Ireland

IN NORTH-WESTERN EUROPE OCCUPYING 26 OF 32 COUNTIES OF THE ISLAND OF IRELAND.

The coat of arms of Ireland is blazoned as Azure a harp Or, stringed Argent (a gold harp with silver strings on a blue background).These arms were adopted by Henry VIII of England when he ended the period of Lordship of Ireland and declared Ireland to be a kingdom again in 1541. When the crowns of England, Scotland and Ireland were united in 1603, they were integrated into the unified royal coat of arms of kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland. The harp was adopted as the emblem of the Irish Free State when it separated from the United Kingdom in 1922

AREA IS HOME TO MORE THAN ONE-FOURTH OF THE COUNTRY’S TOTAL POPULATION. THE CITY’S OLD DOCKSIDE NEIGHBORHOODS HAVE GIVEN WAY TO NEW RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT. CORK, IRELAND’S SECOND LARGEST CITY, IS A HANDSOME CATHEDRAL CITY AND PORT IN THE SOUTHWEST. OTHER PRINCIPAL CENTERS INCLUDE WATERFORD, WEXFORD, AND DROGHEDA ON THE EAST COAST, SLIGO IN THE NORTHWEST, AND LIMERICK AND GALWAY IN THE WEST.

MANY UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS, AND ITS PEOPLE PRIZE FOLKLORIC AND SOCIAL TRADITIONS THAT LARGELY DERIVE FROM AND CELEBRATE THE COUNTRY’S RURAL PAST.
« An acre of stony ground,
Where the symbolic rose can break in flower,
Old ragged elms, old thorns innumerable,
The sound of the rain or sound
Of every wind that blows;
The stilted water-hen
Crossing stream again
Scared by the splashing of a dozen cows »

PEOPLE, OF WHICH 4.58 MILLION LIVE IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND AND ANOTHER 1.8 MILLION IN NORTHERN IRELAND. IT IS THE SECOND MOST POPULATED ISLAND IN EUROPE AFTER THE UK. BU THE WAY, ONLY 9% OF IRISH HAVE NATURAL RED HAIR COLOR. IT IS MORE RED-HAIRED PEOPLE HERE THAN IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD/

During the 2000 census in the United States, about 34 million Americans reported their Irish descent, making the Irish the second largest ethnic group after German Americans. Irish Americans mainly live in the north-east of the country (New York and New England).

ENTIRE POPULATION OWNS IT, HOWEVER, THE EMPHASIS OF THE IRISH IS VERY PECULIAR, AND THE BRITISH USUALLY HAVE DIFFICULTY UNDERSTANDING IT. BY THE WAY, MOST LOCALS ALL SUPPORT UNITED STATE'S POLICY.

the Ice Age, and its plant and animal life are thus mainly—but not entirely—the result of the subsequent migration of species from other areas. As long as there was a land connection between Ireland and what was to become the rest of the British Isles, most species arrived overland from northern Europe. Irish plant and animal life nevertheless possess certain unique features owing partly to climatic conditions and partly to the fact that Ireland became separated from Britain by the Irish Sea sometime before Britain itself became separated from the European continent.

St. Dabeoc’s heath, Irish spurge, Eriocaulon aquaticum (a pipewort with North American affinities), and the Irish orchid (a species of Mediterranean origin). Scattered over the island are sundew, foxglove, bell heather, sheep’s bit, bog asphodel, and yellow fleabane, yet it is Ireland’s extensive and verdant grasslands that leave the most lasting impression. Prior to the 17th century the Irish midlands had great forests of broad-leaved trees, but by the end of the 19th century the once large forests had been reduced to about 1 percent of the total land area. Now the island is mainly devoid of broad-leaved woodlands, and government-sponsored reforestation programs have chiefly favoured fast-growing sitka spruce.

NOT EXIST IN IRELAND, WHICH ALSO HAS NO SNAKES. TRADITION ASCRIBES THE ABSENCE OF SNAKES TO BANISHMENT AT THE HANDS OF ST. PATRICK; IN FACT, BEFORE THEIR INTRODUCTION AS PETS AND IN ZOOS IN THE 20TH CENTURY, SNAKES HAD NOT LIVED ON THE ISLAND FOR THE THOUSANDS OF YEARS SINCE THE ICE AGE. IN ADDITION, THERE ARE ONLY TWO KINDS OF MICE—AS OPPOSED TO FOUR IN BRITAIN—AND THE ONLY REPTILE FOUND IN IRELAND IS A SPECIES OF LIZARD. ENDEMIC MAMMALS INCLUDE THE IRISH STOAT AND THE IRISH HARE. DEER HAVE INCREASED IN NUMBER SINCE THE MID-19TH CENTURY, BUT THE GIANT IRISH ELK HAS LONG BEEN EXTINCT. IRELAND ABOUNDS IN BIRDLIFE, NOTABLY WATERFOWL. NUMEROUS SPECIES THAT BREED IN ICELAND AND GREENLAND IN THE SUMMER SPEND WINTER IN IRELAND, AND MANY MORE MIGRATORY SPECIES STOP THERE IN THE SPRING AND THE FALL.

to date from the seventeenth or eighteenth century. This was a very turbulent time in Irish history. The suppression of the Gaelic way of life by the ruling British invaders resulted in many aspects of the Catholic religion in Ireland being forced underground. Strict laws were enforced which prevented the Catholic population from attending schools so 'hedge-schools' were operated in secret.
These were schools run outdoors in secluded places (sometimes literally 'under a hedge!). The teaching of religion was also forbidden so it is only to be expected that teachers would use naturally available resources to inform their pupils. Thus the Shamrock plant was used to illustrate the message of the Christian Holy Trinity.