Did you know...

Betcha didn’t know this about Ireland

By Lisa Roulston
Courier Staff

…that two signers of the American Declaration of Independence, William Whipple and John Hancock had Irish mothers?

…that Billy the Kid, born Henry McCarty, was the son of Irish immigrants, Michael and Catherine McCarty?

…that on Easter Monday, April 18, 1949, Éire became officially known as the Republic of Ireland?

…that St. Patrick's real name is believed to have been Maewyn Succat?

…that “I love you” in Irish is “Tá cion agam ort”? (Pronunciation: thaw kiuhn ag-gum urth)

…that the Irish alphabet has only 18 letters? J, K, Q, V, W, X, Y and Z are not used.

…that the phrase “The Emerald Isle” was first coined by the Belfast doctor and poet, William Drennar, in 1795?

…that four Irish writers, G. Shaw, W. B. Yeats, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney, won the Nobel Prize for Literature?

…that there are 13 Dublin cities/towns in the United States?

…that the only town in the world to be named St. Patrick is in Missouri?

…that at 198 calories a pint, Guinness has fewer calories than a pint of skimmed milk or orange juice?

…that the band U2 is from Ireland?

…that the password for George Washington's troops in Boston on March 17, 1776 was “St. Patrick”?

…that Ireland is the westernmost island in Europe?

…that Chaim Herzog, sixth President of the State of Israel, was born in Belfast in 1918?

…that Michael Collins was the first Irishman in space. Edwin Aldrin and Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, while Michael remained in orbit (July 21, 1969)

…that the Titanic was built in the Harland and Wolf Ship Yard in Belfast, Northern Ireland?

…that Oscar-winning actor Liam Neeson, singer/song-writer Van Morrison, Formula One Racing driver Eddie Irvine and professional golfer Darren Clark all came from Northern Ireland?

…that Jurassic Park star Sam Neill was born in Omagh, County Tyrone, in 1947, where he was christened Nigel Neill?

…that Oscar Wilde, who wrote the play “The Importance of Being Ernest,” spent seven years at Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, Ireland. It is believed Wilde’s fairy tale “The Happy Prince” may have been inspired during his time there?

…that Ernesto Guevara Lynch, the father of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, was a descendant of an Irish woman, Ana Lynch y Oritz, who settled in Argentina in the 18th century?

…that Ireland is the best place on the planet to avoid an earthquake?  No epicenter has ever been recorded there.

…that the area of the entire island of Ireland is 32,593 square miles? This is a coincidence that Ireland also has 32 counties?

You learn something new every day . . .