Ireland

Ireland is an amazing country filled with many interesting things. From it's green countryside to its culture. While many people only see Ireland as a place where everyone eats potatoes, drinks beer, and hangs out with leprechauns when in all actuality there's much more to is than that.

Irelands culture is out of this world. The Irish calendar reflects old pagan customs. The Irish observe Halloween, All Saint's Day, Easter and St Patrick's Day. The culture and the lifestyle of the Irish people also has a lot to do with the kinds of food they cooked Food such as honey potatoes, common meat, and cabbage. The pubs in Ireland have the 3rd highest consumption level in the world. However they were more than just drinking places, they were also meeting houses where families and friends gathered. The two dominant languages are English and English with an Irish structure. There were many old traditions in Ireland that still remain today. Traditions such as kissing the Blarney Stone and not to forget they are very superstitious of Banshee's.

There is so much history in Ireland. For example the population in 1841 was 8.2 million after The Great Famine of 1846 many people died and the population decreased greatly. The Potato Famine In September 1845 a Disease struck potato crops 1/3 of all were destroyed. Many people died of starvation because of the fact that in that specific time every one relied on their crops and what they produced on their farms to eat and survive. However, many of them emigrated leaving only half of the original population.

The geography of Ireland is an island on the western side of Europe. 51 Ð'Ð... -55 Ð'Ð... north latitude 5 Ð'Ð... -10 Ð'Ð... longitude. The largest river located in Ireland is 161 miles and it is called the Shannon River. With an altitude of 3414ft, he highest peak in Ireland is Carrauntuao Hill. The total area of Ireland is 70,280 square miles. Making up the total is 68,890 square miles of land, and 1,390 square miles of water. Ireland is mostly flat rolling hills land, except on the coast, which surrounds the inland with rugged cliffs and mountains. Irelands main resources are natural gas, peat, copper, lead, zinc and silver.

Between 1691 and 1801 Ireland remained a self-governed status and power was mostly given to the Anglo-Irish, leaving the Roman Catholics as minorities. In 1922 Ireland won the war of independence and split into the 26 counties that became what as known today as the Republic of Ireland. Ireland's government is a democracy much like the United States. Their president is Mary McAleese. The president's