Ireland
The Original creators of St.Patrick's Day
Why visit Ireland?
Ireland is the third-largest island in Europe, and the twentieth largest island on the Earth. This wonderful island, often called the Emerald Island, has green, lush, fields. What makes Ireland so special is what most people do: Irish dance. This type of dancing has spread all over the world including the United States as well.
Tourist Attractions
National Botanical Gardens of Ireland
This garden has absolutely beautiful landscaping and the people who work there are dedicated to preserve tropical plant diversity and trying to stop the extinction of many plant species. They provide reserves and safe havens for all these plants, and do their best to make sure that they thrive in their environment. Their goal is to explore, understand, and conserve the importance of plants.
Giant's Causeway
For years, Giant's Causeway has inspired many artists and stirred scientific debates. This coastline is famed world-wide for it's astounding beauty and amazing view from the cliffs that surround it. Catch a bird's eye view of the wild North Atlantic ocean along with a nice walk across the rocks that overthrow most of the area.
Tasty Desserts
Bailey's Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
Cheesecake is a great dessert, especially when it has chocolate chips in it. This tasteful cheesecake is made up of pecans, oreo cookie crumbs, sugar, butter, cream cheese, eggs, vanilla, instant coffee powder, and Skor English toffee bits.
Irish Apple Cake
It's exactly like spice cake, but with the extra ingredient of apples. This delicious cake is made up of granulated sugar, butter, an egg, granny smith apples, walnuts, vanilla extract, baking powder and baking soda, salt,
ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg, and lastly, all purpose flour.
Irish Barm Brack Fruit Loaf
This fruit loaf is most commonly made on St. Patrick's day. This flavorful fruit loaf is made up of golden raisins, currants, crystallized cherries, candied peels, brown sugar, self rising floru, tea, an egg, and any mixed spices (ex. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove.)
History
In 7500 B.C. the first known inhabitants settled in Ireland
In the fourth century B.C, the Celtics arrived and dominated the island for one thousand years. Legend has it that St.Patrick came to Ireland bringing Christianity with him adn converting the people.
In early 1600's, England finally defeated the last major Gaelic rulers and established rule throughout all of Ireland.
New laws forbid Catholics to vote, own land, or practice their religion freely. These laws will remain in effect until 1829.
The country of Ireland was devastated in the 1840's when the great potato famine occurred ,which resulted in at least one million people dead, and another 2 million that had emigrated to other countries, mostly the United States.
In 1949, Ireland withdrew from the Commonwealth and declared it's own independence, while Northern Ireland still remains part of the U.K.
Holidays
Bloomsday: This day is dedicated to a man named James Joyce, who was one of Ireland's most famous literary masters. This is celebrated on June 16th, and was first introduced in 1954.
St. Patrick's Day: Most definitely the most celebrated holiday, named after Ireland's patron saint, celebrates the country's rich culture and heritage with music, food, dancing, and parades. This is holiday is celebrated on March 17th, and was first celebrated in 1737.
Christmas: A holiday that is very familiar almost everywhere, is counted as one of the top three celebrations in Ireland, lasting from about December 24th to January 6th, though many people count December 8th as the official start of the season. These days celebrate the birth of Jesus with family members and close friends.
Major Cities
Dublin, with a population of about 1,024,027.
Galway, with a population of 70,686.
Cork, with a population of 190,384.
Limerick, with a population of 90,054.
Tallaght, with a population of 64,282.
Language
Irish-Gaelic, or also known as plain Irish, is the officially recognized first language, and is a part of the Celtic family of languages. Some phrases you should know before visiting Ireland is "Whats the craic?", which means fun, and can be used in many different ways. "Aw sure look it" is something you could actually say if you don't know what a person is talking about, and may come in handy. "Put the heart crossways" is something you would say if you broke something accidentally. "The press" just means stove. "Minerals" is soda or juice.
Government and Economy
GDP per capita: $41,700
Type of Currency: Euro
Type of Government: Parliamentary Democracy
Ireland's current leaders include Michael D. Higgins, who is the president of Ireland, and the Prime Minister is Enda Kenny. Ireland is one of the biggest exporters in the world of pharmaceuticals, but some of their other exports include organic chemicals, data processing equipment, and food.
About the Travel Agent
I like ice cream A LOT, like I could seriously live on ice cream if I wanted to and I wouldn't even have a problem, except maybe health problems, so I could also eat Ramen noodles if I really wanted to. I like to swim, and I like a lot of different bands. I'm really tired of winter, and I really wish it would go away in time for my birthday. That's it, I wouldn't want to bore you to death.