Ireland

Chris doherty

Location

• England, Scotland and Wales (in the United Kingdom) are examples of formerly sovereign states that are commonly regarded and referred to as countries.[11][12][13][14] Historically, the countries of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia were others.[citation needed] Former states such as Bavaria (now part of Germany) and Piedmont (now part of Italy) would not normally be referred to as "countries" in contemporary English.[citation

Food

• Irish cuisine is a style of cooking originating from Ireland or developed by Irish people. It evolved from centuries of social and political change. The cuisine takes its influence from the crops grown and animals farmed in its temperate climate. The introduction of the potato in the second half of the 16th century heavily influenced cuisine thereafter. Irish beef is exported worldwide and renowned for its high quality. Representative Irish dishes are Irish stew, bacon and cabbage, boxty, coddle, and colcannon.

Famous people

• Pierce Brosnan better known as James Bond is an Irish American actor. He is known for his very dynamic portrayal of the character in the Golden Eye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day. This drool worthy actor became an American citizen in the year 2004. Pierce Brosnan was also a popular figure due to successful television series Remington Steele. He has a range of characters portrayed by him to his credit. This stunning actor is now also a film producer and an environmentalist as well!

Religion

• The predominant religion in Ireland is Christianity, with the largest church being the Roman Catholic Church. Ireland's constitution states that the state may not endorse any particular religion and guarantees freedom of religion. In 2006, 86.8% of the population identified themselves as Roman Catholic, 1.4% less than 4 years earlier, although the number of Catholics increased by 218,800.

Popular sports

• Like you would find in most countries sports in Ireland covers a wide range of different sports including soccer, golf, boxing and other popular games.

• For the purpose of this article we won’t be covering all the sports played in Ireland but will focus on some of the more traditional sports and popular games.

Random facts

• 1956 in Melbourne saw Ronnie Delaney win Olympic gold at the 1500 metres an olympic record at the time of 3 minutes 41.2 seconds.

• Stephen Roche wins the Tour de France in 1987.