Originally Posted by
Karla baby
The first motor boat race in the world (The Harmsworth Cup) was held in Cork in 1903.
The longest place name in Ireland is Muckanaghederdauhaulia, in County Galway.
An odd Irish birthday tradition is to lift the birthday child upside down and give his head a few gentle bumps on the floor for good luck. The number of bumps should allegedly correspond to the child’s age plus one.
The home of Guinness is in Dublin. The famous Guinness Brewery at St James’ Gate has a 9,000-year lease.
Cork has the oldest Yacht Club in the World founded in 1720.
The roaring lion at the end of MGM movies was born at Dublin Zoo and was called Cairbre.
How about this fact: there is a village in Kerry called Inch and on a road sign outside the village there is this “Inch 1 Mile”.
There are more mobile phones in Ireland than there are people.
A genealogy nightmare! There were 453 John Murphys living in Dublin, according to the 1911 Irish census.
In 1912, Cobh was the Titanic’s last port of call.
In the 18th century, Cork had the largest butter market in the world.
There are no postal or zip codes in Ireland outside of Dublin. There's often no house number or name either. Addresses are therefore very simple. Here's an example: Sean and Mary Sullivan, Ballymacadam, Cahir, Tipperary. That's it. No street name. No code.
Midleton is proud to be the home of the World’s Biggest Pot Still for making whiskey. It has a capacity of 31,618 gallons. – More than enough for any good party!
Ireland is a member of the United Nations but not a member of NATO.
The 13 arch bridge in the pretty village of Glanworth which was built in the mid-15th century structure, is said to be the narrowest and oldest public bridge in everyday use in Europe.
The smallest Irish woman who ever lived is said to be Catherine Kelly who was 34 inches tall and weighed 8 pounds. Kelly, who died in 1785, was known as "The Irish Fairy".
Cork Harbour is said to be the second largest natural harbour in the world after Sydney Harbour.
Windmills around the world always turn in a counter-clockwise direction... except for the windmills in Ireland which turn clockwise.
A village called Hollywood nestles in the Wicklow Mountains.
The "Queen of the Pirates" was Irish. During the 1500's, Grace O'Malley commanded a crew of over 200 men off the west coast of Ireland on her pirate ship.
Sir Walter Raleigh is said to have planted the first potato in Ireland near his home in Youghal around 1588.
Ireland was the last country in Europe to permit divorce. It was narrowly approved by a 1995 referendum when only 50.28% voted in favour. (This was three percentage points more than at the previous referendum in 1986.)
The first-ever divorce granted in Ireland was in 1997. In 2009, 3,716 divorces were granted. Irish law allows couples to divorce only if they have been living apart for four years.
Although the shamrock is probably the best known, internationally, of all Irish symbols, the official symbol of Ireland is
the Celtic Harp.
According to Irish legend, Ireland's St. Brendan discovered America 1,000 years before Christopher Columbus.
The first steamship to cross the Atlantic was the Sirius. It left Cobh (then called Queenstown) in 1838 and took 18 days to cross the Ocean.
Ballygally Castle in County Antrim, Ireland, is considered to be one of the most haunted places in the country. As the story goes, Lady Isobel Shaw, whose husband built the castle in 1625, was locked in her room by her husband and starved, until she finally jumped from a window to her death. Now she is said to wander the halls of Ballygally Castle, knocking on doors at night. Today Ballygally Castle is a hotel owned by a major chain, so you can stay there and check out Lady Shaw's ghost... Barack Obama is Irish: Barry O'Bama, Barack Obama's great great grandfather came from Moneygall, County Offaly, Ireland.
Facts about Ireland
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