IRELAND

Jesús Martinez MorenoJonathan Arias Sanchez

INDEX

Culture

Geography

History

Climate

SportsPopular Music

Gastronomy Religion and languaje

Economy

Agriculture

Art

Government

Map of Rep. of Ireland.

GEOGRAPHY

HISTORY

• Early history (8000 BC – 400 AD)• Early Christian Ireland (400–800)• Early medieval and Viking era (800–1168)• Norman Ireland (1168–1536)• Early Modern Ireland (1536–1691)• Protestant Ascendancy (1691–1801)• Union with Great Britain (1801–1912)• Home Rule, Easter Rising and War of Independence (1912–1922)• Free State and Republic (1922–present)

CULTURE It is probable that Ireland was first occupied by Neolithic people, users of flint, and then

by the small, dark, warlike people from the Mediterranean, users of bronze, who are known in legend as the Firbolgs. Later came the Picts, also an immigrant people of the Bronze Age. Extensive traces of the culture of this early period survive in the form of stone monuments (menhirs, dolmens, and cromlechs) and stone forts, dating from 2000 to 1000 bc. During the Iron Age, the Celtic invasion (circa 350 bc) introduced a new cultural strain into Ireland, one that was to predominate. The oldest relics of the Celtic (Gaelic) language can be seen in the 5th-century Ogham stone inscriptions in county Kerry. Ireland was Christianised by St. Patrick in the 5th century. The churches and monasteries founded by him and his successors became the fountainhead from which Christian art and refinement permeated the crude and warlike Celtic way of life.

Ireland is famous for its contributions to world literature. Two great mythological cycles in Gaelic "the Ulster (Red Branch) and the Fenian (Ossianic)" tell the stories of such legendary heroes as C� Chulainn (Cuchulain), Maeve (Medb), Finn mac Cumhail (Finn MacCool), and Deirdre. After a long and bitter colonisation by England, Ireland gave the world some of the greatest writers in the English language, including Jonathan Swift, Oliver Goldsmith, and George Bernard Shaw. Associated with the struggle for independence in this century is the Irish literary revival, which produced the works of William Butler Yeats and Sean O'Casey. James Joyce was a formative influence on much of later 20th-century European literature.

Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, is the most important national holiday in Ireland.

Ireland has a very regular climate with temperatures that do not vary in excess throughout all the country. The climate is influenced by the current of the gulf, and the predominates winds are those of southwest.

In winter it is a country very cold, but never unbearable. The coldest months are January and February, with temperatures that make the rounds between the 4 and the 7 degrees Celsius. Julio and August are the warmest months, with temperatures that are between the 14 and the 16 degrees and May and June are normally sunny. Ireland, with good weather, is a paradise.

It rains rather here, the average precipitations after a year in Ireland are between the 800 and the 1200 liters by meter squared in the most level areas, in mountains, the 2000 can be arrived or be surpassed. In some parts of the east, rains can go up to around the 750 liters and the 1500 in some parts of the west. Rains in Ireland are the people in charge of the green color of the landscapes of this earth.

CLIMATE

POPULAR MUSIC

The melody of traditional music takes the form of traditional dances, being most popular reel. Other frequent structures are giga, hornpipe, polka, slip jig, slide and air that it is a lyrical subject that is interpreted slowly and freely. Traditional music only was written in Irish and some of its authors són: George Petrie, Edward Bunting, Francis O' Neill, Canon James Goodman. The instruments used by the Irish are the Bodhrán and the guitars.

Some of our modern musicians include (with external links) are Official U2, Chris De Burgh, Christy Moore, WestLife, Boy Zone, Sinead O'Connor, Enya, Cranberries, Enya Mary Black, Van Morrison, Hot House Flowers...

Gaelic Football- Gaelic Football, is a type of football played principally in Ireland,

where it originated and where it became popular in the 16th century. At that time a team consisted of all the able-bodied men of a town or parish; the number of players on each team ranged from 25 to 100. Frequently the game started at a point midway between two towns or parishes and ended when one team had driven the ball across a boundary line into its opponent's town or parish. The rules of the modern game were promulgated in 1884 by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA); that body still controls and regulates the sport.

Hurling Hurling, traditional Irish field sport in which a ball, called a

sliothar, is caught on a hurley, or stick, and carried or hurled to the goal. Irish mythology has tales of the warrior Cuchulainn and other legendary heroes who were expert hurlers. The rules of play were standardized in 1884 when the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded. Today the game is almost entirely restricted to the Republic of Ireland, where the All-Ireland championship competition has been held since 1887

SPORTS

GASTRONOMY Traditional menus feature Irish Stew, tender local lamb with

potatoes, carrots and onions and Champ, creamy mashed potatoes flecked with green scallions. Potato Cakes are also a popular national dish. The potato patties are made with potato, flour and some onion, simply pan fried or on the griddle. Bacon and cabbage is also a popular dish. Ireland is famous for its local produce and organic fruit and vegetables, handcrafted cheese and freshly caught seafood are part of the delights as are freshly baked cakes and breads.

  · Ireland is famed for Guinness but that’s not all it has to offer in

the beverage department. Other great stouts and beers like Murphy’s Irish Stout, Beamish, and Kilkenny beer are also available. Irish whiskey is distilled three times, unlike Scotch, which is only distilled twice and a treat for whisky drinkers.

 

The economy of Ireland has been traditionally agricultural. Since the mid-1950s, however, the country's industrial base has expanded, and now mining, manufacturing, construction, and public utilities account for approximately 37% of the gross domestic product and agriculture for only about 12%. Private enterprise operates in most sectors of the economy. Annual budget figures in the late 1980s showed approximately $14.4 billion in revenue and $14.8 billion in expenditure.

ECONOMY

RELIGION AND LANGUAGE

About 94% of the people of Ireland are Roman Catholics, and less than 4% are Protestants. Protestant groups include the Church of Ireland (Anglican) and the Presbyterian and Methodist denominations. Freedom of worship is guaranteed by the constitution.

Almost all the people speak English, and about one-fourth also speak Irish, a Gaelic language that is the traditional tongue of Ireland. Irish is spoken as the vernacular by a relatively small number of people, however, mostly in areas of the west. The constitution provides for both Irish and English as official languages.

From the 5th to the 9th century the Irish monasteries produced artworks of world renown, primarily in the form of illuminated manuscripts. The greatest such work is the Book of Kells, which has some of the most beautiful calligraphy of the Middle Ages (see Celts: Art). Native art seems to have disappeared during the period of English domination, but after the 17th century a number of Irish painters and sculptors achieved fame. The Irish painters George Barret (1732-84), James Barry (1741-1806), and Nathaniel Hone (1718-84) were cofounders, with Sir Joshua Reynolds, of the Royal Academy in 1768. James Arthur O'Connor (1791-1812) was a noted landscape artist of his period, and Daniel Maclise (1806-70) painted the magnificent frescoes in the Royal Gallery of the House of Lords. Notable among Irish painters of the 19th century were Nathaniel Hone, Jr. (1831-1917), and Walter F. Osborne (1859-1903). More recently, the expressionist painter Jack B. Yeats (1871-1957), the cubist painter Mainie Jellett (1897-1944), and the stained-glass artist Evie Hone (1894-1955) have achieved widespread recognition and acclaim for their work.

ART

Almost 81% of the total area of Ireland is devoted to pasture and cropland. The agricultural enterprise producing the most income is animal husbandry. In the late 1980s livestock included some 5.6 million cattle, 4.3 million sheep, 960,000 hogs, and 55,000 horses. Poultry production is also important. The principal field crops are wheat, barley, oats, and potatoes. Among other important crops are hay, turnips, and sugar beets. The best farmlands are found in the east and southeast.

AGRICULTURE

GOVERNMENT

The government of Ireland is based on the constitution of 1937, as amended. This document proclaims Ireland a sovereign, independent, democratic state. The constitution also defines the national territory as the whole of Ireland. The country became a republic in 1949. See How Ireland became a republic and Irish Politics.