1.
St. Patrick's Day (album)
–
Template, Infobox album ll St. Patricks Day is a compilation album of phonograph records by Bing Crosby released in 1947 featuring songs with an Irish theme. This includes one of Crosbys most-beloved songs, Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral which was four on Billboard for 12 weeks. This version, the 1945 re-recording, was released earlier in another Crosby album, der Bingle in good Erin form for each of the sides and song selections are tops. Photo of the smiling Bing on the cover, with notes on the singer. Down Beat was not impressed saying, Bings album, despite his usual graceful ease of interpretation. It was 18th in the chart of top selling record albums for 1948. These previously issued songs were featured on a 5-disc,78 rpm album set, the 194910 LP album issue Decca DL5037 consisted of eight songs on one 33 1/3 rpm record. It left out two of the songs, Ill Take You Home Again, Kathleen and Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral, the album reached the No.3 spot in Billboards album charts in March 1951. Side 1 Side 2 In 1949, the album along with the LP, was released on a set of four 45 rpm records on Decca 9–49
2.
Irish people
–
The Irish people are a nation and ethnic group native to the island of Ireland, who share a common Irish ancestry, identity and culture. Ireland has been inhabited for about 9,000 years according to archaeological studies, for most of Irelands recorded history, the Irish have been primarily a Gaelic people. Today, Ireland is made up of the Republic of Ireland, the people of Northern Ireland hold various national identities, including Irish, Northern Irish, British, or some combination thereof. The Irish have their own customs, language, music, dance, sports, cuisine, although Irish was their main language in the past, today the huge majority of Irish people speak English as their first language. Historically, the Irish nation was made up of kin groups or clans, there have been many notable Irish people throughout history. After Irelands conversion to Christianity, Irish missionaries and scholars exerted great influence on Western Europe, the 6th-century Irish monk and missionary Columbanus is regarded as one of the fathers of Europe, followed by saints Cillian and Fergal. The scientist Robert Boyle is considered the father of chemistry, famous Irish writers include Oscar Wilde, W. B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Bram Stoker and James Joyce, notable Irish explorers include Brendan the Navigator, Robert McClure, Ernest Shackleton and Tom Crean. By some accounts, the first European child born in North America had Irish descent on both sides, many presidents of the United States have had some Irish ancestry. The population of Ireland is about 6.3 million, but it is estimated that 50 to 80 million people around the world have Irish forebears, historically, emigration from Ireland has been the result of conflict, famine and economic issues. People of Irish descent are mainly in English-speaking countries, especially the United Kingdom. There are also significant numbers in Argentina, Mexico and New Zealand, the United States has the most people of Irish descent, while in Australia those of Irish descent are a higher percentage of the population than in any other country. Many Icelanders have Irish and Scottish Gaelic forebears, in its summary of their article Who were the Celts. The National Museum Wales notes It is possible that genetic studies of ancient. However, early studies have, so far, tended to produce implausible conclusions from very small numbers of people and using outdated assumptions about linguistics, nineteenth century anthropology studied the physical characteristics of Irish people in minute detail. During the past 10,000 years of inhabitation, Ireland has witnessed some different peoples arrive on its shores, the ancient peoples of Ireland—such as the creators of the Céide Fields and Newgrange—are almost unknown. Neither their languages nor terms they used to describe themselves have survived, as late as the middle centuries of the 1st millennium the inhabitants of Ireland did not appear to have a collective name for themselves. Ireland itself was known by a number of different names, including Banba, Fódla, Ériu by the islanders, Iouerne and Hiverne to the Greeks, other Latin names for people from Ireland in Classic and Mediaeval sources include Attacotti and Gael
3.
Irish diaspora
–
The Irish diaspora refers to Irish people and their descendants who live outside Ireland. This is more than the population of Ireland at its peak in the 1840s of 8.5 million. The poorest of them went to Great Britain, especially Liverpool, after 1840, emigration from Ireland became a massive, relentless, and efficiently managed national enterprise. In 1890 40% of Irish-born people were living abroad, by the 21st century, an estimated 80 million people worldwide claimed some Irish descent, which includes more than 36 million Americans who claim Irish as their primary ethnicity. As recently as the half of the nineteenth century, the majority of Irish emigrants spoke Irish as their first language. This had social and cultural consequences for the cultivation of the language abroad, the language continues to be cultivated abroad by a small minority as a literary and social medium. Joe McHugh is the Republic of Irelands Minister of State for the Diaspora, the term Irish diaspora is open to many interpretations. It has been argued the idea of an Irish diaspora, as distinct from the old identification of Irishness with Ireland itself, was influenced by the advent of global mobility and modernity. Irishness could now be identified with dispersed individuals and groups of Irish descent, but many of those individuals were the product of complex ethnic intermarriage in America and elsewhere, complicating the idea of a single line of descent. Irishness might then rely primarily on identification with an Irish diaspora. The Government of Ireland defines the Irish diaspora as all persons of Irish nationality who habitually reside outside of the island of Ireland and this includes Irish citizens who have emigrated abroad and their children, who are Irish citizens by descent under Irish law. It also includes their grandchildren in cases where they were registered as Irish citizens in the Foreign Births Register held in every Irish diplomatic mission, under this legal definition, the Irish diaspora is considerably smaller—some 3 million persons, of whom 1.2 million are Irish-born emigrants. This is still a large ratio for any country, however, the usage of Irish diaspora is generally not limited by citizenship status, thus leading to an estimated membership of up to 80 million persons—the second and more emotive definition. The right to register as an Irish citizen terminates at the third generation and this contrasts with citizenship law in Italy, Israel, Japan and other countries which practice jus sanguinis or otherwise permit members of the diaspora to register as citizens. There are people of Irish descent abroad who reject inclusion in an Irish diaspora and they may see the diasporic label as something used by the Irish government for its own purposes. The Attacotti, who were recruited into the Roman army. Following the withdrawal of the Roman army, the Irish began increasing their footholds in Britain, in time, the Irish colonies became independent, merged with the Pictish kingdom, and formed the basis of modern Scotland. The traditionally Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland are still referred to in the Gaelic language as a Ghàidhealtachd, Irish monks, and the Celtic church, pioneered a wave of Irish emigration into Great Britain, and continental Europe
4.
Anglican Communion
–
The Anglican Communion is an international association of autonomous churches consisting of the Church of England and national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with it. Full participation in the life of each church is available to all communicant Anglicans. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England, has a place of honour among the bishops of the Anglican churches and he is recognised as primus inter pares. The archbishop does not exercise authority in the provinces outside England, the churches of the Anglican Communion considers themselves to be part of the nicos one, holy, catholic and apostolic church and to be both Catholic and Reformed. For some adherents, Anglicanism represents a non-papal Catholicism, for others a form of Protestantism though without a dominant guiding figure such as Luther, Knox, Calvin, for others, their self-identity represents some combination of the two. The communion encompasses a spectrum of belief and practice including evangelical, liberal. With a membership estimated at around 85 million members, the Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion in the world, after the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Some of these churches are known as Anglican, such as the Anglican Church of Canada, some, for example the Church of Ireland, the Scottish and American Episcopal churches, and some other associated churches have a separate name. The Anglican Communion has no legal existence nor any governing structure which might exercise authority over the member churches. There is an Anglican Communion Office in London, under the aegis of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Communion is held together by a shared history, expressed in its ecclesiology, polity and ethos and also by participation in international consultative bodies. Early in its development, Anglicanism developed a vernacular prayer book, unlike other traditions, Anglicanism has never been governed by a magisterium nor by appeal to one founding theologian, nor by an extra-credal summary of doctrine. Instead, Anglicans have typically appealed to the Book of Common Prayer and its offshoots as a guide to Anglican theology and this had the effect of inculcating the principle of Lex orandi, lex credendi as the foundation of Anglican identity and confession. These parameters were most clearly articulated in the rubrics of the successive prayer books. With the expansion of the British Empire, and hence the growth of Anglicanism outside Great Britain and Ireland, the first major expression of this were the Lambeth Conferences of the communions bishops, first convened by Archbishop of Canterbury Charles Longley in 1869. One of the influential early resolutions of the conference was the so-called Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888. Its intent was to provide the basis for discussions of reunion with the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, the Apostles Creed, as the Baptismal Symbol, and the Nicene Creed, as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith. The two Sacraments ordained by Christ Himself - Baptism and the Supper of the Lord - ministered with unfailing use of Christs Words of Institution, and of the elements ordained by Him. The Historic Episcopate, locally adapted in the methods of its administration to the needs of the nations
5.
Eastern Orthodox Church
–
The Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission to the apostles. It practices what it understands to be the original Christian faith, the Eastern Orthodox Church is a communion of autocephalous churches, each typically governed by a Holy Synod. It teaches that all bishops are equal by virtue of their ordination, prior to the Council of Chalcedon in AD451, the Eastern Orthodox had also shared communion with the Oriental Orthodox churches, separating primarily over differences in Christology. Eastern Orthodoxy spread throughout the Roman and later Eastern Roman Empires and beyond, playing a prominent role in European, Near Eastern, Slavic, and some African cultures. As a result, the term Greek Orthodox has sometimes used to describe all of Eastern Orthodoxy in general. However, the appellation Greek was never in use and was gradually abandoned by the non-Greek-speaking Eastern Orthodox churches. Its most prominent episcopal see is Constantinople, there are also many in other parts of the world, formed through immigration, conversion and missionary activity. The official name of the Eastern Orthodox Church is the Orthodox Catholic Church and it is the name by which the church refers to itself in its liturgical or canonical texts, in official publications, and in official contexts or administrative documents. Orthodox teachers refer to the Church as Catholic and this name and longer variants containing Catholic are also recognized and referenced in other books and publications by secular or non-Orthodox writers. The common name of the Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, is a shortened practicality that helps to avoid confusions in casual use, for this reason, the eastern churches were sometimes identified as Greek, even before the great schism. After 1054, Greek Orthodox or Greek Catholic marked a church as being in communion with Constantinople and this identification with Greek, however, became increasingly confusing with time. Missionaries brought Orthodoxy to many regions without ethnic Greeks, where the Greek language was not spoken. Today, many of those same Roman churches remain, while a large number of Orthodox are not of Greek national origin. Eastern, then, indicates the element in the Churchs origin and development, while Orthodox indicates the faith. While the Church continues officially to call itself Catholic, for reasons of universality, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in a letter written about 110 AD from one Greek church to another. Quote of St Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans, Wheresoever the bishop shall appear, there let the people be, even as where Jesus may be, thus, almost from the very beginning, Christians referred to the Church as the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The Orthodox Church claims that it is today the continuation and preservation of that same Church, a number of other Christian churches also make a similar claim, the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Assyrian Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. The Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church, not directly from the Orthodox Church, the depth of this meaning in the Orthodox Church is registered first in its use of the word Orthodox itself, a union of Greek orthos and doxa
6.
Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar
–
The Eastern Orthodox Liturgical Calendar describes and dictates the rhythm of the life of the Eastern Orthodox Church. There are two types of feasts in the Orthodox Church calendar, fixed and movable, Fixed feasts occur on the same calendar day every year, whereas movable feasts change each year. The moveable feasts are generally relative to Pascha, and so the cycle of feasts is referred to as the Paschal cycle. The following list of links only to fixed feasts of the Orthodox Church. These are the dates, the particular day on which that date is observed differs depending upon whether one follows the Julian Calendar or the Revised Julian Calendar. All dates having to do with Pascha - the beginning of Great Lent, Ascension, Pentecost, etc. - are moveable feasts and these important notes should be remembered in using the following calendar, For the day in the modern Gregorian Calendar. For example, Christmas Day on the Julian Calendar falls on January 7 of the modern Gregorian Calendar, for those churches which follow the Revised Julian Calendar the dates below correspond exactly to the dates on the Gregorian Calendar. The Orthodox liturgical year begins on September 1, Pascha is, by far, the most important day in the ecclesiastical year, and all other days, in one way or another, are dependent upon it. Pascha falls on different calendar dates from year to year, calculated according to a set of rules. While the Fixed Cycle begins on September 1, the new Paschal Cycle begins on Zaccheus Sunday, eleven Sundays before Pascha, the Epistle and Gospel readings at the Divine Liturgy throughout the year are determined by the date of Pascha. There are Twelve Great Feasts throughout the church year—not counting Pascha and these are feasts which celebrate major historical events in the lives of Jesus Christ or the Theotokos. Simpler wall calendars will show the major commemoration of the day together with the scripture readings. Nashville, Tennessee, Thomas Nelson Publishers,1993, 771-780
7.
Lutheranism
–
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestant Christianity which identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German friar, ecclesiastical reformer and theologian. Luthers efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched the Protestant Reformation in the German-speaking territories of the Holy Roman Empire. Lutheranism advocates a doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone on the basis of Scripture alone and this is in contrast to the belief of the Catholic Church, defined at the Council of Trent, concerning authority coming from both the Scriptures and Tradition. In addition, Lutheranism accepts the teachings of the first seven ecumenical councils of the undivided Christian Church, unlike Calvinism, Lutherans retain many of the liturgical practices and sacramental teachings of the pre-Reformation Church, with a particular emphasis on the Eucharist, or Lords Supper. Lutheran theology differs from Reformed theology in Christology, the purpose of Gods Law, the grace, the concept of perseverance of the saints. Today, Lutheranism is one of the largest denominations of Protestantism, with approximately 80 million adherents, it constitutes the third most common Protestant denomination after historically Pentecostal denominations and Anglicanism. The Lutheran World Federation, the largest communion of Lutheran churches, Other Lutheran organizations include the International Lutheran Council and the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, as well as independent churches. The name Lutheran originated as a term used against Luther by German Scholastic theologian Dr. Johann Maier von Eck during the Leipzig Debate in July 1519. Eck and other Catholics followed the practice of naming a heresy after its leader. Martin Luther always disliked the term Lutheran, preferring the term Evangelical, which was derived from euangelion, the followers of John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, and other theologians linked to the Reformed tradition also began to use that term. To distinguish the two groups, others began to refer to the two groups as Evangelical Lutheran and Evangelical Reformed. As time passed by, the word Evangelical was dropped, Lutherans themselves began to use the term Lutheran in the middle of the 16th century, in order to distinguish themselves from other groups such as the Philippists and Calvinists. In 1597, theologians in Wittenberg defined the title Lutheran as referring to the true church, Lutheranism has its roots in the work of Martin Luther, who sought to reform the Western Church to what he considered a more biblical foundation. Lutheranism spread through all of Scandinavia during the 16th century, as the monarch of Denmark–Norway, through Baltic-German and Swedish rule, Lutheranism also spread into Estonia and Latvia. Since 1520, regular Lutheran services have been held in Copenhagen, under the reign of Frederick I, Denmark-Norway remained officially Catholic. Although Frederick initially pledged to persecute Lutherans, he adopted a policy of protecting Lutheran preachers and reformers. During Fredericks reign, Lutheranism made significant inroads in Denmark, at an open meeting in Copenhagen attended by the king in 1536, the people shouted, We will stand by the holy Gospel, and do not want such bishops anymore. Fredericks son Christian was openly Lutheran, which prevented his election to the throne upon his fathers death, however, following his victory in the civil war that followed, in 1537 he became Christian III and advanced the Reformation in Denmark-Norway
8.
Calendar of saints (Lutheran)
–
The Lutheran Calendar of Saints is a listing which specifies the primary annual festivals and events that are celebrated liturgically by some Lutheran Churches in the United States. The calendars of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod are from the 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship, elements unique to the ELCA have been updated from the Lutheran Book of Worship to reflect changes resulting from the publication of Evangelical Lutheran Worship in 2006. The elements of the unique to the LCMS have also been updated from Lutheran Worship. The event commemorated is listed with the type of event afterwards in parentheses as well as the country where it is observed, for individuals, the date given is the date of their death or heavenly birthday. The single letter listed after each event is the color for vestments and paraments, White. Commemorations are noted as being specific to the ELCA or LCMS following the particular entry, Commemorations and Festivals that are held in common are not annotated. For further information on the development of the calendar, see Liturgical calendar, W. Walther, pastor, theologian,1887 W – LCMS8 Victor the Moor, martyr,303 R – ELCA Julian of Norwich, renewer of the Church, c. Lutheran Book of Worship, Ministers Desk Edition, Evangelical Lutheran Worship - Final Draft. Festivals and Commemorations, Handbook to the Calendar in Lutheran Book of Worship
9.
Calendar of saints
–
The word feast in this context does not mean a large meal, typically a celebratory one, but instead an annual religious celebration, a day dedicated to a particular saint. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, a calendar of saints is called a Menologion, Menologion may also mean a set of icons on which saints are depicted in the order of the dates of their feasts, often made in two panels. As the number of recognized saints increased during Late Antiquity and the first half of the Middle Ages, eventually every day of the year had at least one saint who was commemorated on that date. To deal with this increase, some saints were moved to days in some traditions or completely removed. For example, St. Perpetua and Felicity died on 7 March, when the 1969 reform of the Catholic calendar moved him to 28 January, they were moved back to 7 March. Both days can thus be said to be their feast day, the Roman Catholic calendars of saints in their various forms, which list those saints celebrated in the entire church, contains only a selection of the saints for each of its days. A fuller list is found in the Roman Martyrology, and some of the saints there may be celebrated locally, Saint Martin of Tours is said to be the first or at least one of the first non-martyrs to be venerated as a saint. The title confessor was used for saints, who had confessed their faith in Christ by their lives rather than by their deaths. Martyrs are regarded as dying in the service of the Lord, a broader range of titles was used later, such as, Virgin, Pastor, Bishop, Monk, Priest, Founder, Abbot, Apostle, Doctor of the Church. Pope Pius XII added a common formula for Popes, the 1962 Roman Missal of Pope John XXIII omitted the common of Apostles, assigning a proper Mass to every feast day of an Apostle. The present Roman Missal has common formulas for the Dedication of Churches, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Martyrs, Pastors, Doctors of the Church, Virgins, some Christians continue the tradition of dating by saints days, their works may appear dated as The Feast of Saint Martin. Poets such as John Keats commemorate the importance of The Eve of Saint Agnes, as different Christian jurisdictions parted ways theologically, differing lists of saints began to develop. In the present ordinary form of the Roman Rite, feast days are ranked as solemnities and those who use even earlier forms of the Roman Rite rank feast days as Doubles, Semidoubles, and Simples. See Ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite, in the Eastern Orthodox Church the ranking of feasts varies from church to church. In the Russian Orthodox Church they are, Great Feasts, middle, each portion of such feasts may also be called feasts as follows, All-Night Vigils, Polyeleos, Great Doxology, Sextuple. There are also distinctions between Simple feasts and Double, in Double Feasts the order of hymns and readings for each feast are rigidly instructed in Typikon, the liturgy book. In the Church of England, there are Principal Feasts and Principal Holy Days, Festivals, Lesser Festivals, and Commemorations. com
10.
Saint Patrick
–
Saint Patrick was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the Apostle of Ireland, he is the patron saint of Ireland, along with saints Brigit of Kildare. He is also venerated in the Anglican Communion, the Old Catholic Church and in the Eastern Orthodox Church as equal-to-the-apostles and Enlightener of Ireland. The dates of Patricks life cannot be fixed with certainty but there is agreement that he was active as a missionary in Ireland during the second half of the 5th century. He has been generally so regarded ever since, despite evidence of some earlier Christian presence in Ireland, after becoming a cleric, he returned to northern and western Ireland. In later life, he served as a bishop, but little is known about the places where he worked, by the seventh century, he had already come to be revered as the patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patricks Day is observed on 17 March, the date of his death. It is celebrated inside and outside Ireland as a religious and cultural holiday, in the dioceses of Ireland, it is both a solemnity and a holy day of obligation, it is also a celebration of Ireland itself. Two Latin works survive which are accepted as having been written by St. Patrick. These are the Declaration and the Letter to the soldiers of Coroticus, the Declaration is the more biographical of the two. In it, Patrick gives an account of his life. Most available details of his life are from subsequent hagiographies and annals, the only name that Patrick uses for himself in his own writings is Pātricius, which gives Old Irish Pátraic and Modern Irish Pádraig, English Patrick and Welsh Padrig. Hagiography records other names he is said to have borne, Magonus appears in the ninth century Historia Brittonum as Maun, descending from British *Magunos, meaning servant-lad. Succetus, which appears in Muirchú moccu Machthenis seventh century Life as Sochet, is identified by Mac Neill as a word of British origin meaning swineherd. The dates of Patricks life are uncertain, there are conflicting regarding the year of his death. His own writings provide no evidence for any dating more precise than the 5th century generally, the Letter to Coroticus implies that the Franks were still pagans at the time of writing, their conversion to Christianity is dated to the period 496–508. The Irish annals for the century date Patricks arrival in Ireland at 432. The date 432 was probably chosen to minimise the contribution of Palladius, who was known to have sent to Ireland in 431
11.
Christianity in Ireland
–
Christianity is and has been the largest religion in Ireland. Most Christian churches are organized on a basis, including both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. In the Republic of Ireland,84. 2% of the population adheres to the Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholicism in Ireland is part of the worldwide Catholic Church. The Catholic Church in Ireland serves Catholics in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland under the leadership of Pope Francis and the Conference of Irish Bishops. In the Republic of Ireland,87. 4% of the citizens were baptised Catholic as infants while the figure for Northern Ireland is 43. 8%. Christianity had arrived in Ireland by the early 5th century, and spread through the works of early missionaries such as Palladius, the Church is organised into four provinces, however, these are not coterminous with the modern civil provincial divisions. The church is led by four archbishops and twenty-three bishops, however, because there have been amalgamations and absorptions, for instance, the diocese of Cashel has been joined with the diocese of Emly, Waterford with Lismore, and Ardagh with Clonmacnoise. The bishop of Galway is also the Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora, there are 1,087 parishes, a few of which are governed by administrators, the remainder by parish priests. There about 3,000 secular clergy—parish priests, administrators, curates, chaplains, the total number of the regular clergy is about 700. They are engaged either in teaching or in giving missions, Irish travellers have traditionally adopted a very particular attitude to the Catholic church, with a focus on figures such as healing priests. More generally a tradition of visions continues, often outside of Church sanction, the majority of the people of Northern Ireland are recorded as members of the various Protestant churches such as the Presbyterian Church, Church of Ireland, Methodist Church and several others. While the Roman Catholic Church is the largest single denomination in either jurisdiction, in the Republic of Ireland, approximately 3% were recorded as members of various Protestant. The proportion was more than 10% in 1891 – a drop to less than a third of the previous percentage, the percentage in 2011 is almost 5%. In 1861, only the west coast and Kilkenny had less than 6% Protestant population, Dublin and two of the border counties had over 20% Protestant. By 1991, however, all counties had fewer than 6% Protestants, there are no counties in the Republic of Ireland which have experienced a rise in the relative Protestant population over the period 1861 to 1991. The counties which retain the highest proportion of Protestants tend to be those which started off with a large proportion, in Northern Ireland, only counties Londonderry, Tyrone and Armagh have experienced a significant loss of relative Protestant population, though at a lesser rate than in the Republic. The Church of Ireland is a province of the Anglican Communion, operating across the island of Ireland. The reformed Church in Ireland then became the church, assuming possession of most church property
12.
Shamrock
–
A shamrock is a young sprig of clover, used as a symbol of Ireland. Saint Patrick, Irelands patron saint, is said to have used it as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity, the name shamrock comes from Irish seamróg, which is the diminutive of the Irish word for clover and means simply little clover or young clover. Shamrock usually refers to either the species Trifolium dubium or Trifolium repens, however, other three-leaved plants—such as Medicago lupulina, Trifolium pratense, and Oxalis acetosella—are sometimes called shamrocks or clovers. The shamrock was traditionally used for its properties and was a popular motif in Victorian times. There is still not a consensus over the precise botanical species of clover that is the true shamrock, John Gerard in his herbal of 1597 defined the shamrock as Trifolium pratense or Trifolium pratense flore albo, meaning Red or White Clover. He described the plant in English as Three leaved grasse or Medow Trefoile and it has since been argued however, that the Elizabethans were confused by the similarity between the Irish name for young clover seamróg, and the name for wood sorrel seamsóg. Bicheno argued that this fitted the wood sorrel better than clover, as wood sorrel was often eaten as a green, bichenos argument has not been generally accepted however, as the weight of evidence favours a species of clover. Patricks Day, and that it was worn in at least 13 counties in Ireland, finally, detailed investigations to settle the matter were carried out in two separate botanical surveys in Ireland, one in 1893 and the other in 1988. Both surveys involved asking people from all across Ireland to send in examples of shamrock, the results of both surveys were very similar, showing that the conception of the shamrock in Ireland had changed little in almost a hundred years. The results of the surveys are shown in the table below, the word shamrock derives from seamair óg or young clover, and references to semair or clover appear in early Irish literature, generally as a description of a flowering clovered plain. For example, in the series of medieval metrical poems about various Irish places called the Metrical Dindshenchus, meath describes it as a plain blossoming with flowering clover. Similarly, another tells of how St. Brigid decided to stay in Co. Kildare when she saw the delightful plain covered in clover blossom, however, the literature in Irish makes no distinction between clover and shamrock, and it is only in English that shamrock emerges as a distinct word. The first mention of shamrock in the English language occurs in 1571 in the work of the English Elizabethan scholar Edmund Campion. In his work Boke of the Histories of Irelande, Campion describes the habits of the wild Irish and states that the Irish ate shamrock, Shamrotes, watercresses, rootes, and other herbes they feed upon. The statement that the Irish ate shamrock was widely repeated in later works, There is no evidence from any Irish source that the Irish ate clover, but there is evidence that the Irish ate wood sorrel. For example, in the medieval Irish work Buile Shuibhne, the king Sweeney, the English Elizabethan poet Edmund Spenser, writing soon after in 1596, described his observations of war-torn Munster after the Desmond Rebellion in his work A View of the Present State of Ireland. And if they found a plott of water cresses or shamrockes theyr they flocked as to a feast for the time, the idea that the Irish ate shamrock is repeated in the writing of Fynes Moryson, one-time secretary to the Lord Deputy of Ireland
13.
Beer in Ireland
–
Brewing in Ireland has a long history. Production currently stands at over 8 million hectolitres, and approximately half the alcohol consumed is beer, Lager accounts for 60% of the beer sold, stout 34% and ale 6%. By the beginning of the century, there were over two hundred breweries in the country, fifty-five of them in Dublin. In the nineteenth century, the number of breweries fell to about fifty, historically, Ireland produced ale, without the use of hops, as the plant is not native to Ireland. Large quantities of hops were imported from England in the 18th century, in 1752, more than 500 tons of English hops were imported through Dublin alone. In the second half of the 18th century, beer, mostly porter, was imported from England in increasing quantities,15,000 barrels in 1750,65,000 in 1785, in the 1760s about 600,000 barrels of beer were brewed annually in Ireland. In the 18th century, the Irish Parliament used taxation to encourage brewing at the expense of distilling, reasoning that beer was less harmful than whiskey. In the 1760s, the Royal Dublin Society offered prizes to brewers who used the most Irish hops, Brewing prospered in the early decades of the 19th century and by 1814 Ireland was exporting more beer to England than it imported. Exports were 3. 5m hectolitres in 1998 and fell to 2. 4m in 2002, whilst Ireland lies 6th in the world for beer consumption per capita, it ranks 4th in the consumption of alcohol, with 11.7 litres per head in 2011. The first lager brewery in Ireland was set up in Dartry, Dublin, in 1891, Lager was later brewed for a short period at the Regal Brewery, Kells. Harp Lager has been brewed in Dundalk since 1968, Heineken Ireland, based at the Murphy Brewery in Cork, have the largest share of the lager market. In addition to Heineken, they brew Amstel and Coors Light, as well as the brands acquired from Beamish & Crawford including Fosters. The ales produced in Ireland are now largely in the Irish red ale style, with a red colour. The largest national brand is Smithwicks, produced by the Diageo multinational, others include Diageos Macardles, Franciscan Wells Rebel Red, Carlow Brewing Companys OHaras Irish Red and Messrs Maguire Rusty. Irelands second-largest brewer, Heineken, no longer makes a red ale in Ireland, having discontinued local production of Murphys Red, dungarvan Brewing Companys Copper Coast red ale was released in 2010, along with Clanconnel Brewerys McGraths Irish Red. Eight Degrees brewery launched their Sunburnt Irish Red Ale in 2011, in 1756, Arthur Guinness set up a small brewery, moving to Dublin in 1759. Having initially brewed ale, he switched to producing porter, which was a style from London, in the early twentieth century, Guinness became the largest brewer in the world, exporting the Irish style to many countries. Although no longer the largest brewer in the world, it remains the largest brewer of stout, in 2014, Guinness sales amounted to 19% of all beer sales in Ireland
14.
Irish whiskey
–
Irish whiskey is whiskey made on the island of Ireland. The word whiskey is an Anglicisation of the first word in the Gaelic phrase, uisce betha, the phrase was a translation of the Latin term aqua vitae, which was commonly used to describe distilled spirits during the Middle Ages. Peat is rarely used in the process, so that Irish whiskey has a smoother finish as opposed to the smoky. There are notable exceptions to these rules in both countries, an example is Connemara peated Irish malt whiskey from the Cooley Distillery in Riverstown, Cooley, County Louth. Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, so much so that although Ireland boasted over 30 distilleries in the 1890s, a century later, this number had fallen to just three. However, Irish whiskey has seen a resurgence in popularity since the late twentieth century. With exports growing by over 15% per annum in recent years, existing distilleries have been expanded, as of early 2017, Ireland now has sixteen distilleries in operation, with at least a further fourteen in the planning stages. However, only five of these have been operating long enough to have products sufficiently aged for sale, the word whiskey comes from the Irish uisce beatha, meaning water of life. Irish whiskey was one of the earliest distilled drinks in Europe and it is believed that Irish monks brought the technique of distilling perfumes back to Ireland from their travels to the Mediterranean countries around 1000 A. D. The Irish then modified this technique to obtain a drinkable spirit, although termed whiskey, the spirit produced during this period would have differed from what we currently recognise as whiskey. The uisce beatha or whiskey produced in historical times would not have been aged, Irish Mist, a whiskey liqueur launched in 1963 is purportedly based on such a recipe. Although known to have occurred for hundreds of years, records of production in Ireland can be difficult to come by. Even in later years, as production was frequently illicit, official records bear little reflection of reality, in addition, as many Irish records were traditionally oral, rather than written, details on early production are likely lost. This Act also made it illegal for anyone other than the peers. However, as Crown control did not extend far beyond the Pale, an area around Dublin. In 1608, King James I granted one such licence to Sir Thomas Phillips and it is through this licence that the Old Bushmills Distillery lays claim to being the oldest surviving licensed distillery in the world. The current company registered to trade in 1784, in 1661, the Crown introduced a tax on whiskey production in Britain and Ireland. Therefore, in theory, all whiskey distillers in Ireland were to register, although Crown control now extended far beyond the Pale, there is limited official record of whiskey distillation during this period
15.
Mass (liturgy)
–
Mass often refers to the entire church service in general, but is specifically the sacrament of the Eucharist. The term mass is called in the Catholic Church, Western Rite Orthodox churches and many Old Catholic, Anglican, as well as some Lutheran churches. Some Protestants employ terms such as Divine Service or service of worship, the English noun mass is derived from Middle Latin missa. The Latin word was adopted in Old English as mæsse, and was sometimes glossed as sendnes, the Latin term missa itself was in use by the 6th century. It is most likely derived from the concluding formula Ite, missa est, historically, however, there have been other explanations of the noun missa, i. e. as not derived from the formula ite, missa est. Already Du Cange reports various opinions on the origin of the noun missa mass, including the derivation from Hebrew matzah, here attributed to Caesar Baronius. The Hebrew derivation is learned speculation from 16th-century philology, medieval authorities did derive the noun missa from the verb mittere, but not in connection with the formula ite, missa est. Thus, De divinis officiis explains the word as a mittendo, quod nos mittat ad Deo, the Catholic Church sees the Mass or Eucharist as the source and summit of the Christian life, to which the other sacraments are oriented. The Catholic Church believes that the Mass is exactly the same sacrifice that Jesus Christ offered on the Cross at Calvary, after making the sign of the cross and greeting the people liturgically, he begins the Act of Penitence. This concludes with the prayer of absolution, which, however. The Kyrie, eleison, is sung or said, followed by the Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Introductory Rites are brought to a close by the Collect Prayer. On Sundays and solemnities, three Scripture readings are given, on other days there are only two. If there are three readings, the first is from the Old Testament, or the Acts of the Apostles during Eastertide, the first reading is followed by a psalm, either sung responsorially or recited. The second reading is from the New Testament, typically one of the Pauline epistles. A Gospel Acclamation is then sung as the Book of the Gospels is processed, sometimes with incense and candles, the final reading and high point of the Liturgy of the Word is the proclamation of the Gospel by the deacon or priest. At least on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, a homily, finally, the Creed is professed on Sundays and solemnities, and it is desirable that in Masses celebrated with the people the Universal Prayer or Prayer of the Faithful should usually follow. The congregation responds, May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands, for the praise and glory of his name, for our good, the priest then pronounces the variable prayer over the gifts. The Eucharistic Prayer, the centre and high point of the entire celebration, the priest continues with one of many Eucharistic Prayer thanksgiving prefaces, which lead to the reciting of the Sanctus acclamation
16.
Church service
–
A church service is a formalized period of communal worship in Christian tradition. It often but not exclusively occurs on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day Sabbatarianism, the church service is the gathering together of Christians to be taught the Word of God and encouraged in their faith. Technically, the church in church service refers to the gathering of the rather than to the building in which it takes place. In most Christians traditions, services are presided over by clergy wherever possible, quakers and some other groups have no formal outline to their services, but allow the worship to develop as the participants present feel moved. The real evolution of the Christian service in the first century is shrouded in mystery, similarly, the liturgical year from Christmas via Easter to Pentecost covers roughly five months, the other seven having no major services linked to the work of Christ. However, this is not to say that the Jewish services were copied or deliberately substituted, today a wide variety of church services exist, from the long and elaborate services of Eastern Christianity to the very basic Evangelistic sermon. Though the majority of services are conducted in church buildings designed specifically for that purpose. For those unable to attend a service in a building a burgeoning televangelism. A number of Websites have been set up as cyber-churches to provide a worship space free to anyone on the Internet. Church services are planned and led by a single pastor or a small group of elders or may follow a format laid out by the dictates of the denomination. Some churches are lay led with members of the congregation taking turns guiding the service or simply following format that has evolved over time between the active members, a few begin their church services with the ringing of a bell. The service usually involves the singing of hymns, reading of scripture verses and possibly a psalm, if the church follows a lectionary, the sermon will often be about the scripture lections assigned to that day. Eucharistic churches have usually Holy Communion either every Sunday or several Sundays a month, less liturgical congregations tend to place a greater emphasis on the sermon. Vocal music is sung by a choir or the congregation. Sometimes other instruments such as piano, classical instruments, or modern band instruments may be part of the service, some churches are equipped with state-of-the-art multi-media equipment to add to the worship experience. The congregation may sing along in hymnals or words to hymns, more liturgical denominations may have the words to specific prayers written in a missalette or prayer book, which the congregation follows. Many churches will take up a collection during the service, the rationale for this is taken from 1 Corinthians 16, 1-2,1 Corinthians 9, 9-11, and 1 Timothy 5, 16-18. Some churches offer Sunday school classes, some churches have adult Sunday school either before or after the main worship service
17.
Irish language
–
Irish, also referred to as Gaelic or Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people. Irish enjoys constitutional status as the national and first official language of the Republic of Ireland and it is also among the official languages of the European Union. The public body Foras na Gaeilge is responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island of Ireland and it has the oldest vernacular literature in Western Europe. The fate of the language was influenced by the power of the English state in Ireland. Elizabethan officials viewed the use of Irish unfavourably, as being a threat to all things English in Ireland and its decline began under English rule in the 17th century. In the latter part of the 19th century, there was a decrease in the number of speakers. Irish-speaking areas were hit especially hard, by the end of British rule, the language was spoken by less than 15% of the national population. Since then, Irish speakers have been in the minority, efforts have been made by the state, individuals and organisations to preserve, promote and revive the language, but with mixed results. Around the turn of the 21st century, estimates of native speakers ranged from 20,000 to 80,000 people. In the 2011 Census, these numbers had increased to 94,000 and 1.3 million, there are several thousand Irish speakers in Northern Ireland. It has been estimated that the active Irish-language scene probably comprises 5 to 10 per cent of Irelands population, there has been a significant increase in the number of urban Irish speakers, particularly in Dublin. In Gaeltacht areas, however, there has been a decline of the use of Irish. Údarás na Gaeltachta predicted that, by 2025, Irish will no longer be the language in any of the designated Gaeltacht areas. Survey data suggest that most Irish people think highly of Irish as a marker of identity. It has also argued that newer urban groups of Irish speakers are a disruptive force in this respect. In An Caighdeán Oifigiúil the name of the language is Gaeilge, before the spelling reform of 1948, this form was spelled Gaedhilge, originally this was the genitive of Gaedhealg, the form used in Classical Irish. Older spellings of this include Gaoidhealg in Classical Irish and Goídelc in Old Irish, the modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent dh in the middle of Gaedhilge, whereas Goidelic languages, used to refer to the language family including Irish, comes from Old Irish
18.
Patron saint
–
Catholics believe that patron saints, having already transcended to the metaphysical, are able to intercede effectively for the needs of their special charges. Historically, a practice has also occurred in many Islamic lands. With regard to the omnipresence of this belief, the late Martin Lings wrote. Traditionally, it has been understood that the saint of a particular place prays for that places wellbeing and for the health. Saints often become the patrons of places where they were born or had been active, professions sometimes have a patron saint owing to that individual being involved somewhat with it, although some of the connections were tenuous. Lacking such a saint, an occupation would have a patron whose acts or miracles in some way recall the profession and it is, however, generally discouraged in some Protestant branches such as Calvinism, where the practice is considered a form of idolatry. In Islam, the veneration or commemoration and recognition of saints is found in many branches of traditional Sunnism
19.
Ireland
–
Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, in 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland, the islands geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild, thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, there are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is moderate and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, however, summers are cooler than those in Continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant, the earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC. Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century CE, the island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England claimed sovereignty over Ireland, however, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, with the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s and this subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973 the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, an indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music. The culture of the island shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing. The name Ireland derives from Old Irish Eriu and this in turn derives from Proto-Celtic *Iveriu, which is also the source of Latin Hibernia. Iveriu derives from a root meaning fat, prosperous, during the last glacial period, and up until about 9000 years ago, most of Ireland was covered with ice, most of the time
20.
Church of Ireland
–
The Church of Ireland is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on a basis and is the second-largest Christian church on the island after the Catholic Church in Ireland. Like other Anglican churches, it has retained elements of pre-Reformation practice, notably its episcopal polity, nevertheless, in theological and liturgical matters, it incorporates many principles of the Reformation, particularly those espoused during the English Reformation. The church self identifies as being both Catholic and Reformed, within the church, differences exist between those members who are more Catholic-leaning and those who are more Protestant-leaning. For historical and cultural reasons, the Church of Ireland is generally identified as a Protestant church, the Church of Ireland is the second-largest in the Republic of Ireland, with around 130,000 members, and the third-largest in Northern Ireland, with around 260,000 members. The Church of Ireland describes itself as part of the Irish Church which was influenced by the Reformation. However, the Church of Ireland is also Protestant, or Reformed, since it opposes doctrines and ways of worshiping that it considers contrary to scripture and which led to the Reformation. When the Church of England broke communion with the Holy See, all, the church then became the established church of Ireland, assuming possession of most church property. This church-state link was vigorously applied when the Normans came to Ireland in the 12th century, Bishops were required to do homage to the king for their lands, just like earls and barons, who were vassals of the crown. It was therefore accepted, both during and after the Reformation, that the crown should continue to exercise authority over the church. In this way, church property that existed at the time of the Reformation, in Ireland, the substantial majority of the population continued to adhere to Roman Catholicism, despite the political and economic advantages of membership in the state church. Legitimacy for the Norman invasion of Ireland was derived from a Papal Bull of 1155 – Laudabiliter, the bull gave King Henry II of England authority to invade Ireland ostensibly as a means of reforming the church in Ireland more directly under the control of the Holy See. The authorisation from the Holy See was based upon the Donation of Constantine which made every Christian island in the western Roman Empire the property of the Papacy. The Church of Ireland is the second largest church in Ireland, the Church of Ireland began as a reformed church independent of the Catholic Church in 1536 when the Irish Parliament declared King Henry VIII to be the Supreme Head of the Church on earth. He would not legally become king of Ireland until 1541, adrian granted Henry II the Lordship of Ireland, thus, Henrys assumption of the title of King had less to do with dispossessing the native Irish kings than with confronting the Pope. The reformation commenced mainly in Dublin under the auspices of George Browne during Henrys reign, when the Church of England was reformed under King Edward VI of England, so too was the Church of Ireland. All but two of the Irish bishops appointed by Queen Mary accepted the Elizabethan Settlement, although the vast majority of priests, the Church of Ireland claims Apostolic succession because of the unbroken continuity of the episcopal hierarchy, however, this is disputed by the Roman Catholic Church. In this way, they were able to conform to the established church whilst at the same time continuing to worship. in the traditional
21.
Culture of Ireland
–
The culture of Ireland includes customs and traditions, language, music, art, literature, folklore, cuisine and sports associated with Ireland and the Irish people. For most of its history, Irelands culture has been primarily Gaelic. It has also influenced by Anglo-Norman, English and Scottish culture. The Anglo-Normans invaded Ireland in the 12th century, while the 16th/17th century conquest, today, there are notable cultural differences between those of Catholic and Protestant background, and between travellers and the settled population. Due to large-scale emigration from Ireland, Irish culture has a reach and festivals such as Saint Patricks Day. Irish culture has to some degree been inherited and modified by the Irish diaspora, in historic times, texts such as the Táin Bó Cúailinge show a society in which cattle represented a primary source of wealth and status. Little of this had changed by the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century, giraldus Cambrensis portrayed a Gaelic society in which cattle farming and transhumance was the norm. The Normans replaced traditional clan land management with the system of land tenure. This led to the imposition of the village, parish and county over the system of townlands. In general, a parish was a civil and religious unit with a manor, a village, each parish incorporated one or more existing townlands into its boundaries. With the gradual extension of English feudalism over the island, the Irish county structure came into existence and was completed in 1610 and these structures are still of vital importance in the daily life of Irish communities. Apart from the significance of the parish, most rural postal addresses consist of house. This situation continued up to the end of the 19th century, in this process of reform, the former tenants and labourers became land owners, with the great estates being broken up into small- and medium-sized farms and smallholdings. The process continued well into the 20th century with the work of the Irish Land Commission and this contrasted with Britain, where many of the big estates were left intact. One consequence of this is the widely recognised cultural phenomenon of land hunger amongst the new class of Irish farmer. In general, this means that families will do almost anything to retain land ownership within the family unit. The majority of the Irish calendar today still reflects the old pagan customs, christmas in Ireland has several local traditions, some in no way connected with Christianity. On 26 December, there is a custom of Wrenboys who call door to door with an arrangement of assorted material to represent a dead wren caught in the furze, the festival is in remembrance to Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland
22.
Lent
–
Lent is a solemn religious observance in the Christian liturgical calendar that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends approximately six weeks later, before Easter Sunday. The purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer through prayer, doing penance, mortifying the flesh, repentance of sins, almsgiving and this event is observed in the Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist, and Roman Catholic Churches. Some Anabaptist and evangelical churches also observe the Lenten season, in Lent, many Christians commit to fasting, as well as giving up certain luxuries in order to replicate the sacrifice of Jesus Christ’s journey into the desert for 40 days. Many Christians also add a Lenten spiritual discipline, such as reading a daily devotional or praying through a Lenten calendar, the Stations of the Cross, a devotional commemoration of Christs carrying the Cross and of his execution, are often observed. Throughout Christendom, some adherents mark the season with the abstention from the consumption of meat. The English word Lent is a form of the Old English word lenten, meaning spring season. A dated term in German, lenz, is also related, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the shorter form seems to be a derivative of *laŋgo- long. And may possibly have reference to the lengthening of the days as characterizing the season of spring. The origin of the -en element is clear, it may simply be a suffix, or lencten may originally have been a compound of *laŋgo- long. In languages spoken where Christianity was earlier established, such as Greek and Latin, in modern, Greek the term is Σαρακοστή, derived from the earlier Τεσσαρακοστή, meaning fortieth. In other languages, the name used refers to the activity associated with the season, thus it is called fasting period in Czech, German, and Norwegian, and it is called great fast in Polish and Russian. The terms used in Filipino are kuwaresma and Mahál na Araw, various Christian denominations calculate the 40 days of Lent differently. The way they observe Lent also differs, in the Roman Rite, the definition of Lent varies according to different documents. Lent ends on either Holy Thursday or Good Friday, though some sources try to reconcile this with the phrase forty days by excluding Sundays and extending Lent through Holy Saturday no official documents support this interpretation. The day for beginning the Lenten fast is the following Monday, the special Ash Wednesday fast is transferred to the first Friday of the Ambrosian Lent. The period of Lent observed in the Eastern Catholic Churches corresponds to that in churches of Eastern Christianity that have similar traditions. In the Byzantine Rite, i. e. the Eastern Orthodox Great Lent is the most important fasting season in the church year, Great Lent is broken only after the Paschal Divine Liturgy. The Eastern Orthodox Church maintains the traditional Churchs teaching on fasting, the rules for lenten fasting are the monastic rules
23.
Fasting
–
Fasting is a willing abstinence or reduction from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. An absolute fast is normally defined as abstinence from all food and liquid for a period, usually a period of 24 hours. Water fasting allows drinking water but nothing else, other fasts may be partially restrictive, limiting only particular foods or substances. A fast may also be intermittent in nature, Fasting practices may preclude intercourse and other activities as well as food. In a physiological context, fasting may refer to the status of a person who has not eaten overnight. Several metabolic adjustments occur during fasting, and some tests are used to determine a fasting state. For example, a person is assumed to be fasting after 8–12 hours from their last meal, metabolic changes toward the fasting state begin after absorption of a meal, post-absorptive state is synonymous with this usage, in contrast to the postprandial state of ongoing digestion. A diagnostic fast refers to prolonged fasting conducted under observation for investigation of a problem, many people may also fast as part of a medical procedure or check-up such as a colonoscopy. Fasting is also a part of religious observances. Fasting is often practiced prior to surgery or other procedures that require general anesthetics because of the risk of aspiration of gastric contents after induction of anesthesia. Additionally, certain tests, such as cholesterol testing or certain blood glucose measurements require fasting for several hours so that a baseline can be established. In the case of a panel, failure to fast for a full 12 hours will guarantee an elevated triglyceride measurement. Fasting is of no help in preventing or treating cancer. Fasting can help alleviate symptoms of depression. However the psychological effects may include anxiety and depression. Fasting will lead to weight loss, using fasting for weight loss is considered dangerous. It has been argued that fasting makes one better appreciate food, Fasting is often used as a tool to make a political statement, to protest, or to bring awareness to a cause. A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt, a spiritual fast incorporates personal spiritual beliefs with the desire to express personal principles, sometimes in the context of a social injustice
24.
Christian views on alcohol
–
Christian views on alcohol are varied. They held that both the Bible and Christian tradition taught that alcohol is a gift from God that makes life more joyous, many Protestant churches, particularly Methodists and Evangelical groups, advocated abstentionism and were early leaders in the temperance movement of the 19th and 20th centuries. Alcoholic beverages appear in the Bible, both in usage and in poetic expression, the Bible is ambivalent toward alcohol, considering it both a blessing from God that brings merriment and a potential danger that can be unwisely and sinfully abused. Christian views on alcohol come from what the Bible says about it, along with Jewish, the commonness and centrality of wine in daily life in biblical times is apparent from its many positive and negative metaphorical uses throughout the Bible. Positively, for example, wine is used as a symbol of abundance, negatively, wine is personified as a mocker and beer a brawler, and drinking a cup of strong wine to the dregs and getting drunk are sometimes presented as a symbol of Gods judgment and wrath. The Bible also speaks of wine in terms as a bringer and concomitant of joy, particularly in the context of nourishment. Wine was commonly drunk at meals, and the Old Testament prescribed it for use in sacrificial rituals, the Gospel of John recorded the first miracle of Jesus, making copious amounts of wine at the wedding feast at Cana. Alcohol was also used for purposes in biblical times, and it appears in that context in several passages—as an oral anesthetic, a topical cleanser and soother. Kings and priests in the Old Testament were forbidden to partake of wine at various times, John the Baptist was a Nazarite from birth. Nazarite vows excluded not only wine, but also vinegar, grapes, (Jesus evidently did not take such a vow during the three years of ministry depicted in the gospels, but in fact was even accused by the Pharisees of eating and drinking with sinners. St. Paul further instructs Christians regarding their duty toward immature Christians, even today, priests may not bless the congregation after having even a single glass of wine. Virtually all Christian traditions hold that the Bible condemns ordinary drunkenness in many passages, must have been not uncommon in the olden times, for it is mentioned either metaphorically or literally more than seventy times in the Bible. Additionally, the consequences of the drunkenness of Noah and Lot were intended to serve as examples of the dangers, St. Paul later chides the Corinthians for becoming drunk on wine served at their attempted celebrations of the Eucharist. Trade with Egypt was quite extensive, Jews were a wine-drinking culture well before the foundation of Rome. Vintage wines were found in the tomb of King Scorpion in Hierakonpolis, archaeological evidence suggests that Semitic predecessors were thought to be responsible for the vintages that were found in the tomb. Vineyards were protected from robbers and animals by walls, hedges, and manned watchtowers. The harvest time brought much joy and play, as en, women and children took to the vineyard, often accompanied by the sound of music and song, some grapes were eaten immediately, while others were turned into raisins. Most of them, however, were put into the press where the men and boys trampled them
25.
Republic of Ireland
–
Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a sovereign state in north-western Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the part of the island. The state shares its land border with Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, Saint Georges Channel to the south-east, and it is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The head of government is the Taoiseach, who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President, the state was created as the Irish Free State in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was officially declared a republic in 1949, following the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, Ireland became a member of the United Nations in December 1955. It joined the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union, after joining the EEC, Ireland enacted a series of liberal economic policies that resulted in rapid economic growth. The country achieved considerable prosperity between the years of 1995 and 2007, which known as the Celtic Tiger period. This was halted by a financial crisis that began in 2008. However, as the Irish economy was the fastest growing in the EU in 2015, Ireland is again quickly ascending league tables comparing wealth and prosperity internationally. For example, in 2015, Ireland was ranked as the joint sixth most developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index and it also performs well in several national performance metrics, including freedom of the press, economic freedom and civil liberties. Ireland is a member of the European Union and is a member of the Council of Europe. The 1922 state, comprising 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland, was styled, the Constitution of Ireland, adopted in 1937, provides that the name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland. Section 2 of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 states, It is hereby declared that the description of the State shall be the Republic of Ireland. The 1948 Act does not name the state as Republic of Ireland, because to have done so would have put it in conflict with the Constitution. The government of the United Kingdom used the name Eire, and, from 1949, Republic of Ireland, for the state, as well as Ireland, Éire or the Republic of Ireland, the state is also referred to as the Republic, Southern Ireland or the South. In an Irish republican context it is referred to as the Free State or the 26 Counties. From the Act of Union on 1 January 1801, until 6 December 1922, during the Great Famine, from 1845 to 1849, the islands population of over 8 million fell by 30%
26.
Northern Ireland
–
Northern Ireland is a constituent unit of the United Kingdom in the north-east of Ireland. It is variously described as a country, province, region, or part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the total population. Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland by an act of the British parliament, Northern Ireland has historically been the most industrialised region of Ireland. After declining as a result of the political and social turmoil of the Troubles, its economy has grown significantly since the late 1990s. Unemployment in Northern Ireland peaked at 17. 2% in 1986, dropping to 6. 1% for June–August 2014,58. 2% of those unemployed had been unemployed for over a year. Prominent artists and sports persons from Northern Ireland include Van Morrison, Rory McIlroy, Joey Dunlop, Wayne McCullough, some people from Northern Ireland prefer to identify as Irish while others prefer to identify as British. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, and the rest of the UK are complex, in many sports, the island of Ireland fields a single team, a notable exception being association football. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games, and people from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games. The region that is now Northern Ireland was the bedrock of the Irish war of resistance against English programmes of colonialism in the late 16th century, the English-controlled Kingdom of Ireland had been declared by the English king Henry VIII in 1542, but Irish resistance made English control fragmentary. Victories by English forces in war and further Protestant victories in the Williamite War in Ireland toward the close of the 17th century solidified Anglican rule in Ireland. In Northern Ireland, the victories of the Siege of Derry and their intention was to materially disadvantage the Catholic community and, to a lesser extent, the Presbyterian community. In the context of open institutional discrimination, the 18th century saw secret, militant societies develop in communities in the region and act on sectarian tensions in violent attacks. Following this, in an attempt to quell sectarianism and force the removal of discriminatory laws, the new state, formed in 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was governed from a single government and parliament based in London. Between 1717 and 1775 some 250,000 people from Ulster emigrated to the British North American colonies and it is estimated that there are more than 27 million Scotch-Irish Americans now living in the US. By the close of the century, autonomy for Ireland within the United Kingdom, in 1912, after decades of obstruction from the House of Lords, Home Rule became a near-certainty. A clash between the House of Commons and House of Lords over a controversial budget produced the Parliament Act 1911, which enabled the veto of the Lords to be overturned. The House of Lords veto had been the unionists main guarantee that Home Rule would not be enacted, in 1914, they smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany for use by the Ulster Volunteers, a paramilitary organisation opposed to the implementation of Home Rule
27.
Newfoundland and Labrador
–
Newfoundland and Labrador is the most easterly province of Canada. Situated in the countrys Atlantic region, it comprises the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador to the northwest, in 2013, the provinces population was estimated at 526,702. About 92% of the population lives on the island of Newfoundland. The province is Canadas most linguistically homogeneous, with 97. 6% of residents reporting English as their mother tongue in the 2006 census, historically, Newfoundland was also home to unique varieties of French and Irish, as well as the extinct Beothuk language. In Labrador, local dialects of Innu-aimun and Inuktitut are also spoken, Newfoundland and Labradors capital and largest city, St. Johns, is Canadas 20th-largest census metropolitan area and is home to almost 40 percent of the provinces population. St. Johns is the seat of government, home to the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador and to the highest court in the jurisdiction and it became the tenth province to enter the Canadian Confederation on March 31,1949, as Newfoundland. On December 6,2001, an amendment was made to the Constitution of Canada to change the official name to Newfoundland. The name Newfoundland is a translation of the Portuguese Terra Nova, the influence of early Portuguese exploration is also reflected in the name of Labrador, which derives from the surname of the Portuguese navigator João Fernandes Lavrador. Newfoundland and Labrador is the most easterly province in Canada, and is located at the corner of North America. The Strait of Belle Isle separates the province into two divisions, Labrador, which is a large area of mainland Canada, and Newfoundland. The province also includes over 7,000 tiny islands, each side is about 400 km long, and its area is 108,860 km2. Newfoundland and its small islands have a total area of 111,390 km2. Newfoundland extends between latitudes 46°36′N and 51°38′N, Labrador is an irregular shape, the western part of its border with Quebec is the drainage divide of the Labrador Peninsula. Lands drained by rivers that flow into the Atlantic Ocean are part of Labrador, most of Labradors southern boundary with Quebec follows the 52nd parallel of latitude. Labradors extreme northern tip, at 60°22′N, shares a border with Nunavut. Together, Newfoundland and Labrador make up 4. 06% of Canadas area, Labrador is the easternmost part of the Canadian Shield, a vast area of ancient metamorphic rock comprising much of northeastern North America. Colliding tectonic plates have shaped much of the geology of Newfoundland, gros Morne National Park has a reputation as an outstanding example of tectonics at work, and as such has been designated a World Heritage Site. The Long Range Mountains on Newfoundlands west coast are the northeasternmost extension of the Appalachian Mountains, the north-south extent of the province, prevalent westerly winds, cold ocean currents and local factors such as mountains and coastline combine to create the various climates of the province
28.
Montserrat
–
Montserrat is a Caribbean island—specifically in the Leeward Islands, which is part of the chain known as the Lesser Antilles, in the British West Indies. It is a British Overseas Territory, Montserrat measures approximately 16 km long and 11 km wide, with approximately 40 km of coastline. Montserrat is nicknamed The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean both for its resemblance to coastal Ireland and for the Irish ancestry of many of its inhabitants, on 18 July 1995, the previously dormant Soufrière Hills volcano, in the southern part of the island, became active. Eruptions destroyed Montserrats Georgian era capital city of Plymouth, between 1995 and 2000, two-thirds of the islands population was forced to flee, primarily to the United Kingdom, leaving fewer than 1,200 people on the island as of 1997. Visitors are generally not permitted entry into the zone. Relatively quiet since early 2010, the continues to be closely monitored by the Montserrat Volcano Observatory. It is the most studied volcano in the world and Montserrat has been regarded as a Modern Day Pompeii in the Caribbean, a new town and port is being developed at Little Bay, which is on the northwest coast of the island. While this construction proceeds, the centre of government and businesses is at Brades, in 1493, Christopher Columbus named the island Santa María de Montserrate, after the Virgin of Montserrat in the Monastery of Montserrat, on Montserrat mountain, near Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. Montserrat means serrated mountain in Catalan, archaeological field work in 2012, in Montserrats Centre Hills indicated there was an Archaic occupation between 4000 and 2500 BP. Later coastal sites show the presence of the Saladoid culture, in November 1493, Christopher Columbus passed Montserrat in his second voyage, after being told that the island was unoccupied due to raids by the Caribs. A number of Irishmen settled in Montserrat in 1642, the island was captured by the French in 1666. It was captured shortly afterwards by the English and English control of the island was confirmed under the Treaty of Breda the following year, despite the interruption to English rule, the islands legal status is that of a colony acquired by settlement. A neo-feudal colony developed amongst the redlegs, the colonists began to transport Sub-Saharan African slaves for labour, as was common to most Caribbean islands. The colonists built an economy based on the production of sugar, rum, arrowroot and sea island cotton, by the late 18th century, numerous plantations had been developed on the island. Many Irish continued to be transported to the island, to work as indentured servants, on 17 March 1768, slaves rebelled but failed to achieve freedom. The people of Montserrat celebrate St Patricks Day as a public holiday due to the slave revolt, festivities held that week commemorate the culture of Montserrat in song, dance, food and traditional costumes. In 1782, during the American Revolutionary War, France briefly captured Montserrat after supporting the American rebels, the French returned the island to Great Britain under the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended that conflict. The Irish constituted the largest proportion of the population from the founding of the colony in 1628
29.
United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
30.
Canada
–
Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
31.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
32.
Brazil
–
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama
33.
Argentina
–
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a federal republic in the southern half of South America. With a mainland area of 2,780,400 km2, Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world, the second largest in Latin America, and the largest Spanish-speaking one. The country is subdivided into provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system, Argentina claims sovereignty over part of Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The earliest recorded presence in the area of modern-day Argentina dates back to the Paleolithic period. The country has its roots in Spanish colonization of the region during the 16th century, Argentina rose as the successor state of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish overseas viceroyalty founded in 1776. The country thereafter enjoyed relative peace and stability, with waves of European immigration radically reshaping its cultural. The almost-unparalleled increase in prosperity led to Argentina becoming the seventh wealthiest developed nation in the world by the early 20th century, Argentina retains its historic status as a middle power in international affairs, and is a prominent regional power in the Southern Cone and Latin America. Argentina has the second largest economy in South America, the third-largest in Latin America and is a member of the G-15 and it is the country with the second highest Human Development Index in Latin America with a rating of very high. Because of its stability, market size and growing high-tech sector, the description of the country by the word Argentina has to be found on a Venice map in 1536. In English the name Argentina probably comes from the Spanish language, however the naming itself is not Spanish, Argentina means in Italian of silver, silver coloured, probably borrowed from the Old French adjective argentine of silver > silver coloured already mentioned in the 12th century. The French word argentine is the form of argentin and derives of argent silver with the suffix -in. The Italian naming Argentina for the country implies Argentina Terra land of silver or Argentina costa coast of silver, in Italian, the adjective or the proper noun is often used in an autonomous way as a substantive and replaces it and it is said lArgentina. The name Argentina was probably first given by the Venitian and Genoese navigators, in Spanish and Portuguese, the words for silver are respectively plata and prata and of silver is said plateado and prateado. Argentina was first associated with the silver mountains legend, widespread among the first European explorers of the La Plata Basin. The first written use of the name in Spanish can be traced to La Argentina, a 1602 poem by Martín del Barco Centenera describing the region, the 1826 constitution included the first use of the name Argentine Republic in legal documents. The name Argentine Confederation was also used and was formalized in the Argentine Constitution of 1853. In 1860 a presidential decree settled the name as Argentine Republic
34.
Australia
–
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia
35.
New Zealand
–
New Zealand /njuːˈziːlənd/ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, the countrys varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealands capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland, sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, in 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, today, the majority of New Zealands population of 4.7 million is of European descent, the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealands culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, Queen Elizabeth II is the countrys head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes, the Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau, the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, in 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand, Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the country before the arrival of Europeans. Māori had several names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North, Middle and South, in 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907, this was the accepted norm. The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised and this set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu
36.
National day
–
A national day is a designated date on which celebrations mark the nationhood of a nation or non-sovereign country. This nationhood can be symbolized by the date of independence, of becoming a republic or a significant date for a saint or a ruler. Often the day is not called National Day but serves and can be considered as one, the national day will often be a national holiday. Many countries have more than one national day, most countries have a fixed-date national day, but some have movable dates. An example is Jamaica, which up to 1997 celebrated its day on the first Monday in August. This commemorated independence from the United Kingdom which was attained on Monday,6 August 1962, another example is Thailand which celebrates the birthday of the king on 28 July. This date will change on the accession of the heir to the throne, most national days can be categorized in two large blocks, Newer countries that celebrate their national day as the day of their independence. Older countries that use some other event of significance as their national day. Denmark and the United Kingdom are among the few countries that do not have designated national days, importance attached to the national day as well as the degree to which it is celebrated vary greatly from country to country. A military parade is held in Madrid celebrating the occasion, the national day in France is 14 July and known as the Fête nationale commemorating the Storming of the Bastille, which is considered the start of the French Revolution. It is widely celebrated and the French Tricolour is much in evidence, in the United States, the Independence Day celebrations on 4 July are widely celebrated with parades, fireworks, picnics and barbecues. In Ireland, Saint Patricks Day,17 March, is the equivalent of a day and has been a public holiday for many years. However, in the United Kingdom the constituent countries patron saints days are low-key affairs, a National Day for the United Kingdom has also been proposed in recent years. As with the Bastille Day military parade in France, many countries have a National Day Parade. Examples include the Singapore National Day Parade, and the parade for the National Day of the Peoples Republic of China, regions that are not broadly recognized sovereign states are shown in pink. For regions controlled by states, the name of the sovereign state is shown in parentheses
37.
Roman Britain
–
Roman Britain was the area of the island of Great Britain that was governed by the Roman Empire, from AD43 to 410. Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by other Celtic tribes during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesars enemies. He received tribute, installed a king over the Trinovantes. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34,27, in AD40, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel, only to have them gather seashells. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain, the Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the Province of Britain. By the year 47, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way, control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudicas uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward. Around 197, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces, Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior, during the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains. A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century, for much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410, the kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that. Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, after the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor, over the centuries Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire, such as Italy, Spain, Syria and Algeria. Britain was known to the Classical world, the Greeks, Phoenicians and Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC, the Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or tin islands, and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 5th century BC, however, it was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed at all. The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The second invasion involved a larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul. Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind but he established clients, Augustus planned invasions in 34,27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustuss reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in annual revenue than any conquest could
38.
Romano-British culture
–
Romano-British culture is the culture that arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons and it survived the 5th century Roman departure from Britain. Roman troops, mainly from nearby Germanic provinces, invaded Brythonic-Celtic land in AD43, in what is now part of England, over the next few years the province of Britannia was formed, eventually including the whole of what later became England and Wales and parts of Scotland. Thousands of Roman businessmen and officials and their families settled in Britannia, Roman troops from across the Empire as far as Spain, Syria, and Egypt, but mainly from the Germanic provinces of Batavia and Frisia were garrisoned in Roman towns, and many married local Britons. This diversified Britannias cultures and religions, while the populace remained mainly Celtic, later, Britain was independent of the rest of the Roman Empire for a number of years, first as part of the Gallic Empire, then 20 years later under the usurpers Carausius and Allectus. Christianity came to Britain in the 3rd century, one early figure was Saint Alban, who was martyred near the Roman town of Verulamium, on the site of the modern St Albans, during the reign of Emperor Decius. One aspect of Roman influence seen in British life was the grant of Roman citizenship, some of the local Brittonic kings, such as Togidubnus, received citizenship in this manner. The number of citizens steadily increased, as people inherited citizenship, eventually in 212, everybody except slaves and freed slaves were granted citizenship by the Constitutio Antoniniana. The other inhabitants of Britain, who did not enjoy citizenship, the principal handicaps were that they could not own land with a Latin title, serve as a legionary in the army, or, in general, inherit from a Roman citizen. But for the majority of British inhabitants, who were tied to the soil. Britannia became one of the most loyal provinces of the Empire until its decline, eventually emperor Honorius ordered Roman troops back home to help fight the invading hordes. Constantine III initially rebelled against Honorius and took further troops to Gaul, after the Roman departure from Britain, the Romano-British were commanded by Honorius to look to their own defences. Two factions may have emerged, a faction and an independence faction. The one leader at this time known by name is Vortigern, the depredations of the Picts from the north and Scotti from Ireland forced the Britons to seek help from pagan Germanic tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes, who then decided to settle in Britain. Some of the Romano-British people migrated to Brittany, the Kingdom of the Suebi, the Anglo-Saxons obtained control of eastern England in the 5th century. In the mid-6th century they started expanding into the Midlands, then in the 7th century they expanded again into the south-west, the unconquered parts of southern Britain, notably Wales, retained their Romano-British culture, in particular retaining Christianity. Some Anglo-Saxon histories refer to the Romano-British people by the blanket term Welsh, the term Welsh is derived from an Old English word meaning foreigner, referring to the old inhabitants of southern Britain. Historically, Wales and the peninsula were known respectively as North Wales
39.
Deacon
–
Deacon is a ministry in Christian Churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. In many traditions the diaconate, the term for an office, is a clerical office. The word deacon is derived from the Greek word diákonos, which is a standard ancient Greek word meaning servant, waiting-man, minister, or messenger. One commonly promulgated speculation as to its etymology is that it literally means through the dust, female deacons are mentioned by Pliny the Younger in a letter to the emperor Trajan dated c. The title deaconess is not found in the Bible, however, a woman, Phoebe, is mentioned at Romans 16, 1–2 as a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. Nothing more specific is said about her duties or authority, the exact relationship between male and female deacons varies. A biblical description of the qualities required of a deacon, and of his household, can be found in 1 Timothy 3, prominent historical figures who played major roles as deacons and went on to higher office include Saint Athanasius of Alexandria, Thomas Becket and Reginald Pole. On June 8, A. D.536 a serving Roman deacon was raised to Pope and his father, Pope Agapetus, had died and the office had been vacant for over a month. The title is used for the president, chairperson, or head of a trades guild in Scotland. The diaconate is one of the orders in the Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox. The other major orders are those of bishop and presbyter, the diaconate continued in a vestigial form as a temporary, final step along the course toward ordination to priesthood. In Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican churches, deacons assist priests in their pastoral and administrative duties and they have a distinctive role in the liturgy of the Eastern and Western Churches. In the Eastern Church, deacons have a profound presence in the Divine Liturgy. In the Western Church, Pope St. Today, deacons are also granted permission to preach, beginning around the fifth century, there was a gradual decline in the permanent diaconate in the Latin church. It has however remained a part of the Eastern Catholic Churches. These men are known as permanent deacons in contrast to those continuing their formation, there is no sacramental or canonical difference between the two, however, as there is only one order of deacons. The permanent diaconate formation period in the Roman Catholic Church varies from diocese to diocese as it is determined by the local ordinary, although they are assigned to work in a parish by the diocesan bishop, once assigned, deacons are under the supervision of the parish pastor. Unlike most clerics, permanent deacons who also have a profession have no right to receive a salary for their ministry
40.
Gaelic Ireland
–
Gaelic Ireland was the Gaelic political and social order, and associated culture, that existed in Ireland from the prehistoric era until the early 17th century. Before the Norman invasion of 1169, Gaelic Ireland comprised the whole island, thereafter, it comprised that part of the country not under foreign dominion at a given time. For most of its history, Gaelic Ireland was a hierarchy of territories ruled by a hierarchy of kings or chiefs. Warfare between these territories was common, occasionally, a powerful ruler was acknowledged as High King of Ireland. Society was made up of clans and, like the rest of Europe, was structured according to class. Throughout this period, the economy was mainly pastoral and money not used. A Gaelic Irish style of dress, music, dance, sport, architecture, Gaelic Ireland was initially pagan and had an oral culture. Inscription in the alphabet began in the protohistoric period, perhaps as early as the 1st century. The conversion to Christianity accompanied the introduction of literature, and much of Irelands rich pre-Christian mythology and sophisticated law code were preserved, in the Early Middle Ages, Ireland was an important centre of learning. Irish missionaries and scholars were influential in western Europe, and helped to spread Christianity to much of Britain, in the 9th century, Vikings began raiding and founding settlements along Irelands coasts and waterways, which became its first large towns. Over time, these settlers were assimilated and became the Norse-Gaels, after the Norman invasion of 1169–71, large swathes of Ireland came under the control of Norman lords, leading to centuries of conflict with the native Irish. The King of England claimed sovereignty over this territory – the Lordship of Ireland –, however, the Gaelic system continued in areas outside Anglo-Norman control. The territory under English control gradually shrank to a known as the Pale and, outside this. In 1542, Henry VIII of England declared the Lordship a Kingdom, the English then began to conquer the island. By 1607, Ireland was fully under English control, bringing the old Gaelic political and social order to an end, Gaelic Ireland had a rich oral culture and appreciation of deeper and intellectual pursuits. Filí and draoithe were held in high regard during Pagan times and orally passed down the history, later, many of their spiritual and intellectual tasks were passed on to Christian monks, after said religion prevailed from the 5th century onwards. However, the continued to hold a high position. Poetry, music, storytelling, literature and other art forms were highly prized and cultivated in both pagan and Christian Gaelic Ireland, hospitality, bonds of kinship and the fulfilment of social and ritual responsibilities were highly important
41.
Celtic polytheism
–
Celtic polytheism was one of a larger group of Iron Age polytheistic religions of the Indo-European family. The Celtic pantheon consists of numerous recorded theonyms, both from Greco-Roman ethnography and from epigraphy, among the most prominent ones are Teutatis, Taranis and Lugus. Figures from medieval Irish mythology have also been adduced by comparative mythology, the most salient feature of Celtic religion as reflected in Roman historiography is their extensive practice of human sacrifice. In the later 5th and the 6th centuries, the Celtic region was Christianized, comparatively little is known about Celtic polytheism because the evidence for it is fragmentary, due largely to the fact that the Celts who practiced it wrote nothing down about their religion. Therefore, all we have to study their religion from is the literature from the early Christian period, commentaries from classical Greek and Roman scholars, the archaeologist Barry Cunliffe summarised the sources for Celtic religion as fertile chaos, borrowing the term from the Irish scholar Proinsias MacCana. Cunliffe went on to note there is more, varied. The only problem is to assemble it in a form which does not too greatly oversimplify the intricate texture of its detail. The archaeological evidence does not contain the bias inherent in the literary sources, nonetheless, the interpretation of this evidence can be colored by the 21st century mindset. Various archaeological discoveries have aided understanding of the religion of the Celts and these include the coins of the Roman provinces in the Celtic lands of Gaul, Raetia, Noricum, and Britannia, and another is the sculptures, monuments, and inscriptions associated with the Celts. The evidence from Ireland has been recognised as better than that from Wales, because they were written in a very Christian context, these sources must be scrutinised with even more rigor than the classical sources in assessing their validity as evidence for Celtic religion. Various Greek and Roman writers of the ancient world commented on the Celts, however, the key problem with the use of these sources is that they were often biased against the Celts, whom the classical peoples viewed as barbarians. The names of two hundred of these deities have survived to us today, although it is possible that some of these names were different titles or epithets used for the same deity. Some Celtic theonyms can be established as Pan-Celtic by comparing Continental with Insular Celtic evidence, an example of this is Gaulish Lugus, whose name is cognate with Irish Lugh and Welsh Lleu. Another example is Gaulish Brigantia, cognate with Irish Brigid and this latter theonym can even be reconstructed as a Proto-Indo-European epithet of the dawn goddess, as *bhr̥ghntī the one on high. He declared that the most widely venerated god in Gaul was Mercury, the Roman god of trade, several of these deities, including Lugus and Matrones, were triple deities. Brighid, probably were indeed once regarded as divine, the warriors who are the main protagonists of the stories have the same status as those in the Greek myths, standing between the human and divine orders. To regard characters such as Cú Chulainn, Fergus Mac Roich or Conall Cernach as former gods turned into humans by a storyteller is to misunderstand their literary. Cú Chulainn is no more a god than Superman is
42.
Druid
–
A druid was a member of the high-ranking professional class in ancient Celtic cultures. While perhaps best remembered as religious leaders, they were also legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and they are however attested in some detail by their contemporaries from other cultures, such as the Romans. The earliest known references to the date to the fourth century BCE. Later Greco-Roman writers also described the Druids, including Cicero, Tacitus, in about 750 CE the word druid appears in a poem by Blathmac, who wrote about Jesus, saying that he was. Better than a prophet, more knowledgeable than every druid, a king who was a bishop, the druids then also appear in some of the medieval tales from Christianized Ireland like the Táin Bó Cúailnge, where they are largely portrayed as sorcerers who opposed the coming of Christianity. In the wake of the Celtic revival during the 18th and 19th centuries, fraternal and neopagan groups were founded based on ideas about the ancient druids, many popular notions about druids are based on the misconceptions of 18th century scholars. These have been superseded by more recent study. The modern English word druid derives from the Latin druides, which was considered by ancient Roman writers to come from the native Celtic Gaulish word for these figures, other Roman texts also employ the form druidae, while the same term was used by Greek ethnographers as δρυΐδης. Based on all forms, the hypothetical proto-Celtic word may then be reconstructed as *dru-wid-s meaning oak-knower. The two elements go back to the Proto-Indo-European roots *deru- and *weid- to see, the sense of oak-knower is supported by Pliny the Elder, who in his Natural History considered the word to contain the Greek noun drýs, oak-tree and the Greek suffix -idēs. The modern Irish word for Oak is Dair, which occurs in anglicized placenames like Derry – Doire, there are many stories about saints, heroes, and oak trees, and also many local stories and superstitions about trees in general, which still survive in rural Ireland. Both Old Irish druí and Middle Welsh dryw could also refer to the wren, sources by ancient and medieval writers provide an idea of the religious duties and social roles involved in being a druid. One of the few things that both the Greco-Roman and the vernacular Irish sources agree on about the druids is that played an important part in pagan Celtic society. He also claimed that they were exempt from service and from the payment of taxes. Pomponius Mela is the first author who says that the instruction was secret and was carried on in caves. Druidic lore consisted of a number of verses learned by heart. What was taught to Druid novices anywhere is conjecture, of the oral literature, not one certifiably ancient verse is known to have survived. All instruction was communicated orally, but for ordinary purposes, Caesar reports, in this he probably draws on earlier writers, by the time of Caesar, Gaulish inscriptions had moved from the Greek script to the Latin script
43.
Downpatrick
–
Downpatrick is a medium-sized town about 33 km south of Belfast in County Down, Northern Ireland. It has been an important site since ancient times and its cathedral is said to be the burial place of Saint Patrick. Today it is the county town of Down and the joint headquarters of Newry, Mourne and it had a population of 10,822 at the 2011 Census. As the largest town in the Lecale area, Downpatrick is a commercial, recreational and administrative centre for the locality and serves as a hub for the nearby towns and villages. Within a 30 minutes drive from Belfast, the location serves as a town for a large number of people. The town has a number of primary and post-primary schools educating students from all over the east Down area, unfortunately is very behind area not so much shopping there and very bad transportation and weak services as well in this area. Its lowest point lies within the surrounding the north east of the town. Downpatrick is approximately 22 miles from Belfast and has a bus service to the city. An early Bronze Age site was excavated in Downpatrick on the Meadowlands housing estate, one measured over 4 metres in diameter and contained a hearth in the centre, while the other round house was over seven metres across. Some archaeological evidence indicates a Neolithic settlement at the Cathedral Hill site and it then had an undefended settlement at least on the south west of the hill top. Downpatrick or Duno is one of Irelands most ancient and historic towns and it takes its name from a dún, which once stood on the hill that dominates the town and on which Down Cathedral was later built. Ptolemy, about the year AD130, includes it as Dunum in his list of towns of Ireland. The Gaelic name of the town was Rath Celtair, named after the warrior of Ulster called Celtchar, who resided there. He is mentioned in the Ulster Cycle and, in particular, Saint Patrick was reputedly buried here in 461 on Cathedral Hill, together with Saint Brigit and Saint Columba. Down Cathedral was later constructed on this spot and his grave is still a place of pilgrimage on St Patricks Day. The Saint Patrick Visitor Centre in Downpatrick is purpose-built to tell the story of St Patrick, from the seventh century the dominant power in Ulster were the Dál Fiatach so much so that the title Rí Uladh could simultaneously mean King of Ulster and King of the Dál Fiatach. County Down was the ancient centre of the Dál Fiatach lands, in 1137, St. Malachy after resigning as Archbishop of Armagh, separating the two dioceses and appointing another as Bishop of Connor, became the Bishop of Down. He administered the diocese of Dún dá leth glas from Bangor and he repaired and enlarged Down Cathedral
_In_Dublin_Was_Excellent_But_The_Weather_And_The_Turnout_Was_Disappointing_(8566201364).jpg)
.JPG)
