IRELAND
Dictionary
A
Armagh:
Armagh is built on numerous hills and has been the seat of the Catholic primacy
of all Ireland since the days of St Patrick, who built his first church there.
There are two important churches on the hills of Armagh: St Patrick's Church of
Ireland Cathedral stands on the site of the cathedral built by St Patrick; and
St Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral, with its twin spires, raises from
another hill.
B
Blarney Castle:
The Castle was originally a hunting lodge, dating from the 10th century. It
takes its name from the Irish blarna, which means 'the plain'. A
stone castle that was begun in the early part of the 13th century and completed
by Dermot McCarthy, King of Munster, in the middle of the 15th century replaced
it. Oliver Cromwell was able to force the McCarthy family out of their castle
but they returned with the Restoration of Charles II. They left again after the
Battle of the Boyne. According to legend, if you kiss the stone in the tower of
the castle you'll receive the gift of the gab - funny speech that sounds both
flattering and convincing.
C
County Clare:
County Clare has a living Gaelic tradition, which can be heard and seen in its
music and arts. With the latest improvement of interest in all things Irish,
Clare's cultural heritage is proving to be very popular with visitors and
consequently some of the villages and towns of Clare (i.e. Doolin, Miltown
Malbay) are becoming world famous, mostly for the traditional music to be heard
there (especially in local pubs during holiday season).
D
Dublin:
Dublin is the capital of Ireland. It's a city of one million people in an
island population of five million. The capital of the Republic of Ireland is
known as the Town of the Ford of the Hurdles, in Gaelic - Baile Atha Cliath.
Dublin faces the Irish Sea, on the coast of eastern- central Ireland. The River
Liffey runs through the city.
Dublin was the European City of Culture in 1991, but its status as a seat of
culture is permanent.
Dublin Castle was where the city started. Built in the early 1200s, the castle
has been rebuilt and added to over the centuries.
E
Enniscorthy:
Enniscorthy, fourteen miles north of Wexford, is a presentable town showing a
statue to Father Murphy in its market place. The cathedral at Enniscorthy is considered
one of Ireland's best examples of Gothic Revival architecture.
F
County Fermanagh:
According to the local legend, Fermanagh was once a vast plain with a fairy
well in the middle. It was always kept covered from sunlight in case it would
bubble over. One day, two young lovers met by the well and decided to elope.
They drank a last toast from the well and ran off, leaving it uncovered. That
well has bubbled ceaselessly for centuries and is the site of the Fermanagh
Lakeland as we know it today! Whether you choose to believe that or not, one
fact is indisputable - the beauty of the Lake District - Fermanagh, which
remains wonderfully empty of crowds.
G
Gallarus Oratory:
Gallarus Oratory is one of the oldest churches in Ireland dating from the
eighth century. It consists of unmortered stones piled on each other in the
method known as "corbelling", and it has managed not only to defy twelve
hundred years of Atlantic weather but also to keep its interior bone dry. The
building is a rectangle, some 15 feet long, 10 feet wide and 15 feet tall. It
remains the finest example of its kind in the county.
H
Horn Head:
Horn Head stands at the tip of its own peninsula, at the entrance to Sheephaven
Bay, and is among the finest headland in the whole country, a giant rock over
600 feet high with foothills zigzagging down to the water, it is a great place
to nest for all sorts of sea-birds.
I
Inishowen peninsula:
On the far side of Lough Swilly is the great Inishowen peninsula, probably the
least visited and least known part of Donegal, although its scenery is the best
in the country.
J
Jerpoint Abbey (Kilkenny County):
Founded in 1180 but largely remodelled in the fifteenth century, Jerpoint Abbey
is one of the most impressive of Norman Irish remains.
K
Kilmainham:
The seventeenth-century Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, is the largest building of
its period in Ireland. It now houses the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
L
Limerick:
Limerick is situated at the head of the estuary of the River Shannon, in the
south-west of the Republic of Ireland.
The city is divided into three sections:
English Town, on King's Island, was
founded by William de
Burgh; who built the Castle of King John to defend it.
Irish
Town, the oldest part of the city, dates from the 9th century.
Newtown-Pery
- to the south of Irish Town, dating from 1769.
M
Macgillycuddy's Reeks:
Macgillycuddy's Reeks are Ireland's highest mountains, peaking at 3314 feet.
N
Newgrange:
The most famous of all Irish prehistoric monuments, Newgrange is one of the
finest European passage-tombs. Newgrange was originally built about 3100 BC and
today is in a much restored form. The base of the "hill" is constructed by no
less than 97 large stones, lying horizontally, of which many are showing
beautifully carved designs of spirals, lozenges, zigzags, and other symbols.
The most famous of these is the stone marking the entrance, with carvings of a
triple spiral, double spirals, concentric semi-circles, and lozenges similar to
those found in Brittany (France), at Gavrinis.
O
Oughterard:
Oughterard, 12 miles west of Galway City becomes the angling capital of Ireland
as trout rise breeding to the mayfly during the "dapping" season, when
fishermen drift in boats let these insects hang from long rods in the hope of
attracting trout to rise to them.
P
St Patrick's Day:
The national day of Ireland is celebrated on March 17th. The Legend is as dark
as an empty glass of Guiness, but it's a good excuse for the Irish to party.
Q
Queenstown (Cobh):
Once named Queenstown , in commemoration of a visit by Queen Victoria, was the
last stop for thousands of emigrants who took the boat from there to America.
The Titanic visited Queenstown in 1912 and many Irish emigrants were among
those who drowned when the liner sank.
R
Roundstone Harbour (Connemara):
Roundstone Harbour probably the prettiest on the western coast. It was
constructed in the 1820s by a Scotch engineer who settled it with Scottish
fishermen.
S
Sligo Abbey:
Sligo Abbey is a Dominican friary built in 1253 and heavily restored in the fifteenth
century. Its many fine memorials include one to O'Connor Sligo and his wife.
T
Tara of the Kings:
Tara of the Kings is one of the bedrocks of the Irish imagination, of Irish
culture, of Irish history. It is a 5000-year-old sacral site, where the ancient
High Kings of Ireland reigned, remains a powerful symbol of Celtic Ireland.
V
Vinegar Hill:
At Vinegar Hill, in the poet Seamus Heaney's words, "the fatal conclave" ending
the 1798 rebellion took place. The ruined tower on the hill is the remains of the
old windmill which was the rebel headquarters.
W
Waterford glass:
The Penrose brothers founded the Waterford glass factory in 1783. The secret
manufacturing process guaranty lead-crystal glass. The complex interplay of
facets and refractions give the glass its world-renowned brilliance.
Y
Youghal:
Youghal (pronounced "yawl") is the largest town in east Cork, its main street
is dominated by a clock tower erected in 1771. Youghal is an old town and
fragments of its ancient walls can still be seen. It was once a busy harbour
town visited by many ships, but this business declined late in the 19th
century.
