Fun Facts About Ireland

Ireland is among the top 10 of anyone’s list of ‘countries-I-must-visit-before-I-die’. Here are some interesting and rather funny facts about Ireland and its countrymen.
1. ‘Muckanaghederdauhaulia’ is the longest name given to a place in Ireland.

2. There’s an old law in Ireland which allows couples in ‘Teltown’ to legally marry by ‘walking towards each other’ on St. Brigid’s day, the 1st of February. If they wish to divorce, they simply have to ‘walk away from each other’ at the same place on the same day.

3. A shocking traditional remedy for hangovers in Ireland was to bury the intoxicated person up to his neck in soft sand from rivers. Naturally, most people preferred to only endure the hangover.

4. A birthday tradition in Ireland involves holding the baby upside down and gently bumping his head on the floor. The number of bumps increase with age and is said to bring good luck!

5. The highest population in Ireland belongs to ‘mobile phones’, which exceed the number of human inhabitants of the country.

6. According to an old Irish legend, a ringing noise in one’s ear is caused by the ringing of a bell, by some deceased family member or friend, who happens to be in ‘Purgatory’ and is in need of prayer.

7. The famous tale of ‘Count Dracula’ was composed by ‘Bram Stoker’ in Dublin. The inspiration for his story came from his actor friend ‘Sir Henry Irving’ and the legend of ‘Abhartach’. An evil Irish chieftain, who was betrayed by his subjects, and after being murdered, rises from his grave each night to feast on the blood of his many subjects.

8. The Irish scientist ‘John Tyndall’ was the first to find an answer to the question of why the sky is blue. He had explained that the sun’s colour spectrum is light, and therefore the eye can only detect shades of blue, red and purple, which are the colours eyes are most sensitive.

9. The tallest identical twins in the world are from Ireland. They were born in 1761 and were a staggering height of seven feet two inches.

10. If a day with good weather arrives after consecutive days of inclement weather, the Irish call it a ‘pet day’.

11. Men in Medieval Ireland had the authority to divorce their wives if they threatened their reputation through thievery, infidelity or simply by ‘making a mess of everything.’

12. Ireland is surprisingly an entirely snake-free country. There are species that are common in other parts of Europe, such as ‘weasels’, ‘moles’ and ‘polecats’ and absent from Ireland.

13. ‘Damn Alice Kytler’ was the ‘last witch’ in Ireland. She was accused thus because all of her four husbands met untimely deaths.

14. A pig was allowed to live in Irish households, especially in the case of farms. The pig addressed as ‘the gentleman who pays the rent’.

15. The great, great, great grandfather of the United States’ President Barack Obama, from his mother’s side, was Irish.

16. There are more Irish people are residing in other foreign countries than in Ireland.
These are some of the fun facts about Ireland.