Fun Ireland Facts for Kids - Interesting Information about Ireland
 
Ireland Facts for Kids
Learn some interesting information about Ireland while enjoying  a range of fun facts and trivia that's perfect for kids!
Read  about the national symbols, Irish novelists, its national holiday,  major cities, language, favorite sport and much more.
 
Ireland is called Éire in Irish and is also known as the Republic of Ireland.
Ireland covers five-sixths of the island of the same name, the  remaining one-sixth of the island is Northern   Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.
Irish, or Irish Gaelic is  the country's first official language, however the second official language  English is more commonly spoken.
There are over 4.75 million  people living in Ireland  as of July 2013.
The Irish capital, Dublin is home to over one  quarter of the total population.
Other Irish cities of note include  Cork, Limerick and Galway.
Irish novelists have made  major contributions to world literature. Famous writers include Jonathan Swift  - Gulliver's Travels, Bram Stoker - Dracula and James Joyce - Ulysses.
Ireland has won the Eurovision Song Contest a record seven  times.
A number of multinational  technology corporations have setup European headquarters in Ireland helping  to make it one of the largest exporters of hardware and software-related goods and  services in the world.
Ireland was one of the initial 12 European Union nations that  began using the euro currency in 2002.
Saint Patrick's Day is Irelands  official national holiday. The 17th of March holiday is celebrated in Ireland  and also embraced by many other countries around the world.
The world famous Guinness  beer is from Ireland, it  originated in the Dublin  brewery of Arthur Guinness.
Gaelic football and hurling  are traditional sports of Ireland  and remain the most popular sports in the country.
At the Olympics, boxing is Ireland's most  successful sport.
In 2002 Ireland was the  first country in the world to have an environmental tax for plastic shopping  bags and in 2004 it was the first to introduce a public smoking ban.
Shamrock (type of clover)  is the national symbol of Ireland  and along with the harp it is a registered trademark of the country.
For more information, check out maps of Ireland or take a closer look at the Irish flag .
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