The Republic of Ireland lies on the island west from UK in the Atlantic ocean

· its area is 70,000 square kilometres, the population is 3,5 million (from which 96% are Irish) and the religions are Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism and Jewish; the capital is Dublin
· the Republic of Ireland is a parliamentary democracy and the head of the state is the president, voted directly for 7 years
· the relief could be described as a lowland (the highest mts. reach only about 1,000 metres), the biggest river is the Shannon river; the lakes are of glacier origin
· the original inhabitants were Celts
432 – Christianity was brought to Ireland by St Patrick
12th century – the English first invaded Ireland
17th century – Cromwell gave the land in Ireland to Protestant settlers from England
1690 – in the battle of Boyne Ireland became an English colony
half of 19th century – 5 million people emigrated because of the great famine;
1905 – Shinn Fein, the nationalist party was founded and during the failed Easter rebellion the leaders were executed
1921 – the 26 nationalist counties in the southern Ireland became the Irish Free State
1949 – was the proclamation of the Republic of Ireland in Dublin
· Ireland consists of 4 historical provinces – Leinster, Munster, Connacht and Ulster; the provinces are divided into 32 counties and 6 of them in Ulster are administred by UK
· the typical Irish music instrument is a Celtic harp; some famous Irish authors are J. Swift, J. B. Yeats, O. Wilde, J. Joyce, S. Becket