Authors Note: This was a 5 themes of geography report on Ireland that i should've been finished with a long time ago. The plan was to have a different presentation for every theme, but because of time, most were just put into the large report down below. I did do a prezi on location that will be up once I figure out how to do that, and for he "Movement" section I wrote two fake newspaper articles on Irish immigration and emigration, one from the Irish point of view and one from the American. the articles take place in a period of mass Irish emigration due to English law and famine(I'm telling you this just so you know whats going on.)
Ireland, or the Emerald Isle as some call it, is located just west of the UK and consist of 32 counties, the northernmost 6 actually part of the United Kingdom. Because of this, there have been tensions between the two parts. The official language of Ireland is Gaeilge, but if you don’t speak Gaeilge, that’s okay, as English is also spoken in every part of the country.
Ireland, or the Emerald Isle as some call it, is located just west of the UK and consist of 32 counties, the northernmost 6 actually part of the United Kingdom. Because of this, there have been tensions between the two parts. The official language of Ireland is Gaeilge, but if you don’t speak Gaeilge, that’s okay, as English is also spoken in every part of the country.
Ireland has a few notable landmarks some are noticed because of their natural beauty, others because of historical value. Here are some important Irish landmarks.
St. Patrick’s cathedral
Said to be the oldest Christian site in Ireland and the place where St. Patrick is thought to have baptized converts, St. Patrick’s cathedral was the church of St. Patrick (as if I didn’t already say that name enough, and as if it wasn’t obvious enough). The original structure was made of wood, but because of the fear of the church collapsing, it was rebuilt using stone. As a result, most of the building and interior decorating dates back to the Victorian era.
Blarney Stone/castle
Who hasn’t heard of the Blarney stone? If you haven’t heard of the Blarney stone, you need to get out more. If you haven’t heard of the Blarney castle, I can kind of understand that. The stone was a gift from Robert the Bruce, and the castle was built around it, with the stone located in the battlements, in 1446. If you’ve heard of the Blarney stone, you should know that if you kiss the Blarney stone you get good luck. I wouldn’t recommend it though, as it has become one of the most unsanitary pieces of history in the world.
Cliffs of Moher
The cliffs of Moher are one of the most famous landmarks in Ireland, their minimal height being about 120 feet above sea level, maximum height just over 200 feet. More than 1 million people come to see the cliffs of Moher each year. They must make sure they are careful, as there is no barrier between the visitors and the sheer 100-200 foot drop. They take their name from an old fort called Moher ui Ruidhin, built as a lookout tower during the Napoleonic wars.
Recently, Ireland has gone from agriculture to a so called “modern knowledge economy”. Ireland is, in terms of global domestic product, one of the wealthiest countries in Europe, ranking 5th out of 28. However, in terms of global national product, is somewhat lacking, despite extreme growth over the last couple of years. In a recent study, Ireland is said to have, at this point in time, the best “quality of life” for the citizens than any other country.
Like everywhere else, Ireland produces it’s own natural resources for use in the country, or to be exported. Irelands most common natural resources are natural gasses, zinc, peat, copper, lead, petroleum, dolomite, barite, limestone and gypsum(not in any specific order). Also common are many forms of agriculture like fish farming and other livestock. There’s also mining and foresting.
Like other cultures, Ireland has its own unique set of traditions. These range from their language to their sports and even their music.
The Irish language descended from Celtic a long time ago, and is part of a group of similar languages from a similar origin. This group is called Q-Celtic. After the English conquered Ireland as part of the United Kingdom, the language of Ireland started to decline, and latter more so due to famine and mass emigration. In 1893 in an attempt to save the language, two men named Douglas Hyde and Eoin Mac Neill created the gaelic language. Today more than 1,500,000 people are fluent in Gaelic and about half that number use it on a daily basis.
The Irish are avid sports fans, and have their share of unique sports, like we Americans play football and baseball and such. For example, the game of traditional Irish hurling is said to be as old as known Irish history itself. In this sport, there is a ball, similar to a baseball in size and hardness, and fifteen players all armed with sticks called a hurl. The field is about 137 meters long, and on each side, there is a pitch that the ball must be taken to in order to score. The ball can be held for only 4 steps, then it must be hit with the hurl, kicked or slapped. Contact is allowed, but there is no protective gear while playing. There is also the game of Gaelic football, which is in some ways similar to hurling, but most often described as a mix between soccer and rugby. Like hurling, each team consists if 15 players and when in possession of the ball, the player is allowed 4 steps before kicking or “hand passing” (a striking motion with the hand or fist) the ball. Another option for players who have taken their fourth step is to “solo” the ball, or drop the ball onto the foot and kick it back into their hands. This move can only be used once per carry before passing the ball to someone else. At the end of the field is a crossbar that the ball is either put over or under. If the ball is put over the crossbar, the team scores 1 point. If it goes under the crossbar, in certain circumstances, the team can score a goal, worth three points.
Irish music is important to Irish culture. Many traditional Irish songs tell a story, making them more appealing so I hear. It also has a unique sound, because there are instruments that are used specifically for this kind of music. Like the Uillean pipes and the Bodhran drum. Stories told by Irish music can be life stories or the history of the Irish altogether. Now days, there are bands that mix traditional Irish music with rock music to get a new sound, but in these songs, the original idea of Irish music has not been forgotten.
The climate of Ireland is mostly sunny, but there are still plenty of rainstorms. It really depends on the season. Spring and summer are usually sunny, but still a decent amount of rain and in fall and winter, its more the opposite. To prove how quick the weather can change in Ireland, it can be sunny, then rainy and then sunny again in a matter of minutes. It’s usually very warm in Ireland, only dropping to about 40 degrees in the winter.
Due to its isolation from the rest of Europe, Ireland has a less diverse collection of animals than other locations. There are only 55 species of mammal and only about 26 of them live on land that are actually native to Ireland. There are about 400 different species of bird in Ireland, most of which are migratory. There are no snakes in Ireland at all, and there is only one species of lizard, known as the common lizard. Some examples of animals that are now extinct in Ireland are the great Auk, the Irish Elk, and wolves. Today, about 12% of Ireland is covered in forest. Ireland is ranked the 42nd most forested country in Europe on a list of 55. The most common kinds of forest are Oak, Pine and Birch. Now days most of Ireland is covered in large pastures containing many different kinds of wildflower.
Ireland is an interesting place with an interesting history and a lot of culture(nothing like you see on T.V.), definitely something worth looking up if you have the time.
Irish immigration and emigration.
Note: these articles contain some actual quotes and exerts from actual newspapers from the time. these were also written in actuall newspaper format.(I looked it up)
Irish immigration and emigration.
Note: these articles contain some actual quotes and exerts from actual newspapers from the time. these were also written in actuall newspaper format.(I looked it up)
Ireland
Almost one million dead due to famine, many more emigrating to the west.
By Kelin Olson
“The almighty sent the blight, but the English created the famine” John Mitchel
In the last few years, the population of our native Ireland has dropped by almost 20%. Almost one million have died due to hunger or the diseases that have resulted from an drochshaol, or the potato blight as foreigners call it, almost a million more are emigrating to other countries like Australia, America and Canada in hopes of a better life away from the famine and the English rule. Many people are being kicked out of their very homes by the English landlords and our hard earned grain is being exported to England while we are left to starve. It is obvious the English are more concerned about profit than they are about us.
The English were slow to react in the beginning, and as a result, their eventual relief attempts have failed in the end. The repeal of the corn laws is pointless if none of us posses the money needed to buy the grain anyway. Why do we not have the money? Because the English rule prohibits us from entering professions and even from our own land. The workhouses aren’t any better. The English government has started diverting money from projects that could increase our agricultural output and productivity into things such as building unneeded roads and clearing hills and whatnot. The pay laborers get for their service is not even equivalent to the work they put in. Only the soup kitchens produced by England even partially helped, but they were too short lived to make any difference. The biggest flaw with the workhouses and such is the they brought people together, spreading around sickness and disease, which has claimed more lives than the hunger itself, Accelerating the decrease of our population.
America
No Irish Need Apply
By K2 Olson
As more Irishmen enter America, more fear, anger, and resentment is directed towards them. Due to Irishmen being “intellectually inferior”, they are being forced to do the jobs and live in the places no one else will, like mining coal and building railroads, said to be so dangerous it’s believed there’s an Irishman buried under each tie. They do these jobs because they are the only jobs available to them, while many other job advertisements end with “No Irish Need Apply. We fear the effect these Irishmen will have on our economy and our very way of life. An example of the resentment we aim at the Irish is this line from the Chicago Post stating "The Irish fill our prisons, our poor houses...Scratch a convict or a pauper, and the chances are that you tickle the skin of an Irish Catholic. Putting them on a boat and sending them home would end crime in this country."
Another saying is "The Negro is black outside; the Irishman is black inside". Such insult or intimidation is more often than not met with violence. In a religious riot in Philadelphia, many catholic churches were burned. When mayor of New York City asked the archbishop if he was afraid of any of his churches being burned, he responded by saying this "No sir, but I am afraid some of yours will be. We can protect our own." No churches ever did burn in New York. Are we treating the Irish correctly, or are we horribly mistreating them?
