IRELAND: FACTS AND TRIVIA
GEOGRAPHICAL FACTS ABOUT IRELAND
Ireland is and island between the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea and:
~ Has a total area of 27,135 square miles/70,280 sq km
~ Has 3,500 miles/5,631 km of coastline
~ Is 302 miles/485 km from north to south at it's longest point
~ Is 189 miles/304 km from east to west at it's widest point
~ Has four provinces
~ Has 32 counties: 26 in the Republic and 6 in Northern Ireland
~ Is the 4th largest island in Europe
~ Is the 20th largest island in the world
~ Is the most westerly country in Europe
~ Is the nearest point in Europe to America
Ireland is divided into four provinces and each province is then divided into counties. The provinces and their counties are:
CONNAGHT (Mid West)
Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo
LEINSTER (Mid East)
Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow
MUNSTER (South)
Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford
ULSTER (North and North West)
Has 3 counties in the Republic of Ireland: Cavan, DONEGAL and Monaghan
And 6 counties in Northern Ireland: Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone
~ Has a total area of 27,135 square miles/70,280 sq km
~ Has 3,500 miles/5,631 km of coastline
~ Is 302 miles/485 km from north to south at it's longest point
~ Is 189 miles/304 km from east to west at it's widest point
~ Has four provinces
~ Has 32 counties: 26 in the Republic and 6 in Northern Ireland
~ Is the 4th largest island in Europe
~ Is the 20th largest island in the world
~ Is the most westerly country in Europe
~ Is the nearest point in Europe to America
Ireland is divided into four provinces and each province is then divided into counties. The provinces and their counties are:
CONNAGHT (Mid West)
Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo
LEINSTER (Mid East)
Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow
MUNSTER (South)
Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford
ULSTER (North and North West)
Has 3 counties in the Republic of Ireland: Cavan, DONEGAL and Monaghan
And 6 counties in Northern Ireland: Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone
SUNRISE AND SUNSET TIMES IN IRELAND
Ireland enjoys very long hours of daylight during the summer months extending to up to 17 hours of daylight during July.
County Donegal is one of the best places in Ireland to enjoy amazing sunsets simply because of the very low air and light pollution. Donegal has no high-rise buildings to block our beautiful sunsets either. The photograph on the left here is a sunset on Tory Island off the coast of mainland Donegal and is totally untampered with ~ yes, the sky really was that colour. |
JANUARY ~ Surise 08:40/Sunset 16:20
FEBRUARY ~ Sunrise 08:10/Sunset 17:10 MARCH ~ Sunrise 07:15/Sunset 18:00 APRIL ~ Sunrise 07:00/Sunset 20:00 MAY ~ Sunrise 05:55/Sunset 20:55 JUNE ~ Sunrise 05:05/Sunset 21:45 JULY ~ Sunrise 05:00/Sunset 22:00 AUGUST ~ Sunrise 05:45/Sunset 21:20 SEPTEMBER ~ Sunrise 06:35/Sunset 20:15 OCTOBER ~ Sunrise 07:30/Sunset 19:00 NOVEMBER ~ Sunrise 07:25/Sunset 16:55 DECEMBER ~ Sunrise 08:20/Sunset 16:15 To view more Donegal sunsets CLICK HERE |
SOME MORE FACTS AND SOME TRIVIA ABOUT IRELAND
LARGEST:
CHURCH BELLS
The largest Carillon of bells in Ireland (and also England, Scotland and Wales) is housed in the spire of St. Coleman's Cathderal in Cork
CHURCH IN IRELAND
The largest church in Ireland is St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin which is 300' in length
BLANKET BOG IN EUROPE
The largest blanket bog in Europe is The Bog of Allen in County Kildare
CITY PARK IN EUROPE
Phoenix Park in Dublin with an area of some 1,752 acres is the largest city park in Europe
TEDDY BEARS PICNIC
The largest teddy bears picnic was held in the Phoenix Park at Dublin zoo on the 24th of June 1995 with 33,573 teddy bears and their owners in attendance
CHURCH BELLS
The largest Carillon of bells in Ireland (and also England, Scotland and Wales) is housed in the spire of St. Coleman's Cathderal in Cork
CHURCH IN IRELAND
The largest church in Ireland is St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin which is 300' in length
BLANKET BOG IN EUROPE
The largest blanket bog in Europe is The Bog of Allen in County Kildare
CITY PARK IN EUROPE
Phoenix Park in Dublin with an area of some 1,752 acres is the largest city park in Europe
TEDDY BEARS PICNIC
The largest teddy bears picnic was held in the Phoenix Park at Dublin zoo on the 24th of June 1995 with 33,573 teddy bears and their owners in attendance
SMALLEST:
MUSEUM
The smallest museum in Ireland is the home of Nora Barnacle (wife of James Joyce) called 'The Nora Barnacle Museum' in Galway city. The house contains letters, photographs and other memorabilia of their life together.
CHURCH
Measuring just 12 feet by 6 feet, St. Gohnan's in Portbradden, County Antrim is Ireland's smallest church.
MUSEUM
The smallest museum in Ireland is the home of Nora Barnacle (wife of James Joyce) called 'The Nora Barnacle Museum' in Galway city. The house contains letters, photographs and other memorabilia of their life together.
CHURCH
Measuring just 12 feet by 6 feet, St. Gohnan's in Portbradden, County Antrim is Ireland's smallest church.
OLDEST:
MATERNITY HOSPITAL
The world's oldest maternity hospital is The Rotunda, Dublin which was founded in 1745
NEWSPAPER
The oldest newspaper in the world is the Belfast News Letter which was founded in 1737
PUB
The oldest pub in Ireland is often said to be The Brazen Head, Dublin which dates from 1710 but it is in fact Ireland's third oldest pub, predated by:
~ Sean's Bar, Athlone, County Meath dates from 900AD
~ The Boot Inn, Cloughran, Dublin dates from 1593
CHURCH
St. Michan's, Dublin is probably the oldest church in Ireland and on the grounds where the church now stands there was previously an earlier.
MATERNITY HOSPITAL
The world's oldest maternity hospital is The Rotunda, Dublin which was founded in 1745
NEWSPAPER
The oldest newspaper in the world is the Belfast News Letter which was founded in 1737
PUB
The oldest pub in Ireland is often said to be The Brazen Head, Dublin which dates from 1710 but it is in fact Ireland's third oldest pub, predated by:
~ Sean's Bar, Athlone, County Meath dates from 900AD
~ The Boot Inn, Cloughran, Dublin dates from 1593
CHURCH
St. Michan's, Dublin is probably the oldest church in Ireland and on the grounds where the church now stands there was previously an earlier.
HIGHEST & TALLEST:
SEACLIFFS
The highest accesible seacliffs in Europe are Sliabh Liag/Slieve League in County Donegal which stand 1972'/595 meters high
WINDMILL
The tallest windmill in Europe which stands 40' high is in Blennervill in County Kerry. It is also the largest working windmill in both Ireland and the UK.
SEACLIFFS
The highest accesible seacliffs in Europe are Sliabh Liag/Slieve League in County Donegal which stand 1972'/595 meters high
WINDMILL
The tallest windmill in Europe which stands 40' high is in Blennervill in County Kerry. It is also the largest working windmill in both Ireland and the UK.
MORE FACTS:
O'CONNELL BRIDGE, DUBLIN
O'Connell Bridge, Dublin is the only traffic bridge in Europe that is wider than it is long. The bridge was originally made of rope and was only able to take one person and a donkey at a time. The rope bridge was replaced by a wooden bridge in 1801 and later replaced in 1863 by the current concrete bridge. The original name of O'Connell Bridge was the Carlisle Bridge
POLO
Polo was played for the first time in Europe in 1868 in County Limerick
ST. STEPHEN'S GREEN, DUBLIN
The design of Central Park, New York is based (on a much larger scale of course) on the design of St. Stephen's Green in Dublin city.
O'CONNELL BRIDGE, DUBLIN
O'Connell Bridge, Dublin is the only traffic bridge in Europe that is wider than it is long. The bridge was originally made of rope and was only able to take one person and a donkey at a time. The rope bridge was replaced by a wooden bridge in 1801 and later replaced in 1863 by the current concrete bridge. The original name of O'Connell Bridge was the Carlisle Bridge
POLO
Polo was played for the first time in Europe in 1868 in County Limerick
ST. STEPHEN'S GREEN, DUBLIN
The design of Central Park, New York is based (on a much larger scale of course) on the design of St. Stephen's Green in Dublin city.
MUSIC & MUSICIANS
Unsurpringly we expect this list to be extensive but here's a taster of perhaps lesser know music and musicians to get us started. If you have anything we should add here please go to our CONTACT page to let us know.
MUSIC/DANCE
ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL ~ Was written by Irish poet Cecil Francis Humphreys Alexander who also wrote 'Once in Royal David's City'
FORTY SHADES OF GREEN ~ The song 'Forty Shades of Green' was written by Johnny Cash, inspired by the view from his plane as he flew into Ireland
HANDEL'S 'MESSIAH' ~ Handel's 'Messiah' was played publically for the first time in Dublin in 1742 on the organ in St. Michan's Church, Dublin
NEW ZEALAND NATIONAL ANTHEM ~ In 1878 an Irish poet, Thomas Bracken, who became a citizen of New Zealand wrote the New Zealand national anthem, God Save New Zealand
ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID'S CITY~ This was written by the Irish poet Cecil Francis Humphreys Alexander who also wrote 'All Things Bright and Beautiful'.
RIVERDANCE ~ Michael Flately, one of the original founders of Riverdance was reputed to have been earning STG£1,000,000 per week at the height of his fame with Riverdance.
TEDDY BEARS PICNIC~ This was written by Jimmy Kennedy of Omagh in County Tyrone. He also wrote 'Red Sails in the Sunset'.
WALTZING MATILADA~ Waltzing Matilda was written by Robert Barton of Fermanagh
WHILE SHEPHERDS WATCHED THEIR FLOCKS BY NIGHT~ The Christmas hymn 'While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night' was written by Dublin born Nahum Tate, who was also a poet-laureate of England
On the 16th of November, 1991, Donegal singer, Daniel O'Donnell, occupied a record six of the top seven places in the UK country album charts.
The bugle blown to launch the Charge of the Light Brigade was sold by McNeill's music shop on Caple Street, Dublin
'Do They Know It's Christmas' was written by Bob Geldof who was born in Dublin.
MUSICIANS
LOCKE, Joseph (1917-99)
The tenor Joseph Lock was born in Derry on St. Patrick's Day 1917
THE BEATLES
~ John Lennon's father, James Lennon, was born in Dublin and his mother, Mary Polly Maguire was also born in Ireland
~ Paul McCartney's father, James McCartney, was born in Ireland and his maternal grandfather, Owen Mohin, was born in Monaghan
~ George Harrison's maternal grandfather, John French, was born in County Wexford
Unsurpringly we expect this list to be extensive but here's a taster of perhaps lesser know music and musicians to get us started. If you have anything we should add here please go to our CONTACT page to let us know.
MUSIC/DANCE
ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL ~ Was written by Irish poet Cecil Francis Humphreys Alexander who also wrote 'Once in Royal David's City'
FORTY SHADES OF GREEN ~ The song 'Forty Shades of Green' was written by Johnny Cash, inspired by the view from his plane as he flew into Ireland
HANDEL'S 'MESSIAH' ~ Handel's 'Messiah' was played publically for the first time in Dublin in 1742 on the organ in St. Michan's Church, Dublin
NEW ZEALAND NATIONAL ANTHEM ~ In 1878 an Irish poet, Thomas Bracken, who became a citizen of New Zealand wrote the New Zealand national anthem, God Save New Zealand
ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID'S CITY~ This was written by the Irish poet Cecil Francis Humphreys Alexander who also wrote 'All Things Bright and Beautiful'.
RIVERDANCE ~ Michael Flately, one of the original founders of Riverdance was reputed to have been earning STG£1,000,000 per week at the height of his fame with Riverdance.
TEDDY BEARS PICNIC~ This was written by Jimmy Kennedy of Omagh in County Tyrone. He also wrote 'Red Sails in the Sunset'.
WALTZING MATILADA~ Waltzing Matilda was written by Robert Barton of Fermanagh
WHILE SHEPHERDS WATCHED THEIR FLOCKS BY NIGHT~ The Christmas hymn 'While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night' was written by Dublin born Nahum Tate, who was also a poet-laureate of England
On the 16th of November, 1991, Donegal singer, Daniel O'Donnell, occupied a record six of the top seven places in the UK country album charts.
The bugle blown to launch the Charge of the Light Brigade was sold by McNeill's music shop on Caple Street, Dublin
'Do They Know It's Christmas' was written by Bob Geldof who was born in Dublin.
MUSICIANS
LOCKE, Joseph (1917-99)
The tenor Joseph Lock was born in Derry on St. Patrick's Day 1917
THE BEATLES
~ John Lennon's father, James Lennon, was born in Dublin and his mother, Mary Polly Maguire was also born in Ireland
~ Paul McCartney's father, James McCartney, was born in Ireland and his maternal grandfather, Owen Mohin, was born in Monaghan
~ George Harrison's maternal grandfather, John French, was born in County Wexford