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  The Information about Ireland Site Newsletter 
                  May 2005
 
The Newsletter for people interested in Ireland 
 Now received by over 50,000 people worldwide 
      https://www.ireland-information.com 
          https://www.irishnation.com
              Copyright (C) 2005  

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		IN THIS ISSUE
=== Foreword
=== News Snaps from Ireland 
=== New free resources at the site
=== A Brief History of Ireland
=== Cuchulainn                  by Sean O'Broin
=== The Life of Padraig Pearse
=== A little bit of Dublin - #2
=== Gaelic Phrases of the Month
=== Monthly free competition result

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FOREWORD
========

Hello again from Ireland where the talk is of a 
new airport terminal for Dublin - finally! Anyone 
who has travelled through Dublin Airport knows 
just how crowded it can be. It only took about 5 
years to reach a decision this subject and will 
probably take another 5 to build the terminal, 
no doubt at huge cost over-runs. 

Welcome to Ireland!

until next month!

Michael


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NEWS SNAPS FROM IRELAND
=======================

HILL OF TARA MOTORWAY GETS GREEN LIGHT

The Government has approved plans to allow a new 
roadway to be built adjacent to the famous Hill of 
Tara. The new motorway will relieve severe traffic 
congestion in the area but has angered 
conservationists who seem certain to challenge the 
decision in the High Court. Archeological 
excavations will commence along the route in 
advance of any building work taking place. The 
current roadway is considered dangerous and has an 
accident level 50% above the national average. The 
route for the new motorway is further away from 
the actual Hill of Tara than the existing road.

FREE ENTRY TO SELECTED TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

In an attempt to boost visitor numbers to several 
under-used tourist sites the Office of Public 
Works has removed admission fees to certain 
attractions. The new policy is also seen as an 
attempt to relieve pressure on the four busiest 
tourist sites in the country, which are currently 
receiving as many visitors as they are capable 
of receiving.

Last year saw over 822,000 people visited the 
Rock of Cashel, Newgrange, Muckross House in 
Killarney or Kilkenny Castle. The OPW manages 
59 historic sites that welcomed over 2.2 M-illion 
visitors. Thus, the top four attractions 
accounted for over 37% of overall visitor 
numbers.

Free access is to be allowed to Dungarvan Castle 
in Waterford, Ferns Castle and Ballyhack Castle 
in Wexford, Desmond Hall in Limerick, Maynooth 
Castle in Kildare and St. Audeons medieval Church 
in Dublin. The little-known 'Corlea Trackway' 
houses the largest medieval oak roadway in Europe 
and will also be free to view.

OBESITY IN IRELAND TO BE TACKLED

A new Government report has made 93 recommendations 
in an effort to tackle the growing obesity problem 
in Ireland. 20% of Irish adults are thought to be 
either obese or overweight while 300,000 children 
are similarly troubled. The recommendations 
include:

* healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables to 
  be subsidised by tax-reduction
* 2 hours of physical exercise in schools daily
* healthy eating courses
* examination of insurance for school playgrounds
* vending machines in schools to be banned

IRELAND AT TOP OF TOURIST PRICE-LIST

A recent report by American Express has found 
Ireland to be the second most expensive place to 
holiday in the world, second only to Norway. 
Taking a vacation in Ireland rose by 26% in 2004. 
Holidaying in the US dropped by 20% in the same 
time period., largely due to currency exchange 
fluctuations and the weak dollar. Ireland was 
the third most expensive place to hire a car 
and the most expensive place to buy camera film.

The Government has finally reacted to the 
perception of 'rip-off Ireland' by introducing a 
new National Consumer Agency to tackle consumer 
pricing. The new body will have the power to close 
down businesses who overcharge and to impose 
severe penalties. Pubs and hotels are expected to 
be on the immediate hit-list of the new agency.
 
SMOKING BAN MUST BE RELAXED SAY PUBLICANS

The Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) that 
represents pub-owners in Ireland has claimed that 
over 200 pubs have closed and over 7600 jobs have 
been lost since the introduction of the smoking 
ban in March, 2004. Government sources however are 
adamant that there will be no change to the new law 
and point out that several other EU countries are 
about to introduce similar legislation. 

Smoking in Ireland continues to decline. In 1998 
31% of the adult population smoked. In 2002 the 
figure was down to 27% and 2004 figures show a 
further drop to 24%. Health observers have noted 
that many long-term smokers used the introduction 
of the smoking ban and the subsequent media 
attention and advertising as the impetus they 
needed too quit the habit.

DUBLIN AIRPORT TO GET NEW TERMINALS

The Government is set to agree to plans for a 
second and third terminal at Dublin airport which 
is severely over-crowded. It is unclear yet if 
the different terminals will compete with each 
other, as suggested by Ryanair boss Michael 
O'Leary. Ryanair have already offered to build a 
new terminal and sell it back to the Government 
if it is not competitive.

INCREASE IN NUMBER OF CRUISE SHIPS VISITING DUBLIN

%0 coaches were recently provided to visitors from 
the 'Golden Princess'; to transport them to Dublin 
City Centre for a day of sight-seeing and shopping. 
The luxury cruise liner arrived from New York with 
over 2,600 passenger son board. Their brief sortie 
into Dublin is estimated to have generated over 
EURO 3 M-illion to local businesses. 76 Cruise 
liners will visit Dublin in 2005, a 50% increase on 
last year, generating an expected EURO 60 M-illion 
in revenue for the city.

IRELAND MOST POPULAR DESTINATION FOR NEW EU WORKERS

Ireland is the most popular destination for workers 
from those countries that have recently joined the 
EU. Over 80,000 people from countries such as 
Poland have moved into Ireland to work since last 
May. Britain has a population that is 15 times 
larger than Ireland but received 90,000 workers by 
comparison. Despite the huge influx Ireland 
continues to have historically low levels of 
unemployment at 4%. No welfare is payable to 
workers from the new EU states, unless they have 
been working in Ireland for a year.

ABUSIVE TAXI DRIVERS TO BE TACKLED

A new Taxi regulator is preparing a report which 
will pave the way for legislation designed to make 
the taxi industry safer. Recent de-regulation of 
the industry made it possible for virtually anyone 
to set themselves up as a taxi driver. The number 
of violent incidents and complaints about 
ill-prepared or abusive taxi-drivers has jumped 
significantly since the new rules were introduced.


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NEW FREE RESOURCES AT THE SITE
==============================

NEW COATS OF ARMS ADDED TO THE GALLERY:

The following 8 coats of arms images and family
history details have been added to the Gallery:

B: Baskin, Bates
J: Jennings
M: Marrs
S: Seagraves
M: O'Meara
V: Vanner
W: Whitney

View the Gallery here:

http://www.irishsurnames.com/coatsofarms/gm.htm

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF IRELAND
==========================

3000BC 	Construction of the Megalithic tombs at 
 Newgrange begins.
700BC	The Celts arrive from parts of Gaul and 
 Britain.
350AD  Christianity reaches Ireland.
432    St. Patrick arrives in Ireland and 
 confronts King Laoghaire who allows him to spread 
 the word of Christianity in Ireland.
700-800 Monastic culture is at its height.
795 	Invasion by the Vikings.
1014   	Brian Boru defeats the Vikings at Clontarf.
1169    Dermot MacMurrough, the exiled king of 
 Leinster, seeks help from 'Strongbow'.
1172    King Henry II of England is declared Feudal 
 Lord of Ireland by the Pope.
1366    Statues of Kilkenny belatedly forbid 
 intermarriage of English and Irish. Gaelic culture 
 unsuccessfully suppressed.
1534-40 Insurrection by Lord Offaly fails.
1541    Henry VIII proclaimed King of Ireland.
1558-03 Plantation of Ireland commences under the 
 reign of Elizabeth I.
1595-03 Failed uprising of Hugh O'Neil.
1607   	Flight of the Earls and leading Ulster 
 families go into exile.
1641  	King Charles I's policies cause 
 insurrection in Ulster and Civil War in England.
1649  	Cromwell invades Ireland.
1653  	Cromwell's opponents stripped of land 
 under the Act of Settlement. 
1689-90	Deposed James II flees to Ireland and is 
 defeated at the Battle of the Bon.
1704  	The Penal Laws enacted: Catholics are 
 barred from voting, education and the military.
1775  	American War of Independence instigates 
 Irish unrest.
1782  	Grattan's Parliament persuades English to 
 declare Irish independence, but in name only.
1795    The Orange Order is founded.
1798    Uprising by Wolfe Tone and the United 
 Irishmen is crushed.
1801    Ireland becomes part of Britain under the 
 Act of Union.
1829    Catholic Emancipation Act passed after 
 Daniel O'Connell elected as MP.
1845-49 The Great Famine claims over 1 million 
 lives through starvation and disease. Emigration 
 over the next 10 years results in departure of a
 further 1 million people.
1879-82 The Land War is instigated by Parnell who 
 encourages the boycott of repressive landlords. 
 The 3 'F's are gained for the peasantry: Fixity of 
 Tenure, Fair Rent, Freedom to sell their holding.
1914   	The Implementation of Home Rule is 
 postponed because of the outbreak of World War I.
1916    The Easter Rising is led by Pearse, 
 Connolly and others. The 7 leaders are executed 
 which shifts public opinion in favour of the 
 rebels.
1920-21 Michael Collins masterminds the War of 
 Independence between Britain and Ireland. The 
 Irish Free State is created (excluding the 6 
 Northern Counties).
1922-23 Civil war breaks out between the Free 
 State Army and the Irregulars (the IRA).
1926	Fianna Fail party formed and led by 
 DeValera.
1932    DeValera elected Taoiseach of Ireland.
1939-45 Ireland remains neutral during WW2 despite 
 the offer of a United Ireland having been made to 
 DeValera if Ireland enters the war on behalf of 
 the Allies.
1948	Ireland declared a Republic by Costello.
 Northern Ireland is declared a separate entity.
1969    Rioting between Catholics and Protestants. 
 Civil Rights marches. British troops called in 
 to keep order.
1971    Provisional IRA begins campaign to oust 
 British troops from Ireland.
1972    Republic of Ireland joins the European 
 Community.
1985    Anglo-Irish Agreement signed.
1994    Peace Declaration and IRA ceasefire.
1998	'Good Friday' agreement reached promising 
 the creation of a Northern Assembly.
2002	Northern parliament is suspended
1995-2005 Economic boom in Ireland

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CUCHULAINN - THE HOUND OF ULSTER  by Sean O'Broin
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There was a time in Irelands history when chivalry 
and chieftainry ruled the land. When the country 
was occupied by bands of warriors who spoke only 
their native tongue and who cherished their 
heritage and civilisation. This was the time of 
Conor McNessa and the High Kings of Ireland, of the 
Gamanraide and the Red Branch Knights of the 
Emania. It was the time of Cuchullain.

All of the warrior bands had their own Seanachie, 
a person responsible for recounting the deeds of 
times past, a chronicler of the ages. Cuchullain 
was their most famous subject and hundreds of 
tales of his heroic deeds, both real and imagined, 
have survived to this day.

Cuchullain was the nephew and foster son of King 
Conor of Emania, and was originally named Setanta. 
He arrived at the Court to find the youths playing 
Caman (hurling) and, having with him his red bronze 
hurley he so outplayed the other youths that his 
future greatness could be seen by all of the Court. 
The warriors of the Red Branch acknowledged him as 
a blood relative of the King and heard him proclaim 
before the Druids in the Hall of Heroes:

'I care not whether I die tomorrow or next year,
if only my deeds live after me.'

Cuchulainns greatest deed was perhaps when he 
alone held back the forces of Connaught and had to 
fight his friend, Ferdiad, who was the champion and 
chief of the Connaught Knights of the Sword. 
Ferdiad and Cuchullain had trained together in arms 
in their youth and it was displeasing to Cuchullain 
to have to fight his friend of old. He tried to
dissuade Ferdiad against fighting by reminding him 
of their days in training, when they were both 
subjects of the great female champion, Scathach, 
in Alba.

'We were heart companions, We were companions in 
the woods, we were fellows of the same bed, 
where we used to sleep the balmy sleep. After 
mortal battles abroad, In countries many
and far distant, together we used to practice, 
and go through each forest, learning with 
Scathach.' 

Ferdiad would not be swayed. Lest he weaken 
under Cuchullains pleas he responded only with 
taunts against his friend, now foe.

So they fought. They fought for four days and 
eventually, after a tremendous effort, Cuchullain 
laid Ferdiad down and then fell into a trance of 
sorrow and weakness after the epic duel.

As is the way with such heroes, Cuchulainn died 
on the battlefield. He was propped against a 
large rock whilst dead, with a spear in his hand 
and a buckler on his arm, and with such a defiant 
attitude was able to strike fear into his 
enemies even after death.

Sean O'Broin

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THE LIFE OF PADRAIG PEARSE
==========================

Patrick Pearse was born in Dublin, on November 10, 
1879 to an English father (he was a sculptor) and 
an Irish mother. 

Pearse became interested in the heritage and 
history of Ireland at a very early age and joined 
the Gaelic League when 21 years old. The purpose 
of the league was to promote Irish tradition and 
language and it was very much part of the revival 
of Gaelic consciousness that took place at the 
turn of the century. Pearse was an enthusiastic 
member and became editor of the leagues newspaper: 
An Claidheamh Solais ('The Sword of Light'). 

Pearse tried to use knowledge and education to 
defeat the English and insisted on the use of the 
native Irish language and founded St. Enda's 
College near Dublin in 1908. St Enda's structured 
its curriculum around Irish traditions and 
culture and tutored in both the Irish and English 
languages. 

Pearse was a pioneer of Irish writing and 
published poems, stories, articles and essays to 
further the identification of Ireland as a 
separate culture. 

The Gaelic League inevitably attracted militant 
nationalists and Pearse soon realised that it 
would take more than education and tradition to 
break the link with England. 

In July 1914, Pearse was made a member of the 
Supreme Council of the Irish Republican 
Brotherhood (IRB), a militant group that 
believed in using force to throw the British 
out of Ireland. 

When England entered the First World War Irish 
nationalism split between those who wanted to 
take advantage of England's plight and those 
(including John Redmond) who wanted to assist 
England in the war in the hope of getting 
concessions when it was over. 

John Redmond, a member of Parliament fighting 
for Home Rule, took a pro-British stance during 
the war. This alienated many Irish citizens and 
support for the Brotherhood grew. Shortly before 
1915, the Irish Republican Brotherhood had plans 
for a full military revolution in Ireland. 
Pearse was a believer in a revolution while the 
British were occupied fighting a war in Europe. 
Pearse was opposed to Redmond's stance and felt 
that the only way to liberate Ireland was by 
insurrection. His famous oration at the funeral 
of Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa (an Irish 
revolutionary) in August 1915 demonstrates this: 

'We stand at Rossa's grave not in sadness, but 
in exultation of spirit... This is a place of 
peace sacred to the dead, where men should speak 
with all charity and all restraint, but I hold it 
a Christian thing... to hate evil, to hate 
untruth, to hate oppression, and hating them to 
strive to overthrow them... while Ireland holds 
these graves, Ireland unfree, shall never be 
at peace.' 

Pearse was heavily involved with the planning of 
the 1916 Easter Rising which was the catalyst for 
the subsequent War of Independence, Civil War and 
eventual declaration of a Republic in 1949. 

The Rising failed as Pearse must have known it 
must. He was executed on May 3, 1916 with 
fourteen other rebels. 

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much more.

Anne MacDonald ordered a family crest plaque:

 Hello, Michael,

 Received my plaque, carefully wrapped, 
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 thrilled, and I know that my dad, for whose 
 81st birthday this was ordered, will love 
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 Everyone who has seen the plaque has been 
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 Again, my hearty thanks for this 
 first-class product.

 Best wishes for happy holiday season.

 Sincerely, Anne MacDonald

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A LITTLE BIT OF DUBLIN - #2
===========================

The sixteenth century saw a fierce rivalry develop 
between the Butlers and Fitzgeralds. Violent 
clashes between the two groups were comonplace with 
once such meleee occurring in 1512. Butler, the 
Earl of Ormond retreated and was forced to take 
refuge in Saint Patrick's Cathedral. He barricaded 
himself behind a stout wodden door and refused to 
leave until he got assurances for his safety. After 
some negotiation a deal was struck. In order to 
seal the deal a hole was hacked through the wooden 
door so that the two leaders could shake hands. It 
is thought that the modern expression 'chancing 
your arm' originated from this event. From that 
time on a 'chancer' was someone who took a risk 
or a gamble. The hole in the door can still be 
seen to this day.

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GAELIC PHRASES OF THE MONTH
===========================
 
PHRASE:		Ta se go brea
PRONOUNCED:	taw shay goh braw
MEANING:		It is sunny!

PHRASE:		Ta se scamaillach
PRONOUNCED:	taw shay scomm-ill-ock
MEANING:		it is cloudy

PHRASE:	 	Ta se ag cuir baisteach
PRONOUNCED:	taw shay egg curr bawsh-stuck
MEANING:		It is raining!

View the archive of phrases here:

https://www.ireland-information.com/irishphrases.htm

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MAY COMPETITION RESULT
========================

The winner was: linda_leary59@hotmail.com 
who will receive the following: 

A Single Family Crest Print (decorative) 
(US$19.99 value)

Send us an email to claim your print, and well 
done! Remember that all subscribers to this 
newsletter are automatically entered into the 
competition every time. 

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I hope that you have enjoyed this issue.

Until next month,

Michael Green,
Editor,
The Information about Ireland Site.


https://www.ireland-information.com

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