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Fach: Englich

IRELAND

What do you connect with Ireland? Probably green meadows, Riverdance, Guinness and things like that. But Ireland isn't only that, it is, as we think, an old, mystical and beautiful island and it's a pity that hardly nobody knows it.

But first of all some facts:

Ireland, at least for the time being, is a divided island. It lies in the North Atlantic Ocean and is separated from Great Britain by St. George's Channel on the southeast and the Irish Sea on the east.

It is politically divided into Northern Ireland, a part of Great Britain, and the republic of Ireland, formerly Eire. The island is divided into four historical provinces - Connaught, Leinster, Munster and Ulster- and administrative units called counties.  The Republic of Ireland consists of 26 counties.

The area of the Republic is about 127 000 sq km. That's 85 per cent of the island, with a population of 3.5 million. Northern Ireland has got a population of 1.5 million people. Dublin is the capital of the republic. The capital of Northern Ireland is Belfast.

I think this were enough facts.
Now we want to invite you to a journey through Ireland.

Let's start in the capital of the republic: Dublin.

Dublin is situated on the east coast of Ireland. The Gaelic name of the city is "Baile Atha Cliath" was means "Town of the Ford of the Hurdles".

Dublin is a modern and beautiful city. You can find for example the Trinity College. It was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I. One of the most famous students of Trinity College is Samuel Beckett who  lived in the 20^th century. He was a Nobel prizewinner, his major work is the play "Waiting for Godot". Trinity College has got a fantastic library with more than 20 000 antiquarian texts.
Dublin has also famous shopping districts. For example the Grafton Street. In Grafton street you can find the statue of Molly Malone.

CD Lied 19

MOLLY MALONE

"In Dublin's faire City, where the girls are so pretty,

I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone,

As she wheeled her wheelbarrow, through streets broad and narrow, Crying

"Cockles and Mussels! Alive, alive oh!"

She was a fishmonger, but sure 'twas no wonder,

For so were her father and mother before;

And they each wheeled their barrow through streets broad and narrow, Crying

"Cockles and Mussels! Alive, alive oh"

She died of a fever, and no one could save her,

And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone;

Her ghost wheels her barrow through streets broad and narrow, Crying

"Cockles and Mussels! Alive, alive oh!"

Many people know this song. It has become a kind of unofficial anthem for Dublin's Fair city, just as Molly Malone has become an unofficial symbol. But who was Molly Malone? Was she a real person? She is thought to have lived in the 18^th century. But many people believe tat she is only a fictitious character. Yet whether she lived or not is irrelevant to her importance as a symbol of Dublin. In 1989, a statue of her, dressed in seventeenth-century style costume, was erected and stands today on a corner of Grafton Street. Many street traders refer to themselves as "Molly Malone" and Dublin Corporation have even held a competition, the Molly Malone Award.

One of the finest department stores of Dublin is in Grafton Street it's called "Brown Thomas".

Dublin is also known for his pubs. One of the most famous is The Temple Bar. And like in all the other Irish pubs the people enjoy making music and drinking the famous Irish beer: Guinness.

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The Country Pub has helped to keep up Irish music alive and provided the setting for the music revival that began in the 1960s. Today, sessions of informal music are still commonplace. In many pubs the Irish enjoy their weekends with Whiskey, Guinness and music. But also the Irish dance is special. Maybe even some of you know "Riverdance".

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Another famous street in Dublin is the O'Connell Street. It was the most fashionable part of Dublin to live and today it is lined with shops and businesses. One of the attractions is the James Joyce Cultural Center. James Joyce lived in the 19^th and 20^th century. He wrote the book "Ulysses". He once said if Dublin was ever destroyed it could be recreated through the pages of Ulysses. However the Irish branded the book pornographic and banned it until the 1960s.

Let's leave Dublin and go to the Southeast Ireland. In the south of Dublin are the Wicklow Mountains. This region is still the only real wilderness in the Southeast in contrast to the flat grasslands that spread across Kildare to the west.

In Glendalough (the valley of the two lakes) it seams like time doesn't pass. The mysterious round tower in the graveyard and the beauty of the valley let time stand still. Glendalough was established by St. Kevin in the 6^th century and it functioned as a monastic center. It was THE center of the Christianity.

In the county Kilkenny is situated the best Hurling-team of Ireland of the last year.  Hurling is one of the national Irish sports. It has got his name because of the hockey which is called HURLEY. The rules of this field-game are a little bit confusing but the Irish love their sport.
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Wexford and Waterford are the most important city in South Ireland. They both got a big harbor. Waterford is also well known for his Crystal Factory.

In the south end of Ireland is the harbor of Cobh (Cove). Cobh was a port of call for luxury passenger liners. It was the last stop for the Titanic, before its Atlantic crossing in 1912. But Cobh was also one of the harbors from where the emigrated Irish left their country. The cause of their leaving was the famine.

The Irish Famine from 1845 to 1849 was catastrophic famine in British-ruled Ireland caused by the failure of the Irish potato crap and British government inaction. Sometimes referred to as the "Great Famine", it was one of many famines in Ireland during the first half of the19th century.

The Irish population had expanded massively in the first half of the 19^th century, reaching approximately 8.5 million by 1845, and was overly dependent n the potato as a source of nutrition. The potato crop of 1845 was destroyed by a fungus, commonly known as blight. By the early autumn of 1845 it was clear that famine was imminent in Ireland, but British government reaction was slow and insufficient for the magnitude of the crisis. In the following years the situation didn't become better.

The 1841 census recorded an Irish population of 8.2 million. By 1851 this figure had been reduced to 6.5 million. As many as 1 million people died from starvation and its attendant diseases, with the balance seeking emigration to Britain and North America.

In Kerry is situated the best Gaelic football team of Ireland. Gaelic football has features in common with soccer and rugby. More people watch the game than any other event in Ireland.

The most famous thing of Lower Shannon are the Cliffs of Moher. The breathtaking cliffs of Moher are rising to a height of 200 m out of the sea and are extending for 8km.

In Lower Shannon you also can find the Rock of Cashel. This Rocky stronghold, which rises dramatically out of the Tipperary plains, was a symbol of royal and priestly power for more than a millennium. From the 5^th century it was the seat of the king of Munster. Beneath the castle and the old church is St. Patrick's cross. St. Patrick arrived in 432 AD in Ireland and tried to baptize the Irish population. St. Patrick is called the Apostle of Ireland. And even nowadays his traditional feast is March 17. On this day thousands of Irish mark the route of the parade. It's the largest celebration of Ireland.

In all Ireland you can find some typical Irish High crosses. The High Crosses were built between the 8^th and the 12^th century by the Celts.

In Northwest Ireland, in the county Donegal is the highest cliff face in Europe, the Slieve League. At sunset the rock changes his color into red.

In the Northwest, in the County Sligo is the Carrowkeel Passage Tomb Cementary. The burial chamber inside is lit by the sun on the day of the summer solstice (on 21^st of June) as opposed to the winter solstice.

Now we have reached Northern Ireland. Here you can see the amazing Carrick - a - rede Rope Bridge. It is one of the most unusual and scary tourist attractions in Ireland. The bridge hangs 25m above the sea and wobbles and twists as soon as you stand on it.

Also in Northern Ireland is the Giant's Causeway. The sheer strangeness of this place and the bizarre regularity of its basalt columns has made the Giant's Causeway, the subject of many legends. These columns were made because of a volcanic eruption 61 million years ago.

Now we are in Belfast. Belfast is the capital of Northern Island. It was the only city in Ireland to experience the full force of the Industries Revolution. Its industries caused the population to rise to almost 400 000 by the end of the 1^st World War. The troubles and the decline of traditional industries have since damaged economic life, but Belfast remains a handsome city and most of the visitors are agreeably surprised by the friendliness of Belfast.

Now we've reached the end of our journey. And we have got to say that there is plenty more to talk about. We hope you got some good impressions of this very special and traditional island.

+: Eine nette Reise durch die Insel, im Original unterstützt von Filmen und Liedern, bringt Informationen aus vielen Bereichen.

-: Kein Literaturverzeichnis, einige wenige sprachliche Fehler.