Portal:Ireland

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), an independent 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 living 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...)

Gaelic football (Irish: Peil, Peil Ghaelach, or Caid), commonly referred to as "football", "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland. It is, together with hurling, one of the two most popular spectator sports in Ireland today.

Gaelic football is played by teams of 15 on a rectangular grass pitch with H-shaped goals at each end. The primary object is to score by kicking/striking the ball with your hand and getting it through the goals. The team with the highest score at the end of the match wins.

Players advance the ball up the field with a combination of carrying, soloing (dropping and then toe-kicking the ball upward into the hands), kicking, and hand-passing to their team-mates.

Football is one of four Gaelic games run by the Gaelic Athletic Association, the largest sporting organization in Ireland. It has strict rules on player amateurism and the pinnacle of the sport is the inter-county All-Ireland Football Final. The game is believed to have descended from ancient Irish football known as caid which dates back to medieval times, although the modern rules were not set down until 1887. Read more...

Selected biography - show another

Mary Therese Winifred Robinson (Irish: Máire Mhic Róibín; born 21 May 1944) was the first female President of Ireland, serving from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish senate (1969–1989). She defeated Fianna Fáil's Brian Lenihan and Fine Gael's Austin Currie in the 1990 presidential election becoming, as an Independent candidate nominated by the Labour Party, the Workers' Party of Ireland and independent senators, the first elected president in the office's history not to have the support of Fianna Fáil.

She is credited by many as having revitalised and liberalised a previously conservative political office. She resigned the presidency four months ahead of the end of her term of office to take up her post in the United Nations. Robinson has been Honorary President of Oxfam International since 2002, she is Chair of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and is also a founding member and Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders. Robinson is also one of the European members of the controversial Trilateral Commission.

She serves on many boards including the GAVI Fund. Robinson’s newest project is Realizing Rights: the Ethical Globalization Initiative, which promotes equitable trade and development, more humane migration policies and better responses to HIV/AIDS in Africa. The organization also promotes women's leadership and supports capacity building and good governance in developing countries. She is Chancellor of the University of Dublin. Since 2004, she has also been Professor of Practice in International Affairs at Columbia University, where she teaches international human rights. Robinson also visits other colleges and universities where she lectures on human rights.

In 2004, she received Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Award for her work in promoting human rights. Read more...

Topics

General images

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

Selected picture

Selected city - show another

From top, left to right: City Hall, the English Market, Quadrangle in UCC, the River Lee, Shandon Steeple

Cork (Irish: Corcaigh [ˈkɔɾˠkəɟ]; from corcach, meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland, third largest on the island of Ireland, the county town of County Cork and largest city in the province of Munster. At the 2022 census, it had a population of 224,004.

The city centre is an island between two channels of the River Lee which meet downstream at its eastern end, where the quays and docks along the river lead outwards towards Lough Mahon and Cork Harbour, one of the largest natural harbours in the world. (Full article...)

  • ...the Choctaw tribe in America donated $170 towards famine relief in Ireland in 1847?
  • ...that Sir Francis Beaufort, creator of the famed Beaufort scale, was born in Navan in County Meath? Or that his restored Georgian home in Navan was controversially demolished in the 1990s to build a road?
  • ...that Newgrange is a 5000 year old passage tomb pre-dating the pyramids and Stonehenge? The builders had astronomical knowledge to precisely illumininate the internal passages of the tomb during the winter solstice?
  • ...that the Ó Siochfhradha brothers were Irish Language teachers and writers from Dingle?

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Category puzzle
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Ireland
Republic of Ireland
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Northern Ireland
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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}}.


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