Portal:Ireland

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Northern Ireland

Ireland (Irish: Éire, Ulster Scots: Airlann) is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. The Republic of Ireland covers five-sixths of the island. Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom, covers the remainder and is located in the northeast of the island. The population of Ireland is estimated to be 6.2 million. Slightly less than 4.5 million are estimated to live in the Republic of Ireland and slightly less than 1.8 million live in Northern Ireland.

Relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain to epitomise the Ireland's geography with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has a lush vegetation, a product of its mild but changeable oceanic climate, which avoids extremes in temperature. Thick woodlands covered the island until the 1600s. Today, it is the most deforested area in Europe. Twenty-six mammal species are native to Ireland, with some, such as the red fox, hedgehog and badger, being very common. Others, like the Irish hare, red deer and pine marten are less so.

Irish culture has had a significant influence on culture world-wide, particularly in the fields of literature and, to a lesser degree, science and learning. A strong indigenous culture, expressed for example through native sports and the Irish language, exists alongside a regional culture, such as Rugby football and golf. Read more ...

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Ryanair (ISEQ: RYA LSE: RYA NASDAQ: RYAAY) is an airline based in Ireland. It is Europe's largest low-cost carrier, operating 270 low-fare routes to 21 European countries. Over the years it has evolved into the world's most profitable airline [1], running at remarkable margins by relentlessly driving costs down, for example, Ryanair has banned staff charging their personal mobile phones on company premises - to save electricity costs. Ryanair has been characterised by rapid and continuing expansion, enabled by the deregulation of the air industry in Europe in 1997. Read more...

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Tom Crean (20 July 1877 – 27 July 1938) was an Irish seaman and Antarctic explorer, from County Kerry. He enlisted in the British Royal Navy at the age of fifteen as a Boy 2nd class. In 1901, while on naval duty serving as an Able Seaman on HMS Ringarooma in New Zealand, he volunteered to join Robert Falcon Scott's 1901–1904 British National Antarctic Expedition on Discovery, thus beginning a distinguished career as an explorer during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

Crean was on three of the four major British expeditions to Antarctica during this period. After the Discovery Expedition he joined Captain Scott on the 1911–1913 Terra Nova Expedition, in which the race to reach the South Pole was lost to Roald Amundsen, followed by the deaths of Scott and his polar party. During this expedition Crean's 35–mile (56 km) solo walk across the Ross Ice Shelf to save the life of Edward Evans led to the award of the Albert Medal. His third Antarctic venture was the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition on Endurance led by Ernest Shackleton, in which he served as Second Officer. After the sinking of Endurance he was a participant in the 800–mile (1,280 km) open boat journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia, and was one of the party of three which undertook the first land crossing of South Georgia.

These feats earned him a reputation as a tough and dependable polar traveller. After the Endurance expedition Crean returned to the Navy, and when his naval career ended in 1920 he moved back to County Kerry. Here he opened a public house in his home town, Annascaul, called the South Pole Inn. He lived there quietly and unobtrusively until his death on 27 July 1938. Read more...

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