1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Ireland
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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
3.
Provinces of Ireland
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Ireland has historically been divided into four provinces, Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster. The provinces of Ireland serve no administrative or political purposes, a king of over-kings, a rí ruirech was often a provincial or semi-provincial king to whom several ruiri were subordinate. Entities belonging to the 1st and 2nd millennia are listed and these do not all belong to the same periods. Over the centuries, the number of provincial kings varied between three and six, no more than six genuine rí ruirech were ever contemporary, with the average being three or four. Also, following the Norman invasion, the situation became more condensed and complicated than previously. The Norman invasion began in 1169, and the Normans went on to occupy Ireland until 1541, in the early Irish annals these five ancient political divisions were referred to as cúigí such as the fifth of Munster, the fifth of Ulster and so on. Later record-makers dubbed them provinces, in imitation of the Roman imperial provinciae, in modern times they have become associated with groups of counties, although they have no legal status. The provinces were supplanted by the present system of counties after the Norman invasion, during the Tudor conquest, and for about a century after, provincial Presidencies existed in Connacht and Munster, serving a primarily military role. Six of the nine Ulster counties form modern-day Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is sometimes called a province of the United Kingdom. These two inconsistent usages of the province can cause confusion. This dinnseanchas poem named Ard Ruide poetically describes the kingdoms of Ireland, Munster in the south is the kingdom of music and the arts, of harpers, of skilled ficheall players and of skilled horsemen. The fairs of Munster were the greatest in all Ireland, the last kingdom, Meath, is the kingdom of Kingship, of stewardship, of bounty in government, in Meath lies the Hill of Tara, the traditional seat of the High King of Ireland. The ancient earthwork of Tara is called Rath na Ríthe
4.
Ulster
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Ulster is a province in the north of the island of Ireland. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a rí ruirech, the definition of the province was fluid from early to medieval times. It took a shape in the reign of King James I of England when all the counties of Ireland were eventually shired. This process of evolving conquest had been under way since the Norman invasion of Ireland, particularly as advanced by the Cambro-Norman magnates Hugh de Lacy, Ulster was a central topic role in the parliamentary debates that eventually resulted in the Government of Ireland Act 1920. Under the terms of the Act, Ireland was divided into two territories, Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland, with the passing through the province. While these six counties and two boroughs were all in the province of Ulster, three other counties of the province – Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan – were assigned to the Irish Free State. Ulster has no function for local government purposes in either country. However, for the purposes of ISO-3166-2, Ulster is used to refer to the three counties of Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan only, which are given country sub-division code IE-U. It has also suggested to have derived from Uladh plus the Norse suffix ster. The Irish name, Cúige Uladh, means the province of the Ulaid, the Ulaidh were a group of tribes who dwelt in the region. Ulaidh has historically been anglicised as Ulagh or Ullagh and Latinised as Ulidia or Ultonia, the latter two have yielded the terms Ulidian and Ultonian. Words that have used in English are Ullish and Ulsterman/Ulsterwoman. Northern Ireland is often referred to as Ulster, despite including only six of Ulsters nine counties and this usage is most common amongst people in Northern Ireland who are unionist, although it is also used by the media throughout the United Kingdom. Most Irish nationalists object to the use of Ulster in this context, Ulster has a population of just over 2 million people and an area of 21,552 square kilometres. About 62% of the area of Ulster is in the UK while the remaining 38% is in the Republic of Ireland. Ulsters biggest city, Belfast, has an population of over half a million inhabitants, making it the second-largest city on the island of Ireland. Three Ulster counties – Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan – form part of the Republic of Ireland, about half of Ulsters population lives in counties Antrim and Down. 8% to 42. 7%. While the traditional counties continue to demarcate areas of government in the Republic of Ireland
5.
Counties of Ireland
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The counties of Ireland are sub-national divisions that have been, and in some cases continue to be, used to geographically demarcate areas of local government. These land divisions were formed following the Norman invasion of Ireland in imitation of the then in use as units of local government in the Kingdom of England. The older term shire was historically equivalent to county, the principal function of the county was to impose royal control in the areas of taxation, security and the administration of justice at the local level. Cambro-Norman control was limited to the southeastern parts of Ireland. The powers exercised by the Cambro-Norman barons and the Old English nobility waned over time, new offices of political control came to be established at a county level. In the Republic of Ireland, some counties have been resulting in the creation of new counties. Along with certain defined cities, counties form the basis for the demarcation of areas of local government in the Republic of Ireland. Currently, there are 26 county level,3 city level and 2 city and county entities – the modern equivalent of counties corporate – that are used to demarcate areas of government in the Republic. In Northern Ireland, counties are no longer used for local government, upon the partition of Ireland in 1921, the county became one of the basic land divisions employed, along with county boroughs. The word county has come to be used in different senses for different purposes, in common usage, many people have in mind the 32 counties that existed prior to 1838 – the so-called traditional counties. However, in usage in the Republic of Ireland, the term often refers to the 28 modern counties. The term is also conflated with the 31 areas currently used to demarcate areas of government in the Republic of Ireland at the level of LAU1. In Ireland, usage of the county nearly always comes before rather than after the county name, thus County Roscommon in Ireland as opposed to Roscommon County in Michigan. The former Kings County and Queens County were exceptions, these are now County Offaly and County Laois, the abbreviation Co. is used, as in Co. There appears to be no official guidance in the matter, as even the local council uses all three forms, the synonym shire is not used for Irish counties, although the Marquessate of Downshire was named in 1789 after County Down. Parts of some towns and cities were exempt from the jurisdiction of the counties that surrounded them and these towns and cities had the status of a County corporate, many granted by Royal Charter, which had all the judicial, administrative and revenue raising powers of the regular counties. The political geography of Ireland can be traced with accuracy from the 6th century. At that time Ireland was divided into a patchwork of petty kingdoms with a political hierarchy which
6.
County Donegal
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County Donegal is a county of Ireland. It is part of the Border Region of the Republic of Ireland and is in the province of Ulster and it is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. Donegal County Council is the council for the county and Lifford serves as the county town. The population of the county is 158,755 according to the 2016 census and it has also been known as Tyrconnell, after the historic territory of the same name. In terms of size and area, it is the largest county in Ulster, uniquely, County Donegal shares a small border with only one other county in the Republic of Ireland – County Leitrim. The greater part of its border is shared with three counties of Northern Ireland, County Londonderry, County Tyrone and County Fermanagh. While Lifford is the county town, Letterkenny is by far the largest town in the county with a population of 19,588, Letterkenny and the nearby city of Derry form the main economic axis of the northwest of Ireland. Indeed, what became the City of Derry was officially part of County Donegal up until 1610, there are two Gaeltacht districts in the west, The Rosses, centred on the town of Dungloe, and Gweedore. Another Gaeltacht district is located in the north-west, Cloughaneely, centred on the town of Falcarragh, the most northerly part of the island of Ireland is the location for three peninsulas of outstanding natural beauty, Inishowen, Fanad and Rosguill. The main population centre of Inishowen, Irelands largest peninsula, is Buncrana, in the east of the county lies the Finn Valley. The Laggan district is centred on the town of Raphoe, according to the 1841 Census, County Donegal had a population of 296,000 people. As a result of famine and emigration, the population had reduced by 41,000 by 1851, by the time of the 1951 Census the population was only 44% of what it had been in 1841. The 2006 Census, undertaken by the States Central Statistics Office, had County Donegals population standing at 147,264, according to the 2011 Census, the countys population had grown to 161,137. It has an indented coastline forming natural sea loughs, of which both Lough Swilly and Lough Foyle are the most notable. The Slieve League cliffs are the sixth-highest sea cliffs in Europe, the climate is temperate and dominated by the Gulf Stream, with warm, damp summers and mild wet winters. Two permanently inhabited islands, Arranmore and Tory Island, lie off the coast, Irelands second longest river, the Erne, enters Donegal Bay near the town of Ballyshannon. The River Erne, along with other Donegal waterways, has been dammed to produce hydroelectric power, the River Foyle separates part of County Donegal from parts of both counties Londonderry and Tyrone. A survey of the marine algae of County Donegal was published in 2003
7.
West European Time
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Western European Time is a time zone covering parts of western and northwestern Europe. WEST is called British Summer Time in the UK and is known as Irish Standard Time in Ireland. Conversely, Iceland and eastern Greenland are included although both are west of 7. 5°W, in September 2013, a Spanish parliamentary committee recommended switching to WET, a move being considered by MPs. However, the German occupation switched France to German time, two other occupied territories, Belgium and the Netherlands, did the same, and Spain also switched to CET in solidarity with Germany under the orders of General Franco. In the United Kingdom, from 1940 to 1945 British Summer Time was used in winters, between 18 February 1968 and 31 October 1971, BST was used all year round. In Ireland, from 1940 to 1946 Irish Summer Time was used all year round, between 18 February 1968 and 31 October 1971, Irish Standard Time was used all year round. In Portugal, CET was used in the mainland from 1966 to 1976, the autonomous region of the Azores used WET from 1992 to 1993. Iceland Mykines, Faroe Islands Western Ireland Western Portugal Madeira Canary Islands These areas are located between 7°30′ W and 22°30′ W Areas using UTC+1, See Central European Time
8.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
9.
Irish Standard Time
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Ireland uses Irish Standard Time in the summer months and Greenwich Mean Time in the winter period. In Ireland, the Standard Time Act 1968 legally established that the time for purposes in the State shall be one hour in advance of Greenwich mean time throughout the year. This act was amended by the Standard Time Act 1971, which legally established Greenwich Mean Time as a time period. Ireland therefore operates one hour behind standard time during the winter period and this is defined in contrast to the other states in the European Union, which operate one hour ahead of standard time during the summer period, but produces the same end result. The instant of transition to and from saving time is synchronised across Europe. In Ireland, Winter time begins at 02,00 IST on the last Sunday in October, the Statutes Act,1880 defined Dublin Mean Time as the legal time for Ireland. T. M. Healy opposed the reading on the basis that while the Daylight Saving Bill added to the length of your daylight. After the Irish Free State became independent in 1922, subsequent developments tended to mirror those in the United Kingdom and this avoided having different times on either side of the border with Northern Ireland. Summer time was provided on a basis by acts in 1923 and 1924. The 1925 act provided a summer time period, which could be varied by ministerial order. Double summer time was considered but not introduced during the Emergency of World War II, from 1968 standard time was observed all year round, with no winter time change. This was an experiment in the run-up to Irelands 1973 accession to the EEC, in those years, time in Ireland was the same as in the six EEC countries, except in the summer in Italy, which switched to Central European Summer Time. From the 1980s, the dates of switch between winter and summer time have been synchronised across the European Union. The statutory instruments that have been issued under the Standard Time Acts are listed below, in format year/SI-number, except where stated, those issued up to 1967 were called Summer Time Order <year>, while those issued from 1981 are Winter Time Order <year>. In November 2012, Tommy Broughan introduced a members bill to permit a three-year trial of advancing time by one hour, to CET in winter. In July 2014, the joint committee issued an invitation for submissions on the bill, closing time in Irish public houses was half an hour later during summer time. In 2000, the closing hours were simplified by removing summer/winter time changes. Between 1933 and 1961, lighting-up time was an hour before/after sunrise/sunset in summer-time, since 1961, it has been half-an-hour in all cases
10.
Western European Summer Time
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Western European Summer Time is a summer daylight saving time scheme,1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. Also sometimes erroneously referred to as Irish Summer Time, the scheme runs from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October each year. At both the start and end of the schemes, clock changes take place at 01,00 UTC, during the winter, Greenwich Mean Time is used. The asymmetry reflects temperature more than the length of daylight, Ireland observes Standard Time during the summer months and changes to UTC+0 in winter. As Irelands winter time period begins on the last Sunday in October and finishes on the last Sunday in March, the result is the same as if it observed summer time. The following countries and territories use Western European Summer Time during the summer, starting in 1916, the dates for the beginning and end of BST each year were mandated by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In February 2002, the Summer Time Order 2002 changed the dates and times to match European rules for moving to, note, Until 1 October 1916 time in all of Ireland was based on Dublin Mean Time, GMT −25 minutes. BBC News report, Tundra time call in clocks debate, UK Government Report, Overview of the pros and cons of British Summer Time
11.
Irish grid reference system
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The Irish grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Ireland. The Irish grid lies within the British grid, but uses a different co-ordinate system with a meridian more suited to the westerly location, in general, neither Ireland nor Great Britain uses latitude or longitude in describing internal geographic locations. Instead grid reference systems are in common usage, the national grid referencing system was devised by the Ordnance Survey, and is heavily used in their survey data, and in maps based on those surveys. Additionally grid references are commonly quoted in publications and data sources. The Ordnance Survey of Ireland has implemented a new system for Ireland called Irish Transverse Mercator, or ITM. In both systems, the origin is at 53°30 N, 8° W — a point in Lough Ree, close to the western shore. The area of Ireland is divided into 25 squares, measuring 100 by 100 km, the squares are numbered A to Z with I being omitted. Seven of the squares do not actually cover any land in Ireland, within each square, eastings and northings from the origin of the square are given numerically. For example, G0305 means square G,3 km east,5 km north, coordinates may also be given relative to the origin of the entire 500 by 500 km grid. For example, the location of the Spire of Dublin on OConnell Street may be given as 315904,234671 as well as O1590434671, coordinates in this format must never be truncated, because, for example,31590,23467 is also a valid location. Ordnance Survey Ireland,185 years of innovation in mapping, archived from the original on September 11,2009. The Irish Grid - A Description of the Co-ordinate Reference System used in Ireland PDF on the Irish Grid from OSi, history and overview of the system, from OSI OSI online coordinate converter tool Clickable webmap that shows Irish grid references
12.
Gaeltacht
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Gaeltacht is an Irish-language word used to denote any primarily Irish-speaking region. The boundaries of the Gaeltacht have included a percentage of resident English-speakers since British colonisation. It is now recognised that the Gaeltacht is threatened by serious language decline, research published in 2015 showed that of the 155 electoral divisions in the Gaeltacht, only 21 are communities where Irish is spoken on a daily basis by 67% or more of the population. 67% is regarded by some academics as a point for language survival. In 1926 the official Gaeltacht came into being after the report of the first Gaeltacht Commission Coimisiún na Gaeltachta, the exact boundaries were not defined. The quota at the time was 25%+ Irish-speaking, although in many cases Gaeltacht status was accorded to areas that were weaker than this. The Irish Free State recognised that there were Irish-speaking or semi-Irish-speaking districts in 15 of its 26 counties, in the 1950s another Gaeltacht Commission concluded that the Gaeltacht boundaries were ill-defined. It recommended that the Gaeltacht status admittance of an area be based solely on the strength of the language there, the Gaeltacht districts were initially defined precisely in the 1950s, excluding many areas which had witnessed a decline in the language. This left Gaeltacht areas in seven of the states 26 counties and this would threaten the future of the Gaeltacht. Parents felt that the educational system cancelled their efforts to pass on Irish as a language to their children. The study added that a significant number of Gaeltacht schools had switched to teaching through English, in 2002 the third Coimisiún na Gaeltachta stated in its report that the erosion of Irish in the Gaeltacht was now such that it was only a matter of time before the Gaeltacht disappeared. In some areas Irish had already ceased to be a community language, even in the strongest Gaeltacht areas, current patterns of bilingualism were leading to the dominance of English. Policies implemented by the State and voluntary groups were having no effect, a new language reinforcement strategy was required, one that had the confidence of the community itself. The Commission recommended, among other things, that the boundaries of the official Gaeltacht should be redrawn. It also recommended a comprehensive study to assess the vitality of the Irish language in the remaining Gaeltacht districts. The study was undertaken by Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge, and on 1 November 2007 Staidéar Cuimsitheach Teangeolaíoch ar Úsáid na Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht appeared, in response to this situation, the government introduced the Gaeltacht Bill 2012. Its stated aim was to provide for a new definition of based on language criteria. This status could only be revoked if the area failed to prepare a language plan, the Bill was also criticised for placing all responsibility for the maintenance of Irish on voluntary organisations, with no increase in resources
13.
Irish language
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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
14.
Ulster Irish
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Ulster Irish is the dialect of the Irish language spoken in the province of Ulster. It occupies a position in the Gaelic world made up of Ireland, Scotland. Ulster Irish thus has more in common with Scottish Gaelic and Manx than other Irish dialects do, within Ulster there have historically been two main sub-dialects, West Ulster Irish and East Ulster Irish. The Western dialect is spoken in County Donegal and once was in parts of neighbouring counties, the Eastern dialect was spoken in most of the rest of Ulster and northern parts of counties Louth and Meath. Irish was the language spoken in Ulster from the earliest recorded times until the 17th century Plantation of Ulster by English. Since the Plantation, Ulster Irish was steadily replaced by English, the Eastern dialect died out in the 20th century, but the Western lives on in the Gaeltacht region of County Donegal. In 1808, County Down natives William Neilson and Patrick Lynch published a study on Ulster Irish called An Introduction to the Irish Language. Both Neilson and his father were Irish-speaking Presbyterian ministers, the report also makes note of small pockets of Irish speakers in northwest County Cavan, southeast County Monaghan, and the far south of County Armagh. However, these small pockets vanished early in the 20th century while Irish in the Sperrins survived until the 1950s, the last native speaker of Rathlin Irish died in 1985. In the 1960s, six families in Belfast formed the Shaws Road Gaeltacht, the Irish-speaking area of the Falls Road in West Belfast has recently been designated the Gaeltacht Quarter. The Ulster dialect contains many words not used in other dialects—of which the ones are Connacht Irish. The standard form of Irish is An Caighdeán Oifigiúil, in other cases, a semantic shift has resulted in quite different meanings attaching to the same word in Ulster Irish and in other dialects. Some of these include, ag déanamh is used to mean to think as well as to make or to do, síleann, ceapann and cuimhníonn is used in other dialects. Amharc or amhanc, look barúil) opinion, southern tuairim - in Ulster, tuairim is most typically used in the approximate value. Note the typically Ulster derivatives barúlach and inbharúla of the opinion, note that bealach alone is used as a preposition meaning towards. In the sense road Ulster Irish often uses bealach mór even for roads that arent particularly big or wide, cál, cabbage caraidh, weir cluinim, I hear. Áirithe also means certain or particular, mothaím is used to mean I hear, perceive as well as I feel but mothaím generally refers to stories or events. Tá mé ábalta is also a preferred Ulster variant, some of these words include, cloigeann head capall mare The phonemic inventory of Ulster Irish is as shown in the following chart
15.
Diesel fuel
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Diesel engines have found broad use as a result of higher thermodynamic efficiency and thus fuel efficiency. This is particularly noted where diesel engines are run at part-load, as their air supply is not throttled as in a petrol engine, to distinguish these types, petroleum-derived diesel is increasingly called petrodiesel. Ultra-low-sulfur diesel is a standard for defining diesel fuel with substantially lowered sulfur contents, as of 2016, almost all of the petroleum-based diesel fuel available in UK, Europe and North America is of a ULSD type. In the UK, diesel fuel for use is commonly abbreviated DERV, standing for diesel-engined road vehicle. In Australia diesel fuel is known as distillate, and in Indonesia, it is known as Solar. Diesel fuel originated from experiments conducted by German scientist and inventor Rudolf Diesel for his engine he invented in 1892. Diesel fuel is produced from various sources, the most common being petroleum, other sources include biomass, animal fat, biogas, natural gas, and coal liquefaction. Petroleum diesel, also called petrodiesel, or fossil diesel is the most common type of diesel fuel, synthetic diesel can be produced from any carbonaceous material, including biomass, biogas, natural gas, coal and many others. The raw material is gasified into synthesis gas, which after purification is converted by the Fischer–Tropsch process to a synthetic diesel, the process is typically referred to as biomass-to-liquid, gas-to-liquid or coal-to-liquid, depending on the raw material used. Paraffinic synthetic diesel generally has a content of sulfur and very low aromatics content, reducing unregulated emissions of toxic hydrocarbons, nitrous oxides. Fatty-acid methyl ester, more known as biodiesel, is obtained from vegetable oil or animal fats which have been transesterified with methanol. It can be produced from many types of oils, the most common being rapeseed oil in Europe, methanol can also be replaced with ethanol for the transesterification process, which results in the production of ethyl esters. FAME can be used pure in engines where the manufacturer approves such use, FAME as a fuel is specified in DIN EN14214 and ASTM D6751. Pure biodiesel has an energy content about 5–10% lower than petroleum diesel, the loss in power when using pure biodiesel is 5–7%. As FAME contains low levels of sulfur, the emissions of oxides and sulfates. Use of biodiesel also results in reductions of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, CO emissions using biodiesel are substantially reduced, on the order of 50% compared to most petrodiesel fuels. The exhaust emissions of particulate matter from biodiesel have been found to be 30% lower than overall particulate matter emissions from petrodiesel, the exhaust emissions of total hydrocarbons are up to 93% lower for biodiesel than diesel fuel. Biodiesel also may reduce risks associated with petroleum diesel
16.
Falcarragh
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An Fál Carrach, sometimes called Na Crois Bhealaí is a small Gaeltacht town and townland in north-west County Donegal, Ireland. The settlement is in the old parish of Cloughaneely, there are 2,168 people living in the Falcarragh ED and an estimated 44% are native Irish speakers. The name Falcarragh has been used since 1850, ascribed so by O Donavan as he believed Na Crois Bhealaí, Na Crois Bhealaí is still used by native speakers when referring to the town. On some maps it shows up as Crossroads deriving from its Irish language name Na Croisbhealaí but older maps refer to it as Robinsons Town, an Fál Carrach, the main commercial town between Letterkenny and Dungloe was known in former times both as Crossroads and as Robinson’s Town. The first recorded reference to Falcarragh appears in a written by William Wilson. Wilson was the Protestant Bishop’s stewart responsible for the collection of tithes to support the Protestant clergy and their measures I was obliged to comply with. The places of worship are the church and a Presbyterian meetinghouse. A dispensary and a school are the charitable institutions, fairs are held on the last Thursday monthly. Slater’s Directory of 1881 records that the population increased to 258 inhabitants in 1871 and we are given some information about the local post office situated at the crossroads. Thomas Browne was Postmaster at the time and “letters from all parts arrive at ten minutes past eleven morning, and are dispatched at one afternoon. ”From 1622 to 1921, the Olpherts were the landlords in the district, Sir John Olphert being the last Olphert landlord. The tallest Celtic cross in Ireland is located near Falcarragh, Falcarragh railway station opened on 9 March 1903, closed for passenger traffic on 3 June 1940 and finally closed altogether on 6 January 1947. The 1992 movie The Railway Station Man starring Donald Sutherland & Julie Christie was partly filmed at the station. There are two bus services close to Falcarragh and have stops in falcarragh Eithne Coyle, a figure within Cumann na mBan, was born in the nearby village of Killult. Ciaran Berry, the poet, grew up in Falcarragh, list of populated places in Ireland Falcarragh, An Fál Carrach website Falcarragh Pop stats 2006
17.
Fomorians
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The Fomorians are a supernatural race in Irish mythology. They are often portrayed as hostile and monstrous beings who come from the sea or underground, later, they were portrayed as giants and sea raiders. They are enemies of Irelands first settlers and opponents of the Tuatha Dé Danann, however, their relationship with the Tuath Dé is complex and some of their members intermarry and have children. The Fomorians have thus been likened to the jötnar of Norse mythology, the Fomorians seem to have been gods who represent the harmful or destructive powers of nature, personifications of chaos, darkness, death, blight and drought. The Tuath Dé, in contrast, seem to represent the gods of growth and it has also been suggested that the Fomorians derive from an older group of gods who were displaced by a newer group. In Old and Middle Irish, the race is called the Fomoire or Fomoiri. In Middle Irish, they are called the Fomóraiġ and a Fomórach. This is spelt Fomhóraigh and Fomhórach in Modern Irish, in English, they are often called the Fomorians, Fomori or Fomors. The etymology of the name is debated, the first part is now generally agreed to be the Old Irish fo, meaning under, below, lower, beneath, nether, etc. The meaning of the part is unclear. One suggestion is that it comes from the Old Irish mur, and this was the interpretation offered by some medieval Irish writers. Another suggestion is that it comes from mór and means something like the great under ones, the name would thus mean something like under demons or nether demons. Building on this, Marie-Louise Sjoestedt interprets the name as meaning inferior or latent demons, saying the Fomorians are like the powers of chaos, ever latent, donald Schlegel suggested that the Fomorians were Carthaginians who established a trading post on Irelands west coast. He suggests the name Fomoraige comes from the name of the Carthaginian god Pumay combined with the Old Irish suffix -raige, the Genealogies from Rawlinson B502 lists the full genealogy of the Fomorians going right back to the Biblical Noah, who was 10th from Adam and Eve. Rawlinson B502, Section 26, page 330, says, Bres himself carries the epithet the Beautiful. Geoffrey Keating in his History of Ireland appearing in the 1630s claimed that the Fomorians had been a people descended from Noahs other son. Partholon defeated Cíocal in the Battle of Mag Itha, but all his people died of plague. Then came Nemed and his followers, Ireland is said to have been empty for thirty years following the death of Partholons people, but Nemed and his followers encountered the Fomorians when they arrived
18.
Nemed
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Nemed or Nimeth is a character in medieval Irish Christian mythohistory. According to the Lebor Gabála Érenn, he is the leader of the group of people to settle in Ireland. The word nemed means privileged or holy in Old Irish and they arrive thirty years after their predecessors, the Muintir Partholóin, had died out. After many years the Nemedians too are wiped out or forced to abandon the island, according to the Lebor Gabála, Nemed, like those who settled Ireland before him, had a genealogy going back to the biblical Noah. Ireland had been uninhabited since the Muintir Partholóin died of plague, the Muintir Nemid set sail from the Caspian Sea in 44 ships, but after a year and a half of sailing, the only ship to reach Ireland is Nemeds. Also on board are his wife Macha, his four chieftain sons and his wife Macha dies twelve days after they arrive and is buried at Ard Mhacha. Two quite different dates are given for the arrival of Muintir Nemid,2350 BCE according to the Annals of the Four Masters, Four lakes burst from the ground in Nemeds time, including Loch Annind, which burst from the ground when Anninds grave was being dug. The other three lakes were Loch Cál in Uí Nialláin, Loch Munremair in Luigne, and Loch Dairbrech in Mide and they also build two royal forts, Ráth Chimbaith in Semne and Ráth Chindeich in Uí Nialláin. Ráth Chindeich was dug in one day by Boc, Roboc, Ruibne and Rotan, Nemed kills them before dawn the next morning. Nemed wins four battles against the mysterious Fomorians, modern scholars believe the Fomorians were a group of deities who represent the harmful or destructive powers of nature, personifications of chaos, darkness, death, blight and drought. These battles are at Ros Fraechain, at Badbgna in Connacht, at Cnamros in Leinster, however, nine years after arriving in Ireland, Nemed dies of plague along with three thousand of his people. He is buried on the hill of Ard Nemid on Great Island in Cork Harbour, the remaining Muintir Nemid are then oppressed by the Fomorians Morc and Conand, who lives in Conands Tower, on an island off the coast. Each Samhain, they must give two thirds of their children, their corn and their milk to the Fomorians. This tribute that the Nemedians are forced to pay may be a dim memory of sacrifice offered at the beginning of winter, after many years, the Muintir Nemid rise up against the Fomorians and attack the Conands Tower with 60,000 warriors, defeating Conand. Morc then attacks, and almost all of the Nemedians are killed in a tidal wave, only one ship of thirty men escapes. Some of them go into the north of the world, some go to Britain and become the ancestors of all Britons, the island would again be empty for another 200 years. The Historia Brittonum—which is earlier than the Lebor Gabála—says there were three settlements of Ireland, with the Nemedians being the second. It tells us that the Nemedians came from Iberia and stayed in Ireland for many years, the Lebor Gabála increases the number of settlements to six and makes the Nemedians the third group
19.
Ethlinn
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In Irish mythology, Ethniu, or Eithne in modern spelling, is the daughter of the Fomorian leader Balor, and the mother of Lugh. She is also referred to as Ethliu, genitive Eithlionn, dative Ethlinn, but a man called Mac Cinnfhaelaidh, whose magical cow Balor stole, gains access to Ethnius tower, with the magical help of the leanan sídhe Biróg and seduces her. Ethniu gives birth to triplets, but Balor gathers them up in a sheet, the messenger drowns two of the babies, but unwittingly drops one in the harbour, where he is rescued by Biróg. She takes the back to his father, who gives him to his brother, Gavida the smith. The boy grows up to kill Balor, by comparison with texts like Cath Maige Tuired and the Lebor Gabála Érenn, the unnamed boy is evidently Lugh, and his father, Mac Cinnfhaelaidh, is a stand-in for Cian. From him is famed the cairn at Ath Feindead because he fought a duel, in some traditions she is the daughter of Delbáeth, the mother of the Dagda and Ogma, and the wife of Nuada Airgetlám. In a variant version of the birth of Aengus, she is the wife of Elcmar who is seduced by the Dagda, as such she may be a double of Boann, who plays that role in the best-known version of the tale. Although in most texts she is a figure, there are some in which Ethniu is a male name. In the ancient text Baile in Scáil, Lugh is said to the son of Ethliu son of Tigernmas, james Bonwick identifies Tigernmas, the king who introduced the worship of Crom Cruach, with Balor. R. A. Stewart Macalister also suggests that Cethlenn is originally a variant of Ethlenn arising from the frequent identification of Lugh as Lugh Mac Ethlenn, Ethniu is a fine example of the difficulty of conducting research into Irish mythology. Her oldest version of her name is probably Ethliu or Ethniu, however thanks to changes in the Irish language, the lack of standardised spelling for many centuries, and attempts to anglicise the name, variations have arisen. Linguistic ignorance has further confused the issue, the form of Ethniu is Ethnenn. This genitive has often taken for a nominative, or a mistaken nominative has been inferred. Variations and anglicizations include, Ethnea, Eithliu, Ethlend, Ethnen, Ethlenn, Ethnenn, Ethne, Aithne, Enya, Lily, Aine, Ena, Etney, Eithnenn, Eithlenn, Eithna, Ethni, Edlend, Edlenn
20.
Colmcille
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Saint Columba was an Irish abbot and missionary credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the important abbey on Iona, which became a dominant religious and he is the Patron Saint of Derry. He was highly regarded by both the Gaels of Dál Riata and the Picts, and is remembered today as a Christian saint, Columba studied under some of Irelands most prominent church figures and founded several monasteries in the country. He remained active in Irish politics, though he spent most of the remainder of his life in Scotland, three surviving early medieval Latin hymns may be attributed to him. Columba was born to Fedlimid and Eithne of the Cenel Conaill in Gartan, near Lough Gartan, in modern County Donegal, on his fathers side, he was great-great-grandson of Niall of the Nine Hostages, an Irish high king of the 5th century. He was baptised in Temple-Douglas, in the County Donegal parish of Conwal, by his teacher and foster-uncle Saint Crunathan. When sufficiently advanced in letters he entered the school of Movilla, at Newtownards. He was about twenty, and a deacon when, having completed his training at Movilla, he travelled southwards into Leinster, on leaving him, Columba entered the monastery of Clonard, governed at that time by Finnian, noted for sanctity and learning. Here he imbibed the traditions of the Welsh Church, for Finnian had been trained in the schools of St. David, in early Christian Ireland the druidic tradition collapsed due to the spread of the new Christian faith. The study of Latin learning and Christian theology in monasteries flourished, Columba became a pupil at the monastic school at Clonard Abbey, situated on the River Boyne in modern County Meath. During the sixth century, some of the most significant names in the history of Irish Christianity studied at the Clonard monastery and it is said that the average number of scholars under instruction at Clonard was 3,000. Columba was one of students of St. Finnian who became known as the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. He became a monk and eventually was ordained a priest, another preceptor of Columba was St. Mobhi, whose monastery at Glasnevin was frequented by such famous men as St. Canice, St. Comgall, and St. Ciaran. A pestilence which devastated Ireland in 544 caused the dispersion of Mobhis disciples, and Columba returned to Ulster and he was a striking figure of great stature and powerful build, with a loud, melodious voice which could be heard from one hilltop to another. The following years were marked by the foundation of important monasteries, Derry, County Londonderry, Durrow, County Offaly, Kells, County Meath. While at Derry it is said that he planned a pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem, thence he brought a copy of those gospels that had lain on the bosom of St. Martin for the space of 100 years. This relic was deposited in Derry, tradition asserts that, sometime around 560, he became involved in a quarrel with Saint Finnian of Movilla Abbey over a psalter. Columba copied the manuscript at the scriptorium under Saint Finnian, intending to keep the copy, Saint Finnian disputed his right to keep the copy
21.
Siege of Tory Island
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The Siege of Tory Island took place in 1608 during ODohertys Rebellion when some of the remaining rebels made a last stand against Crown forces on Tory Island off the northern coast of Ireland. The rebels took shelter in the castle on the island but it became obvious they could not hold out for long. To avail himself of a known as Pelhams Pardon, the Constable of the castle Sir Mulmory MacSweeney began to kill his fellow defenders intending to hand their severed heads over to the enemy. He killed three, before he was stabbed to death and cut to pieces and his own killer was in turn cut down. Some of the survivors of the massacre were then pardoned
22.
O'Doherty's rebellion
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ODohertys Rebellion took place in 1608 when the landowner Sir Cahir ODoherty began an uprising against the authorities in the north-west of Ireland. ODoherty had been a supporter of the Crown, but having been angered at his treatment by local officials he launched an attack on Derry. ODoherty may have hoped to negotiate a settlement with the government, Cahir ODoherty ruled the Inishowen peninsula in northern County Donegal. The Gaelic ODohertys had traditionally accepted the overlordship of the ODonnells, in 1600, at the age of 15, Cahir joined the forces of the English Governor of Derry, Henry Docwra who were fighting to defeat Tyrones Rebellion. With the assistance of ODoherty and other Gaelic lords, Docwra advanced from Derry into the heart of Gaelic territory, Docwra praised his courage under fire, and recommended him for a knighthood. Summoned to London in 1607 they instead sailed for the Continent with a group of their followers, by this time the sympathetic Docwra had been replaced by Sir George Paulet who took a much harder view of the Gaelic lords, including loyalists like ODoherty. ODoherty had not suffered as badly as others, losing only Inch Island, tensions were high following the Flight of the Earls and the English were concerned that there might be a wider conspiracy amongst the Gaelic lords of the north. This was based partly on the evidence of Lord Howth who had claimed to the government that there was a major plot, Paulet, governor of Derry, overreacted to reports that ODoherty and a number of his followers were assembling for a planned revolt and marched out with troops. ODoherty was in taking part in a wood-cutting expedition to the Canmoyre Woods near his home. ODoherty travelled to Dublin to plead his case before the Viceroy of Ireland, unfortunately his arrival coincided with the escape from Dublin Castle of Lord Delvin, leader of a planned revolt. ODoherty demanded that his innocence be publicly declared, no evidence was provided of his involvement in any plot, but the incident severely damaged ODohertys relations with the government. Despite his difficulties, ODoherty persisted in his allegiance to the crown once he returned to Donegal, in January 1608 he sat on the Irish jury that confirmed the Act of Attainder against the absent Earl of Tyrconnell, stripping him of his lands and title for treason. He also pursued his links at court, through such as the well-connected Sir Randal MacDonnell. ODoherty sought to become a courtier by gaining a place in the household of Henry, the greatest cause of ODohertys move towards rebellion was the insults of Paulet. While he was in Derry on business, Paulet struck him in the face, ODoherty now began to suspect that he could not hope for fair treatment from English justice, and armed force was his only tactic. He was encouraged by one of his neighbours Sir Niall Garbh ODonnell, even at this point ODoherty remained reluctant to undertake rebellion and with tears in his eyes he approached English officers asking them how he could regain the approval of the Viceroy. He even turned one of his relations, Phelim MacDavitt. ODohertys lobbying on behalf of MacDavitt led to his release by the authorities just in time to part in the rebellion
23.
Battle of Tory Island
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The last action of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the Battle of Tory Island ended the final attempt by the French Navy to land substantial numbers of soldiers in Ireland during the war. The Society of United Irishmen, led by Wolfe Tone, launched an uprising against British rule in Ireland in May 1798. At the request of the rebels, a small French force under General Humbert was landed at Killala, County Mayo, unaware of Humberts surrender, the French despatched reinforcements on 16 September. Having missed one invasion force, the Royal Navy was on alert for another, after a long chase, the French were brought to battle in a bay off the rugged County Donegal coast in the west of Ulster, very close to Tory Island. During the action the outnumbered French attempted to escape, but were run down and defeated piecemeal, with the British capturing four ships, over the next fortnight, British frigate patrols scoured the passage back to Brest, capturing three more ships. Of the ten ships in the original French squadron, only two frigates and a schooner reached safety, British losses in the campaign were minimal. The battle marked the last attempt by the French Navy to launch an invasion of any part of the British Isles and it also ended the last hopes the United Irishmen had of obtaining outside support in their struggle with the British. After the action, Tone was recognised aboard the captured French flagship and he was brought ashore by the British at Buncrana, on the Inishowen Peninsula. He was later tried for treason, convicted, and committed suicide while in prison in Dublin, Britains enemies in continental Europe had long recognised Ireland as a weak point in Britains defences. Additionally, embroiling the British Army in a protracted Irish campaign would reduce its availability for other theatres of war, finally, French planners considered that a successful invasion of Ireland might act as the ideal platform for a subsequent invasion of Great Britain. With these goals in mind, in 1791 Dublin lawyer Wolfe Tone founded the Society of United Irishmen, allying itself with the French Republic, the society was suppressed by the British authorities and forced to go underground when war broke out between France and Great Britain in 1793. Tone and other members secretly travelled to France to convince the French National Convention to invade Ireland, French political divisions made organising an operation against Ireland difficult. The process was hampered by the French Atlantic Fleets defeat in 1794 at the Glorious First of June. Having lost many of its best officers during the purges of The Terror. Eventually, the Expédition dIrlande was despatched in December 1796 under Admiral Morard de Galles, consisting of 17 ships of the line and 27 smaller vessels, and carrying as many as 25,000 men. The following year, Tone and his companions tried again, this time persuading the government of the Batavian Republic, during 1797, the Dutch fleet was readied and provisioned, intending to combine with the French fleet and launch a second invasion attempt. Duncan immediately attacked, and in the ensuing Battle of Camperdown captured or destroyed ten ships and scattered the rest, hoping to capitalise on the spontaneous uprising that spread across Ireland in May 1798, Commodore Daniel Savary led a third, and more successful, effort. He took a frigate squadron flying false British colours to Killala
24.
Irish Rebellion of 1798
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The Irish Rebellion of 1798, also known as the United Irishmen Rebellion, was an uprising against British rule in Ireland lasting from May to September 1798. The United Irishmen, a revolutionary group influenced by the ideas of the American. It governed through a form of institutionalised sectarianism codified in the Penal Laws which discriminated against both the majority Irish Catholic population and non-Anglican Protestants. As in England, the majority of Protestants, as well as all Catholics, were barred from voting because they did not pass a property threshold. When France joined the Americans in support of their Revolutionary War, many thousands joined the Irish Volunteers. In 1782 they used their powerful position to force the Crown to grant the landed Ascendancy self-rule. The Irish Patriot Party, led by Henry Grattan, pushed for greater enfranchisement, in 1793 parliament passed laws allowing Catholics with some property to vote, but they could neither be elected nor appointed as state officials. The prospect of reform inspired a group of Protestant liberals in Belfast to found the Society of United Irishmen in 1791. The organisation crossed the divide with a membership comprising Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, other Protestant dissenters groups. The Society openly put forward policies of democratic reforms and Catholic emancipation. The outbreak of war with France earlier in 1793, following the execution of Louis XVI, forced the Society underground and toward armed insurrection with French aid. The avowed intent of the United Irishmen was to break the connection with England and it linked up with Catholic agrarian resistance groups, known as the Defenders, who had started raiding houses for arms in early 1793. To augment their strength, the United Irish leadership decided to seek military help from the French revolutionary government. Theobald Wolfe Tone, leader of the United Irishmen, travelled in exile from the United States to France to press the case for intervention, the despairing Wolfe Tone remarked, England has had its luckiest escape since the Armada. The French fleet was forced to return home and the army intended to spearhead the invasion of Ireland split up and was sent to fight in other theatres of the French Revolutionary Wars. The Establishment responded to widespread disorder by launching a counter-campaign of martial law from 2 March 1798, in May 1797 the military in Belfast also violently suppressed the newspaper of the United Irishmen, the Northern Star. Brigadier-General C. E. Knox wrote to General Lake, I have arranged, to increase the animosity between the Orangemen and the United Irishmen, or liberty men as they call themselves. Upon that animosity depends the safety of the counties of the North
25.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
26.
Dreadnought
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The dreadnought was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. Dreadnoughts design had two features, an all-big-gun armament scheme, with more heavy-calibre guns than previous ships. As dreadnoughts became a symbol of power, the arrival of these new warships was a crucial catalyst in the intensifying naval arms race between the United Kingdom and Germany. With the launch of a ship, Dreadnought, the scales of naval power were reset overnight. As a result, dreadnought races sprang up around the world, including in South America, successive designs increased rapidly in size and made use of improvements in armament, armour, and propulsion throughout the dreadnought era. Within five years, new battleships had outclassed Dreadnought and these more powerful vessels were known as super-dreadnoughts. The only surviving dreadnought is USS Texas, located near the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, dreadnought-building consumed vast resources in the early 20th century, but there was only one battle between large dreadnought fleets. In the 1916 Battle of Jutland, the British and German navies clashed with no decisive result, some designs had an intermediate battery of 8-inch guns. Serious proposals for an all-big-gun armament were circulated in several countries by 1903, all-big-gun designs commenced almost simultaneously in three navies. In 1904, the Imperial Japanese Navy authorized construction of Satsuma, work began on her construction in May 1905. The Royal Navy began the design of HMS Dreadnought in January 1905, finally, the US Navy gained authorization for USS Michigan, carrying eight 12-inch guns, in March 1905, with construction commencing in December 1906. The newest 12-inch guns had longer range and fired heavier shells than a gun of 10-inch or 9. 2-inch calibre, there is still debate as to whether this feature was important. At these ranges, lighter guns had good accuracy, and their rate of fire delivered high volumes of ordnance on the target. Naval gunnery was too inaccurate to hit targets at a longer range, by the early 20th century, British and American admirals expected future battleships would engage at longer distances. Newer models of torpedo had longer ranges, for instance, in 1903, the US Navy ordered a design of torpedo effective to 4,000 yards. Both British and American admirals concluded that they needed to engage the enemy at longer ranges, in 1900, Admiral Sir John Jackie Fisher, commanding the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet, ordered gunnery practice with 6-inch guns at 6,000 yards. By 1904 the US Naval War College was considering the effects on battleship tactics of torpedoes with a range of 7,000 yards to 8,000 yards, the range of light and medium-calibre guns was limited, and accuracy declined badly at longer range. At longer ranges the advantage of a rate of fire decreased, accurate shooting depended on spotting the shell-splashes of the previous salvo
27.
HMS Audacious (1912)
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HMS Audacious was the fourth and last King George V-class dreadnought battleship built for the Royal Navy in the early 1910s. After completion in 1913, she spent her career assigned to the Home. She was sunk by a German naval mine off the northern coast of County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland, the King George V-class ships were designed as enlarged and improved versions of the preceding Orion-class battleship. They had a length of 597 feet 9 inches, a beam of 89 feet 1 inch. They displaced 25,420 long tons at load and 27,120 long tons at deep load. Audaciouss crew numbered 860 officers and ratings in 1914, Ships of the King George V class were powered by two sets of Parsons direct-drive steam turbines, each driving two shafts, using steam provided by 18 coal-burning Yarrow boilers. The turbines were rated at 27,000 shaft horsepower and were intended to give the battleships a speed of 21 knots, Audacious had a range of 5,910 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 10 knots. Like the Orion class, the King George Vs were equipped with 10 breech-loading 13. 5-inch Mark V guns in five hydraulically powered twin-gun turrets, the turrets were designated A, B, Q, X and Y, from front to rear. Their secondary armament consisted of 16 BL 4-inch Mark VII guns, eight of these were mounted in the forward superstructure, four in the aft superstructure, and four in casemates in the side of the hull abreast of the forward main gun turrets, all in single mounts. Four 3-pounder saluting guns were also carried, the ships were equipped with three 21-inch submerged torpedo tubes, one on each broadside and another in the stern, for which 14 torpedoes were provided. The King George V-class ships were protected by a waterline 12-inch armoured belt that extended between the end barbettes and their decks ranged in thickness between 1 inch and 4 inches with the thickest portions protecting the steering gear in the stern. The main battery turret faces were 11 inches thick, and the turrets were supported by 10-inch-thick barbettes, ordered under the 1910–1911 Naval Estimates, Audacious was the third ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. The ship was laid down by Cammel Laird at their shipyard in Birkenhead on 23 March 1911 and she was completed in August 1913 at a cost of £1,918,813, but was not commissioned until 15 October, joining her sister ships in the 2nd Battle Squadron. All four sisters represented the Royal Navy during the celebrations of the re-opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal in Germany in June 1914, between 17 and 20 July, Audacious took part in a test mobilisation and fleet review as part of the British response to the July Crisis. Following the outbreak of World War I in August, the Home Fleet was reorganised as the Grand Fleet, the following month, the ship was refitted at HM Dockyard, Devonport and rejoined the Grand Fleet at the beginning of October. On 16 October the 2nd Battle Squadron was sent to Loch na Keal on the western coast of Scotland, the explosion occurred 16 feet under the bottom of the ship, approximately 10 feet forward of the transverse bulkhead at the rear of the port engine room. The port engine room and the outer compartments adjacent to it flooded immediately, with water spreading more slowly to the engine room. Having intercepted the stricken dreadnoughts distress calls, the White Star ocean liner RMS Olympic, sister of the RMS Titanic, arrived on the scene
28.
Naval mine
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A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, Naval mines can be used offensively—to hamper enemy shipping movements or lock vessels into a harbour, or defensively—to protect friendly vessels and create safe zones. Mines can be laid in many ways, by purpose-built minelayers, refitted ships, submarines and their flexibility and cost-effectiveness make mines attractive to the less powerful belligerent in asymmetric warfare. The cost of producing and laying a mine is usually anywhere from 0. 5% to 10% of the cost of removing it, parts of some World War II naval minefields still exist because they are too extensive and expensive to clear. It is possible for some of these 1940s-era mines to remain dangerous for many years to come, Mines have been employed as offensive or defensive weapons in rivers, lakes, estuaries, seas, and oceans, but they can also be used as tools of psychological warfare. Offensive mines are placed in enemy waters, outside harbours and across important shipping routes with the aim of sinking both merchant and military vessels. Defensive minefields safeguard key stretches of coast from enemy ships and submarines, forcing them into more easily defended areas, minefields designed for psychological effect are usually placed on trade routes and are used to stop shipping from reaching an enemy nation. They are often spread thinly, to create an impression of minefields existing across large areas, a single mine inserted strategically on a shipping route can stop maritime movements for days while the entire area is swept. International law requires nations to declare when they mine an area, the warnings do not have to be specific, for example, during World War II, Britain declared simply that it had mined the English Channel, North Sea, and French coast. Chinese records tell of naval explosives in the 16th century, used to fight against Japanese pirates and this kind of naval mine was loaded in a wooden box, sealed with putty. General Qi Jiguang made several timed, drifting explosives, to harass Japanese pirate ships, although this is the rotating steel wheellocks first use in naval mines, Jiao Yu had described their use for land mines back in the 14th century. The first plan for a sea mine in the West was by Ralph Rabbards, the Dutch inventor Cornelius Drebbel was employed in the Office of Ordnance by King Charles I of England to make weapons, including a floating petard which proved a failure. Weapons of this type were apparently tried by the English at the Siege of La Rochelle in 1627, American David Bushnell developed the first American naval mine for use against the British in the American War of Independence. It was a watertight keg filled with gunpowder that was floated toward the enemy and it was used on the Delaware River as a drift mine. In 1812 Russian engineer Pavel Shilling exploded a mine using an electrical circuit. Russian naval specialists set more than 1500 naval mines, or infernal machines, designed by Moritz von Jacobi and by Immanuel Nobel, the mining of Vulcan led to the worlds first minesweeping operation. During the next 72 hours,33 mines were swept, the Jacobi mine was designed by German born, Russian engineer Jacobi, in 1853. The mine was tied to the sea bottom by an anchor, a cable connected it to a cell which powered it from the shore
29.
Classified information
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Classified information is material that a government body claims is sensitive information that requires protection of confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people, a formal security clearance is often required to handle classified documents or access classified data. The clearance process requires a satisfactory background investigation. Documents and other assets are typically marked with one of several levels of sensitivity—e. g. Restricted, confidential, secret and top secret and this often includes security clearances for personnel handling the information. Although classified information refers to the formal categorization and marking of material by level of sensitivity, a distinction is often made between formal security classification and privacy markings such as commercial in confidence. Classifications can be used with additional keywords that give more detailed instructions on how data should be used or protected, with the passage of time much classified information becomes much less sensitive, and may be declassified and made public. Sometimes documents are released with information still considered confidential obscured, as in the example at right, the purpose of classification is to protect information. Higher classifications protect information that might endanger national security, Classification formalises what constitutes a state secret and accords different levels of protection based on the expected damage the information might cause in the wrong hands. However, classified information is leaked to reporters by officials for political purposes. Several U. S. presidents have leaked information to get their point across to the public. Although the classification systems vary from country to country, most have levels corresponding to the following British definitions Top Secret is the highest level of classified information. Information is further compartmented so that specific access using a word after top secret is a legal way to hide collective. Such material would cause exceptionally grave damage to security if made publicly available. The Washington Post reports in an investigation entitled Top Secret America, hold top-secret security clearances in the United States. Secret material would cause damage to national security if it were publicly available. In the United States, operational Secret information can be marked with an additional LIMDIS, Confidential material would cause damage or be prejudicial to national security if publicly available. Restricted material would cause undesirable effects if publicly available, some countries do not have such a classification, in public sectors, such as commercial industries, such a level is also called and known as Private Information
30.
RMS Olympic
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RMS Olympic was a transatlantic ocean liner, the lead ship of the White Star Lines trio of Olympic-class liners. Unlike her younger sister ships, Olympic had a long career and this included service as a troopship during the First World War, which gained her the nickname Old Reliable. Olympic was the largest ocean liner in the world for two periods during 1911–13, interrupted only by the tenure of the slightly larger Titanic. Olympic also retained the title of the largest British-built liner until RMS Queen Mary was launched in 1934, by contrast with Olympic, the other ships in the class, Titanic and Britannic, did not have long service lives. Built in Belfast, Ireland, the RMS Olympic was the first of the three Olympic-class ocean liners – the others were RMS Titanic and HMHS Britannic. They were by far the largest vessels of the British shipping company White Star Lines fleet, the company sought an upgrade in their fleet primarily in response to the Cunard giants but also to replace their largest and now outclassed ships from 1890, SS Teutonic and SS Majestic. The former was replaced by Olympic while Majestic was replaced by Titanic, Majestic would be brought back into her old spot on White Stars New York service after Titanics loss. The ships were constructed by the Belfast shipbuilders Harland and Wolff, cost considerations were relatively low on the agenda and Harland and Wolff was authorised to spend what it needed on the ships, plus a five percent profit margin. In the case of the Olympic-class ships, a cost of £3 million for the first two ships was agreed plus extras to contract and the five percent fee. Harland and Wolff put their leading designers to work designing the Olympic-class vessels, carlisles responsibilities included the decorations, equipment and all general arrangements, including the implementation of an efficient lifeboat davit design. On 29 July 1908, Harland and Wolff presented the drawings to J. Bruce Ismay, Ismay approved the design and signed three letters of agreement two days later authorising the start of construction. At this point the first ship – which was later to become Olympic – had no name, Titanic was based on a revised version of the same design and was given the number 401. Bruce Ismays father Thomas Henry Ismay had previously planned to build a ship named Olympic as a ship to Oceanic. The senior Ismay died in 1899 and the order for the ship was cancelled, construction of Olympic began three months before Titanic to ease pressures on the shipyard. Several years would pass before Britannic would be launched, in order to accommodate the construction of the class, Harland and Wolff upgraded their facility in Belfast, the most dramatic change was the combining of three slipways into two larger ones. Olympics keel was laid in December 1908 and she was launched on 20 October 1910 and her hull was repainted black following the launch. The first-class passengers enjoyed luxurious cabins, and some were equipped with private bathrooms, first-class passengers could have meals in the ships large and luxurious dining saloon or in the more intimate A La Carte Restaurant. The second-class facilities included a room, a library, a spacious dining room
31.
RMS Titanic
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Of the 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died, making it one of the deadliest commercial peacetime maritime disasters in modern history. Thomas Andrews, her architect, died in the disaster, the first class accommodation was designed to be the pinnacle of comfort and luxury, with an on-board gymnasium, swimming pool, libraries, high-class restaurants and opulent cabins. A high-power radiotelegraph transmitter was available for sending passenger marconigrams and for the operational use. Titanic only carried enough lifeboats for 1,178 people—slightly more than half of the number on board, after leaving Southampton on 10 April 1912, Titanic called at Cherbourg in France and Queenstown in Ireland before heading west to New York. On 14 April, four days into the crossing and about 375 miles south of Newfoundland, the collision caused the ships hull plates to buckle inwards along her starboard side and opened five of her sixteen watertight compartments to the sea, she could only survive four flooding. Meanwhile, passengers and some members were evacuated in lifeboats. A disproportionate number of men were left aboard because of a women and children first protocol for loading lifeboats, at 2,20 a. m. she broke apart and foundered—with well over one thousand people still aboard. Just under two hours after Titanic sank, the Cunard liner RMS Carpathia arrived at the scene, where she brought aboard an estimated 705 survivors. The disaster was greeted with shock and outrage at the huge loss of life. Public inquiries in Britain and the United States led to improvements in maritime safety. One of their most important legacies was the establishment in 1914 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, which still governs maritime safety today. Additionally, several new regulations were passed around the world in an effort to learn from the many missteps in wireless communications—which could have saved many more passengers. The wreck of Titanic, first discovered over 70 years after the sinking, remains on the seabed, since her discovery in 1985, thousands of artifacts have been recovered and put on display at museums around the world. Titanic has become one of the most famous ships in history, her memory is kept alive by numerous works of culture, including books, folk songs, films, exhibits. Titanic is the second largest ocean liner wreck in the world, only beaten by her sister HMHS Britannic, the name Titanic was derived from Greek mythology and meant gigantic. They were by far the largest vessels of the British shipping company White Star Lines fleet, Teutonic was replaced by Olympic while Majestic was replaced by Titanic. Majestic would be back into her old spot on White Stars New York service after Titanics loss. The ships were constructed by the Belfast shipbuilders Harland and Wolff, cost considerations were relatively low on the agenda and Harland and Wolff was authorised to spend what it needed on the ships, plus a five percent profit margin
32.
Art museum
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An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art. Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection, the term is used for both public galleries, which are non-profit or publicly owned museums that display selected collections of art. On the other hand, private galleries refers to the commercial enterprises for the sale of art, however, both types of gallery may host traveling exhibits or temporary exhibitions including art borrowed from elsewhere. In broad terms, in North American usage, the word gallery alone often implies a private gallery, the term contemporary art gallery refers usually to a privately owned for-profit commercial gallery. These galleries are found clustered together in large urban centers. Smaller cities are home to at least one gallery, but they may also be found in towns or villages. Contemporary art galleries are open to the general public without charge, however. They usually profit by taking a portion of art sales, from 25% to 50% is typical, there are also many non-profit or collective galleries. Some galleries in cities like Tokyo charge the artists a flat rate per day, curators often create group shows that say something about a certain theme, trend in art, or group of associated artists. Galleries sometimes choose to represent artists exclusively, giving them the opportunity to show regularly, a gallerys definition can also include the artist cooperative or artist-run space, which often operates as a space with a more democratic mission and selection process. A vanity gallery is an art gallery that charges fees from artists in order to show their work, the shows are not legitimately curated and will frequently or usually include as many artists as possible. Most art professionals are able to identify them on an artists resume, University art museums and galleries constitute collections of art that are developed, owned, and maintained by all kinds of schools, community colleges, colleges, and universities. This phenomenon exists in both the West and East, making it a global practice, although largely overlooked, there are over 700 university art museums in America alone. This number, in comparison to other kinds of art museums, throughout history, large and expensive works of art have generally been commissioned by religious institutions and monarchs and been displayed in temples, churches, and palaces. Although these collections of art were private, they were made available for viewing for a portion of the public. In classical times, religious institutions began to function as a form of art gallery. Wealthy Roman collectors of engraved gems and other precious objects often donated their collections to temples and it is unclear how easy it was in practice for the public to view these items. At the Palace of Versailles, entrance was restricted to wearing the proper apparel – the appropriate accessories could be hired from shops outside
33.
Derek Hill (painter)
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Arthur Derek Hill, CBE, HRHA was an English portrait and landscape painter long resident in Ireland. Born at Southampton, in Hampshire, the son of a sugar trader, Hill first worked as a theatre designer in Leningrad in the 1930s. In the Second World War he registered as a conscientious objector and he was also an enthusiastic art collector and traveller, with a wide range of friends such as Bryan Guinness and Isaiah Berlin. Greta Garbo visited Hill in the 1970s, a visit which formed inspiration for Frank McGuinness 2010 play Greta Garbo Came to Donegal, in 1981, he donated his home, St. An exhibition of his work and personal art collection can be seen at the House and associated Glebe Gallery at Churchill, another collection of his work is held at Mottisfont Abbey. Many of his landscapes portray scenes from Tory Island, where he had a hut for years. This led on to the informal but busy Tory School of artists such as James Dixon and Anton Meenan, Hill was made a CBE in 1997. A Retrospective exhibition was arranged for and by him at the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1998, in 1999, he was made an honorary Irish citizen by Irish President Mary McAleese. He died at a London Hospital on 30 July 2000, aged 83, memorial services were held for him in Dublin at St Patricks Cathedral, as well as St Jamess Church, Piccadilly, London, and his local Church in Trentagh, County Donegal. In 1987 Grey Gowries illustrated essay on Hill was published by Quartet, gowrie considered his landscapes to be as good as those of Jack Yeats. A fuller biography of Hill by Bruce Arnold was published in 2010, in 1989, shortly before Hill’s death, he established a charitable trust which provides annual bursaries for the Derek Hill Foundation Scholarship residencies at the BSR. Winners of the award have included Emma Stibbon RA and David O’Kane, Derek Hill online Obituary of Derek Hill Biography Funeral arrangements made for artist Derek Hill St. Columba House
34.
Megawatt
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The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units defined as 1 joule per second and can be used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. Power has dimensions of M L2 T −3, when an objects velocity is held constant at one meter per second against constant opposing force of one newton the rate at which work is done is 1 watt. 1 W =1 V ⋅ A Two additional unit conversions for watt can be using the above equation. 1 W =1 V2 Ω =1 A2 ⋅ Ω Where ohm is the SI derived unit of electrical resistance, a person having a mass of 100 kilograms who climbs a 3-meter-high ladder in 5 seconds is doing work at a rate of about 600 watts. Mass times acceleration due to gravity times height divided by the time it takes to lift the object to the given height gives the rate of doing work or power. A laborer over the course of an 8-hour day can sustain an output of about 75 watts, higher power levels can be achieved for short intervals. The watt is named after the Scottish scientist James Watt for his contributions to the development of the steam engine, in 1960 the 11th General Conference on Weights and Measures adopted it for the measurement of power into the International System of Units. For additional examples of magnitude for multiples and submultiples of the watt, technologically important powers that are measured in femtowatts are typically found in reference to radio and radar receivers. For example, meaningful FM tuner performance figures for sensitivity, quieting and these input levels are often stated in dBf. This is 0.2739 microvolt across a 75-ohm load or 0.5477 microvolt across a 300-ohm load, the picowatt is equal to one trillionth of a watt. Technologically important powers that are measured in picowatts are typically used in reference to radio and radar receivers, acoustics, the nanowatt is equal to one billionth of a watt. Important powers that are measured in nanowatts are also used in reference to radio. The microwatt is equal to one millionth of a watt, compact solar cells for devices such as calculators and watches are typically measured in microwatts. The milliwatt is equal to one thousandth of a watt, a typical laser pointer outputs about five milliwatts of light power, whereas a typical hearing aid for people uses less than one milliwatt. Audio signals and other electronic signal levels are measured in dBm. The kilowatt is equal to one thousand watts and this unit is typically used to express the output power of engines and the power of electric motors, tools, machines, and heaters. It is also a unit used to express the electromagnetic power output of broadcast radio. One kilowatt is equal to 1.34 horsepower
35.
Irish round tower
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This is about Irish-style round towers. See Round tower for other types of towers, Irish round towers are early medieval stone towers of a type found mainly in Ireland, with two in Scotland and one on the Isle of Man. Though there is no agreement as to their purpose, it is thought that they may have been bell towers, places of refuge. Generally found in the vicinity of a church or monastery, the door of the faces the west doorway of the church. In this way it has been possible to determine without excavation the site of lost churches. Surviving towers range in height from 18 metres to 40 metres, and 12 metres to 18 metres in circumference, the masonry differs according to date, the earliest examples being uncut rubble, while the later ones are of neatly joined stone work. The lower portion is solid masonry with a single door raised two to three metres above, often only by a ladder. Within, in some, are two or more floors, usually of wood, and it is thought there were ladders in between. The windows, which are high up, are slits in the stone, the cap, is of stone, usually conical in shape, although some of the towers are now crowned by a later circle of battlements. The main reason for the entrance-way being built above ground level was to maintain the integrity of the building rather than for defence. The towers were built with very little foundation. The tower at Monasterboice has a foundation of only sixty centimetres. Building the door at ground level would weaken the tower, the buildings still stand today because their round shape is gale-resistant and the section of the tower underneath the entrance is packed with soil and stones. The distance from the ground to the doorway is somewhat greater than that from the first floor to the second, thus large. Excavations in the 1990s, revealing postholes, confirm that wooden steps were built, however, the use of ladders prior to the construction of such steps cannot be ruled out. The towers were built between the 9th and 12th centuries. In Ireland about 120 examples are thought once to have existed, most are in ruins, there are three examples outside Ireland. Two are in north-eastern Scotland, the Brechin Round Tower and the Abernethy Round Tower, famous examples are to be found at Devenish Island, and Glendalough, while that at Clondalkin is the only Round Tower in Ireland to still retain its original cap
36.
Tau Cross
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The Tau Cross is a form of the Christian cross symbol, named after the Greek letter it resembles. It is also variously St. Anthonys Cross, Old Testament Cross, Anticipatory Cross, Cross Commissee, Egyptian Cross, Advent Cross, Croce taumata, Saint Franciss Cross, the shape of the letter tau or T was interpreted as representing a crucifix from antiquity. The staurogram, from Greek ΣTAΥPOΣ cross, was a tau-rho ligature used to abbreviate the Greek word for cross in very early New Testament manuscripts such as P66, P45, St. Anthony of Egypt bore a cross in the form of a tau on his cloak. It is now used as a symbol of the Franciscan Order
37.
Kilnaboy
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Kilnaboy or Killinaboy is a village, townland and civil parish in County Clare, Ireland. It is in the Burren, an area rich in heritage, in 2011, the area had 347 inhabitants. Kilnaboy is a parish in the historic Barony of Inchiquin and its chief town, Corofin, is located on the southern extremity of the parish. It is mentioned with regard to the Papal taxation of 1302-06 and it is located on the southeastern border of the limestone hills of the Burren and extends both into the lowlands to the south and into the hills to the north. There are very extensive tracts of bog in the portion of the parish. According to the 1837 survey of Lewis, The surface is boldly diversified and embellished with the lakes of Inchiquin and Tadune. The lake of Inchiquin is about 2½ miles in circumference, and is situated at the base of a wooded range of hills. Most of Inchiquin Lough is located in the parish, except for an area in the southwest which lies in the parish of Rath. There are over 300 national monuments in the area including Leamaneh Castle, on Roughan Hill there are a large number of prehistoric structures including numerous wedge tombs such as Parknabinnia wedge tomb. Other wedge tombs are located in Tullycommon and Slievenaglasha townlands, Kilnaboy has a medieval church of 11th-century origin, repaired in 1715. The church includes a Sheela na Gig over the door and a cross on the church gable, there is a round tower nearby. Most of the making up the Burren National Park is located in Kilnaboy parish. It is often frequented by botanists and archeologists alike, glanquin house, Kilnaboy was used as an exterior of Craggy Island Parochial House in the hit comedy series Father Ted. Leamaneh, Inchiquin and Ballyportry castles are located in the parish, Ballyportry is completely restored, while the other two are ruins. Cross Inneenboy, a 12th century cross, cashlaungar, a stone ringfort located on the road to Carran. Kilnaboy is part of the parish of Corofin, Kilnaboy and Rath in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe, there are three churches in the parish, St Brigids, St Josephs and St Marys. Kilnaboy is home to the former Minister for defence, Tony Killeen, seamus Clancy is the first Clare footballer to win an All-Star award which was achieved in 1992. His brother Colm Clancy also played a role in that Munster championship winning side
