Ireland Facts

Winter Morning

The most northerly point is Inishtrahull Island, situated in the Atlantic Ocean 7 km north of Inishowen Peninsula, county Donegal.

Sun Rays

The most easterly point is Big Bow Meel Island, which is a rock situated 900 metres off the Ards Peninsula, county Down

Last Rose

The most southerly point is Fastnet Rock, which lies in the Atlantic Ocean 11.3 km south of mainland county Cork.

Straw

The most westerly point is Tearaght Island, which lies in the Atlantic Ocean 12.5 km west of Dingle Peninsula, county Kerry.

Wired Cow

The geographical centre of Ireland is to be found in eastern county Roscommon, at a point 3km (2 miles) south of Athlone town.

Ornament

The sea cliffs at Croaghaun, Achill Island off western Ireland fall 668 metres (2,192 feet) into the Atlantic Ocean. Slieve League in county Donegal has a drop of 601 metres (1,972 feet) into the same ocean. Both cliffs are almost twice the height of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Forest Road

The largest city in Ireland is Dublin, which at 1,045,769 inhabitants, is home to almost 1 in 5 Irish people, and almost 1 in 4 in the Irish Republic. The next 9 largest settlements are Belfast , Cork, Limerick, Derry, Newtownabbe, Dún Laoghaire, Bangor, Galway and Lisburn .

Rose Hip

In terms of area, the largest county in Ireland is county Cork at 7,457 km². The next largest is county Galway, at 6,148 km². The largest county in Northern Ireland is county Tyrone, at 3,155 km².

Mossy Stone

The smallest county in Ireland is county Louth, which is just 820 km² in area – 9 times smaller than county Cork. The next smallest is county Carlow, which is 896 km². The smallest county in Northern Ireland is county Armagh, at 1,254 km².

Ireland Facts

Capragh Lough

Gaelic is the Celtic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. About one person in five in Ireland can speak Irish today, but only one in 20 use it daily. In Scotland approximately 80,000 people speak Gaelic.

Sky

Ireland’s 485 km (302 miles) at it greatest length and it is 304 km (189 miles) at its widest point.

Foggy Morning

The longest river is the Shannon (370 km/230 miles, including estuary), which opens, in county Limerick, at the sea. Ireland has 800 lakes and rivers and 5,631 km (3,500 mi.) of coastline, so you are never more than 70 miles from the sea.

Lake

The largest lake is Lough Neagh (396 ssq km/153 ss.quare miles) in the North and is bordered by counties Armagh, Down, Antrim, Derry and Tyrone.

Field of Sheep

Ireland has four provinces, which are divided into a total of 32 counties, 26 that are part of the Republic of Ireland and 6 that make up Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland covers 70,282 sq. km (27,136 sq.mi.) and consists of Munster, Leinster, Connacht and three counties of Ulster, making a total of 26 counties governed by The Republic.

Left Behind

A donation to the blood bank in Dublin results in a free pint of Guinness. It is recommended as it replaces iron lost during the donation.

Petting Cow

The Titanic was built in Belfast. At the time the RMS Titanic was the largest man made moveable object in the world.

Inniskeen Old Graveyard

The historic walled city of Derry, also known as Londonderry, came into existence in 546 AD. It is the only city in Ireland, whose ancient walls survive intact.

Capragh Lough

Trinity College Dublin is the oldest university in Ireland. Queen Elizabeth I founded the university in 1592.