27 Interesting Facts About Ireland

    1. Ireland has a total area of 32,595 square miles (84,421 square kilometres).
    2. It has a population of 595 million (2013).
    4. The average female height in Ireland is 2 inches taller than the UK average, whilst men are 1 inch shorter than their UK counterparts… we wonder why?
    5. A man called Raymond O’Brien was the shortest person in Irish history. He died in 1795, but was measured to be one foot eleven inches tall, crickey!
    6. May is generally the driest month of the year in Ireland.
    7. The pub to people ratio in Dublin is 1:100!
    8. You only need to sell 5,000 copies of a song in order to feature in the top of the Irish music charts. We’re forming the Cherry Call band as we type. Yes, that’s right.
    9. Writing a book? In Ireland you’d only need to sell 3,000 copies to top the Irish bestseller list!
    10. The harp is a national symbol of Ireland; the oldest known harp in existence, dating back to at least 1300, is housed in Trinity College, Dublin!
    11. Many women employed in the public service faced mandatory retirement once they got married, right up until 1973.

  1. County Galway is home to the longest place name in Ireland – Muckanaghederdauhaulia.
  2. If you you’re a fan of history, you’ll be fascinated to know that the Newgrange passage tomb in County Meath was constructed around 3200 BC, which makes it more than 600 years older than the Giza Pyramids in Egypt and 1,000 years older than Stonehenge!
  3. Kilbrittain Castle, County Cork, is the oldest inhabited castle in Ireland. It is thought to have been built by the O’Mahony Clan circa 1035.
  4. Ireland has had its own Olympics since the Bronze Age, called the Tailteann Games.
  5. The Irish do like their beer – they consume on average 131.1 liters of beer per person, per year.
  6. Many Irish family names start with ‘Mac’ or ‘O’’, which means respectively ‘son of’ and ‘grandson of’ in Gaelic.
  7. Ireland has won the Eurovision Song Contest more than any other country, 7 times actually (1970, 1980, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996).
  8. Ireland is a snake-free island. Phew.
  10. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) was founded in 1824 by Richard Martin, an Irish politician and one of the first animal rights activists.
  11. Oddly, there are more mobile phones in Ireland than there are people.
  12. Europe’s largest zinc mine is located in Ireland.
  13. President Obama claims Irish heritage, his Great, Great, Great, Grandfather emigrated from Ireland to the U.S.
  14. A nickname for people from County Wicklow is Goat Suckers.
  15. Ireland is the largest consumer of tea per capita, with 1184 cups of tea being drunk by the average Irish person each year.
  16. The dialling code for Ireland is 00353. Don’t forget – if you’re calling Ireland you can for just 2p/min with Cherry Call!


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