Ireland - a brief introduction

Location
North West Europe, at about the 50° and 60° north latitude

Time zone
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

Capital
Dublin

See www.visitdublin.ie

Population
4.4 million with one of the fastest growth rates in Europe
Average Age: 35.6yrs
Foreign Nationals: 400,000
Density: 73 people per km²

See www.cso.ie

Official Languages
English & Irish

Economy
Currency: Euro (€)
GDP: €176 billion

Political Status
Neutral

Highest Point
Carrauntoohil (Co Kerry): 1,041m

World Heritage Sites
Brú na Bóinne (Bend of the Boyne): A well-preserved Neolithic site in County Meath which predates the pyramids of Egypt.
Skellig Micheal: A 7th century monastery perched on a rocky island off the southern coast of Ireland.

See www.heritageireland.ie

Climate
Winters are mild and summers temperate due to the prevailing south-westerly winds and the influence of the warm waters of the North Atlantic Drift. Ireland has a mild climate all year-averaging 35°-45°F in winter and 65°-75°F in summer. May and June are the sunniest months with an average of over 7 hours of sunshine per day.

Perhaps the most important thing to remember about the Irish weather is that it can be extremely changeable. A day that starts bathed in sunshine can easily finish drenched in a downpour, and vice versa. So you would be well advised to invest in a wide selection of clothing, especially a raincoat!

See www.met.ie

A Brief History
For a small island located on the north western tip of Europe, Ireland certainly has a long and fascinating history. The first people to settle in Ireland arrived from Scotland about eight thousand years’ ago. The country’s strong Celtic identity stems from the Gaelic civilisation, which led a largely uninterrupted existence from roughly 500BC to the ninth century AD as the Romans limited their northward expansion to Britain. The Gaels were a colourful people who indulged in Mohawk hairstyles, hurling (see page…) and the occasional bout of headhunting. Much of traditional Irish culture, including language, dance and sport, originate from this time.

The Gaels regularly raided the Western coast of Roman Britain. On one such occasion, a sixteen year-old boy was captured in Wales and sold into slavery in Ireland. The youth escaped back to Britain six years’ later, and having studied theology, returned to Ireland in 432AD on a quest to convert the Irish to Christianity. We know him today as St Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint whose feast day is celebrated around the world with much green-tinged merriment every March 17th. Apart from being credited with banishing snakes from Ireland (who have since being readmitted by Dublin Zoo), St Patrick’s success also led to the establishment of major monastic settlements in Ireland, which kept alight the flame of learning during the Dark Ages.

The wealth of the monasteries attracted the attention of the fearsome Vikings, who attacked regularly during the 9th and 10th centuries. Like most visitors however, they decided they liked Ireland enough to stay, and so settled and mixed with the local Irish – founding Dublin City in the process. 

Not many of you will know that the first chapter Ireland’s long and troubled relationship with Britain was brought about by an Irish king in 1169, who sought the support of Britain’s King Henry II in recapturing the kingdom of Leinster from local adversaries. Hundreds of years of rebellion and repression, but also of cultural mixing (resulting in Ireland being an English-speaking today for example) and intermittently peaceful relations were to follow.

Independence was eventually achieved from the United Kingdom in 1921, except for the six counties of Northern Ireland - a partition that eventually led to decades of unrest and violence.  The last twenty years however, have witnessed a robust peace process nullify political violence in the North. This in turn has allowed Ireland and the UK, for the first time in their histories, to forge a fruitful and friendly relationship as equal members of the European Union.

Click here to view a seven-part series of short videos on the history of Ireland.