Ireland Facts

• An odd Irish birthday tradition is to lift the birthday child upside down and give his head a few gentle bumps on the floor for good luck. The number of bumps should allegedly correspond to the child’s age plus one.
• Catherine Kelly, who died in 1785, was allegedly the smallest Irish woman ever. With a total height of just 34 inches and a weight of 8 pounds, she was known as “The Irish Fairy.”
• According to some historians, over 40% of all American presidents have had some Irish ancestry.
• The lyrics to "Danny Boy" were allegedly written by an English barrister named Fred Weatherly, while he was riding on a commuter train.
• The national symbol of Ireland is the Celtic harp, not the shamrock.

• The Irish tricolor flag, created in 1848, was designed to reflect the country's political realities. Orange stands for Irish Protestants, green for Irish Catholics and the white stripe for the hope that peace might eventually be reached between them.
•  In 1997, Ireland saw its first ever divorce granted. It is that uncommon :)
• Religion: Roman Catholic 88.4%, Church of Ireland 3%, other Christian 1.6%, other 1.5%, unspecified 2%, none 3.5% (2002 census)
• Ireland is slightly larger than the state of West Virginia.