Jump to content

Portal:Ireland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Welcome to the Ireland Portal!
Fáilte go dtí Tairseach na hÉireann!
Fair faa ye tae tha Airlann Inlat!

Introduction

Sister portal:
Northern Ireland
Satellite image of Ireland
Satellite image of Ireland

Ireland (/ˈaɪərlənd/ IRE-lənd; Irish: Éire [ˈeːɾʲə] ; Ulster-Scots: Airlann [ˈɑːrlən]) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest in the world. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Ireland), a sovereign state covering five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. As of 2022, the population of the entire island is just over 7 million, with 5.1 million in the Republic of Ireland and 1.9 million in Northern Ireland, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain.

The geography of Ireland comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. Its lush vegetation is a product of its mild but changeable climate which is free of extremes in temperature. Much of Ireland was woodland until the end of the Middle Ages. Today, woodland makes up about 10% of the island, compared with a European average of over 33%, with most of it being non-native conifer plantations. The Irish climate is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and thus very moderate, and winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, although summers are cooler than those in continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant.

Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century AD. The island was Christianised from the 5th century onwards. During this period Ireland was divided into many petty kingships under provincial kingships (Cúige "fifth" of the traditional provinces) vying for dominance and the title of High King of Ireland. In the late 8th century to early 11th century AD Viking raids and settlement took place culminating in the Battle of Clontarf on 23 April 1014 which resulted in the ending of Viking power in Ireland. Following the 12th century Anglo-Norman invasion, England claimed sovereignty. However, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, and was extended during the 18th century. With the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. A war of independence in the early 20th century was followed by the partition of the island, leading to the creation of the Irish Free State, which became increasingly sovereign over the following decades until it declared a republic in 1948 ( Republic of Ireland Act, 1948) and Northern Ireland, which remained a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s. This subsided following the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. In 1973, both the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, with Northern Ireland as part of it, joined the European Economic Community. Following a referendum vote in 2016, the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland included, left the European Union (EU) in 2020. Northern Ireland was granted a limited special status and allowed to operate within the EU single market for goods without being in the European Union. (Full article...)

Irish whiskey (Irish: Fuisce or Uisce beatha) is a whiskey made in Ireland. There are several types of whiskey common to Ireland: Single Malt, Single Grain, Pure Pot Still and Blended Whiskey. The word whiskey is an Anglicisation of the ancient Gaelic term "uisce beatha" which translates as "water of life". (The Craythur is a modern Irish term for whiskey, from 'the creature', as in 'created'...)

At one time, all whisky was spelled without the extra 'e', as "whisky". In around 1870, the reputation of Scottish whisky was very poor as Scottish distilleries flooded the market with cheaper spirits produced using the Coffey still. The Irish and American distilleries adopted the spelling "whiskey", with the extra "e", to distinguish their higher quality product. Today, the spelling whisky (plural whiskies) is generally used for whiskies distilled in Scotland, Wales, Canada, Australia and Japan, while whiskey is used for the spirits distilled in Ireland and America.

Traditional Irish whiskey was distilled from a mash of mixed malted and unmalted grains whereas Scotch is either distilled exclusively from malted grain (hence "single malt"), or from unmalted grain. Today, most Irish whiskey is blended from a mixture of pot still whiskey and cheaper grain whiskey. Bushmills, however, is an exception, as it produces no Irish-style pot-still whiskey.

Most Irish whiskey is distilled three times, but so is some Scotch; thus it is a myth, although a common one, that this is the main distinction between the two varieties. Irish whiskey also differs in that peat is almost never used in the malting process, so the smoky, earthy overtones common to Scotches (particularly Islay Scotches) are not present except for the Connemara Peated Irish Malt whiskey from the Cooley distillery. Although Scotland sustains approximately 90 distilleries, Ireland has only three producing a number of different whiskeys. Read more...

Selected biography - show another

The Waterboys are a band formed in 1983 by Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland and England. London, Dublin, Spiddal, New York and Findhorn have all served as homes for the group. The band has played in a number of different styles, but their music is a mix of Celtic folk music with rock and roll, or folk rock. After ten years of recording and touring, they dissolved in 1993 and Scott pursued a solo career. They reformed in 2000, and continue to release albums and tour worldwide. Scott emphasizes a continuity between The Waterboys and his solo work, saying that "To me there's no difference between Mike Scott and the Waterboys; they both mean the same thing. They mean myself and whoever are my current travelling musical companions."

The early Waterboys sound was dubbed "The Big Music" after a song on their second album, A Pagan Place. This musical style was described by Scott as "a metaphor for seeing God's signature in the world." It either influenced or was used to describe a number of other bands, including Simple Minds, The Alarm, In Tua Nua, Big Country, the Hothouse Flowers and World Party, the last of which was made up of former Waterboys members. In the late 1980s the band became significantly more folk influenced. The Waterboys eventually returned to rock and roll, and have released both rock and folk albums since reforming. Their songs, largely written by Scott, often contain literary references and are frequently concerned with spirituality. Both the group and its members' solo careers have received much praise from both rock and folk music critics, but The Waterboys as a band has never received the commercial success that some of its members have had independently. Read more...

Topics

General images

The following are images from various Ireland-related articles on Wikipedia.

Selected picture

Selected city - show another

Armagh (/ɑːrˈmɑː/ ar-MAH; Irish: Ard Mhacha, IPA: [ˌaːɾˠd̪ˠ ˈwaxə], "Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All Ireland for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland. In ancient times, nearby Navan Fort (Eamhain Mhacha) was a pagan ceremonial site and one of the great royal capitals of Gaelic Ireland. Today, Armagh is home to two cathedrals (both named after Saint Patrick) and the Armagh Observatory, and is known for its Georgian architecture.

Statistically classed as a medium-sized town by NISRA. Armagh was given city status in 1994 and Lord Mayoralty status in 2012. It had a population of 16,310 people in the 2021 Census. (Full article...)

Categories

Category puzzle
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories
Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Select [►] to view subcategories
Northern Ireland
Select [►] to view subcategories

Recognized content

Good articles

Did you know? articles

In the News articles

Picture of the day pictures


New articles

This list was generated from these rules. Questions and feedback are always welcome! The search is being run daily with the most recent ~14 days of results. Note: Some articles may not be relevant to this project.

Rules | Match log | Results page (for watching) | Last updated: 2024-12-09 19:21 (UTC)

Note: The list display can now be customized by each user. See List display personalization for details.
















{{{1}}}

Contribute

Simply add {{Portal|Ireland}} to a page. If you need to use a flag, to avoid causing offense, please use the Four Provinces flag e.g. {{Portal|Ireland}}.

If you are new to Wikipedia then Céad Mile Fáilte! This portal is for articles on Wikipedia that relate to Ireland (both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). Like all of Wikipedia, it is written collaboratively and, like any article that you find using it, it too can be edited by anyone.

There is an active community of editors working on Ireland-related articles on Wikipedia and there are dedicated projects that tie this community together. To get in touch with them - or just to find out more - drop by at one of the parent Ireland-related projects:

If you want to get involved in contributing to Wikipedia, don't worry - everybody needs some help at the start. If you get into trouble you can always ask another Wikipedian for help. These guides should get you up-and-running on how Wikipedia works and how you can contribute:

  • Getting started: This introduction explains how Wikipedia works. When you're ready, you can try the tutorial.
  • Questions about Wikipedia: The Frequent Ask Questions page has answers to all kinds of questions asked about Wikipedia.

If you would like to involve yourself with the Irish on Wikipedia, the section below will connect you to communities of editors working on specific Ireland-related topics. It also contains an up-to-date to do list for Ireland-related articles so you can start helping out right now. Click [show] (below, right) to see it all:

How you can improve Ireland-related articles on Wikipedia
  • The main Dublin article needs to achieve featured status.
  • Every locality needs at least a 500-character stub article, built on top of its framework article.
  • All areas of historic importance need substantial articles.
  • The article on the Mahon Tribunal needs to be tidied up, verified, and fact-checked.
  • Irish (Gaelic) words and phrases should be marked up using {{lang}}, thus: {{lang-ga|Páirc na hÉireann}}.


Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Discover Wikipedia using portals

Purge server cache