There are so many things to do and wonderful places to see in Ireland, a place known to offer wildest adventures and breathtaking sceneries located in the North Atlantic west of Great Britain. God’s beautiful architecture gave the place a reason why tourists are flocking in this country. The best attraction is the Giant’s Causeway, well known for its polygonal columns of layered basalt and considered as one and only UNESCO World Heritage site in Northern Ireland. History tells a great tale in some of the historical sites in Ireland that every tourist needs to know. This is the perfect place for individuals who love adventures, outdoor-excitement and fun.
IRELAND – IMPORTANT AND INTERESTING FACTS
- The Irish consume in average 131.1 liters of beer per year – the 2nd highest per-capita consumption of beer after the Czech Republic.
- Ireland has three most famous symbols of Ireland are the green Shamrock, the harp, and the Celtic cross. Green Shamrock meaning was imparted to the Holy Trinity. The harp represents the legends of its magical powers comes from the time when the bards would sing and tell stories of famous events to the Irish kings and chiefs. And Celtic cross represents him standing in a sacred stone that was marked with a circle.
- Famous Irish breweries include Guinness, Smithwicks (Kilkenny), and Harp Lager. Brewing in Ireland has a long history, and total production of beer stands at over 8 million hectolitres, and approximately half the alcohol consumed is beer.
- Londonderry’s Banks of the Foyle Halloween Carnival is the oldest Halloween celebration in Ireland, as well as Ireland’s largest street party attracting up to 25,000 enthusiasts from across the globe that flock to the city to take part.
- Ireland is a snake-free island. Due to its isolation from the European mainland, Ireland lacks several species common elsewhere in Europe, such as moles, weasels, polecats or roe deer.
- Phoenix Park in Dublin is the third largest walled city parks in Europe after La Mandria in Venaria Reale (Turin) and Richmond Park in London. It covers 707 hectares (1,750 acres)
- The Tara Mine near Navan, County Meath, is the largest zinc mine in Europe, and the fifth largest in the world. Tara is an underground mine where the ore body lies between 50 and 900 metres below the surface in carbonate-hosted lead-zinc ore deposits.
- The passage tomb cemeteries in Carrowmore, County Sligo, are the largest group of megalithic tombs (30 of them) in Ireland or Britain. It is also among the country’s oldest, with monuments ranging from five thousand to five thousand eight hundred years old.
- The Céide Fields in County Mayo are the most extensive Stone Age site in the world. It contains the oldest known field systems in the world (6,000 years old), as well as Europe’s largest stone enclosure (77 km).
- At a height of 688 metres above the Atlantic Ocean, Croaghaun (on Achill Island) are the second highest cliffs in Europe – after Cape Enniberg in the Faroe Islands.
IRELAND – COOL, FUNNY AND FUN FACTS
- Raymond O’Brien was the shortest person in Irish history. The dwarf, who died in 1795, was one foot eleven inches tall.
- A song only needs to sell 5,000 copies to top the Irish music charts.
- A book only needs to sell 3,000 copies to top the Irish bestseller list.
- Titanic, the Unsinkable ship, which sunk in its maiden voyage, was made in Ireland. It was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning of 15 April 1912 after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, UK to New York City, US.
- The heaviest Irish person on record was Aine Gowan. At the time of her death she weighed over 600 pounds
- 90% of Irish nationals are Catholic, but only 30% ever attend church.
- The Irish report the lowest annual number of UFO sightings in Europe.
- The longest place name in Ireland is Muckanaghederdauhaulia. Muckanaghederdauhaulia is a 470 acre townland in the civil parish of Kilcummin in County Galway, Ireland.
- According to the Irish birthday traditions, people hold the birthday child upside down and bump the head slightly on the floor. The bumps correspond to the age of the child. It is believed that this tradition brings good luck.
- Irish marriages last an average of 13 years. Irish couples prefer to separate and live in sin with their new partners rather than go through costly legal proceedings.
IRELAND – HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL FACTS
- Every 6th of January, Little Women’s Christmas is Ireland’s traditional as girl’s night out. Itis one of the traditional names in Ireland for 6 January, more commonly known in the rest of the world as the Feast of the Epiphany
- Ireland has had its own Olympics since the Bronze Age. The Tailteann Games (Aonach Tailteann), as they were known, were athletic contests held in honor of the deceased goddess Tailtiu, Lugh’s wife.
- In Ireland history, Ireland has won seven times the Eurovision Song Contest (in 1970, 1980, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996), more than any other country.
- Since 1981, Slane Concert has been held annually on the grounds of Slane Castle, at the initiative of its owner, the 8th Marquess Conyngham. Artists who have performed at Slane include David Bowie, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Robbie Williams, Bryan Adams, U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Madonna and Oasis.
- In 1897, The story of the world-famous vampire Count Dracula was written by Bram Stoker, from Dublin. Dracula is said to have been inspired by the early Irish legend of Abhartach, an evil chieftain who, after being betrayed by his subjects and slain by the hero Cathrain, rose from his grave every night to drink the blood of his subjects.
- Hook Lighthouse is thought to be the oldest working lighthouses in Europe, or possibly in the world. Located at Hook Head, in County Wexford, the present structure was completed either in 1172 or in 1245, although the first lighthouse on that spot dates back to the 5th century.
- During 1820-1893, The Anglo-Irish physicist John Tyndall) was the first to prove the Greenhouse Effect, the first to discover why the sky is blue (Tyndall effect), as well as a number of other discoveries about processes in the atmosphere.
- The astronomer William Edward Wilson (1851–1908) took some of the earliest photographs of the stars, the moon, the sun and a solar eclipse.
- In 1889, astronomer William Edward Wilson became the first person to measure the temperature of the sun, reaching an estimation of 6590°C, remarkably close to the modern value of 6075°C.
- Louis Brennan (1852-1932), an Irish mechanical engineer who immigrated to Australia, invented the steerable torpedo in 1874. It was the first weapon in history that could be remotely directed to its target.
- On 9th July 1939, the Pan Am Clipper III left Botwood, Newfoundland, and landed the next day at Foynes, County Limerick. It was the first direct commercial passenger flight from America to Europe.
