A Little More Info

Geographical Division and Size

Ireland is divided into 26 counties which are broken into four provinces: Leinster (east), Munster (south), Connacht (west) and Ulster (north). Three of these provinces plus three of the nine counties of Ulster now comprise the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland comprises the remaining six counties of Ulster and is part of the UK.

The Irish Republic is ‘Eire’ on its stamps, but is usually referred to simply as Ireland. To call it Southern Ireland is to make a political statement, therefore refer to the Republic as “Ireland” and to the North as “Northern Ireland”.

Population

The population of the Republic is around 3.9m while that of the north is 1.5 million. Dublin is the biggest city in the Republic with nearly l.5m. The second city is Cork with 160,000 people, followed by Limerick with 75,000.

Culture

As a country bordering a large neighbor, the Irish are understandably nationalistic. Many aspects of Irish life are unique to Ireland and reflect the distinct racial background, despite the shared language with Britain. The national sports of Irish football and hurling are not played widely outside of Ireland.

The Irish language, Gaelic, is only spoken as a first language by an estimated 55,000, found mostly in the areas known as the Gaeltacht in the West. It is, however, a compulsory subject in the schools and finds a place in national life and government institutions.

Ireland is known for its writers. A long line of distinguished literary giants have been produced including George Bernard Shaw, James Joyce and William Butler Yeats. Musically, Ireland has a strong traditional music scene and a number of festivals of Irish music (fleadh cheoil) take place in various centers during the year.

Much of Irish life and culture is dominated by the Roman Catholic church to which 93% own at least nominal allegiance. Though there is a growing separation of Church and State in national government, on the local stage it is still difficult to separate Irish society from the Irish Catholic Church.

Irish life is dominated by the bar and large consumption of alcohol. Drugs are an increasing problem in the cities.

Politics and Government

The two main political parties in Ireland are a product of the settlement achieved with Britain in 1922. The largest party is Fianna Fail (‘Feena Foyle’) which was the party formed by those who opposed the treaty signed with Britain giving Free State status to Ireland. The party that signed the treaty formed the government and are now known as Fine Gael (‘Feena Gayle’). Recently Fianna Fail has dominated the government with a coalition formed with the Labour Party. The most influential of the other parties are the Progressive Democrats (a break away from Fianna Fail), the Labour Party, and Democratic Left (formerly the Workers Party). Sinn Fein (‘Shin Fain’) also exerts an influence in both the Republic and Northern Ireland. The Irish parliament is known as Dail Eireann (‘Doyle Air-an’) and a member as a Deputy or “T.D.”. The prime-minister is termed the Taoiseach (‘Tee-shuck’).

Geography

Ireland is in the form of a saucer with generally flat land in the centre and hills on the perimeter. About 10% of the land is in the form of peat bog which is drained and cut as fuel for both private use and burning in power stations. Much of the scenery is beautiful and lives up to its designation as the Emerald Isle with its forty shades of green.

Climate

Leon Uris described Ireland as an island swept by Atlantic gales. The average of 266 days of rain in the West may justify that comment! It can certainly be very wet with a steady drizzle producing a “soft day”. Though often damp and cold it seldom falls significantly below freezing. Whatever the weather, it is always a topic of conversation!