Irish history facts

Discover 75+ fun and interesting facts about Ireland that you should know before you go here. Even if you are Irish you might still learn a thing or two about the Emerald Isle.

HUMAN remains which were washed up on a beach in Canada belonged to shipwreck victims who were fleeing the Famine, the Canadian government has confirmed.

1. James Sligo Jameson, the heir to Irish whiskey manufacturer Jameson's, bought an 11-year-old girl and offered her to cannibals to document and sketch how she was cooked and eaten.

The workhouse or poorhouse, the most-feared institution in Ireland, has many a local story to tell. Rising to infamy during the Great Famine, few realise how long they were around before that, or how many of them are still extant today. There's much to discover in workhouse records, from the names of the guardians and local farmers (supplying turf and potatoes) to the orphan girls sent overseas by Earl Grey's scheme. To learn more, share, or attach your ancestor's story to a particular…

01. Katie Mulrennan was denied for a teaching job in South Korea, citing the “alcoholic nature” of Irish people as a reason for rejection.

1. The government of Ireland declared a State of Emergency at the beginning of WWII, on the 2nd of September 1939, which wasn’t lifted until 1976. This event is known simply as “The Emergency.”

For hundreds of years, Ireland followed a justice system known as Brehon Law - is your surname among the Brehon families of Ireland?

Being one of the first countries in the world to ever use surnames, family names play a huge role in Irish history. Here are our top ten facts you never knew about Irish surnames. #Irishnames #Irishsurnames #Irishnamefacts

“… a spiraling war of attrition pitching the IRA and a supportive citizenry against the might of the British Empire, resulting in a treaty and the formation of the Irish Free State.” By David Lawlor...

So which Irish are you? Shanty or lace curtain, narrow back or donkey, Mick or Paddy?