Test Your Irish Knowledge

Questions will be added, removed, changed etc. on a regular basis.

Questions:

1. A traditional Irish greeting is Dia's Muire dhuit. What does it mean?

2. Who was St. Malachy?

3. What does gan tir gan teanga mean?

4. What are the four provinces of Ireland?

5. How many miles separate Ireland and Great Britain at their closest point?

6. Where is Grosse Island, and what significance did it have to the Irish emigrants of the 19th century?

7. Who read the Proclamation of the Republic from the steps of the Post Office in 1916?

8. Name the Mayor of Cork, who died on a hunger strike.

9. What were the Statutes of Kilkenny?

10. Who was "Another martyr for old Ireland, Another murder for the crown."

11. Originally Ireland was comprised of 5 provinces. Name the the province that is no longer officially recognized.

12. According to Irish lore and pre-history the following races peopled Ireland, the Milesians, the Firbolg and the Tuatha De Danann. List them in chronological order.

13. Who was Fionnuala?

14. How many U.S. Presidents are of Irish descent?

15. Who was the first Irish Catholic to ever run for President?

16. Who was the first Irish American Olympic medalist?

17. Who designed the White House?

18. What is the Flags and Emblem Act of 1954?

19. Name the 10 martyrs of the 1981 hunger strike.

20. The Holland Tunnell in New York is named in honor of an Irish immigrant, John Holland. What was Holland famous for?

21. Since Ireland achieved its independence in 1922, the Nation has had three official names. What were they?

22. Which of the following American states is closest in size to Ireland: Maine, West Virginia or Pennsylvania?

23. How many miles separate Ireland and Great Britain at their closest point?

24. Who was "Another martyr for old Ireland, another murder for the Crown?"

25. Who is buried in St. Patrick's Cathedral?
(A) St. Patrick (B) James Joyce (C) Jonathan Swift

Answers:

1. "God and Mary be with you."

2. He was an Irish cleric of the 12th century who accurately predicted the sequence of Popes to the present day.

3. No language, no nation.

4. Connaught,Leinster,Munster and Ulster.

5. 11 miles.

6. Located in Quebec,Canada, it was the quarantine station where Irish entering Eastern Canada were checked. Thousands died there after leaving the plague infested famine-ridden ships.

7. Patrick Pearse.

8. Terrance MacSwiney.

9. Apartheid laws which banned Gaelic and forbade the adoption of Irish customs by Anglo settlers.

10. Kevin Barry.

11. Ulster,Connaught,Leinster,Munster and Meath. Meath a province located in the middle of Ireland, hence its name, no longer is recognized as a province or Ireland.

12. First are the Firbolgs or aborigines. Then came the Tuatha De Danann, a legendary race of super heroes who defeated the Firbolgs and Fomors and were in turn defeated by the Milesians, who later worshipped them as gods.

13. In Irish legend, she was the daughter of Lir (an early Irish ocean god), she was transformed into a swan by her wicked stepmother and was condemned to wander the lakes and rivers until Christianity came to Ireland.

14. Seventeen

15. Charles O'Connor, he ran against Ulysses S. Grant in 1872.

16. James Connolly of South Boston who won the triple jump (1896).

17. James Hoban from County Kilkenny.

18. A law that makes it illegal to display the Irish tri-color in Northern Ireland.

19. Bobby Sands (died May5), Francis Hughes (May 12), Raymond McCreesh (May 12), Patsy O'Hara (May 12), Joe McDonnel (July 8), Martin Hurson (July 13), Kevin Lynch (August 1), Kieran Doherty (August 2), Thomas McElwee (August 8) and Mickey Devine (August 20).

20. John Holland invented the first submarine.

21. The Irish Free State 1922, Eire 1937, and The Republic of Ireland 1948.

22. The State of Maine is closest at 33,215 square miles. West Virginia is 24,231 sq. mi. and Pennsylvania is 45,333 sq. mi.

23. 11 miles.

24. Kevin Barry

25. (C) Jonathan Swift

Last updated on 2/16/2001

Primary Source: Irish Trivia by Mary A. McCaffrey, Henry M. Quinlan, Michael P. Quinlan.

Did You Know?

1. Did you know folk singer Burl Ives was of Scots-Irish descent and a big drinking buddy of Limerick native Richard Harris? In fact, he owned a house in the area and was a long-time member of the Limerick Yacht Club where he often entertained the crowd with hit tunes which at this time of year would no doubt include classics like Holly Jolly Christmas.

Mince pies weren’t always round? At one time, they were an oblong cradle shape with a place for the Christ Child to be placed on top. The baby was removed by the children and the manger (pie) was eaten in celebration. These pies were not very large, and it was thought lucky to eat one mince pie on each of the twelve days of Christmas ending with Epiphany, the 6th of January It was was also important to add three spices - cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg - for the three gifts given to the Christ child by the Magi.

Long before Christianity came to Ireland, it was customary to place holly leaves and branches around the home during winter? This was intended as a kindly and hospitable gesture as it was believed that the good people who inhabited the forests would come into the home and use the holly as shelter against the cold. This may actually have had some basis in fact, as holly growing in the wild is often used as shelter by small animals and insects.

THATCHED COTTAGES: The traditional thatched cottage, a symbol of Ireland, is fast becoming a thing of the past. There are only about 2,150 thatched cottages left in Ireland with 150 of those in Northern Ireland. In the 1950s, there were 40,000 thatched cottages in Northern Ireland alone.

The tallest twins on record are the Knipe brothers (b. 1761) of Magherafelt, Derry, who measured 7ft 2inches?

The world’s oldest known manuscript of the New Testament is in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin?

Source: Irish Culture & Customs Newsletter