The document provides an overview of Irish art history from early carvings found at sites like Newgrange through the Bronze Age and medieval illuminated manuscripts. It notes important 19th and 20th century Irish painters and mentions some contemporary artists. Key periods and styles of Irish art are summarized in 3 sentences.

2. • The early history of Irish art
is generally considered to
begin with early carvings
found at sites such as
Newgrange
• is traced through Bronze
Age artefacts, particularly
ornamental gold objects,
• the religious carvings and
illuminated manuscripts of
the medieval period.
• During the course of the
19th and 20th centuries, a
strong indigenous tradition
of painting emerged,
including such figures as
John Butler Yeats, William
Orpen and Jack Yeats.
• Ireland's best known living
artists include Louis le
Brocquy, a figurative
painter and print maker,
Brian O'Doherty

3. • Saint Patrick's Day or the Feast of
Saint Patrick (Irish: Lá Fhéile
Pádraig, "the Day of the Festival of
Patrick") is a cultural and religious
holiday celebrated on 17 March.
• It commemorates Saint Patrick (c.
AD 387–461), the most commonly
• It is observed by the Catholic
Church,
• The Anglican Communion (especially
the Church of Ireland), The
Eastern Orthodox Church and
Lutheran Church.
• Saint Patrick's Day was made an
official feast day in the early
seventeenth century, and has
gradually become a celebration of
Irish culture in general

4. Irish dancing or Irish dance is a group of
traditional dance forms originating in
Ireland which can broadly be divided into
social dance and performance dances
Irish set dances are quadrilles, danced by four
couples arranged in a square, while céilí
dances are danced by varied formations (céilí)
of two to sixteen people.
In addition to their formation, there are
significant stylistic differences between these
two forms of social dance.
Irish social dance is a living tradition, and
variations in particular dances are found across
the Irish dancing community; in some places,
dances are deliberately modified and new
dances are choreographed.

5. • Irish cuisine is a style of
cooking originating from
Ireland or developed by Irish
people.
• It evolved from centuries of
social and political change.
• The cuisine takes its influence
from the crops grown and
animals farmed in its temperate
climate.
• The introduction of the potato
in the second half of the 16th
century heavily influenced
Ireland's cuisine thereafter.
• Representative Irish dishes are
Irish stew, bacon and cabbage,
potato, boxty, coddle,
colcannon and (mainly in
Ulster) fadge.

6. • Ireland is an island in northwest Europe in the
north Atlantic Ocean whose main
geographical features include low central
plains surrounded by a ring of coastal
mountains.
• The highest peak is Carrauntoohil (Irish: Corrán
Tuathail), which is 1,041 metres (3,415 ft) above
sea level.
• The western coastline is rugged, with many
islands, peninsulas, headlands and bays.
• The island is bisected by the River Shannon,
which at 386 km (240 mi) with a 113 km (70 mi)
estuary is the longest river in Ireland and flows
south from County Cavan in Ulster to meet the
Atlantic just south of Limerick. There are a
number of sizeable lakes along Ireland's rivers,
of which Lough Neagh is the largest.
• Politically, the island consists of the state,
Ireland, with jurisdiction over about five sixths of
the island; and Northern Ireland, a constituent
country of the United Kingdom, with jurisdiction
over the remaining sixth

7. • The mythology of pre-Christian
Ireland did not entirely survive
• the conversion to Christianity,
but much of it was preserved,
shorn of its religious meanings
• in medieval Irish literature,
which represents the most
extensive and best preserved of
all the branch and the Historical
Cycle.
• There are also a number of extant
mythological texts that do not fit
into any of the cycles.
• Additionally, there are a small
number of recorded folk tales
that, while not strictly
mythological, feature
personages from one or more of
these nine cycles.

8. • Irish Music is the generic term for music that has been created
in various genres on the island of Ireland.
• It has remained vibrant through the 20th, and into the 21st
century, despite globalizing cultural forces.
• In spite of emigration and a well-developed connection to
music influences from Britain and the United States, Irish music
has kept many of its traditional aspects and has itself
influenced many forms of music, such as country and roots
music in the USA, which in turn have had some influence on
modern rock music.
• It has occasionally been fused with rock and roll, punk rock
and other genres. Some of these fusion artists have attained
mainstream success, at home and abroad.
• In recent decades Irish music in many different genres has
been very successful internationally.
• However, the most successful genres have been rock, popular
and traditional fusion, with performers such as U2, Enya,
Westlife, Boyzone, Thin Lizzy, Rory Gallagher, Bob Geldof,
Clannad, The Corrs, The Chieftains, The Irish Tenors, Van
Morrison, The Saw Doctors, Snow Patrol, The Cranberries, The
Undertones, Ash, The Script, Sinéad O'Connor, Damien Rice,
Glen Hansard, and Celtic Woman achieving success nationally
and internationally.

9. • Covering 2,000 hectares of Connemara
mountain countryside, this beautiful area is
one of Ireland's five national parks.
• Two short signposted nature trails, which
start at the Visitor Centre in Letterfrack, allow
views of Ballinakill Harbour, Inishbofin and
Inishark. The Connemara countryside is
located in Letterfrack, Galway county.
• Just north of Lahinch, on the coast of West
Clare, are the Cliffs of Moher... one of the
most breathtaking tourist attractions in
Ireland.
• Boldly facing the Atlantic, the Cliffs of Moher
are the highest cliffs in Europe. The cliffs are
also the site of ancient buildings once used
as watch towers to warn of invading Vikings.
• From its vantage point you can view the
Clare coastline, the Aran Islands and
mountains as far apart as Kerry and
Connemara.