Irish Heritage

Join our community site and learn about Ireland and all the fun things that go with it. Irish heritage social network for people interested in their ancestors or would like to be a part of the community.

Celtic Nations Home | Members |Forum | Groups | Magazine | Banners/Badges

 | Photos | Videos |  Celtic Music | Celtic Chat Room

Ireland & Irish Culture

ERIN, EIRE, IRELAND – the Emerald Isle of the north Atlantic is a beautiful island with abundant history and lore. The ancient Irish called Ireland Eire (“Ire”), which is believed to mean “fertile country”. To get Ireland, you can put the Old English “word” land together with “Eire” (Ire) and you come up with Ireland. In addition, if you anglicize Eire you get Erin, which is an English (romantic) synonym for Ireland.

Ireland is divided into thirty-two counties that are all grouped into four provinces: Leinster, Ulster, Connacht, and Munster. Twenty-six of those counties are in the Republic of Ireland, and six are in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom, while the Republic of Ireland is an independent nation.

Ireland is a unique place where you can sit in a beautiful green field and have a Neolithic tomb to your left and an ivy-covered monastery to your right. It is rich in history and is layered with many different cultures that have blended into a mix that can be found nowhere else. The history of Ireland is filled with humor, poetry and even tragedy. To cover the entire history of Ireland would take an entire library.

People lived in Ireland millenniums before Christianity… even before recorded history. Its earliest residents built structures from rock and made very intriguing pottery and jewelry. These people’s lives are still mostly a mystery. The historians know a lot more about Celts, whose culture has overtaken the island about the time the Romans were ruling most of Europe. What they left behind is the cornerstone for the body of myths that is known as uniquely Irish.

In the fourth or fifth century, Christianity arrived supposedly through the influence of St. Patrick. The Irish/Celtic people incorporated the new faith into their daily lives and Ireland became a center for scholarship and missionary work (the island of Saints & Scholars). In the early parts of the ninth century when the Viking raiders arrived and began an era of pillaging and conquest, Christianity lost its momentum. What happened to the Christian monks? Did they stick around and offer up their tunics to the Vikings? Did they offer the other cheek in the presence of a furious battle? One must be curious to know this side of the history. Anyway, eventually the Viking raiders either left or became upstanding citizens themselves. They also introduced several cultural innovations and founded many towns, including Dublin.

What is known as the Viking era later became an icon of Irish resistance to occupation; the king Brian Boru became a symbol of Irish nationalism and bravery. Shortly after the Vikings (in the 1100’s) a more tenacious invader came… the British… and never really left. Regardless of many low points during this invasion (Cromwell’s depredations, the Ulster Plantation, the Great Famine) the Irish culture continued to develop. Irish authors such as Swift and Yeats displayed a genius skill for using the Irish language. At the same time Irish cooks demonstrated a marvelous facility with the potato.

Eventually Ireland won its independence. Irish citizens have worked hard to retain their own identity. Ireland has had difficulties with lingering economic problems as well as the troubles of Northern Ireland. Regardless, the Irish people have always continued to push forward. Today there is a bit of peace in the north as well as some amazing economic developments in the republic.

One of the great reasons the Irish heritage is so well known is that the Irish people have spread all over the world. The hard times of Ireland forced many people to immigrate to other countries like America. These emigrants are now very important members of their new countries societies and they continue to embrace their heritage as well.

North West 

West 

South West 

South East

Middle & East Coast

Dublin

Shannon Region

Thank You

Thank you for visiting our page about the Irish heritage community. If you have any suggestions about how we can make this page better, or any of the pages on our stie, feel free to contact us through the link below.