Irish

LOCATION: Ireland
POPULATION: 4.3 million (2007)
LANGUAGE: Irish Gaelic (official); English (primary)
RELIGION: Roman Catholic; Protestant, and Jewish

INTRODUCTION

The Republic of Ireland, which consists of 26 counties, covers five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The remaining portion is occupied by the six counties of Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. The division of the island into two political entities is the legacy of a long period of British rule, dating back as far as 1171, when King Henry II declared himself king of Ireland. Eventually the English controlled most of the island. With the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, the division between the conquering and conquered peoples took on a religious dimension, as the Protestant English began the suppression of native Irish Catholicism, further aggravating the hostility between the two. When the Republic of Ireland won its independence in 1922, Northern Ireland became a separate political entity, remaining part of the United Kingdom. It was the site of violent conflict between Catholic nationalists and Protestant extremist groups until 1998, when the Good Friday Agreement was negotiated between the Irish and UK governments. The Republic of Ireland became a member of the European Community (now the European Union) in January of 1973. Ireland's economy began to grow rapidly in the 1990s, fueled by foreign investment: it became known as the "Celtic tiger." This attracted a wave of immigrants to a country where, traditionally, mass emigration was the norm. Today, Ireland has been transformed from a largely agricultural society into a modern, high-tech economy. Bertie Ahern, elected prime minister (taoiseach) in 1997, began a record third consecutive term in office in June 2007. However, Ahern in 2006 was criticized over controversial loans he received from friends when he was finance minister in the 1990s. In March 2008 he announced he would resign.

LOCATION AND HOMELAND

Ireland, which occupies an area smaller than the state of Maine, is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the south, west, and northwest, and by the Irish Sea on the east. The country's two main topographic regions are a fertile central lowland and the mountain ranges that surround it. Most of the country is less than 500 feet above sea level. Ireland's population of 4.3 million people is evenly distributed throughout the country. The Irish trace their ethnic origins to the various groups who inhabited and ruled their land over the course of history, including the Celts, Norsemen, French Normans, and English. The people living east of the Shannon River generally have a higher standard of living, with a more advanced level of industrialization and richer farmland. The Gaeltacht along the western coast is the nation's Gaelic-speaking region.

LANGUAGE

Irish Gaelic and English are the official languages of the Republic of Ireland, and English is more widely used. Only about 30% of the population knows Gaelic well enough to use it in daily conversation, and only about 50,000 people living in the Gaelic-speaking or Gaeltacht area on the west coast use it as their primary language. The use and recognition of Gaelic has been taken up as a nationalist cause since the late 19th century. Today Gaelic is a compulsory subject in school, and signs throughout Ireland are written in both English and Gaelic. Irish Gaelic is a Celtic language closely related to Scottish Gaelic. Irish people speak English with an accent known as a brogue.

FOLKLORE

The Irish are master storytellers, and their tales and legends date back to Druid priests and early Celtic poets who preserved the stories of Ireland's pre-Christian heroes and heroines. There are tales about the exploits of Cuchulainn, who defended Ulster single-handed, and tales from the era of Cormac Mac Art, Ireland's first king, including the love story of Diarmid and Grania and the exploits of Finn MacCool. Modern authors have helped keep these folk traditions alive: the poet William Butler Yeats wrote five plays based on the legendary adventures of Cuchulainn and James Joyce's final novel, Finnegans Wake — whose main character is identified with the mythic figure of Finn MacCool —is filled with Irish legends and mythology. Irish children today still learn tales about these legendary heroes, including MacCool and Saint Finnabar, who is said to have slain Ireland's last dragon.

RELIGION

Ireland is a staunchly Catholic country. Roman Catholics account for about 88% of Ireland's population, but only 48% of the Irish population in 2006 attended mass every week (down from 81% in 1990). Pilgrimages to shrines and holy places at home and abroad attract tens of thousands annually. Catholicism is strongly woven into the fabric of Irish life, influencing its laws, education, architecture, and daily life. Divorce only became legal in 1997. Abortion is illegal according to the Irish constitution. Catholicism is also deeply intertwined with Irish nationalism: before Irish independence, the British attempted to eradicate Catholicism from Ireland, causing the Irish to cling even more tenaciously to their faith. The non-Catholic minority is mostly Episcopalian, Methodist, Presbyterian, or Jewish.

MAJOR HOLIDAYS

Ireland's legal holidays are New Year's Day, St. Patrick's Day (March 17), Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, bank holidays on the first Mondays of June and August, Christmas, and St. Stephen's Day (December 26). In addition to these holidays, a variety of customs and celebrations are associated with various saints' days. St. John's Day (June 24), for example, is traditionally the time to dig up and eat the first new potatoes and on the night before, bonfires are lit on hilltops throughout the west of Ireland. A dish called colcannon, made from cabbage, potatoes, and milk, was traditionally served on Halloween with a ring, coin, thimble, and button inserted into it. Whoever found the ring was supposed to be married within a year, while the coin symbolized wealth, the button, bachelor-hood, and the thimble, spinsterhood.

RITES OF PASSAGE

As in most west European countries, most births occur in hospitals. In Roman Catholic families the child is baptized within a week or so of birth. First Communion and confirmation are important events for Catholic children. Marriage generally takes place in church. Weddings are festive events and in the west may still be attended by "strawboys," uninvited guests dressed in straw disguises who crash the wedding and carouse about in good-humored fashion. Death is a solemn occasion and although the Irish were once known for their wild wakes these are quickly becoming a thing of the past.

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS

The Irish are renowned for their hospitality, which dates back to olden times when it was believed that turning away a stranger would bring bad luck and a bad name to the household. (According to one Christian belief, a stranger might be Christ in disguise coming to test the members of the household.) The front doors of houses were commonly left open at meal times so that anyone who passed by would feel free to enter and join in the meal. While many of the old superstitions are a thing of the past, Irish warmth and hospitality toward strangers remains. Hospitality is practiced not only at home, but also at the neighborhood pub, where anyone joining a group of drinkers immediately buys a round of drinks for everyone at the table. Until 2004 no one smoked a cigarette without first offering the pack to everyone present. But that year Ireland became the first country to have a nationwide ban on indoor smoking in all public spaces, including restaurants and pubs.

LIVING CONDITIONS

The traditional rural home was narrow and rectangular, and built from a combination of stones and mortar (made from mud, lime, or whatever material was locally available), often with a thatched roof. Rural homes and those in some urban areas are commonly heated by fireplaces that burn peat (called "turf" in Ireland) instead of wood. Modern homes have replaced traditional dwellings both in the country and the city, where families generally live in brick or concrete houses or apartment buildings. The large numbers of people emigrating to Ireland's cities since the 1950s have created a great demand for new housing, and developments have gone up around most large towns and cities.

Health care in Ireland is based on a person's ability to pay for services, with low-income persons and those over the age of 66 receiving most services free of charge. Hospital care is free for all children through the age of 16, and the costs of medication are covered for people suffering from infectious or chronic illnesses. Both infant mortality (5.22 out of 1,000 live births) and average life expectancy (77.9 years) are close to the European average.

FAMILY LIFE

The Irish have such a strong allegiance to the family that their constitution even recognizes it as "the natural primary and fundamental unit group of Society, and as a moral institution possessing inalienable . . . rights" and guarantees to protect it as "indispensible to the welfare of the Nation." While the nuclear family is the primary family unit, it expands to include elderly relatives when they become infirm and may also include an unmarried aunt or uncle. Young people have traditionally lived at home with their parents until they married, often after the age of 25 or even 30. Bonds between siblings are unusually strong, especially in the western part of the country, and unmarried siblings often live together, sometimes joined by a widowed sibling later in life. While women are playing an increasingly active role in the work force, traditional gender roles still predominate at home, with the woman doing most of the household chores and child-rearing, and the men fulfilling the traditional role of breadwinner. Before 1972 married women could not be hired for professional positions in the public sector.

CLOTHING

People in Ireland wear modern Western-style clothing, with an eye to durability, comfort, and protection from Ireland's often-wet weather. The Irish have been known for their fine cotton lace-making since the early 1800s. Handknitted sweaters are another famous Irish product, especially those made on the Aran Islands, with their high-quality yarn and distinctive patterns. Tweed —a thick cloth of woven wool used for pants, skirts, jackets, and hats —is another type of textile for which the Irish are known. The Irish have adorned (and fastened) their clothing with bronze and silver brooches since the 3rd century ad, and traditional designs have included detailed engravings, animal designs, and enamel inlays.

FOOD

The Irish have hearty appetites. Potatoes are the main staple and, together with cabbage, the most popular vegetables in Ireland. Many rural dwellers grow their own potatoes and use them in their meals on a daily basis. Dairy products are a favorite, and milk and butter consumption are both heavy. Irish stew, one of the most common traditional dishes, consists of lamb or mutton, potatoes, onions, herbs, and stock. The main meals of the day are breakfast and lunch. The traditional Irish breakfast (which many have abandoned in favor of lighter fare) includes sausages, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, pudding, other meat dishes (such as liver or chops), and bread, all washed down by plentiful servings of tea. A typical lunch might include a hearty soup, a serving of chicken or beef, and vegetables. Supper usually consists of sandwiches, cold meats, or fish. Soda bread, made with baking soda and buttermilk, accompanies many meals, and popular desserts (called "sweets") include scones, tarts, and cakes.

EDUCATION

Adult literacy is nearly universal in Ireland. All children must attend school between the ages of 6 and 15, and most go to single-sex rather than coeducational schools. Both English and Gaelic are taught in primary school (called National School). Secondary school students receive an Intermediate Certificate at the age of 15 or 16 and, following an optional two more years of study, a Leaving Certificate, which is required for admission to one of Ireland's seven universities. Ireland's oldest university is Trinity College, founded in 1591 and also known as the University of Dublin.

CULTURAL HERITAGE

The value that the Irish place on the arts can be seen in Ireland's policy of exempting its writers, composers, painters, and sculptors from paying income taxes, as long as their work is recognized as having "artistic or cultural merit." Ireland's greatest contribution has been in the field of literature, and its great writers, include satirist Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels , the playwrights Oliver Goldsmith and Oscar Wilde, and such giants of 20th-century literature as playwright George Bernard Shaw, poet William Butler Yeats, and novelist James Joyce. Although Joyce left his native land as a young man, Ireland and its people play a central role in all his works, which include the short story collection Dubliners and the novels A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Ulysses , which traces the activities of its characters during the time span of one day in early-20th-century Dublin. Yeats won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1923, as did his fellow Irishman, playwright Samuel Beckett in 1969. Contemporary Irish writers include poets Seamus Deane and Seamus Heaney, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1995, and novelist Roddy Doyle, winner of the Booker Prize in 1993. Brian O'Nolan (Flann O'Brien) was an Irish novelist and satirist who wrote many satirical columns in the Irish Times under the name Myles na gCopaleen. There is also a considerable modern literature in Irish Gaelic, including poets Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and Máirtín Ó Direáin.

WORK

In 2006, 67% of Ireland's labor force was employed in service sector jobs, 27% worked in industry, and 6% were in agriculture, forestry, and fishing. Primary industries include meat, dairy, and grain processing, electronics, machinery, beer, shoes, and glassware. Since the 1960s, many small foreign-owned factories have opened in Ireland. Farming takes place on both small subsistence farms where families raise just enough to support themselves, and on large sophisticated commercial farms that produce food for export. Tourism is a mainstay of the service sector, providing restaurant, hotel, and retail jobs as well as expanding the range of government employment. In the decade up to 2006, property values had risen more rapidly in Ireland than in any other developed world economy. Per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is 40% higher than that of the four largest European economies and the second highest in the European Union (EU) behind Luxembourg, and in 2007 surpassed that of the United States. The Irish government has implemented a series of national economic programs designed to cut back on price and wage inflation, invest in infrastructure, increase labor force skills, and promote foreign investment.

SPORTS

Ireland's most popular sports are hurling and Gaelic football. Hurling, which is similar to field hockey, is played by two teams of 15 players who attempt to knock a leather ball through their opponents' goalposts with long sticks called hurleys or camans. The All-Ireland Hurling Championship, held in Dublin every September, is the Irish equivalent of the World Series in the United States. The women's version of hurling is called camogie. Gaelic football combines elements of soccer and rugby, and also culminates in an All-Ireland match in the nation's capital. Another popular traditional Irish sport is road bowling (played mostly in County Cork); its object is to advance a metal ball, called a bullet, over a two- or three-mile course in as few throws as possible. Other widely played sports include soccer, rugby, cricket, boxing, and track and field. Horse racing is a favorite national pastime, and Ireland's famous races include the Irish Derby and the Grand National (the race featured in the movie National Velvet ).

ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION

Irish men spend many of their hours in pubs, drinking beer or ale, playing darts, and socializing with their friends. However, a typical rainy evening also finds many Irish people of both sexes at home reading or watching television. In recent years, it has become increasingly acceptable for women to frequent pubs, although the neighborhood pub still remains primarily male turf. Pubs are also the scene of traditional music sessions, which are associated with craic (pronounced "crack"), an all-around term for having a good time that can include playing and/ or listening to music, joking around, getting drunk, or flirting with members of the opposite sex. "The craic was mighty" means that someone had a good time. Other popular leisure-time pursuits include chess, bingo, and bridge.

FOLK ART, CRAFTS, AND HOBBIES

Traditional crafts include tweed and linen weaving, wool knitting, glass blowing, and wood carving. Belleek china and Waterford crystal are especially famous, and Rathborne, which has been producing candles for over 450 years, is Europe's oldest candle maker. The women of the Aran Islands are known for their distinctive woolen sweaters. (At one time, every family on the islands had its own sweater pattern, which aided in identifying drowned sailors.) Ireland has a rich folk music tradition, and age-old jigs and reels can be heard at local festivals and in informal performances at neighborhood pubs. Since the 1960s, groups like the Chieftains and Planxty have not only revived national interest in traditional tunes and instruments, they have also gained an international audience for Irish music, both live and recorded. Traditional instruments include the fiddle, flute, Celtic harp, accordion, bodhran (a hand-held drum), and uilleann pipes (a bagpipe-like instrument powered by a bellows).

SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Ever since the great potato famine of 1845, Ireland has lost a large percentage of its population to emigration, as people leave in search of better opportunities abroad. At one point in the 19th century, the nation's population fell from 8 to 3 million within the space of a single generation. After a period of relative prosperity in the 1960s and 1970s, the worst economic crisis since independence led to a new wave of emigration beginning in the late 1980s, most of it to the United States. Over 100,000 of Ireland's young people left the country. In addition to inflation, high unemployment, and the highest taxes in Europe, the nation had to deal with one of the largest per capita foreign debts in the world. However, fueled by foreign investment, Ireland made a major turnaround in the 1990s, and was dubbed the "Celtic Tiger" for its fast growing economy. In recent years, Ireland has changed from being a country of emigrationto a country of immigration. Unemployment is very low and 9% of the labor force in Ireland is foreign born.

Politically, the difficulties in Northern Ireland led to violence that claimed nearly 2,000 civilian lives and injured some 40,000 among the competing Protestant and Catholic factions. However, in 1998 the Good Friday Agreement was signed, which sought to address relationships within Northern Ireland; between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic; and between both parts of Ireland and England, Scotland, and Wales. In referenda, 71.2% of people in Northern Ireland and 94.39% in the Irish Republic voted "yes" to accepting the Agreement. An Assembly was elected in September that year, and there is an executive composed of a First Minister, Deputy First Minister and 10 further ministers.

GENDER ISSUES

With abortion illegal and divorce only becoming legal under certain circumstances in 1997, the lives of Irish women in many respects are circumscribed. The Roman Catholic Church plays a major role in social and family relations. Irish law prohibits discrimination against women in the workplace and provides for protection and redress against discrimination based on gender and marital status. However, inequalities persist regarding pay and promotions. Women constitute approximately 47.5% of the labor force but are underrepresented in senior management positions. The earnings of women average 80% that of men and women work 10 hours a week less.

Homosexuality was decriminalized in Ireland in 1993, and discrimination based on sexual orientation is now outlawed. Ireland also prohibits incitement to hatred based on sexual orientation. A survey conducted in 2008 showed that 84% of Irish people supported civil marriage or civil partnerships for gay and lesbian couples, with 58% supporting full marriage rights. Northern Ireland, as part of the UK, began recognizing same-sex civil partnerships in 2005.

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— revised by J. Hobby