Dun Laoghaire

....is a not a country, its a place in Dublin.

So, Ireland.

What is there to Ireland?

There's a few Irish people, some Cider, some potatoes, some grass and clovers, and of course there's the scarily devout Catholics. (:

But what is Ireland really important for? How has it helped?

Well, its given a lovely name like Ciara to the world. Absolutely lovely, yes.

Posh Literature Stuff

Really quite fabulous works of literature have come from Ireland, perhaps unheard of in other areas, e.g. the world, but really now, Ireland hasn't done bad for itself. For example, Jonatha

n Swift, writer of Gulliver's Travels and A Modest Proposal, is considered to be the foremost satirist in the English language. Satire can be found in the forms of wonderful irony, sarcasm, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison or double etendre. Irish people have also found themselves acquiring the Nobel Prize for Literature, Seamus Heaney (Seamus! Another Irish name! C'est beau!) is an unknown example for you.

Music

La musique d'Irlande est particulièrement étonnant avec des exemples tels que U2, Westlife, The Script et The Pogues .... and some lesser known examples:

• The Thrills, a Dubliner Indie rock band, with interesting tunes I've now fallen in love with. I began with listening to Midnight Choir. Tis lovely.
  Also, here is one of their albums, Let's Bottle Bohemia.

• And some other bands

• Of course, Ireland has been the most successful country in the Eurovision Contest with 7 wins under their belt; you may want to look into that.

Some other thoughts of my own.

My other thoughts on Ireland include the greatness of Father Ted which I'm sure you must all love. Indeed, Dermot Morgan was an amazing actor, extremely hilarious. Ardal O'Hanlon is equally amazing, but my all-time favourite Irish comedian - Dylan Moran. Watch Black Books (a TV show he stars in with Bill Bailey) =] and his show, Monster ... or Like Totally.

Another thought of mine; Ireland did win 6 Nations this year, and as long as they beat England, we've got to be happy with that right. Sportswise, Ireland also has its hurling and Gaelic football. I am enthralled.

Oh My God! Ed Byrne is Irish :O how did I not think of that! Yes, I do love him whenever he's on HIGNFY et cetera et cetera.

Also in my interest

History and all that. Ireland has this interesting history of Celts and Vikings and so on and so forth; Dublin being founded by the Vikings as well as many other towns around Ireland.

One of the places I've visited in Ireland is Blarney, famous for its Castle and at the highest point of the castle, a so-called magic stone.

'At the top of the castle lies the Stone of Eloquence, better known as the Blarney Stone. Tourists visiting Blarney Castle may hang upside-down over a sheer drop to kiss the stone, which is said to give the gift of eloquence.'

(from Wikipedia)

When I visited the castle, I did not kiss the stone.

1. I was only 7 or 8 and the 'sheer drop' scared the shit out of me :)
2. The stone was being kissed by ewwww so many tourists =/ ....

And well also of interest in Ireland. The Giant's Causeway, a pretty formation in the rocks that has legends associated with it. In my opinion, the beach is better, but well I guess its a nice place to go.

Yes, so Ireland is really quite fabulous :) But of course, the best person on Ireland is Ciara Kinsella. Most interesting person Irish person I know. Wouldn't you agree Becky Connolly?

(:

But Wales is better.

Moi