Ireland

Gaelic crosses near Ashford, 6 km/4 mi north of Wicklow, Ireland.

Doors of some of the many fine Georgian houses in Dublin, Ireland.

St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland. He converted much of Ireland from paganism to Christianity.

The Irish nationalist politician Éamon de Valera taking the salute of the IRA's mid-Clare brigade, 1922. Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, the split in the IRA between those who supported the treaty and those who wished to fight on for a united independent Ireland resulted in civil war in the newly formed Irish Free State.

An island lying to the west of Great Britain between the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea. It comprises the provinces of Ulster, Leinster, Munster, and Connacht, and is divided into the Republic of Ireland (which occupies the south, centre, and northwest of the island) and Northern Ireland (which occupies the northeastern corner and forms part of the United Kingdom).

The centre of Ireland is lowland, about 60–120 m/200–400 ft above sea level; hills are situated mainly around the coasts, although there are a few peaks over 1,000 m/3,280 ft high, the highest being Carrantuohill (‘the inverted reaping hook’), 1,041 m/3,415 ft, in Macgillycuddy's Reeks, County Kerry. The entire western coastline is an intricate alternation of bays and estuaries. Several of the rivers flow in sluggish courses through the central lowland and then cut through valleys to the sea. The Shannon in particular falls 30 m/100 ft in its last 26 km/16 mi above Limerick, and is used to produce hydroelectric power.

The lowland bogs that cover parts of central Ireland are intermingled with fertile limestone country where dairy farming is the chief occupation. The bogs are an important source of fuel in the form of peat, Ireland being poorly supplied with coal.

The climate is mild, moist, and changeable. The annual rainfall on the lowlands varies from 76 cm/30 in in the east to 203 cm/80 in in some western districts, but much higher falls are recorded in the hills.