeated phases of deportation and of emigration. Salient events in the economic history of Ireland include:     16th and 17th centuries: confiscation and redistribution of land in the Plantations of Ireland     1845-1849: The Great Famine occasioned depopulation and mass emigration.     1846: Westminster's repeal of the Corn Laws disrupted Irish agriculture.[124] Geography Main article: Geography of Ireland Physical features of Ireland Ireland is located in the north-west of Europe, between latitudes 51° and 56° N, and longitudes 11° and 5° W. It is separated from Great Britain by the Irish Sea and the North Channel, which has a width of 23 kilometres (14 mi)[125] at its narrowest point. To the west is the northern Atlantic Ocean and to the south is the Celtic Sea, which lies between Ireland and Brittany, in France. Ireland has a total area of 84,421 km2 (32,595 sq mi),[1][2][126] of which the Republic of Ireland occupies 83 percent.[127] Ireland and Great Britain, together with many nearby smaller islands, are known collectively as the British Isles. As the term British Isles is controversial in relation to Ireland, the alternate term Britain and Ireland is often used as a neutral term for the islands. A ring of coastal mountains surround low plains at the centre of the island. The highest of these is Carrauntoohil (Irish: Corrán Tuathail) in County Kerry, which rises to 1,038 m (3,406 ft) above sea level.[128] The most arable land lies in the province of Leinster.[129] Western areas can be mountainous and rocky with green panoramic vistas. River Shannon, the island's longest river at 386 km (240 mi) long, rises in County Cavan in the north west and flows through Limerick in the mid west.[128][130] Geology The island consists of varied geological provinces. In the west, around County Galway and County Donegal, is a medium to high grade metamorphic and igneous complex of Caledonide affinity, similar to the Scottish Highlands. Across southeast Ulster and extending southwest to Longford and south to Navan is a province of Ordovician and Silurian rocks, with similarities to the Southern Uplands province of Scotland. Further south, along the County Wexford coastline, is an area of granite intrusives into more Ordovician and Silurian rocks, like that found in Wales.[131][132] In the southwest, around Bantry Bay and the mountains of MacGillycuddy's Reeks, is an area of substantially deformed, lightly metamorphosed Devonian-aged rocks.[133] This partial ring of "hard rock" geology is covered by a blanket of Carboniferous limestone over the centre of the country, giving rise to a comparatively fertile and lush landscape. The west-coast district of the Burren around Lisdoonvarna has well-developed karst features.[134] Significant stratiform lead-zinc mineralisation is found in the limestones around Silvermines and Tynagh. Hydrocarbon exploration is ongoing following the first major find at the Kinsale Head gas field off Cork in the mid-1970s.[135][136] In 1999, economically significant finds of natural gas were made in the Corrib Gas Field off the County Mayo coast. This has increased activity off the west coast in parallel with the "West of Shetland" step-out development from the North Sea hydrocarbon province. In 2000, the Helvick oil field was discovered, which was estimated to contain over 28 million barrels (4,500,000 m3) of oil.[137]     Landscapes     Dunluce Castle, County Antrim     Benbulbin, County Sligo     Connemara, County Galway     Glendalough, County Wicklow     Ladies View, County Kerry     Glenbeg Lough, County Cork Climate Main article: Climate of Ireland The island's lush vegetation, a product of its mild climate and frequent rainfall, earns it the sobriquet the Emerald Isle. Overall, Ireland has a mild but changeable oceanic climate with few extremes. The climate is typically insular and is temperate, avoiding the extremes in temperature of many other areas in the world at similar latitudes.[138] This is a result of the moderating moist winds which ordinarily prevail from the southwestern Atlantic. Precipitation falls throughout the year but is light overall, particularly in the east. The west tends to be wetter on average and prone to Atlantic storms, especially in the late autumn and winter months. These occasionally bring destructive winds and higher total rainfall to these areas, as well as sometimes snow and hail. The regions of north County Galway and east County Mayo have the highest incidents of recorded lightning annually for the island, with lightning occurring approximately five to ten days per year in these areas.[139] Munster, in the south, records the least snow whereas Ulster, in the north, records the most. Inland areas are warmer in summer and colder in winter. Usually around 40 days of the year are below freezing 0 °C (32 °F) at inland weather stations, compared to 10 days at coastal stations. Ireland is sometimes affected by heatwaves, most recently in 1995, 2003, 2006, 2013 and 2018. In common with the rest of Europe, Ireland experienced unusually cold weather during the winter of 2010-11. Temperatures fell as low as −17.2 °C (1 °F) in County Mayo on 20 December[140] and up to a metre (3 ft) of snow fell in mountainous areas. Climate data for Ireland Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Record high °C (°F) 18.5 (65.3) 18.1 (64.6) 23.6 (74.5) 25.8 (78.4) 28.4 (83.1) 33.3 (91.9) 32.3 (90.1) 31.5 (88.7) 29.1 (84.4) 25.2 (77.4) 20.1 (68.2) 18.1 (64.6) 33.3 (91.9) Record low °C (°F) −19.1 (−2.4) −17.8 (0.0) −17.2 (1.0) −7.7 (18.1) −5.6 (21.9) −3.3 (26.1) −0.3 (31.5) −2.7 (27.1) −3 (27) −8.3 (17.1) −11.5 (11.3) −17.5 (0.5) −19.1 (−2.4) Source 1: Met Éireann[141] Source 2: The Irish Times (November record high)[142] Flora and fauna Main articles: Fauna of Ireland, Flora of Ireland, and Trees of Britain and Ireland Red deer (Cervus elaphus) in Killarney National Park The red fox is common in Ireland. Two red foxes (Vulpes vulpes). Photo taken in Gubbeen, County Cork, Republic of Ireland. Because Ireland became isolated from mainland Europe by rising sea levels before the last ice age had completely finished, it has fewer land animal and plant species than Great Britain or mainland Europe. There are 55 mammal species in Ireland, and of them only 26 land mammal species are considered native to Ireland.[12] Some species, such as, the red fox, hedgehog and badger, are very common, whereas others, like the Irish hare, red deer and pine marten are less so. Aquatic wildlife, such as species of sea turtle, shark, seal, whale, and dolphin, are common off the coast. About 400 species of birds have been recorded in Ireland. Many of these are migratory, including the barn swallow. Several different habitat types are found in Ireland, including farmland, open woodland, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, conifer plantations, peat bogs and a variety of coastal habitats. However, agriculture drives current land use patterns in Ireland, limiting natural habitat preserves,[143] particularly for larger wild mammals with greater territorial needs. With no large apex predators in Ireland other than humans and dogs, such populations of animals as semi-wild deer that cannot be controlled by smaller predators, such as the fox, are controlled by annual culling. There are no snakes in Ireland, and only one species of reptile (the common lizard) is native to the island. Extinct species include the Irish elk, the great auk, brown bear and the wolf. Some previously extinct birds, such as the golden eagle, have been reintroduced after decades of extirpation.[144] Ireland is now one of the least forested countries in Europe.[145][146] Until the end of the Middle Ages, Ireland was heavily forested with native trees such as oak, ash, hazel, birch, alder, willow, aspen, rowan, yew and Scots pine.[147] Only about 10% of Ireland today is woodland;[9] most of this is non-native conifer plantations, and only 2% is native woodland.[10][11] In Europe, the average woodland cover is over 33%.[9] In the Republic, about 389,356 hectares (3,893.56 km2) is owned by the state, mainly by the forestry service Coillte.[9] Remnants of native forest can be found scattered around the island, in particular in the Killarney National Park. Much of the land is now covered with pasture and there are many species of wild-flower. Gorse (Ulex europaeus), a wild furze, is commonly found growing in the uplands and ferns are plentiful in the more moist regions, especially in the western parts. It is home to hundreds of plant species, some of them unique to the island, and has been "invaded" by some grasses, such as Spartina anglica.[148] Furze (Ulex europaeus) The algal and seaweed flora is that of the cold-temperate variety. The total number of species is 574[149] The island has been invaded by some algae, some of which are now well established.[150] Because of its mild climate, many species, including sub-tropical species such as palm trees, are grown in Ireland. Phytogeographically, Ireland belongs to the Atlantic European province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. The island can be subdivided into two ecoregions: the Celtic broadleaf forests and North Atlantic moist mixed forests. Impact of agriculture Bantry, County Cork The long history of agricultural production, coupled with modern intensive agricultural methods such as pesticide and fertiliser use and runoff from contaminants into streams, rivers and lakes, has placed pressure on biodiversity in Ireland.[151][152] A land of green fields for crop cultivation and cattle rearing limits the space available for the establishment of native wild species. Hedgerows, however, traditionally used for maintaining and demarcating land boundaries, act as a refuge for native wild flora. This ecosystem stretches across the countryside and acts as a network of connections to preserve remnants of the ecosystem that once covered the island. Subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy, which supported agricultural practices that preserved hedgerow environments, are undergoing reforms. The Common Agricultural Policy had in the past subsidised potentially destructive agricultural practices, for example by emphasising production without placing limits on indiscriminate use of fertilisers and pesticides; but reforms have gradually decoupled subsidies from production levels and introduced environmental and other requirements.[153] 32% of Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions are correlated to agriculture.[154] Forested areas typically consist of monoculture plantations of non-native species, which may result in habitats that are not suitable for supporting native species of invertebrates. Natural areas require fencing to prevent over-grazing by deer and sheep that roam over uncultivated areas. Grazing in this manner is one of the main factors preventing the natural regeneration of forests across many regions of the country.[155] Demographics Main articles: Irish people, Demographics of the Republic of Ireland, and Demography of Northern Ireland A Population density map of Ireland 2002 showing the heavily weighted eastern seaboard and Ulster Proportion of respondents to the Ireland census 2011 or the Northern Ireland census 2011 who stated they were Catholic. Areas in which Catholics are in the majority are blue. Areas in which Catholics are in a minority are red. People have lived in Ireland for over 9,000 years. Early historical and genealogical records note the existence of major groups such as the Cruthin, Corcu Loígde, Dál Riata, Dáirine, Deirgtine, Delbhna, Érainn, Laigin, Ulaid. Later major groups included the Connachta, Ciannachta, Eóganachta. Smaller groups included the aithechthúatha (see Attacotti), Cálraighe, Cíarraige, Conmaicne, Dartraighe, Déisi, Éile, Fir Bolg, Fortuatha, Gailenga, Gamanraige, Mairtine, Múscraige, Partraige, Soghain, Uaithni, Uí Maine, Uí Liatháin. Many survived into late medieval times, others vanished as they became politically unimportant. Over the past 1,200 years, Vikings, Normans, Welsh, Flemings, Scots, English, Africans, Eastern Europeans and South Americans have all added to the population and have had significant influences on Irish culture. The population of Ireland rose rapidly from the 16th century until the mid-19th century, interrupted briefly by the Famine of 1740–41, which killed roughly two fifths of the island's population. The population rebounded and multiplied over the next century, but the Great Famine of the 1840s caused one million deaths and forced over one million more to emigrate in its immediate wake. Over the following century, the population was reduced by over half, at a time when the general trend in European countries was for populations to rise by an average of three-fold. Ireland's largest religious group is Christianity. The largest denomination is Roman Catholicism, representing over 73% for the island (and about 87% of the Republic of Ireland). Most of the rest of the population adhere to one of the various Protestant denominations (about 48% of Northern Ireland).[156] The largest is the Anglican Church of Ireland. The Muslim community is growing in Ireland, mostly through increased immigration, with a 50% increase in the republic between the 2006 and 2011 census.[157] The island has a small Jewish community. About 4% of the Republic's population and about 14% of the Northern Ireland population[156] describe themselves as of no religion. In a 2010 survey conducted on behalf of the Irish Times, 32% of respondents said they went to a religious service more than once per week. Divisions and settlements Further information: Provinces of Ireland, Counties of Ireland, and City status in Ireland Ireland is located in island of Ireland Leinster Leinster Connacht Connacht Ulster Ulster Munster Munster Provinces of Ireland Traditionally, Ireland is subdivided into four provinces: Connacht (west), Leinster (east), Munster (south), and Ulster (north). In a system that developed between the 13th and 17th centuries,[158] Ireland has 32 traditional counties. Twenty-six of these counties are in the Republic of Ireland, and six are in Northern Ireland. The six counties that constitute Northern Ireland are all in the province of Ulster (which has nine counties in total). As such, Ulster is often used as a synonym for Northern Ireland, although the two are not coterminous. In the Republic of Ireland, counties form the basis of the system of local government. Counties Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford and Tipperary have been broken up into smaller administrative areas. However, they are still treated as counties for cultural and some official purposes, for example, postal addresses and by the Ordnance Survey Ireland. Counties in Northern Ireland are no longer used for local governmental purposes,[159] but, as in the Republic, their traditional boundaries are still used for informal purposes such as sports leagues and in cultural or tourism contexts.[160] City status in Ireland is decided by legislative or royal charter. Dublin, with over 1 million residents in the Greater Dublin Area, is the largest city on the island. Belfast, with 579,726 residents, is the largest city in Northern Ireland. City status does not directly equate with population size. For example, Armagh, with 14,590 is the seat of the Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic Primate of All Ireland and was re-granted city status by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994 (having lost that status in local government reforms of 1840). In the Republic of Ireland, Kilkenny, seat of the Butler dynasty, while no longer a city for administrative purposes (since the 2001 Local Government Act), is entitled by law to continue to use the description. Cities and towns by populations Dublin liffey.JPG Dublin Halla na Cathrach i gCorcaigh.jpg Cork # Settlement Urban Area Population Metro population Belfast City Hall 2.jpg Belfast Cannon on Derry City Walls SMC 2007.jpg Derry 1 Dublin 1,173,179[161] 1,801,040 (Greater Dublin) 2 Belfast 333,000[162] 579,276[163] (Belfast Metro) 3 Cork 208,669[164] 300,0000 (Cork Metro) 4 Limerick 94,192[164] 5 Derry 93,512 6 Galway 79,934[164] 7 Lisburn 71,465[165] 8 Waterford 53,504[164] 9 Craigavon 57,651[162] 10 Drogheda 40,956 Migration The population of Ireland since 1603 showing the consequence of the Great Famine (1845–52) (Note: figures before 1841 are contemporary estimates) The population of Ireland collapsed dramatically during the second half of the 19th century. A population of over 8 million in 1841 was reduced to slightly more than 4 million by 1921. In part, the fall in population was caused by death from the Great Famine of 1845 to 1852, which took about 1 million lives. However, by far the greater cause of population decline was the dire economic state of the country which led to an entrenched culture of emigration lasting until the 21st century. Emigration from Ireland in the 19th century contributed to the populations of England, the United States, Canada and Australia, in all of which a large Irish diaspora lives. As of 2006, 4.3 million Canadians, or 14% of the population, were of Irish descent,[166] while around one-third of the Australian population had an element of Irish descent.[167] As of 2013, there were 40 million Irish-Americans[168] and 33 million Americans who claimed Irish ancestry.[169] With growing prosperity since the last decade of the 20th century, Ireland became a destination for immigrants. Since the European Union expanded to include Poland in 2004, Polish people have made up the largest number of immigrants (over 150,000)[170] from Central Europe. There has also been significant immigration from Lithuania, Czech Republic and Latvia.[171] The Republic of Ireland in particular has seen large-scale immigration, with 420,000 foreign nationals as of 2006, about 10% of the population.[172] A quarter of births (24 percent) in 2009 were to mothers born outside Ireland.[173] Up to 50,000 eastern and central European migrant workers left Ireland in response to the Irish financial crisis.[174] Languages Main article: Languages of Ireland Proportion of respondents who said they could speak Irish in the Ireland census in 2011 or the Northern Ireland census in 2011 The two official languages of the Republic of Ireland are Irish and English. Each language has produced noteworthy literature. Irish, though now only the language of a minority, was the vernacular of the Irish people for thousands of years and was possibly introduced during the Iron Age. It began to be written down after Christianisation in the 5th century and spread to Scotland and the Isle of Man, where it evolved into the Scottish Gaelic and Manx languages respectively. The Irish language has a vast treasury of written texts from many centuries and is divided by linguists into Old Irish from the 6th to 10th century, Middle Irish from the 10th to 13th century, Early Modern Irish until the 17th century, and the Modern Irish spoken today. It remained the dominant language of Ireland for most of those periods, having influences from Latin, Old Norse, French and English. It declined under British rule but remained the majority tongue until the early 19th century, and since then has been a minority language. The Gaelic Revival of the early 20th century has had a long-term influence. Irish is taught in mainstream Irish schools as a compulsory subject, but teaching methods have been criticised for their ineffectiveness, with the lack of level of ability after, typically, fourteen years of instruction cited.[175] There is now a network of urban Irish speakers in both the Republic and Northern Ireland, especially in Dublin and Belfast,[citation needed] with the children of such Irish speakers sometimes attending Irish-medium schools (Gaelscoil). It has been argued that they tend to be more highly educated than monolingual English speakers.[176] Recent research suggests that urban Irish is developing in a direction of its own, both in pronunciation and grammar.[177] Traditional rural Irish-speaking areas, known collectively as the Gaeltacht, are in linguistic decline. The main Gaeltacht areas are in the west, south-west and north-west. They are to be found in Donegal, Mayo, Galway, western Cork and Kerry with smaller Gaeltacht areas near Dungarvan in Waterford, Navan in Meath.[178] English in Ireland was first introduced during the Norman invasion. It was spoken by a few peasants and merchants brought over from England, and was largely replaced by Irish before the Tudor conquest of Ireland. It was introduced as the official language with the Tudor and Cromwellian conquests. The Ulster plantations gave it a permanent foothold in Ulster, and it remained the official and upper-class language elsewhere, the Irish-speaking chieftains and nobility having been deposed. Language shift during the 19th century replaced Irish with English as the first language for a vast majority of the population.[179] Less than 10% of the population of the Republic of Ireland today speak Irish regularly outside of the education system[180] and 38% of those over 15 years are classified as "Irish speakers". In Northern Ireland, English is the de facto official language, but official recognition is afforded to Irish, including specific protective measures under Part III of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. A lesser status (including recognition under Part II of the Charter) is given to Ulster Scots dialects, which are spoken by roughly 2% of Northern Ireland residents, and also spoken by some in the Republic of Ireland.[181] Since the 1960s with the increase in immigration, many more languages have been introduced, particularly deriving from Asia and Eastern Europe. Shelta, the language of the nomadic Irish Travellers is native to Ireland.[182] Culture Main articles: Culture of Ireland and Culture of Northern Ireland Tall stone cross, with intricate carved patterns, protected by metal railings surrounded by short cut grass. Trees are to either side, cows in open countryside are in the middle distance. Ardboe High Cross, County Tyrone Ireland's culture comprises elements of the culture of ancient peoples, later immigrant and broadcast cultural influences (chiefly Gaelic culture, Anglicisation, Americanisation and aspects of broader European culture). In broad terms, Ireland is regarded as one of the Celtic nations of Europe, alongside Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Isle of Man and Brittany. This combination of cultural influences is visible in the intricate designs termed Irish interlace or Celtic knotwork. These can be seen in the ornamentation of medieval religious and secular works. The style is still popular today in jewellery and graphic art,[183] as is the distinctive style of traditional Irish music and dance, and has become indicative of modern "Celtic" culture in general. Religion has played a significant role in the cultural life of the island since ancient times (and since the 17th century plantations, has been the focus of political identity and divisions on the island). Ireland's pre-Christian heritage fused with the Celtic Church following the missions of Saint Patrick in the 5th century. The Hiberno-Scottish missions, begun by the Irish monk Saint Columba, spread the Irish vision of Christianity to pagan England and the Frankish Empire. These missions brought written language to an illiterate population of Europe during the Dark Ages that followed the fall of Rome, earning Ireland the sobriquet, "the island of saints and scholars". Since the 20th century Irish pubs worldwide have become outposts of Irish culture, especially those with a full range of cultural and gastronomic offerings. The Republic of Ireland's national theatre is the Abbey Theatre, which was founded in 1904, and the national Irish-language theatre is An Taibhdhearc, which was established in 1928 in Galway.[184][185] Playwrights such as Seán O'Casey, Brian Friel, Sebastian Barry, Conor McPherson and Billy Roche are internationally renowned.[186] Arts Main articles: Music of Ireland, Irish dance, Irish literature, Irish art, and Irish theatre Illuminated page from Book of Kells Literature Ireland has made a large contribution to world literature in all its branches, both in Irish and English. Poetry in Irish is among the oldest vernacular poetry in Europe, with the earliest examples dating from the 6th century. Irish remained the dominant literary language down to the nineteenth century, despite the spread of English from the seventeenth century on. Prominent names from the medieval period and later include Gofraidh Fionn Ó Dálaigh (fourteenth century), Dáibhí Ó Bruadair (seventeenth century) and Aogán Ó Rathaille (eighteenth century). Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill (c. 1743 – c. 1800) was an outstanding poet in the oral tradition. The latter part of the nineteenth century saw a rapid replacement of Irish by English. By 1900, however, cultural nationalists had begun the Gaelic revival, which saw the beginnings of modern literature in Irish. This was to produce a number of notable writers, including Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Máire Mhac an tSaoi and others. Irish-language publishers such as Coiscéim and Cló Iar-Chonnacht continue to produce scores of titles every year. In English, Jonathan Swift, often called the foremost satirist in the English language, gained fame for works such as Gulliver's Travels and A Modest Proposal. Other notable 18th-century writers of Irish origin included Oliver Goldsmith and Richard Brinsley Sheridan, though they spent most of their lives in England. The Anglo-Irish novel came to the fore in the nineteenth century, featuring such writers as Charles Kickham, William Carleton, and (in collaboration) Edith Somerville and Violet Florence Martin. The playwright and poet Oscar Wilde, noted for his epigrams, was born in Ireland. In the 20th century, Ireland produced four winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature: George Bernard Shaw, William Butler Yeats, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney. Although not a Nobel Prize winner, James Joyce is widely considered to be one of the most significant writers of the 20th century. Joyce's 1922 novel Ulysses is considered one of the most important works of Modernist literature and his life is celebrated annually on 16 June in Dublin as "Bloomsday".[187] A comparable writer in Irish is Máirtín Ó Cadhain, whose novel Cré na Cille is regarded as a modernist masterpiece and has been translated into several languages. Modern Irish literature is often connected with its rural heritage[188] through English-language writers such as John McGahern and Seamus Heaney and Irish-language writers such as Máirtín Ó Direáin and others from the Gaeltacht. James Joyce one of the most significant writers of the 20th century Music Music has been in evidence in Ireland since prehistoric times.[189] Although in the early Middle Ages the church was "quite unlike its counterpart in continental Europe",[190] there was considerable interchange between monastic settlements in Ireland and the rest of Europe that contributed to what is known as Gregorian chant. Outside religious establishments, musical genres in early Gaelic Ireland are referred to as a triad of weeping music (goltraige), laughing music (geantraige) and sleeping music (suantraige).[191] Vocal and instrumental music (e.g. for the harp, pipes, and various string instruments) was transmitted orally, but the Irish harp, in particular, was of such significance that it became Ireland's national symbol. Classical music following European models first developed in urban areas, in establishments of Anglo-Irish rule such as Dublin Castle, St Patrick's Cathedral and Christ Church as well as the country houses of the Anglo-Irish ascendancy, with the first performance of Handel's Messiah (1742) being among the highlights of the baroque era. In the 19th century, public concerts provided access to classical music to all classes of society. Yet, for political and financial reasons Ireland has been too small to provide a living to many musicians, so the names of the better-known Irish composers of this time belong to emigrants. Irish traditional music and dance has seen a surge in popularity and global coverage since the 1960s. In the middle years of the 20th century, as Irish society was modernising, traditional music had fallen out of favour, especially in urban areas.[192] However during the 1960s, there was a revival of interest in Irish traditional music led by groups such as The Dubliners, The Chieftains, The Wolfe Tones, the Clancy Brothers, Sweeney's Men and individuals like Seán Ó Riada and Christy Moore. Groups and musicians including Horslips, Van Morrison and Thin Lizzy incorporated elements of Irish traditional music into contemporary rock music and, during the 1970s and 1980s, the distinction between traditional and rock musicians became blurred, with many individuals regularly crossing over between these styles of playing. This trend can be seen more recently in the work of artists like Enya, The Saw Doctors, The Corrs, Sinéad O'Connor, Clannad, The Cranberries and The Pogues among others. Art The earliest known Irish graphic art and sculpture are Neolithic carvings found at sites such as Newgrange[193] and is traced through Bronze Age artefacts and the religious carvings and illuminated manuscripts of the medieval period. During the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, a strong tradition of painting emerged, including such figures as John Butler Yeats, William Orpen, Jack Yeats and Louis le Brocquy. Contemporary Irish visual artists of note include Sean Scully, Kevin Abosch, and Alice Maher. Science Robert Boyle formulated Boyle's Law. The Irish philosopher and theologian Johannes Scotus Eriugena was considered one of the leading intellectuals of the early Middle Ages. Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, an Irish explorer, was one of the principal figures of Antarctic exploration. He, along with his expedition, made the first ascent of Mount Erebus and the discovery of the approximate location of the South Magnetic Pole. Robert Boyle was a 17th-century natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, inventor and early gentleman scientist. He is largely regarded as one of the founders of modern chemistry and is best known for the formulation of Boyle's law.[194] 19th-century physicist, John Tyndall, discovered the Tyndall effect. Father Nicholas Joseph Callan, Professor of Natural Philosophy in Maynooth College, is best known for his invention of the induction coil, transformer and he discovered an early method of galvanisation in the 19th century. Other notable Irish physicists include Ernest Walton, winner of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics. With Sir John Douglas Cockcroft, he was the first to split the nucleus of the atom by artificial means and made contributions to the development of a new theory of wave equation.[195] William Thomson, or Lord Kelvin, is the person whom the absolute temperature unit, the kelvin, is named after. Sir Joseph Larmor, a physicist and mathematician, made innovations in the understanding of electricity, dynamics, thermodynamics and the electron theory of matter. His most influential work was Aether and Matter, a book on theoretical physics published in 1900.[196] George Johnstone Stoney introduced the term electron in 1891. John Stewart Bell was the originator of Bell's Theorem and a paper concerning the discovery of the Bell-Jackiw-Adler anomaly and was nominated for a Nobel prize.[197] The astronomer Jocelyn Bell Burnell, from Lurgan, County Armagh, discovered pulsars in 1967. Notable mathematicians include Sir William Rowan Hamilton, famous for work in classical mechanics and the invention of quaternions. Francis Ysidro Edgeworth's contribution of the Edgeworth Box remains influential in neo-classical microeconomic theory to this day; while Richard Cantillon inspired Adam Smith, among others. John B. Cosgrave was a specialist in number theory and discovered a 2000-digit prime number in 1999 and a record composite Fermat number in 2003. John Lighton Synge made progress in different fields of science, including mechanics and geometrical methods in general relativity. He had mathematician John Nash as one of his students. Kathleen Lonsdale, born in Ireland and most known for her work with crystallography, became the first female president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.[198] Ireland has nine universities, seven in the Republic of Ireland and two in Northern Ireland, including Trinity College, Dublin and the University College Dublin, as well as numerous third-level colleges and institutes and a branch of the Open University, the Open University in Ireland. Sports Main article: Sport in Ireland See also: List of Irish sports people Gaelic football is the most popular sport in Ireland in terms of match attendance and community involvement, with about 2,600 clubs on the island. In 2003 it represented 34% of total sports attendances at events in Ireland and abroad, followed by hurling at 23%, soccer at 16% and rugby at 8%.[199] The All-Ireland Football Final is the most watched event in the sporting calendar.[200] Soccer is the most widely played team game on the island and the most popular in Northern Ireland.[199][201] Other sporting activities with the highest levels of playing participation include swimming, golf, aerobics, cycling, and billiards/snooker.[202] Many other sports are also played and followed, including boxing, cricket, fishing, greyhound racing, handball, hockey, horse racing, motor sport, show jumping and tennis. The island fields a single international team in most sports. One notable exception to this is association football, although both associations continued to field international teams under the name "Ireland" until the 1950s. The sport is also the most notable exception where the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland field separate international teams. Northern Ireland has produced two World Snooker Champions. Field sports Tyrone v Kerry in the 2005 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final Gaelic football, hurling and handball are the best-known of the Irish traditional sports, collectively known as Gaelic games. Gaelic games are governed by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), with the exception of ladies' Gaelic football and camogie (women's variant of hurling), which are governed by separate organisations. The headquarters of the GAA (and the main stadium) is located at the 82,500[203] capacity Croke Park in north Dublin. Many major GAA games are played there, including the semi-finals and finals of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. During the redevelopment of the Lansdowne Road stadium in 2007–2010, international rugby and soccer were played there.[204] All GAA players, even at the highest level, are amateurs, receiving no wages, although they are permitted to receive a limited amount of sport-related income from commercial sponsorship. The Irish Football Association (IFA) was originally the governing body for soccer across the island. The game has been played in an organised fashion in Ireland since the 1870s, with Cliftonville F.C. in Belfast being Ireland's oldest club. It was most popular, especially in its first decades, around Belfast and in Ulster. However, some clubs based outside Belfast thought that the IFA largely favoured Ulster-based clubs in such matters as selection for the national team. In 1921, following an incident in which, despite an earlier promise, the IFA moved an Irish Cup semi-final replay from Dublin to Belfast,[205] Dublin-based clubs broke away to form the Football Association of the Irish Free State. Today the southern association is known as the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). Despite being initially blacklisted by the Home Nations' associations, the FAI was recognised by FIFA in 1923 and organised its first international fixture in 1926 (against Italy). However, both the IFA and FAI continued to select their teams from the whole of Ireland, with some players earning international caps for matches with both teams. Both also referred to their respective teams as Ireland. Paul O'Connell reaching for the ball during a line out against Argentina in 2007. In 1950, FIFA directed the associations only to select players from within their respective territories and, in 1953, directed that the FAI's team be known only as "Republic of Ireland" and that the IFA's team be known as "Northern Ireland" (with certain exceptions). Northern Ireland qualified for the World Cup finals in 1958 (reaching the quarter-finals), 1982 and 1986 and the European Championship in 2016. The Republic qualified for the World Cup finals in 1990 (reaching the quarter-finals), 1994, 2002 and the European Championship in 1988, 2012 and 2016. Across Ireland, there is significant interest in the English and, to a lesser extent, Scottish soccer leagues. Ireland fields a single national rugby team and a single association, the Irish Rugby Football Union, governs the sport across the island. The Irish rugby team have played in every Rugby World Cup, making the quarter-finals in six of them. Ireland also hosted games during the 1991 and the 1999 Rugby World Cups (including a quarter-final). There are four professional Irish teams; all four play in the Pro14 and at least three compete for the Heineken Cup. Irish rugby has become increasingly competitive at both the international and provincial levels since the sport went professional in 1994. During that time, Ulster (1999),[206] Munster (2006[207] and 2008)[206] and Leinster (2009, 2011 and 2012)[206] have won the Heineken Cup. In addition to this, the Irish International side has had increased success in the Six Nations Championship against the other European elite sides. This success, including Triple Crowns in 2004, 2006 and 2007, culminated with a clean sweep of victories, known as a Grand Slam, in 2009 and 2018.[208] Other sports Horse racing in Sligo Horse racing and greyhound racing are both popular in Ireland. There are frequent horse race meetings and greyhound stadiums are well-attended. The island is noted for the breeding and training of race horses and is also a large exporter of racing dogs.[209] The horse racing sector is largely concentrated in the County Kildare.[210] Irish athletics has seen a heightened success rate since the year 2000, with Sonia O'Sullivan winning two medals at 5,000 metres on the track; gold at the 1995 World Championships and silver at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Gillian O'Sullivan won silver in the 20k walk at the 2003 World Championships, while sprint hurdler Derval O'Rourke won gold at the 2006 World Indoor Championship in Moscow. Olive Loughnane won a silver medal in the 20k walk in the World Athletics Championships in Berlin in 2009. Ireland has won more medals in boxing than in any other Olympic sport. Boxing is governed by the Irish Athletic Boxing Association. Michael Carruth won a gold medal and Wayne McCullough won a silver medal in the Barcelona Olympic Games. In 2008 Kenneth Egan won a silver medal in the Beijing Games.[211] Paddy Barnes secured bronze in those games and gold in the 2010 European Amateur Boxing Championships (where Ireland came 2nd in the overall medal table) and 2010 Commonwealth Games. Katie Taylor has won gold in every European and World championship since 2005. In August 2012 at the Olympic Games in London, Taylor created history by becoming the first Irish woman to win a gold medal in boxing in the 60 kg lightweight.[212] Golf is very popular, and golf tourism is a major industry attracting more than 240,000 golfing visitors annually.[213] The 2006 Ryder Cup was held at The K Club in County Kildare.[214] Pádraig Harrington became the first Irishman since Fred Daly in 1947 to win the British Open at Carnoustie in July 2007.[215] He successfully defended his title in July 2008[216] before going on to win the PGA Championship in August.[217] Harrington became the first European to win the PGA Championship in 78 years and was the first winner from Ireland. Three golfers from Northern Ireland have been particularly successful. In 2010, Graeme McDowell became the first Irish golfer to win the U.S. Open, and the first European to win that tournament since 1970. Rory McIlroy, at the age of 22, won the 2011 U.S. Open, while Darren Clarke's latest victory was the 2011 Open Championship at Royal St. George's. In August 2012, McIlroy won his 2nd major championship by winning the USPGA Championship by a record margin of 8 shots. Recreation The west coast of Ireland, Lahinch and Donegal Bay in particular, have popular surfing beaches, being fully exposed to the Atlantic Ocean. Donegal Bay is shaped like a funnel and catches west/south-west Atlantic winds, creating good surf, especially in winter. Since just before the year 2010, Bundoran has hosted European championship surfing. Scuba diving is increasingly popular in Ireland with clear waters and large populations of sea life, particularly along the western seaboard. There are also many shipwrecks along the coast of Ireland, with some of the best wreck dives being in Malin Head and off the County Cork coast.[218] With thousands of lakes, over 14,000 kilometres (8,700 mi) of fish-bearing rivers and over 3,700 kilometres (2,300 mi) of coastline, Ireland is a popular angling destination. The temperate Irish climate is suited to sport angling. While salmon and trout fishing remain popular with anglers, salmon fishing in particular received a boost in 2006 with the closing of the salmon driftnet fishery. Coarse fishing continues to increase its profile. Sea angling is developed with many beaches mapped and signposted,[219] and the range of sea angling species is around 80.[220] Food and drink Main article: Irish cuisine Gubbeen cheese, an example of the resurgence in Irish cheese making Food and cuisine in Ireland takes its influence from the crops grown and animals farmed in the island's temperate climate and from the social and political circumstances of Irish history. For example, whilst from the Middle Ages until the arrival of the potato in the 16th century the dominant feature of the Irish economy was the herding of cattle, the number of cattle a person owned was equated to their social standing.[221] Thus herders would avoid slaughtering a milk-producing cow.[221] For this reason, pork and white meat were more common than beef, and thick fatty strips of salted bacon (known as rashers) and the eating of salted butter (i.e. a dairy product rather than beef itself) have been a central feature of the diet in Ireland since the Middle Ages.[221] The practice of bleeding cattle and mixing the blood with milk and butter (not unlike the practice of the Maasai) was common[222] and black pudding, made from blood, grain (usually barley) and seasoning, remains a breakfast staple in Ireland. All of these influences can be seen today in the phenomenon of the "breakfast roll". The introduction of the potato in the second half of the 16th century heavily influenced cuisine thereafter. Great poverty encouraged a subsistence approach to food, and by the mid-19th century the vast majority of the population sufficed with a diet of potatoes and milk.[223] A typical family, consisting of a man, a woman and four children, would eat 18 stone (110 kg) of potatoes per week.[221] Consequently, dishes that are considered as national dishes represent a fundamental simplicity to cooking, such as the Irish stew, bacon and cabbage, boxty, a type of potato pancake, or colcannon, a dish of mashed potatoes and kale or cabbage.[221] Since the last quarter of the 20th century, with a re-emergence of wealth in Ireland, a "New Irish Cuisine" based on traditional ingredients incorporating international influences[224] has emerged.[225] This cuisine is based on fresh vegetables, fish (especially salmon, trout, oysters, mussels and other shellfish), as well as traditional soda breads and the wide range of hand-made cheeses that are now being produced across the country. An example of this new cuisine is "Dublin Lawyer": lobster cooked in whiskey and cream.[226] The potato remains however a fundamental feature of this cuisine and the Irish remain the highest per capita[221] consumers of potatoes in Europe. Traditional regional foods can be found throughout the country, for example coddle in Dublin or drisheen in Cork, both a type of sausage, or blaa, a doughy white bread particular to Waterford. The Old Bushmills Distillery in County Antrim Ireland once dominated the world's market for whiskey, producing 90% of the world's whiskey at the start of the 20th century. However, as a consequence of bootleggers during the prohibition in the United States (who sold poor-quality whiskey bearing Irish-sounding names thus eroding the pre-prohibition popularity for Irish brands)[227] and tariffs on Irish whiskey across the British Empire during the Anglo-Irish Trade War of the 1930s,[228] sales of Irish whiskey worldwide fell to a mere 2% by the mid-20th century.[229] In 1953, an Irish government survey, found that 50% of whiskey drinkers in the United States had never heard of Irish whiskey.[230] Irish whiskey, as researched in 2009 by the CNBC American broadcaster, remains popular domestically and has grown in international sales steadily over a few decades.[231] Typically CNBC states Irish whiskey is not as smoky as a Scotch whisky, but not as sweet as American or Canadian whiskies.[231] Whiskey forms the basis of traditional cream liqueurs, such as Baileys, and the "Irish coffee" (a cocktail of coffee and whiskey reputedly invented at Foynes flying-boat station) is probably the best-known Irish cocktail. Stout, a kind of porter beer, particularly Guinness, is typically associated with Ireland, although historically it was more closely associated with London. Porter remains very popular, although it has lost sales since the mid-20th century to lager. Cider, particularly Magners (marketed in the Republic of Ireland as Bulmers), is also a popular drink. Red lemonade, a soft-drink, is consumed on its own and as a mixer, particularly with whiskey.[232] Notes     Numbers vary, from a low of 12,000.[63] Giovanni Battista Rinuccini wrote 50,000,[64] T. N. Burke said 80,000 to 100,000.[64] References Nolan, William. "Geography of Ireland". Government of Ireland. Archived from the original on 24 November 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2009. Royle, Stephen A. (1 December 2012). "Beyond the boundaries in the island of Ireland". Journal of Marine and Island Cultures. 1 (2): 91–98. doi:10.1016/j.imic.2012.11.005. 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Sixties Ireland: reshaping the economy, state and society, 1957–1973 (Cambridge University Press, 2016).     Dennison, Gabriel; Ni Fhloinn, Baibre (1994). Traditional Architecture in Ireland. Dublin: Environmental Institute, University College Dublin. p. 94. ISBN 978-1-898473-09-1.     Dooney, Sean; O'Toole, John (1992). Irish Government Today. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. p. 247. ISBN 978-0-7171-1703-1.     Ellis, Steven G. (1921). The Story of the Irish Race: A Popular History of Ireland. Ireland: The Irish Publishing Co. p. 768. ISBN 978-0-517-06408-5.     Ferriter, Diarmaid. "Women and political change in Ireland since 1960." Éire-Ireland 43.1 (2008): 179-204.     Foster, Robert Fitzroy (1988). Modern Ireland, 1600–1972. Penguin Books. p. 688. ISBN 978-0-7139-9010-2.     Foster, R. F. Luck and the Irish: A Brief History of Change 1970-2000 (2007) excerpt     Herm, Gerhard (2002). The Celts. Ireland: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-31343-2.     O'Croinin, Daibhi (2005). Prehistoric and Early Ireland. Oxford University Press. p. 1219. ISBN 978-0-19-821737-4.     Ó Gráda, Cormac (1997). A Rocky Road: The Irish Economy Since the 1920s. Manchester University Press. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-7190-4584-4.     Oppenheimer, Stephen (2006). Origins of the British: A Genetic Detective Story. New York: Carroll & Graf. p. 534. ISBN 978-0-7867-1890-0.     O'Rahilly, T. F. (1947). Early Irish History and Mythology. Medieval Academy of America.     Woodcock, N. H.; Strachan, Robin A. (2000). Geological History of Britain and Ireland. Hoboken, NJ: Blackwell Publishing. p. 423. ISBN 978-0-632-03656-1.     Wallis, Geoff; Wilson, Sue (2001). The Rough Guide to Irish Music. Rough Guides. p. 599. ISBN 978-1-85828-642-6. External links Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Republic of Ireland. Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Northern Ireland. 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creator of the nocturne     Shane Filan – singer of Westlife, songwriter     Mick Flannery – singer/songwriter     Aloys Fleischmann – composer and musicologist     W. H. Grattan Flood – musicologist     Dave Flynn – award-winning composer, guitarist and singer-songwriter     Gavin Friday – singer     Finbar Furey – singer/ songwriter, uillean piper, 5-string banjo player, actor     Rory Gallagher – blues/rock guitarist     Sir James Galway – flautist     Bobby Gardiner – accordionist     Stephen Gately – singer of Boyzone     Mark Geary – singer     Thomas Augustine Geary – composer     Bob Geldof – songwriter, singer of the Boomtown Rats, activist     John William Glover – composer     Len Graham – singer     Michael Graham – singer of Boyzone     Bernadette Greevy – mezzo-soprano     John and Edward Grimes – X Factor 2009     Marc Gunn – autoharpist, singer/songwriter, and podcaster, formerly of the Brobdingnagian Bards     Carmel Gunning – tin whistler     Lisa Hannigan – singer/songwriter     Glen Hansard – Oscar-winning singer/songwriter     Hamilton Harty – composer and arranger     Catherine Hayes – opera singer     Gemma Hayes – singer     Una Healy – member of girl band The Saturdays     Christie Hennessy – singer/songwriter     Niall Horan – member of British-Irish boy band One Direction     Hozier – musician and singer-songwriter     Herbert Hughes – composer and arranger     Red Hurley – singer     Brian Irvine – composer     Jolyon Jackson – composer musician     Fergus Johnston – composer, member of Aosdána     Siva Kaneswaran – member of boy band The Wanted     Dolores Keane – singer     Bryan Kearney – trance DJ and producer     Richard Kearns – classical composer     Ronan Keating – singer/songwriter     Paddy Keenan – uilleann piper     Lisa Kelly – singer     Luke Kelly – singer     Michael Kelly – tenor and composer     Brian Kennedy – singer     Dermot Kennedy – singer/songwriter     Paddy Killoran – fiddler     Katie Kim – singer/songwriter, musician     Dave King – singer/songwriter     John Kinsella – composer, member of Aosdána     David Kitt – musician Music – L to P     John F. Larchet – composer     Damien Leith – singer/songwriter, winner of Australian Idol 2006     Gary Lightbody – lead singer of Snow Patrol     Josef Locke – singer     Johnny Logan – singer/songwriter     Samuel Lover – composer and performer     Cora Venus Lunny – violinist     Dónal Lunny – musician     Bob Lynch (musician) – musician     Shane Lynch – singer of Boyzone     Phil Lynott – Thin Lizzy frontman     Jimmy MacCarthy – singer/songwriter     Mickey MacConnell – singer/songwriter     Shane MacGowan – English-born singer/songwriter     Sean Mackin – backup vocals and violinist of Yellowcard     Sean Maguire – violinist     Margo - singer     Sarah Makem – singer     Tommy Makem – singer/ongwriter     Enda Markey – singer     Philip Martin – pianist, composer, member of Aosdána     Gwendolyn Masin – violinist, author, pedagogue     Larry Mathews – singer/songwriter, violinist     Frederick May – composer     Christopher McCafferty – underground club promoter, DJ     Jim McCann (musician) – musician     John Count McCormack – singer     Eleanor McEvoy – singer/songwriter     Brian McFadden – singer/songwriter     Damian McGinty – Celtic Thunder; played Rory Flanagan on Glee     Matt McGinn – Irish singer/songwriter     Michael McGlynn – composer, arranger, choir director     Geraldine McGowan – folk singer     Barney McKenna – banjo player     Susan McKeown – Grammy Award-winning vocalist and songwriter     Geraldine McMahon – harpist     Paul McSherry – guitarist     James Lynam Molloy – ballad composer     Patrick Monahan – singer/songwriter; solo artist; member of Train     Christy Moore – singer/songwriter     Gary Moore – guitarist, singer/songwriter     Peter K. Moran – composer     Van Morrison – singer/songwriter     Lee Mulhern – singer/songwriter     Gráinne Mulvey – composer     Samantha Mumba – singer, actress     Mundy – singer/songwriter     John Murphy – fiddle player     Róisín Murphy – singer     Ruby Murray – singer     Máiréad Nesbitt – fiddler     Méav Ní Mhaolchatha – singer     Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh – musician     Eithne Ní Uallacháin – singer     Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin – singer     John O’Callaghan – musician     Turlough O'Carolan – 17th/18th-century harper and composer     Colm Ó Cíosóig – musician, drummer of My Bloody Valentine     Maura O'Connell – singer     Máirtín O'Connor – accordionist     Sinéad O'Connor – singer     Daniel O'Donnell – country-and-western singer     Danny O'Donoghue – lead singer of The Script     Robert O'Dwyer – composer     Liam O'Flynn – uilleann piper     Kane O'Hara – composer     Mary O'Hara – harpist/singer     Mícheál Ó hEidhin – musician     Arthur O'Leary – composer     Jane O'Leary – composer and pianist     Damian O'Neill – lead guitarist of The Undertones     John O'Neill – guitarist of The Undertones; writer of Teenage Kicks     Seán Ó Riada – composer and musician     Annmarie O'Riordan – singer/songwriter     Dolores O'Riordan – singer/songwriter, guitarist     George Alexander Osborne – composer     Gilbert O'Sullivan – pop singer, songwriter, pianist     Una Palliser – violinist, violist, singer     Geoffrey Molyneux Palmer – composer     Tommy Peoples – fiddler     Brendan Phelan – songwriter     A. J. Potter – composer     Glen Power – drums, The Script Music – Q to Z     Carmel Quinn – singer     Paddy Reilly – singer/guitarist     Damien Rice – singer/songwriter     Thomas Roseingrave – composer     Leo Rowsome – uilleann piper     Derek Ryan     Frank Ryan – tenor     Dana Rosemary Scallon – MEP-singer turned politician     Sharon Shannon – traditional musician     Feargal Sharkey – lead singer of The Undertones     John Sheahan – fiddler     Mark Sheehan – guitarist of The Script     Kevin Shields – musician, vocalist and guitarist of My Bloody Valentine     Chris Singleton – singer/songwriter     Donal Skehan – singer     Carly Smithson – singer     Charles Villiers Stanford – composer     Robert Prescott Stewart – composer and organist     Patsy Touhey – piper     Joan Trimble – composer and pianist     Paddy Tunney – singer     VerseChorusVerse – musician and singer/songwriter, pseudonym of Tony Wright     Gerard Victory – composer     Kevin Volans – composer     William Vincent Wallace – composer     Jennifer Walshe – composer and performer     Patsy Watchorn – musician     Liam Weldon – singer/songwriter     Bill Whelan – composer     Andy White – singer/songwriter     Colm Wilkinson – singer     Ian Wilson – composer     James Wilson – composer     Charles Wood – composer     Terry Woods – musician     Richard Woodward – composer and organist Dance     Breandán de Gallaí – Irish dancer     Joanne Doyle – Irish dancer     Monica Loughman – ballet     Tristan MacManus – ballroom and Latin dancer, Dancing with the Stars, US season 13     Lola Montez (Eliza Gilbert) – dancer, courtesan     Dame Ninette de Valois – ballet     Bill Whelan – composer Writing For a more comprehensive list, see List of Irish novelists. Writing – A to C     Cecelia Ahern     William Allingham – poet     John Banville – novelist     George Barrington     Sebastian Barry – novelist     Samuel Beckett – novelist, playwright, theatre director, poet and Nobel laureate     Brendan Behan – playwright, novelist     Maeve Binchy – novelist     Dermot Bolger – novelist     Patrick Brontë – poet     Stephen Brown – writer, bibliographer     J. B. Bury – historian     William Carleton – novelist     Austin Clarke     Josephine Fitzgerald Clarke – author     Brian Cleeve – author     Brian Coffey – poet     Eoin Colfer – author     Laura Angela Collins - author     Frederick William Conway – editor and journalist     Eoghan Corry – journalist and author     Sister Margaret Anna Cusack – the "Nun of Kenmare", patriot and controversialist Writing – D to K     Thomas Osborne Davis – writer, poet     Seamus Deane – Aosdána     Patrick Deeley – poet     Eamon Delaney     Frank Delaney     Greg Delanty – poet     Denis Devlin – poet     Roddy Doyle – novelist     Margaretta Eagar – memoirist     Garth Ennis – comic writer     Sir Samuel Ferguson – poet     Roderick Flanagan – historian     Brian Friel – playwright, Aosdána     Oliver St. John Gogarty     Oliver Goldsmith – novelist and dramatist     Augusta, Lady Gregory – playwright and founder of the Abbey Theatre     Hugo Hamilton – author     Dermot Healy – Aosdána     Randolph Healy – poet     Seamus Heaney – Saoi of Aosdána, Poet and Nobel laureate     Aidan Higgins – Aosdána     Pat Ingoldsby – poet, playwright, television performer     Jennifer Johnston – Aosdána     Neil Jordan – author, film director, Aosdána     James Joyce – novelist     Trevor Joyce – poet     Herminie Templeton Kavanagh – author     Patrick Kavanagh – poet     John B. Keane – playwright, novelist and essayist     Benedict Kiely – Saoi of Aosdána     Caitlín R. Kiernan – American novelist and paleontologist     Anatoly Kudryavitsky – poet Writing – L to P     Derek Landy – Skulduggery Pleasant series     Mary Lavin – Saoi of Aosdána     Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu – gothic novelist     Francis Ledwidge – poet     C. S. Lewis – author of the Chronicles of Narnia     Michael Longley – Aosdána     Seosamh Mac Grianna – Gaelic author     Oliver MacDonagh – historian     Walter Macken – novelist     James Clarence Mangan – poet     Malachi Martin – horror writer     Edward Martyn – playwright, art patron and political activist     Frank McCourt – writer     Martin McDonagh – playwright     Hugh McFadden – poet and critic     John McGahern – novelist, Aosdána     Frank McGuinness – Aosdána     Paula Meehan – poet     John Montague – poet     Thomas Moore – poet     Paul Muldoon – poet     Richard Murphy – poet, Aosdána     Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill – poet     Christopher Nolan – poet, Aosdána     Edna O'Brien – novelist, Aosdána     Seán O'Casey – playwright     Frank O'Connor – short story writer     Ulick O'Connor – Aosdána     Máirtín Ó Direáin – Irish-language poet, Aosdána     Peadar O'Donnell – novelist, autobiographer and revolutionary     Harry O'Donovan – scriptwriter     Dennis O'Driscoll – poet     Seán Ó Faoláin – Saoi of Aosdána     Liam O'Flaherty – novelist, short story writer     Finghin O Mathghamhna — medieval translator and scribe     Brian O'Nolan (aka Myles na gCopaleen – Flann O'Brien) – novelist, columnist     Philip O'Sullivan Beare – writer, historian     James Plunkett – Aosdána     Katherine Purdon – Irish writer Writing – R to Z     Gabriel Rosenstock – poet     George William Russell – writer and critic     Michael Scott – novelist, screenwriter, folklorist, author of The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel     Maurice Scully – poet     Darren Shan – novelist, author of The Saga of Darren Shan     George Bernard Shaw – novelist, playwright and Nobel laureate     John D. Sheridan – short story writer and humorist     Richard Brinsley Sheridan – playwright     James Simmons – poet     Michael Smith – poet     Paul Smith – novelist, playwright     Annie M. P. Smithson – novelist     Geoffrey Squires – poet     Laurence Sterne – novelist     Bram Stoker – author of Dracula     Francis Stuart – Saoi of Aosdána     Jonathan Swift – Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, novelist and satirist     John Millington Synge – dramatist     William Trevor – writer, Aosdána     William Wall – novelist, poet     Oscar Wilde – novelist, poet, satirist     Macdara Woods – poet     Maev-Ann Wren – writer     William Butler Yeats – poet, playwright and Nobel laureate Business     Donie Cassidy – businessman and TD     Elaine Coughlan – venture capitalist     Bill Cullen – businessman, philanthropist and media personality     Niall FitzGerald – honorary KBE, chief executive of Unilever     James Gamble – co-founder of Procter & Gamble     Arthur Guinness – brewer     Sarah Keane – CEO of Swim Ireland and President of the Olympic Federation of Ireland     Pat McDonagh – founder of Supermac's     J. P. McManus – businessman     Margaret Molloy – businesswoman     Denis O'Brien – businessman     Michael O'Leary – CEO of Ryanair     Anthony J F O'Reilly – Independent Newspapers and head of Heinz, 1979–1996     David J. O'Reilly – CEO of Chevron     Tony Ryan – founder of Ryanair and Guinness Peat Aviation     Peter Sutherland – Chairman of BP Plc; Chairman of Goldman Sachs International; Ireland's representative at the European Commission Science, education and technology     Robert Adrain (1775–1843) – scientist, mathematician and United Irishman     Thomas Andrews (1813–1885) – chemist and physicist     Francis Beaufort (1774–1857) – hydrographer, developed a scale for classifying wind strength     John Stewart Bell (1928–1990) – atomic physicist, 'Bell's Inequalities'     John Desmond Bernal (1901–1971) – X-ray crystallography     George Boole (1815–1864) – Boolean Algebra, Digital Logic     Robert Boyle (1627–1691) – physicist, 'Boyle's law'     Louis Brennan (1852–1932) – principle of a guided missile, wire-guided torpedo     Pádraig de Brún (1889–1960) – scholar and mathematician     Lucien Bull (1876–1972) – high speed photography, modern electrocardiogram (ECG)     Jocelyn Bell Burnell (born 1943) – discovered pulsars     Nicholas Callan (1799–1864) – inventor of the induction coil and discoverer the principle of the dynamo     Aeneas Coffey (1780–1852) – heat exchanger, inventor of the column still     William Monad Crawford – entomologist     William Dargan – railway engineer     David Doak (born 1967) – scientist, video game developer and entrepreneur     Frederick G. Donnan – chemist     Michael Everson – expert in writing systems and Unicode, born in the U.S.     Wentworth Erck – astronomer, poor-law guardian and magistrate     Harry Ferguson – engineer, designer of the modern farm tractor, inventor of the three-point hitch     George FitzGerald (1851–1901) – theoretical physicist, 'FitzGerald-Lorentz Contraction'     Patrick Ganly (1809–1899) – geologist; described the use of cross-bedding in stratification     John Robert Gregg (1868–1948) – Gregg shorthand system     William Rowan Hamilton – mathematician, astronomer and mathematical physicist     John Philip Holland (1841–1914) – submarine designer     Ellen Hutchins (1785–1815) – botanist     John Joly (1857–1933) – photometer, colour photography     Sindy Joyce - education     Richard Kirwan (1733–1812) – meteorologist     Alice Lawrenson, (1841–1900) – botanical writer and gardener     Kathleen Lonsdale (1903–1971) – crystallographer     Percy Ludgate (1883–1922) – designer of the second Analytical Engine     Kathleen Lynn (1874–1955) – one of the first female medical doctors in Ireland, politician and activist     Robert Mallet (1810–1881) – seismology     Alexander Mitchell (1780–1868) – lighthouse and marine engineer     Dervilla Mitchell – engineer     Hannah Moylan (1867–1902) – first woman to get a degree in Science in Ireland     Robert Murphy (1806–1843) – mathematician and physicist     Richard O'Keefe – computer scientist     Frank Pantridge (1916–2004) – inventor of the mobile defibrillator     Dorothy Price (1890–1954) – physician who introduced the BCG tuberculosis vaccine to Ireland     Sir George Stokes, 1st Baronet (1819–1903) – mathematician, physicist, 'Stokes Theorem' and Stokes-Navier Equations'     George Johnstone Stoney (1826–1911) – atomic physicist, named the electron and measured its charge     John Lighton Synge (1897–1995) – mathematician     William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1824–1907) – physicist     John Tyndall (1820–1893) – physicist     Ernest Walton (1903–1995) – physicist, 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics     Mary Ward (1827–1869) – microscopist     John Richardson Wigham (1829–1906) – inventor and lighthouse engineer     Thomas Wynne (1942–2005) – inventor, mechanic and engineer Sport See also: List of footballers (Gaelic football)     Francie Barrett - professional boxer     George Best – soccer player (Northern Ireland)     John Pius Boland – double Olympic medal-winner, tennis,1896     Packie Bonner – soccer player     Andre Botha – cricketer     Jeremy Bray – cricketer     Andrew Bree – swimmer     Tommy Byrne – racing driver     Kenny Carroll – cricketer     Michael Carruth – Olympic gold medal winner, boxing     Tony Cascarino – soccer player     Eamonn Coghlan – runner     Séamus Coleman – footballer     Enda Colleran – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium     Ray Cummins – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium     Liam Daish – soccer player     Derek Daly – racing driver     Gordon D'Arcy – rugby union player     Paul Darragh – showjumper     Ron Delany – Olympic medal winner/athletics     Fergal Devitt – WWE wrestler     Ken Doherty – World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association champion     John Doyle – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium     Mick Doyle – rugby union player     Damien Duff – soccer player     Richard Dunne – soccer player     Joey Dunlop – motorcycle racer, 26 times Isle of Man TT race winner     Eamon Dunphy – soccer player, media commentator and broadcaster     Kieran Dynes – NASCAR driver     Seamus Elliott – professional cyclist     Jonny Evans – Northern Irish footballer     Stephen Farrelly – WWE wrestler     Dave Finlay – WWE wrestler     Ciaran Fitzgerald – rugby union player; British and Irish Lions captain     Seán Flanagan – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium     Sharon Foley – track and field athlete     Carl Frampton – boxer     Mick Galwey – rugby player     Edmond Gibney – equestrian     Darron Gibson – soccer player     Johnny Giles – soccer player     Peter Gillespie – cricketer     Shay Given – soccer player     Pádraig Harrington – golfer and three time Golf Majors winner     Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed – 19th-century mountaineer     David Healy – soccer player (Northern Ireland)     Kevin Heffernan – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium     Robert Heffernan – Irish race walker and Olympic medalist     Denis Hickie – rugby union player     Alex Higgins – Snooker player     Ray Houghton – soccer player     Denis Irwin – soccer player     Trent Johnston – cricketer     Eddie Jordan – racing driver and Formula 1 team owner     John Keane – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium     Robbie Keane – soccer player     Roy Keane – soccer player     Eddie Keher – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium     Joe Kelly – racing driver     Seán Kelly – cyclist     David Kennedy – racing driver     Joe Keohane – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium     Kevin Kilbane – soccer player     Michael Kinane – jockey     Ham Lambert – rugby union and cricket player     Tommy Langan – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium     Dave Langford-Smith – cricketer     Jim Langton – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium     Liam Lawrence – soccer player for Shrewsbury Town FC and Republic of Ireland international     Alan Lewis – rugby union referee     Becky Lynch – WWE wrestler     Jack Lynch – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium, politician     Eddie Macken – horse showjumper     Mick Mackey – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium     Owen Madden – soccer player     Dan Marten – cyclist     Dave McAuley – boxer     Kevin McBride – boxer     Willie John McBride – rugby union player and British and Irish Lions captain     Kyle McCallan – cricketer     David McCann – cyclist     Mick McCarthy – soccer player and Republic of Ireland soccer manager     Wayne McCullough – Olympic silver medalist; WBC World Boxing Champion     Paul McGinley – golfer     Owen Roe McGovern – Gaelic football player for Cavan; an All-Ireland player     Paul McGrath – soccer player     Conor McGregor – mixed martial artist     Barry McGuigan – world featherweight boxing champion     Catherina McKiernan – track and field athlete     Jimmy McLarnin – boxer     Lory Meagher – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium     Jason Molins – cricketer     John Mooney – cricketer     Paul Mooney – cricketer     Eoin Morgan – cricketer     Geordan Murphy – rugby union player     Seán Murphy – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium     Tommy Murphy – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium     Owen Nolan – hockey player     Kevin O'Brien – cricketer     Niall O'Brien – cricketer     Vincent O'Brien – voted greatest horse trainer of all time by Racing Post     Pat O'Callaghan – Olympic gold medal, hammer, 1928, 1932     Martin O'Connell – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium     Mick O'Connell – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium     Patrick O'Connell – Real Betis/FC Barcelona manager, 1930s     Paul O'Connell – rugby union player and British and Irish Lions captain     Cian O'Connor – show jumper who had Olympic gold medal taken from him     Shane O'Connor – Alpine skier, Olympian 2010     Christopher O'Donnell – track and field sprinter     Nick O'Donnell – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium     Brian O'Driscoll – rugby union player and British and Irish Lions captain     Ronan O'Gara – rugby union player     Dan O'Keeffe – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium     Malcolm O'Kelly – rugby union player     Jonjo O'Neill – jockey     Seán O'Neill – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium     J. J. O'Reilly – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium     Tony O'Reilly – rugby union player     Derval O'Rourke – World Indoor Champion and European silver medalist     John O'Shea – soccer player     Peter O'Sullevan – horse racing commentator     Eddie O'Sullivan – rugby union coach     Gillian O'Sullivan – World Championships silver medalist     Sonia O'Sullivan – Olympic silver medalist     Michael Phelan – billiards     Paddy Phelan – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium     William Porterfield – cricketer     Seán Purcell – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium     Niall Quinn – soccer player     Bobby Rackard – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium     Boyd Rankin – cricketer     Tony Reddin – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium     Christy Ring – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium     Nicolas Roche – cyclist     Stephen Roche – cyclist     Michael Roe – racing driver     Alain Rolland – rugby union player and referee     Glenn Ross – Strongman     Mark Scanlon – cyclist     Tom Sharkey – boxer     Mikey Sheehy – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium     Michelle Smith – multi gold medalist 1996 Olympics     Des Smyth – golfer     Dr. Bethel Solomons – rugby union player, Ireland national team, Olympic team silver     Pat Spillane – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium     Steve Staunton – soccer player     Jim Stynes – champion Australian rules footballer     Katie Taylor – boxer, Irish, European, World and Olympic champion in the 60 kg division. Olympic Gold Medalist (2012)     Bob Tisdall – Olympic gold medal, 400mH, 1932     John Treacy – Olympic silver medal, marathon, 1984     Ruby Walsh – jockey     Brian Whelahan – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium     Glenn Whelan – soccer player     Ronnie Whelan – soccer player     Andrew White – cricketer     Norman Whiteside – Northern Irish footballer     Joe Wickham – President of the Football Association of Ireland and soccer player     Keith Wood – rugby union player TV and Radio     Eamonn Andrews – television personality, producer and businessman     Amanda Byram – broadcaster     Gay Byrne – broadcaster and presenter of The Late Late Show (1962–1999)     Matt Cooper – broadcaster and journalist     Ray D'arcy – broadcaster     Ian Dempsey – television presenter     Anne Doyle – journalist and broadcaster     Joe Duffy – radio broadcaster     Eamonn Holmes – journalist and broadcaster     Pat Kenny – broadcaster and journalist     Eoghan McDermott     Graham Norton – comedian, TV host & actor     Brendan O'Connor – journalist and broadcaster     Bill O Herlihy – Raidió Teilifís Éireann broadcaster     Seamus O'Regan – politician, television personality, and host of CTV's Canada AM, born in Newfoundland, Canada     Ray Shah – DJ and radio personality     Kathryn Thomas – Operation Transformation host and broadcaster     Ryan Tubridy – 'The Late Late Show' host (2009- ), broadcaster and writer     Louis Walsh – music manager and television personality     Laura Whitmore – television presenter     Terry Wogan – broadcaster Saints     Saint Patrick (according to the stated criteria)     Aidan of Lindisfarne     Saint Brigid (Official patron saint of Ireland)     Saint Brendan     Saint Caomhán     Saint Columba (Irish: Colmcille)     Saint Dymphna     Saint Enda (Irish: Éanna)     Saint Kevin (Irish: Caomhín)     Saint Lorcán Others     Anne Anderson – Irish Ambassador to the United States     Todd Andrews – civil servant     Alfred Chester Beatty – mining magnate     George Berkeley – philosopher     Seán Brady – Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland     Brigh Brigaid – 1st-century Irish judge     Brigid of Kildare – Irish saint and bishop     William Brown – Irish-born Argentine Admiral     Frank E. Butler – marksman     Edmund Burke – philosopher and politician     Graham Cantwell – director     Edward Carson – Lord Carson, barrister and politician     Nellie Cashman – gold prospector in the United States; born in County Cork     Cheiro – astrologer     Harry Clarke – stained glass artist     Desmond Connell – Roman Catholic Cardinal of Ireland     James Craig – Viscount Craigavon, politician     Tom Crean – explorer     Rosanna Davison – Miss World 2003     Moya Doherty – impresario     Bishop James Doyle – bishop     Jim Duffy – Irish advisor to Australia's Republic Advisory Committee     Margaretta Eagar – Limerick-born governess to the last Russian royal family     Robin Eames – Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland     Johannes Scotus Eriugena – theologian (born 810)     Brendan Finucane – fighter pilot for the Royal Air Force     Michael Anthony Fleming – Bishop of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador     Eileen Flynn - Senator     Brian Gibbons – Welsh politician     Glenda Gilson – model     Veronica Guerin – journalist, murdered by drug dealers in 1996     Mary, Lady Heath – early aviator     Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet – pioneer settler of America     Peter Lacy – Russian field marshal     James Larkin – labour leader     Samantha Lewthwaite - terrorism suspect     Eliza Lynch – mistress of Francisco Solano López, Paraguayan dictator     Annette Elizabeth Mahon (1918–2013) – only Irish women in the ATA during World War II     Catherine McAuley – founder the Sisters of Mercy     Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh – scribe, translator, historian and genealogist     Edward MacLysaght – Chief Herald of Ireland, 1943–1954     Martin Maher – cadet instructor at the United States Military Academy     Diarmuid Martin – Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland     Edward Martyn – co-founder of the Irish Literary Theatre     Kevin McClory – screenwriter, producer and director     Catherine McGuinn – Justice of the Supreme Court of Ireland, President of the Law Reform Commission     John McKenna – Liverpool FC manager     Seán William McLoughlin (AKA Jacksepticeye) – YouTube personality     Michael Mills – ombudsman and political journalist     Annie Moore – first person to pass through Ellis Island immigration system     John Moore – director     Lord Killanin – head of the International Olympic Committee     Kevin Murphy – Ombudsman and Information Commissioner     May O'Callaghan – Irish suffragette and communist     Pat O'Connor – director     Patricia O'Brien – United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel, Irish Ambassador to Geneva     Seosamh Ó Duibhginn – writer, editor, publisher, Republican, and Gaelic language activist     Gráinne O'Malley – pirate queen     Emily O'Reilly – journalist, ombudsman and Information Commissioner     Jon Riley – major in the Saint Patrick's Battalion of the Mexican Army     Katharine O'Shea – mistress of Charles Stewart Parnell     Ian Paisley – Lord Paisley, Northern Irish politician     Saint Patrick – Irish patron saint     Margaret Phelan – founder of the Kilkenny Archeological Society     Horace Plunkett – founder of co-operative movement     Phoebe Prince – victim of bullycide     Robert Ross – British Army officer during the Napoleonic Wars     Mary Ryan – first woman in Ireland or Great Britain to be appointed Professor in a University     Ernest Shackleton – explorer     William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne – British Prime Minister     Gerard Slevin – Chief Herald of Ireland, 1954–1981     Timothy Smiddy – academic, economist, Ireland's first ambassador     Lisa Smith     Olivia Taaffe – founder of St Joseph's Young Priests Society     Mary Catherine Tinney – first female Irish ambassador (to Sweden)     Sarah Travers – BBC Newsline newsreader; attended Dominican College; lives in Portstewart     Philip Treacy – milliner     David Trimble – Lord Trimble, Northern Irish politician     Peter Tyndall – ombudsman     Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington – Field Marshal (defeated Napoleon at Battle of Waterloo), Commander-in-Chief of the British Army and British Prime Minister     Mary Whelan – Irish diplomat, appointed ambassador to Austria in 2014 See also List of cities in Ireland     List of Cork people     List of Donegal people     List of Dublin people     List of Galway people     List of Kilkenny people     List of Limerick people     List of M         eath people         List of Sligo people         List of Waterford people     List of Irish botanical illustrators     List of people on stamps of Ireland     List of universities in Northern Ireland         List of Queen's University Belfast people     List of universities in the Republic of Ireland         List of Dublin City University people         List of NUI Galway people         List of Trinity College Dublin people         List of University College Dublin people     Lists of people by nationality         List of Americans of Irish descent         Irish American         Irish Australian         Irish Canadian         Irish Quebeckers
  • Condition: New
  • Size: 80 mm
  • Modified Item: No
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: Ireland
  • Institution/ Themes: Counties
  • Country: Ireland
  • Flag Type: Country

PicClick Insights - Gold Silver Coin 3D Irish Revolution Ireland 1916 Proclamation St Patricks Day PicClick Exclusive

  •  Popularity - 0 watchers, 0.0 new watchers per day, 5 days for sale on eBay. 0 sold, 1 available.
  •  Best Price -
  •  Seller - 33,562+ items sold. 0.2% negative feedback. Top-Rated Plus! Top-Rated Seller, 30-day return policy, ships in 1 business day with tracking.

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