Facts

       Amusing Irish Facts: 

• The longest place name in Ireland is Muckanaghederdauhaulia, in County Galway.                                                                          
• An Irish jig is played in Detroit's Joe Louis Arena when Brendan Shanahan scores for the RedWings.                    
• All windmills in Ireland turn in a clockwise direction, while the rest of the windmills in the world turn counter-clockwise.
• The word quiz was allegedly invented in the 1830’s by a Dublin theater owner named Richard Daly, who made a bet that he could make a nonsense word known throughout the city in just 48 hours. Legend says that Daly gave his employees cards with the word “quiz” written on them, and told them to write it on walls all over the city. Some historians argue that the word was already in use at this time, but most agree that it did not acquire it’s current definition – "to question or interrogate" – until sometime in the 19th  

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      Odd Irish Facts:

• Achill Island is the largest island off Ireland’s coast. It’s 56 miles square, with dramatic landscape featuring wild cliffs and moors.
• Ireland’s 15 principal railway stations are named after the leaders of the 1916 uprising.  
• An “An Fáinne” is a lapel pin, worn by some fluent Irish speakers to invite others to speak to them in the traditional language.  
• Famed Hollywood movie director John Ford was born Sean O’Feeney in 1894, in Spiddal, County Galway.  
• James Joyce once called Guinness stout "the wine of Ireland."  
• Ireland has virtually no coal deposits, even though it’s just 60 miles from Wales, one of the world’s richest coal fields.  
• Baileys Irish Cream which was launched in Ireland in the early seventies, is now the most popular liqueur in the world.
• It’s not the custom in Ireland to wear green ties, hats or other green clothes on St. Patrick's Day. A sprig of shamrock in the coat lapel is the preferred display.  
• Their are no snakes or deer in Ireland

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    Facts about old Ireland:

• The Newgrange passage tomb in County Meath was constructed around 3200 BC, making it more than 600 years older than the Giza Pyramids in Egypt, and 1,000 years older than Stonehenge.
• “Cemetery Sunday” is a lesser-known tradition still practiced around Ireland, although it seems to take place on whatever date is most convenient for local church leaders. A mass is celebrated for families of those buried in the local church graveyard, after which an effort is made over several days to clean up the churchyard. Special attention is traditionally given to the graves of those who have no one left among the living to remember them.  
• A single day of good weather that pops up in a long stretch of bad days is known in Ireland as a "pet day."
• Famous wit Oscar Wilde was born Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde in Dublin in 1854.
• Bram Stoker was working as a civil servant in Dublin when he wrote “Dracula” in 1897.
• The Vikings founded Dublin in 988.
• The very first St. Patrick's Day parade in America was hosted by the Charitable Irish Society of Boston in 1737.  
• Historians believe St. Patrick’s real name was "Maewyn Succat."  
• In 1800, the population of Ireland was almost twice as large as that of the United States. By 2000, America’s population was about 60 times that of Ireland  
• The national symbol of Ireland is the Celtic harp, not the shamrock
• In the days of sailing ships, Irish sea captains often carried pebbles from Scattery Island, the home of the Saint Cannera, the patron saint of sailors.

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