My travel in Ireland, by Charles-Hugo.

I went to Ireland for linguistic holidays. I went to Georges and Florence’s house, my father’s friends. I would like to talk to you about this beautifull country.

1) Official symbols and languages

The official symbol of the Republic of Ireland is the Irish harp. You can see it on the money. Others symbols are the “clover with three sheet”, used by the National Rugby Team, the sheep with black head and the Guiness beer!

There are two official languages. The first is Gaelic but most of people speak English.

History and demography

In 1920, the island has been split into two. In the North, Northern Ireland is owned by Great Britain.

In the past (18th and 19th century), Ireland has known greats famines, so, many people emigrated. It is the only country in the world where there is less people in the country than in the rest of the world. Most of them emigrated to USA.

In Ireland, there is more men than women because Irish women are popular in Great Britain to be nuns or teachers in Catholic schools. Today, there are twice more sheep than inhabitants.

3) Weather

Ireland is a very rainy country. It rains up to 250 days a year. Irish people say: “In Ireland, the weather is nice… several times a day!”

4) Sport

Rugby is a very popular sport, part of the Irish traditional culture. The Irish National Rugby Union Team has won 18 times the “6 Nations Tournament”. Foot-Ball also became popular.

Roads

In 2005, the speed limits have been changed from miles/hour into kilometer/hour. Seven percent of roads are made of ground!

In Ireland, I appreciated the beautiful landscapes, nature, and beautiful towns. People are very welcome and friendly.

The things I didn’t appreciate were their food: there is no schedule time to eat and we eat jam at every meal! I didn’t like the bad weather…

I keep a very good souvenir about this trip. I improve my English and I am now able to do more things by myself. In the future, I would like to do new travels to other countries.