1. IRELAND The Emerald Island PEOPLE: AN ISLAND, TWO COUNTRIES. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland

2. POPULATION IN IRELAND POPULATION: 6.4 million inhabitants (Catalonia: 7.5 million inhabitants ). DENSITY: 73.4 inhabitants / sq Km (Catalonia: 240 inhabitants / sq Km)

3. THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND Area: 70,280 sq km Capital city: Dublin Independence from the British Empire: 1922. Parlamentary republic. Member of the European Union since 1973. Population: 4,588,252 inhabitants. Density: 65 inhabitants / sq km. Currency: Euro Languages: English, Irish (Gaelic) Main religion: Catholics (87%) (EIRE)

4. NORTHERN IRELAND Area: 13,843 sq km Capital city: Belfast Established as part of the United Kindom:1923. Member of the European Union since 1973. Population: 1,760,000 inhabitants Density: 125 inhabitants / sq km. Currency: Sterling Pound Languages: English, Irish, Ulster Scots. Main religion: Protestants (60%)

5. MOST POPULATED IRISH CITIES REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: 1 Dublin (1,111,000 inhabitants) 2 Cork (200,000 inhabitants) 3 Limerick (92,000 inhabitants) 4 Galway (77,000 inhabitants) 5 Waterford (52,000 inhabitants) NORTHERN IRELAND: 1 Belfast (485,000 inhabitants) 2 Londonderry (95,000 inhabitants)

6. IRISH PEOPLE ALONG HISTORY 500 BC: Celts come from Europe. Ireland has a Celtic culture. 450 AD: Saint Patrick: the country becomes Christian. Irish monasteries are the richest in Europe. 1100 AD: Norman invasion (first castles). 1350: The Black Death (the Pest) kills half the population. 1600 AD: English colonisation. 1750-1921: Irish rebellions against the English. 1850: Great Potato Famine. One million people die of starvation. One million and a half people emigrate to the USA and Australia. 1922: Independence. Celtic Cahergal Stone Ring Fort (Kerry, 900 AD) Celtic Cross (Kells monastery, Meath, 800 AD) Trim Castle (Norman period, Meath, 1170 AD) Great Potato Famine,1850

7. FAMOUS IRISH WRITERS Jonathan Swift (1667-1745): Gulliver’s Travels William Butler Yeats (1835-1939): poems Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) : The Picture of Dorian Gray George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950): Pygmalion James Joyce (1882 – 1941): Ulysses Samuel Becket (1906 – 1989) : Waiting for Godot

8. FAMOUS IRISH MUSICIANS U2 (Bono) Enya Sinead O’Connor Westlife The Cranberries Boyzone The Script The Corrs

9. FAMOUS IRISH ACTORS Liam Neeson Pierce Brosnan Colin Farrell Richard Harris Johnathan Peter Rhyss Meyers O’Toole