1. In the spring of next year, the Queen may make one of the shortest but most significant journeys of her 57-year reign when she travels to Ireland.
2. According to Irish legend, on judgement day Christ will be the judge all nations, but St. Patrick will be the judge of the Irish.
3. Dame Alice Kytler, born 1280 in Kilkenny, was the last witch in Ireland, if you believe in witches (here home is now a restaurant).
4. A pig, allowed to live in Irish farmhouses in olden days, was once known as "the gentleman that pays the rent."
5. Aran sweaters are created with "family weaves," designed to help a drowned fisherman's family identify him when found on the shore.
6. The original seven "Celtic Nations" are Brittany, Scotland, Ireland, Galicia, Wales, Isle of Man and Cornwall.
7. Little Women’s Christmas - This is a very old tradition that a few women still partake of in Ireland. It used to be the one day of the year when they could leave their husbands at home and party at the pub!
8. In Ireland, starting a fight by punching someone in the face is considered a friendly greeting. Starting a fight by throwing your drink in someone's face, however, is grossly insulting, wastes precious alcohol, and carries the death penalty.
9. Only one Irishman has ever won the Tour de France (Stephen Roche, 1987).
10. Like the US, Ireland's constitution guarantees its citizens the right to free speech.
11. The ancestral language of Irish people is Irish Gaelic. Nowadays 1.6 million people claiming a self-reported competence in Irish, but only 380,000 fluent speakers remain.
12. Ireland is one of the world leaders for pop music, with singers and bands like Horslips, U2, Thin Lizzy, Boomtown Rats, The Corrs, Clannad, Boyzone, Ronan Keating, The Cranberries, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Westlife and Enya. Add to these artists of Irish descent like Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison of the Beatles, Liam Gallagher and Noel Gallagher of Oasis, Bruce Springsteen, or Johnny Rotten (lead singer of the Sex Pistols).
13. Many Irish family names start with "Mac" or "O'...", which means respectively "son of ..." and "grandson of ..." in Gaelic.
14. The Irish consume in average 131.1 liters of beer per year - the 2nd highest per-capita consumption after the Czech Republic.
15. The three most famous symbols of Ireland are the green Shamrock, the harp, and the Celtic cross.
16. 88% of Irish citizens are nominally Roman Catholic. The Republic of Ireland has one of the highest rates of church attendance in the Western World (around 45% of regular Mass attendance).
17. In 1998 Danny O'Malley of Dublin created the first internet search engine to specialize in Irish-related information: Alcohoogle.
18. To prevent illegal immigration into the country, Irish Border Patrol members guard the country's beaches by hurling empty whiskey bottles at swimmers.
19. Ireland is the third largest island in Europe and the twenty sixth largest island in the world.
20. The longest river in Ireland, the Shannon is also the longest river in the British Isles.
21. Famous Irish breweries include Guinness, Smithwicks (Kilkenny), and Harp Lager.
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