1. IRELAND BY: JOHN BRUBAKER

2. Origination My grandma (Vera Casey) and grandpa (Tom Casey) first met in a local dance hall in 1948. One year later they move to London in hopes of new jobs. They had married on March 17 th, 1952. (St. Patrick's Day.) Four years later on July, 5th 1956 they decided to move to the USA (Lakewood, Ohio). They left Southampton, England on the Queen Elizabeth and arrived in Ellis Island New York on July, 10 th 1956. Since most of their family was still in Ireland they had moved back and forth several times. Finally in 1975, they decided to permanently move back to the USA to Fairview Park, Ohio.

3. Origination continued: Six years later my parents met each other in high school, later married in 1984. My mom and dad first lived in Fairview Park, Westlake, Medina, and in Kenosha. In the early 2000’s my father had received a job opportunity for a company by the name of Marketing Directions Inc. Jumping on that opportunity they move to Fairview Park and settle in. My mom continues to run the store my grandma opened in 1988 (Casey’s Irish Imports), and that’s how I ended up in Fairview Park, Ohio.

5. The Irish flag is a tricolor of green, white and orange, this flag was adopted by the Irish Republic during the War of Independence with England in 1919, the flag was made the official flag of Ireland in 1921 when Ireland became a free nation. Color Meanings: Green represents the catholic population. White represents peace and hope. Orange represents the protestant population.

6. Ireland currently has a parliamentary democracy, a form of a republic. The present leader of Ireland is Michael D. Higgins. Irelands economy depends mostly on trade and is overall generally good for the size of the country Exports: $124.3 billion, and Imports: $71.35 billion (2011 est.) Two currency’s are used in Ireland: In the Republic of Ireland the euro is used and in Northern Ireland the pound is used. The gross domestic product (GPD) of Ireland is $245.92 billion US dollars this represents.40% of the world economy. Irelands current population as of 12/13/15 is 4,836,234

7. Ethnicity: Irish 87.4%, other white 7.5%, Asian 1.3%, black 1.1%, mixed 1.1%, unspecified 1.6% (2006 census) The current literacy rate of Ireland is 99% (English is the official language.) Dublin is the capital city of Ireland, some major cities are Cork, Limerick, and Galway. Main occupations in Ireland can be agriculture, tourism, etc. Main religion of Ireland is Catholic.

8. I am proud of my Irish heritage. It was so brave of my grandparents to come to a new country. They had no jobs waiting for them, just a few family members. Through hard work and dedication they built a great life for their family in Fairview Park. (Picture of my grandmas brother, he’s a bit of a legend in Ireland and a locale hero.)