3377 IRELAND - Wild Ireland

Ireland has a particularly strong traditional link with donkeys. From the start of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century, donkeys played a key role in rural lives, especially in the west of the country. Jim Smyth wrote an academic review of the history of donkeys in Ireland in 2014, titled The Strange History of the Irish Donkey. He details the main roles played by donkeys in Irish life, including clearing rocky fields, moving turf from bogs, ploughing, transport of people and goods, grinding corn, and finally, for recreation and as family pets.

3348 IRELAND (Leinster) - Images of Dublin - The Historic City of Dublin (UNESCO WHS - Tentative List)

3348 Dublin City - Palace Bar, Molly Malone statue
and georgian doors

Untainted, unspoiled and unperturbed by the passage of time - that's what makes The Palace Bar one of Dublin's best-loved original Victorian pubs. This priceless jewel provides a very important bridge between the 19th century Victorian pub and Dublin's great traditions of literary hostelries. During the 1940's and 50's this pub became the home of international fame and intellectual refreshment under the patronage of R.M. (Bertie) Smyllie, then Editor of The Irish Times. It was the social home of the Fourth Estate playing host to to newsmen, correspondents and compositors of Dublin's three daily papers.

3244, 3304 IRELAND - Irish writers

3244

3304

Posted on 12.01.2018, 24.12.2019
For a comparatively small place, the island of Ireland has made a disproportionate contribution to world literature in all its branches, in both the Irish and English languages. The island's most widely known literary works are undoubtedly in English. Three of the four Nobel prize Irish winners (William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney) were born in Dublin, making it the birthplace of more Nobel literary laureates than any other city in the world.

3260, 3280 IRELAND / UNITED KINGDOM (Northern Ireland) - The map of the island

3260

Posted on 04.02.2018, 03.12.2019
Located in the North Atlantic, Ireland is the third-largest island in Europe (after Great Britain and Iceland), separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Politically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (with Dublin as capital city), which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland (with Belfast as capital city), which is part of the United Kingdom. In 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.6 million (under 4.8 million in the Republic of Ireland and over 1.8 million in Northern Ireland).

3280

The island's geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild but changeable climate which is free of extremes in temperature. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, compared with a European average of 35%. The Irish climate is very moderate and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant.

0549, 2030, 3253 IRELAND (Leinster) - Trinity College - part of The Historic City of Dublin (UNESCO WHS - Tentative List)

2030 Dublin - Trinity College

Posted on 11.03.2013, 13.11.2015, 01.02.2018
Probable that Dublin no longer looks as it was presented in Dubliners by Joyce, but certainly that Trinity College, the sole constituent college of the University of Dublin, hasn't changed much since Beckett studied there, from 1923 to 1927. Founded in 1592 as the "mother" of a new university, and modelled after the collegiate universities of Oxford and of Cambridge, it's one of the seven ancient universities of the British Isles, and was originally intended to consolidate the rule of the Tudor monarchy in Ireland, being seen as the university of the Protestant Ascendancy for much of its history.

0549 Dublin - The Long Room from
Trinity College Library (1)

Although Roman Catholics and Dissenters had been permitted to enter in college since 1793, the professorships, the fellowships and the scholarships were reserved for Protestants until 1873, and the Catholic Church forbade its adherents from attending, without permission of their bishop, until 1970. Its library is the largest research library in Ireland, and a legal deposit library for the UK and Ireland, so it receives a copy of every book published in Great Britain and Ireland, which means 100,000 new items every year. It contains circa five million books, including significant collections of manuscripts, maps, and printed music.

3253 Dublin - The Long Room from Trinity College Library (2)

The Book of Kells, created by Celtic monks ca. 800, is by far its most famous book and is located in the Old Library. As is writes on the postcard, "The main chamber of the Old Library, the Long Room, is nearly 65m in length, and houses around 200,000 of the Library's oldest books. In 1860 the roof was raised to allow the construction of the present barrel-vaulted ceiling and gallery bookcases. Marble busts are placed down either side of the room which also contains the oldest surviving harp in Ireland." It's about the Brian Boru harp, one of the three surviving medieval Gaelic harps, and a national symbol of Ireland (used also on the Irish Euro coins), received by the college in the 18th century.

1764, 3240 IRELAND (Leinster) - Temple Bar Pub in Dublin - part of the The Historic City of Dublin (UNESCO WHS - Tentative List)

1764 The Temple Bar (1)

Posted on 23.07.2015, 10.01.2018
Temple Bar is an area on the south bank of the River Liffey in central Dublin, promoted as Dublin's cultural quarter. The historic name of the district was St. Andrews Parish, and in Middle Age it was a suburb located outside the city walls. Many sources agree that Temple Bar Street got its name from the Temple family, and specifically Sir William Temple, whose house was located there in the early 17th century. However, given the existence of a district of the same name in London, it seems that the new Temple Bar street of Dublin must have been a nod to its more famous cousin.

3240 The Temple Bar (2)

In 1599, Sir William Temple, a renowned teacher and philosopher, entered the service of the Lord Deputy Of Ireland. In 1609 he was made Provost of Trinity College, Dublin and Master Chancery in Ireland and moved to this country. He built his house and gardens on the corner of Temple Lane and the street called Temple Bar. In 1656, his son, Sir John Temple, acquired additional land and made possible the development of the area today known as Temple Bar. In the 17th century "Barr" (later shortened to Bar) usually meant a raised estuary sandbank often used for walking on. Since 1840 (according to some sources, but according to other even earlier) in this building operates a pub, got famous.

3031 IRELAND (Leinster) - Howth Lighthouse in Dublin

Howth Head is a headland north east of Dublin city. Entry to the headland is at Sutton, a residential suburb of Dublin, while village of Howth and the harbour are on the northern shore. Originally an island, Howth Head is connected to the mainland via a narrow strip of land, and forms the northerly bound of the great crescent of Dublin Bay, roughly corresponding to Killiney Hill in the south. At the end of the East Pier of harbour is situated Howth Lighthouse, a scenic treat, but also a symbol for the fight for Irish independence.

2875 IRELAND - The 100th Anniversary of the Easter Rising

With the Act of Union in 1800, Ireland (which had been under some form of English control since the 12th century) merged with Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, being governed by a united parliament from London. During the 19th century, Irish nationalists opposed this arrangement in varying degrees. Some moderate nationalists advocated for home rule, under which Ireland would remain part of the United Kingdom but also have some form of self-government.

2849 IRELAND (Ulster) - A traditional thatched cottage in Ballyness Bay

 

Located in the province of Ulster, County Donegal shares a small border with only one other county in the Republic of Ireland, the rest being shared with three counties of Northern Ireland. This geographic isolation from the rest of the Republic has led to Donegal people maintaining a distinct cultural identity. It was one of the worst affected parts of Ulster during the Great Famine of the late 1840s, many areas becoming permanently depopulated. On the other hand, the Partition of Ireland cut the county off from the city of Derry, which had acted for centuries as the county's main port, transport hub and financial centre.

IRELAND (Leinster) - The Historic City of Dublin (UNESCO WHS - Tentative List)

Following the Restoration (1660) Dublin (founded as a Viking settlement in 988 AD) became the second city, after London, of the British Empire, with major development and expansion in the Georgian period (1714-1830) - providing the institutional buildings and infrastructure, and setting out the city plan substantially as it survives today. Reflecting the political and social ambitions of their patrons, the institutions built are of high architectural quality. Actually, Dublin boasts some of the world's finest Georgian buildings.

2112 IRELAND (Leinster) - The Monastic City of Clonmacnoise and its Cultural Landscape (UNESCO WHS - Tentative List)

2112 The monastery of Clonmacnoise
- McCarthy's Tower

Situated on the River Shannon, south of Athlone, the monastery of Clonmacnoise (Cluain Mhic Nóis in Irish, meaning "Meadow of the Sons of Nós") was founded in 544 by Saint Ciarán, one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. The strategic location helped it become a major centre of religion, learning, craftsmanship, and trade by the 9th century and together with Clonard it was the most famous in Ireland, visited by scholars from all over Europe.

2023 IRELAND (Leinster) - St Stephen's Green - part of The Historic City of Dublin (UNESCO WHS - Tentative List)

2023 Dublin - Fusiliers' Arch at the entrance of St Stephen's Green

Dublin has more green spaces per square kilometre than any other European capital city, with 97% of city residents living within 300 metres of a park area. The city council plants approximately 5,000 trees annually and manages over 1,500 hectares of parks. Among the most known is St Stephen's Green, which is adjacent to a main shopping street, Grafton Street, and to a shopping centre named for it.

0930 IRELAND (Leinster) - Ha'penny Bridge - part of The Historic City of Dublin (UNESCO WHS - Tentative List)

The Ha'penny Bridge, an old iron footbridge over the River Liffey, officially named Liffey Bridge, is one of the most photographed sights in Dublin and is considered to be one of city's most iconic landmarks. Built in 1816 from cast iron, it was originally called the Wellington Bridge (after the Duke of Wellington). Before the Ha'penny Bridge was built there were seven ferries, operated by a William Walsh, but these were in a bad condition and Walsh was informed that he had to either fix them or build a bridge.

0617 IRELAND (Munster) - Will you come to Limerick?

"There was an Old Man of Kilkenny,
Who never had more than a penny;
He spent all that money,
In onions and honey,
That wayward Old Man of Kilkenny."

0391 IRELAND (Munster) - The Blarney Castle and the Stone of Eloquence

Located in South-West of Ireland, near Cork, Blarney Castle (in Irish Caisleán na Blarnan), as it looks today, is the third erected on this site, after a wooden structure built in the 10th century, replaced around 1210 by a stone stronghold, demolished in the first half of the 15th century. In 1446, Dermot McCarthy, King of Munster, rebuilt the castle, which was besieged during the Irish Confederate Wars (between the native Irish Catholics and English and Scottish Protestant colonists and their supporters). It was seized in 1646 by Parliamentarian forces, and after the Restoration it was restored to Donough MacCarty, who was made 1st Earl of Clancarty.

0182 UNITED KINGDOM - Titanic at 100 years

On 15 April 1912 the passenger liner RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton (UK) to New York City (US). Probably because she was the largest ship afloat at that time (and also the most luxurious), the voyage during which she sank was the maiden voyage, number of victims was enormous (1514 from a total of 2,223), and among the dead were some of the wealthiest people in the world, disaster has been highly publicized both then and later, Titanic becoming one of the legends of the modern era.

0106 UNITED KINGDOM (Northern Ireland - Ulster) - Enniskillen Castle

0106 The south tower of Enniskillen Castle

Located between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne, Enniskillen is a little town (13,587inhabitants in 2011) with a rich history. I must to say that James I founded here a free school in 1618, originally called Enniskillen Royal School, and later Portora Royal School. Among many prominent people who attended the courses of this school include two of my favorite writers, Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett.

0052 IRELAND (Leinster) - Brú na Bóinne, Archaeological Ensemble of the Bend of the Boyne (UNESCO WHS)

The celts whom the Romans found in the Great Britain 2000 years ago knew almost nothing about the numerous henges, meghalits and other constructions scattered about everywhere through their lands, just that they were built long before the arrival of their ancestors from the continent. In Ireland, the romans didn't reached, but if they had done it, would be heard the same thing, the constructions being, in the irish mythology, the abode of the Tuatha De Danann, the fifth group settled in this realm, after conquering the island from the Fir Bolg. What do I mean? Only that these mysterious constructions, the purpose of which was not yet fully understood, are older than the history.

0013 UNITED KINGDOM (Northern Ireland - Ulster) - Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast (UNESCO WHS)

The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns (the tallest are about 12 metres), most of it hexagonal, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption, some 50 to 60 million years ago. That say the geologists. Folk tradition says that the Causeway was built by the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish counterpart Fingal. The legend is long and interesting (you can find it on the Internet in several variants). Finally Fingal sped back along the causeway to get rid of Finn and tearing it up as he went. He is said to have fled to a cave on Staffa which to this day is named Fingal's Cave.