The Truth About Ireland

(or, you know, facts about Ireland. The actual title just seems a bit more dramatic XD)

Since it’s the most Irish day of the year and we know everyone wants to be Irish today, I’ve decided to give you some facts about our beautiful country and island. Facts you can trust from an actual Irish person including basic facts like our population and capital city but also a few more interesting bits. So welcome to the Land of Saints and Scholars, The Emerald Isle, Hibernia, the beautiful land of Eire or, to most of you, the island of Ireland. Cead Míle Fáilte or, to those of you who don’t understand, a hundred thousand welcomes and, of course, a very happy St. Patrick’s day to you all.

P.S. Your first fact is that it is Paddy’s day NOT Patty’s.

Basic Facts

– Ireland is made of 32 counties which are broken into 4 provinces.

– Its major cities include Dublin, Galway, Cork, Limerick and Belfast.

– Geopolitically, the island is divided into the independent state of the Republic of Ireland (26 counties) and Northern Ireland (6 counties) which is part of the UK.

– The capital of the Republic of Ireland is Dublin while the largest city in Northern Ireland is Belfast.

– The population of the island is roughly 7 million people.

– The country’s name is Ireland or Éire which is derived from the Old Irish goddess Éiru.

Interesting Facts

– Ireland is credited as the home of Halloween with numerous traditions stemming from the celebration of Samhain including pumpkin carving which was originally turnip carving.

– Ireland is currently the most successful country when it comes to the Eurovision song contest – we’ve won it seven times.

– We are the only country in the world to use a musical instrument as our national symbol – the harp.

– The city of Dublin, Ireland’s capital, was founded by Vikings in the 9th Century AD.

– Irish (it is not called Gaelic) is one of the oldest living languages and is actually Ireland’s first language even though English is more commonly spoken. In Irish the language is referred to as Gaeilge (gwale-geh).

– More Irish people live outside Ireland than in it.

– Ireland is home to the longest river in the British Isles – The River Shannon.

– The oldest pub in Ireland dates to 900AD and is found in Athlone, County Westmeath and, so far, it is also the oldest pub in the world though research is still ongoing.

– The world’s oldest maternity hospital is the Rotunda which is found in Dublin, It has has been operating since 1745 which makes the Rotunda 31 years older than the United States of America.

– We have an island with a colony of wallabies – Lambay Island – unfortunately it’s a private island so we can’t all go for a visit.

– The phrase ‘Luck of the Irish’ was originally an insult to explain away the hard work of Irish men and women abroad.

– Meanwhile, Ireland is the second largest exporter of computer and IT services in the world.

– Croke Park in Dublin is the fourth largest stadium in Europe.

– The submarine was invented in Ireland by John Philip Holland.

– Ireland has the 3^rd largest consumption of tea per capita.

– Newgrange in County Meath is 5000 years old which makes it older than the Pyramids of Giza and Stonehenge.

– Finally, Ireland loves music and we love to share our music with the world. We’ve given the world internationally renowned acts and artists including, but not limited to, U2, The Cranberries, Van Morrison, Thin Lizzy, Hozier, Niall Horan, Dermot Kennedy, Snow Patrol, The Frames, CMAT, Mary Black, The Coronas, Fontaines D.C and so many more! Plus, if you’re looking for more Irish music, our friends over at MusicBox PR have shared some of the Irish artists and tracks they think you need to hear right now and you can check that out here!