99 Fun Facts About Ireland and Irish Culture

Which three-leaved plant is Saint Patrick said to have used to explain the Holy Trinity?

Legend holds that Patrick plucked the shamrock to illustrate three persons in one God. The three-leaved plant has been an emblem of Ireland ever since.

Before green took over, which colour was linked to Saint Patrick through the Order of St Patrick?

The Order of St Patrick, founded in 1783, adopted a shade now called St Patrick's blue. Green only took over later, through Irish nationalism.

In which year did 17 March become an official public holiday in Ireland?

The Bank Holiday (Ireland) Act 1903 made Saint Patrick's Day a public holiday. The same year saw Ireland's first parade for the feast.

In which city was Ireland's first Saint Patrick's Day parade held?

Parades began among the Irish diaspora in North America and only reached the island in the 20th century, starting in Waterford.

Light floods the inner chamber of Newgrange through its roof-box at sunrise on which day of the year?

The winter solstice, the year's shortest day: the Neolithic builders aligned the 19-metre passage so it lights the chamber, and places in the annual lottery are heavily oversubscribed.

Newgrange is the principal monument of which World Heritage Site complex in County Meath?

Brú na Bóinne — the 'palace of the Boyne' — also contains the great mounds of Knowth and Dowth. It was built around 3100 BC, predating the pyramids at Giza.

In hurling, what is the small ball struck with the stick called?

The sliotar is a leather-covered ball with raised ridges. A bodhrán is a drum, a camán is the stick itself and a currach is a boat.

In hurling, how many points is it worth to put the ball under the crossbar into the net?

Under the bar past the keeper is a goal, worth three points; over the bar scores one. Scores are written goals-points, so 2-10 is 16 points and 1-14 is 17.

How many players does each team field in a hurling match?

Hurling is 15-a-side, the same as Gaelic football. The sport is run by the Gaelic Athletic Association, founded in 1884.

The Book of Kells, made around 800 AD, was written in which language?

It is a Gospel book in Latin, lettered in insular majuscule script with black, red, purple and yellow inks.

Which Dublin institution's library puts the Book of Kells on public display?

Trinity College Dublin has held the Book of Kells since the 1660s and shows it in the Old Library, two volumes open at a time, with the pages turned regularly.

Carrauntoohil, the highest mountain in Ireland, rises within which range?

MacGillycuddy's Reeks on the Iveragh Peninsula hold Ireland's highest ground. Carrauntoohil tops out at 1,038.6 metres.

Ireland's highest peak stands on the Iveragh Peninsula, in which county?

The Iveragh Peninsula in the south-west is circled by the Ring of Kerry road. Its mountains are the highest on the island.

How long was the lease Arthur Guinness signed in 1759 for a disused Dublin brewery?

He took the brewery for £45 a year on a lease running to the year 10759. Guinness later bought the land outright.

In which Dublin brewery did Arthur Guinness begin brewing ales in 1759?

St James's Gate has brewed Guinness for more than 260 years and is now also the site of the Guinness Storehouse visitor attraction.

What name is given to the districts where Irish survives as a community language?

The Gaeltacht regions lie mostly along the western seaboard. The Oireachtas is the national parliament, not a place.

How many letters does the traditional Irish alphabet contain?

The traditional alphabet drops j, k, q, v, w, x, y and z, leaving 18 letters. Loanwords sometimes bring the missing letters back.

On a Claddagh ring, what does the crown stand for?

The heart is love, the clasped hands friendship and the crown loyalty. Which way the heart points is said to signal whether the wearer is spoken for.

The Claddagh ring is named for a fishing village beside which city?

Claddagh sat at the mouth of the River Corrib, just outside the old walls of Galway city.

Which organism caused the potato blight behind Ireland's Great Famine?

Phytophthora infestans is an oomycete, not a fungus, and has been traced to the Toluca Valley in Mexico before it reached Europe.

Over which years is Ireland's Great Famine conventionally dated?

1845–1852: roughly a million people died and more than a million emigrated. The 1841 census counted about 8.2 million people; by 1851 the figure had fallen to about 6.5 million.

The 'uilleann' of the uilleann pipes comes from the Irish word for which body part?

Píb uilleann means 'pipes of the elbow', because the player works the bellows with the arm rather than blowing.

On the uilleann pipes, what is the pipe that plays the melody called?

The chanter carries the melody on the uilleann pipes; the three drones hold constant notes and the keyed regulators add chords, all fed by a bellows worked with the elbow.

Samhain, the Gaelic festival that fed into modern Halloween, marks the start of which season?

Samhain marks the start of winter, the dark half of the Celtic year. It falls on 1 November, with celebrations beginning the previous evening because the Celtic day started at sunset.

Which distinction does Lough Neagh hold?

The Northern Irish lough covers 383 square kilometres, making it the biggest lake by area anywhere in the British Isles.

In what year did Ireland join the European Economic Community (EEC)?

Ireland became a member of the European Economic Community (EEC) on January 1, 1973, following a referendum held in May 1972.

Which Irish potato pancake belongs to the northern midlands and Ulster?

Boxty is made from raw grated potato mixed with mash, and is most at home in the north midlands, north Connacht and southern Ulster.

Who is the Irish author known for writing the Gothic horror novel 'Dracula'?

Bram Stoker, an Irish writer, achieved lasting fame for his 1897 Gothic horror novel 'Dracula', which introduced the iconic vampire character.

What does the Republic of Ireland officially call the Irish language?

Gaeilge is the language's own name for itself and the form used in the constitution, which ranks Irish as the national and first official language ahead of English.

What is Ireland's national anthem, 'Amhrán na bhFiann', called in English?

Ireland's national anthem is titled "Amhrán na bhFiann" in Irish, which translates to "The Soldier's Song" in English.

How many traditional counties make up the entire island of Ireland?

The island of Ireland is historically and traditionally divided into 32 counties, with 26 forming the Republic of Ireland and 6 in Northern Ireland.

What is the women's stick-and-ball sport closely related to hurling called?

Camogie is the women's form of hurling, played with a camán and sliotar and governed by the Camogie Association; shinty is the related Scottish game.

Which grain did Robert Peel's government import from America in 1845 to relieve the famine?

Maize, or Indian corn: Peel secretly ordered £100,000 worth from the United States in November 1845, and the unfamiliar yellow meal was nicknamed 'Peel's brimstone'.

Irish pirates snatched sixteen-year-old Saint Patrick from his home in which land?

Patrick was born in Roman Britain; by his own Confessio he was seized at sixteen by Irish raiders and kept as a slave herding animals for six years before he escaped.

On which date is Ulysses set, now marked each year as Bloomsday?

Ulysses takes place on 16 June 1904, the day Joyce first walked out with Nora Barnacle; Bloomsday, named for Leopold Bloom, has been celebrated on that date since 1954.

The Giant's Causeway in County Antrim consists of roughly 40,000 interlocking columns of which rock?

The columns are basalt: highly fluid lava from a Paleogene fissure eruption forced up through the chalk beds of Antrim and cracked into hexagonal pillars as it cooled and contracted.

On which day do Ireland's 'Wrenboys' traditionally go door to door with a mock dead wren?

Wren Day is 26 December, St Stephen's Day: wrenboys once hunted a real wren, and modern groups carry a mock one on a decorated pole, singing door to door for money.

Which saint's feast day on 1 February became an Irish public holiday in 2023?

St Brigid of Kildare: her feast, 1 February, coincides with Imbolc, the old festival marking the start of spring, and the public holiday, first observed in 2023, is taken on the first Monday of February.

Which 1690 victory of William III does the Twelfth of July commemorate in Northern Ireland?

The Battle of the Boyne, fought on 1 July 1690 in the old calendar, saw William III defeat James II; Orangemen mark it on the Twelfth with parades across Northern Ireland.

According to legend, Fionn mac Cumhaill built the Giant's Causeway to reach which land without wetting his feet?

Scotland: he wanted to fight an ugly Scottish giant; another tale has him flinging a chunk of Ireland that became the Isle of Man.

Which Irish writer was the first to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1923?

W. B. Yeats won in 1923, the first Irish laureate; George Bernard Shaw followed in 1925, Samuel Beckett in 1969 and Seamus Heaney in 1995.

Which of Ireland's literary Nobel laureates was NOT born in Dublin?

Heaney was born in County Londonderry, though he later lived in Dublin.

What is the name of the largest festival of Irish traditional music held each year?

Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, run by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and first held in Mullingar in 1951, pairs competitions with street sessions and is the largest festival of Irish traditional music.

Ireland became the first country in the world to ban smoking in all workplaces, including pubs, in which year?

The ban took effect on 29 March 2004, making Ireland the first country to outlaw smoking in all enclosed workplaces, pubs and restaurants included.

In which month is the three-day National Ploughing Championships held each year?

September: the National Ploughing Championships, first held at Athy in 1931, moves between rural sites and draws crowds in the hundreds of thousands to its ploughing contests and trade village.

Ireland's first official radio station, 2BE, began broadcasting in 1924 from which city?

2BE was the BBC's Belfast station, on air from 15 September 1924; Dublin's 2RN followed on 1 January 1926 and Cork's 6CK in 1927.

Which Neolithic site in County Mayo shows that farming in Ireland dates back about 6,000 years?

The Céide Fields near Ballycastle are among the oldest known field systems in the world: stone walls laid out by Neolithic farmers about 6,000 years ago and preserved under blanket bog.

Which city is the seat of the archbishops who hold the title Primate of All Ireland?

Armagh: by tradition St Patrick founded his principal church there in 445, and both the Catholic and Church of Ireland archbishops of Armagh are styled Primate of All Ireland.

Which Irish name for May is also the ancient festival that opened summer?

Bealtaine: the fire festival on 1 May opened the summer half of the Celtic year, and Bealtaine remains the Irish name for May, as Lúnasa is for August.

Riverdance began life in 1994 as a seven-minute interval act at which event?

The 1994 Eurovision Song Contest at Dublin's Point Theatre: Bill Whelan's score and Jean Butler and Michael Flatley's dancing turned a seven-minute filler slot into a global touring show.

Which singer won Eurovision for Ireland twice, in 1980 and 1987?

Johnny Logan won with 'What's Another Year' in 1980 and 'Hold Me Now' in 1987, and wrote Linda Martin's 1992 winner 'Why Me?', a hand in three Irish victories.

On the Irish tricolour, which community is symbolised by the orange stripe?

Green stands for Catholics and the white between them for a hoped-for peace. The design's symbolism was spelled out by Thomas Francis Meagher in 1848.

Which site is traditionally identified as the seat of the High Kings of Ireland?

The Hill of Tara in County Meath was the ceremonial seat of the High Kings; its monuments run from the Neolithic passage tomb called the Mound of the Hostages to Iron Age enclosures.

In legend, what would the Lia Fáil stone do under the foot of the true king?

The Lia Fáil, or Stone of Destiny, was said to cry out when the rightful king stood on it; the Tuatha Dé Danann brought it to Ireland, and a standing stone on Tara's Forradh is identified as it.

The Cliffs of Moher rise from the Atlantic at the edge of which county?

The cliffs are in County Clare, running about 14 km along the southwestern edge of the Burren and topping out at 214 metres near O'Brien's Tower.

Skellig Michael's ancient monastery stood in for the planet Ahch-To in which film series?

Star Wars: the island appeared as Ahch-To in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. Its beehive huts were built by monks between the 6th and 8th centuries.

Which Dublin building served as the rebels' headquarters during the 1916 Rising?

The General Post Office on O'Connell Street, then Sackville Street, was the rebels' headquarters; two republican flags flew over it during the six days before the surrender on 29 April 1916.

What is the Irish-language name of the Constitution of Ireland?

Bunreacht na hÉireann came into force on 29 December 1937 after a plebiscite the previous July, replacing the 1922 Free State constitution; Saorstát Éireann was the Free State's own name.

Mary Robinson became Ireland's first female president after an election in which year?

Robinson won the 1990 election, beating Brian Lenihan, and became the first Labour-backed candidate and the first non-Fianna Fáil candidate to win a contested presidential election.

What is the spectator capacity of Croke Park after its 1991–2005 redevelopment?

Croke Park holds 82,300, the largest stadium in Ireland; it is the GAA's headquarters and hosted rugby and football internationals from 2007 to 2010 while Lansdowne Road was rebuilt.

The GAA was founded in 1884 in the billiard room of Hayes' Hotel in which town?

Thurles, County Tipperary: Michael Cusack and Maurice Davin founded the Gaelic Athletic Association at Hayes' Hotel on 1 November 1884, and the town is home to Semple Stadium, a major hurling venue.

Chef Joe Sheridan is credited with inventing Irish coffee at a flying-boat terminal where?

Foynes, on the Shannon estuary, was the flying-boat terminal where Sheridan first served the drink in the early 1940s; he later worked at San Francisco's Buena Vista Cafe, which made Irish coffee famous in America.

Colcannon combines mashed potato with which vegetable?

Cabbage: the name comes from the Irish cál ceannann, 'white-headed cabbage', though some recipes swap in kale.

What is baked into a Halloween barmbrack to predict who will marry within the year?

A ring: whoever finds it is said to marry within the year. Older bracks also hid a pea, a stick, a scrap of cloth and a coin, each with its own fortune; shop-bought bracks hold only a toy ring.

The date 1608 on Bushmills whiskey labels refers to what?

1608 is the year James I granted landowner Sir Thomas Phillips a royal licence to distil in the area; the Old Bushmills Distillery company itself was registered in 1784.

Tayto is credited with the world's first flavoured crisp. What was the flavour?

Founder Joe 'Spud' Murphy started the company in Dublin in 1954. Salt & Vinegar followed in 1966.

Samuel Beckett wrote 'Waiting for Godot', first staged in 1953, originally in which language?

French, as En attendant Godot, written in 1948–49; Beckett's own English version added Dublin idioms such as the 'dudeen' pipe.

W. B. Yeats is buried at Drumcliff in which county?

He died in France in 1939 and asked to be quietly reburied in Sligo once the newspapers had forgotten him; an Irish Navy corvette brought him home in 1948.

Jonathan Swift was dean of which Dublin cathedral from 1713?

Swift was Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral from 1713 until his death in 1745, earning the nickname 'Dean Swift'; he is buried in the cathedral beside Esther Johnson, his 'Stella'.

The head of a traditional bodhrán is made from the skin of which animal?

Goatskin: the traditional bodhrán head is stretched over a frame usually 35–45 cm across; early 20th-century home-made versions used willow frames with pennies as jingles.

U2 formed in 1976 after a notice went up at which Dublin school?

Mount Temple Comprehensive in Clontarf: fourteen-year-old Larry Mullen Jr. pinned the note looking for musicians, and early rehearsals took place in the school's music room.

According to legend, kissing the Blarney Stone grants what?

The gift of the gab, meaning great eloquence or skill at flattery; the stone is a block of Carboniferous limestone.

How long is the River Shannon, the longest river in Ireland?

About 360 km: it rises at the Shannon Pot in County Cavan and drains about one fifth of the island before reaching the Atlantic through a 102 km estuary.

In Irish, Dublin's name Baile Átha Cliath means 'town of the' what?

Baile Átha Cliath is 'town of the hurdled ford', a wattle crossing of the Liffey; the English name comes instead from Dubh Linn, the 'black pool' where the River Poddle met the Liffey.

Which Northern Irish shipyard built the Titanic?

Harland and Wolff of Belfast launched Titanic on 31 May 1911; White Star let the yard spend whatever it needed on the ship plus a five per cent profit margin.

At Killorglin's Puck Fair each August, which animal is crowned king?

A feral male is caught in the mountains, crowned by a local schoolgirl and displayed on a high stand for three days before being led back to the hills.

How long is a single term of office for the President of Ireland?

Seven years, a length modelled on the Weimar German presidency; presidents may serve at most two terms, as Éamon de Valera and Mary McAleese did.

Which Dublin green space contains Áras an Uachtaráin, the president's residence?

Áras an Uachtaráin stands in the Phoenix Park; built in 1751–54 for park ranger Nathaniel Clements, it served as the Viceregal Lodge before becoming the president's residence in 1938.

What is the official title of Ireland's head of government?

Taoiseach, the Irish word for chief or leader, is used in both languages; other countries' prime ministers are called príomh-aire in Irish. The deputy head of government is the Tánaiste.

The sitcom 'Father Ted' is set in which fictional place off Ireland's west coast?

Craggy Island: Bishop Brennan banished the three priests there for past misdeeds, including Dougal's mysterious 'Blackrock Incident'; its rival parish is Rugged Island.

St Kevin's 6th-century monastic settlement at Glendalough lies in which county?

Glendalough lies in the Wicklow Mountains; the name means 'valley of two lakes', and Kevin is said to have studied as a boy under three holy men, Eoghan, Lochan and Eanna.

Who wrote 'Ireland's Call', the anthem used by the all-island rugby team?

Phil Coulter, the Derry songwriter, wrote it after the IRFU commissioned an anthem for the 1995 Rugby World Cup that players from both jurisdictions could sing; hockey and cricket teams adopted it too.

Katie Taylor carried Ireland's flag at London 2012 and then won gold in which sport?

London was the first Games to include women's boxing. She had already won four world titles in a row before the Olympics.

Annie Moore, first immigrant processed at Ellis Island in 1892, came from which county?

Annie Moore, from Cork city, sailed from Queenstown, renamed Cobh in 1920, on the steamship Nevada and landed on 1 January 1892; statues of her stand at Cobh and at Ellis Island.

How much money did the Choctaw people send to Ireland during the Famine in 1847?

$170, raised in 1847 only sixteen years after the Trail of Tears; the Kindred Spirits sculpture at Midleton, County Cork, unveiled in 2017, commemorates the gift.

The Ardagh Chalice was found in 1868 by two boys digging where?

Jim Quin and Paddy Flanagan were digging in a potato field inside a ring fort at Reerasta near Ardagh, County Limerick; the chalice and the rest of the hoard are in the National Museum of Ireland.

By which two-letter abbreviation is a member of Dáil Éireann known?

TD stands for Teachta Dála; members of the Dáil are elected from multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation using the single transferable vote.

Irish became an official language of the European Union in which year?

Irish became a full official and working language of the EU on 1 January 2007; a derogation limiting what had to be translated into it ran until the end of 2021.

Ireland's second city is nicknamed 'the Rebel City' for backing which cause?

During the Wars of the Roses the city backed the pretender Perkin Warbeck; its mayor and leading citizens were executed when the rebellion failed.

The 120-metre Spire of Dublin stands on the former site of which monument?

Nelson's Pillar, a column of 1809 topped by a statue of Horatio Nelson, was blown up by former IRA members in March 1966; the site sat empty until the millennium design competition of 1998.

The Rock of Cashel was the traditional seat of the kings of which province?

King Muirchertach Ua Briain handed the fortress to the Church in 1101. St Patrick is said to have converted the King of Munster there.

Which meat is traditional in an Irish stew?

Mutton: sheep were kept for wool and milk, so only old animals ended up in the pot, needing hours of slow cooking. Purists allow only neck chops, potatoes, onions and water.

Reek Sunday, when pilgrims climb a mountain in Mayo, is the last Sunday of which month?

Reek Sunday falls on the last Sunday of July; the Croagh Patrick pilgrimage dates back to at least the Middle Ages, and some pilgrims make the 764-metre climb barefoot as penance.

Which is the largest of the three Aran Islands off Ireland's west coast?

Inishmore (Inis Mór), about 31 square kilometres, is the largest; Inishmaan is second and Inisheer the smallest. Ferries sail from Rossaveal in Connemara.

Cú Chulainn, hero of the Ulster Cycle, was born with which name?

Sétanta: the boy killed the smith Culann's guard hound and offered to serve in its place, earning the name Cú Chulainn, 'Culann's hound'.

Around 563, the Irish saint Columba founded his famous abbey on which Scottish island in the Hebrides?

Iona, where he settled with twelve companions, became a base for converting the Pictish kingdoms.

Derry is the only Irish city whose 17th-century what survive completely intact?

Built in 1613–1619, the walls were never breached despite three 17th-century sieges, earning Derry the nickname 'the Maiden City'.

Who wrote Sinéad O'Connor's signature hit 'Nothing Compares 2 U'?

Prince wrote it in 1984 and gave it to his side project The Family, whose 1985 album carried the first recording; O'Connor's 1990 version went to number one and she later said the two did not get on.

What was Oscar Wilde's only novel?

The Picture of Dorian Gray, published in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in 1890 and as a book in 1891, folded his ideas on decadence and beauty into fiction; Wilde was born on Westland Row, Dublin, in 1854.