FACTUAL IRELAND

Bog standard swift facts and figures. More detailed information is dotted all over this section. Do spend some time mooching. It's rather good fun, and if you do find it dull as ditchwater, least you should be reasonable informed after a half hours delve.

BASICS

Ireland is an island lying in Western Europe. It is bound on the North, West and South by the Atlantic Ocean and on the East by the Irish Sea, on the North-East by the North Channel and on the South-East by St. Georges Channel.

Ireland is divided into four provinces - Ulster (North), Leinster (East), Munster (South) and Connaught (West) - each of which is sub-divided into counties. There are thirty-two counties in all, six of which are ruled by Britain (Ulster: Down, Antrim, Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Armagh). The other twenty-six counties form the Republic of Ireland (Ulster: Donegal, Monaghan and Cavan; Leinster: Louth, Meath, Dublin, Wicklow, Wexford, Kilkenny, Carlow, Kildare, Laois, Offaly, Westmeath and Longford; Munster: Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford and Clare; Connaught: Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Roscommon and Leitrim).

Ireland has many hills and low mountains. The main mountains in the Republic of Ireland are: Wicklow Mountains in Co. Wicklow, Comeragh Mountains in Co. Waterford, Galty Mountains in Cos. Limerick and Tipperary, Knockmealdown Mountains in Co. Tipperary, Boggeragh Mountains and Nagles Mountains in Co. Cork, Caha Mountains, Macgillycuddy Reeks and Brandon Mountains in Co. Kerry, Slieve Bloom in Cos.Offaly and Laois, Slieve Aughty and Connemara Hills in Co. Galway, Ox Mountains and Benbulbin Mountain in Co. Sligo and Derryveagh Mountains in Co. Donegal.

The island's main rivers are: the Boyne, the Liffey, the Slaney, the Barrow, the Nore and the Suir in Leinster, the Blackwater and the Lee in Munster, the Moy in Connaught and the Shannon, (the longest river in Ireland) on the borderline of Connaught and Leinster.

Since Ireland is an island surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the North, West and South, it benefits from the ocean's moderating effects and the Gulf Stream. The climate is generally mild but slightly erratic in winter, when the temperature can average seven degrees centigrade daily. The main characteristic of the Irish weather is 'rain', especially in the South West.
 

SUMMERY