Concept

Irish people

Overview

The Irish are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common ancestry, history and culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has been continually inhabited for more than 10,000 years (see Prehistoric Ireland). For most of Ireland's recorded history, the Irish have been primarily a Gaelic people (see Gaelic Ireland). From the 9th century, small numbers of Vikings settled in Ireland, becoming the Norse–Gaels. Anglo-Normans also conquered parts of Ireland in the 12th century, while England's 16th/17th century conquest and colonisation of Ireland brought many English and Lowland Scots to parts of the island, especially the north. Today, Ireland is made up of the Republic of Ireland (officially called Ireland) and Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom). The people of Northern Ireland hold various national identities including Irish, British or some combination thereof.

The Irish have their own unique customs, language, music, dance, sports, cuisine and mythology. Although Irish (Gaeilge) was their main language in the past, today most Irish people speak English as their first language. Historically, the Irish nation was made up of kin groups or clans, and the Irish also had their own religion, law code, alphabet and style of dress.

There have been many notable Irish people throughout history. After Ireland's conversion to Christianity, Irish missionaries and scholars exerted great influence on Western Europe, and the Irish came to be seen as a nation of "saints and scholars". The 6th-century Irish monk and missionary Columbanus is regarded as one of the "fathers of Europe", followed by saints Cillian and Fergal. The scientist Robert Boyle is considered the "father of chemistry", and Robert Mallet one of the "fathers of seismology". Irish literature has produced famous writers in both Irish- and English-language traditions, such as Eoghan Rua Ó Súilleabháin, Dáibhí Ó Bruadair, Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, W. B. Yeats, Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Eavan Boland, and Seamus Heaney. Notable Irish explorers include Brendan the Navigator, Sir Robert McClure, Sir Alexander Armstrong, Sir Ernest Shackleton and Tom Crean. By some accounts, the first European child born in North America had Irish descent on both sides. Many presidents of the United States have had some Irish ancestry.

The population of Ireland is about 6.9 million, but it is estimated that 50 to 80 million people around the world have varying degrees of Irish ancestry. Historically, emigration from Ireland has been the result of conflict, famine and economic issues. People of Irish descent are found mainly in English-speaking countries, especially Great Britain, the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. There are also significant numbers in Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and Germany. The United States has the most people of Irish descent, while in Australia those of Irish descent are a higher percentage of the population than in any other country outside Ireland. Many Icelanders have Irish and Scottish Gaelic ancestors due to transportation there as slaves by the Vikings during their settlement of Iceland.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

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The consequence of this competition is that it is impossible for the tenants to live much better than the labourers, by reason of the high rents paid. The Irish people is thus held in crushing poverty, from which it cannot free itself under our present social conditions. These people live in the most wretched clay huts, scarcely good enough for cattle-pens, have scant food all winter long, or, as the report above…
Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844 with a Preface written in 1892
States what Irish people is; names Irish people.
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He died in 1152. There is much doubt as to whether this Stephen was Stephen de Garland, _dapifer_, or another Stephen, who was royal chancellor under Louis the Fat. A charter of the year 1124 is signed by both Stephen _dapifer_ and Stephen _cancellarius_. Probably, however, the authority identifying Stephen _dapifer_ as Stephen de Garland, seneschal of France, is trustworthy.
Peter Abelard, Historia Calamitatum
The author is tied to Irish people in the knowledge graph.
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Upon this occasion _Abelard_, to continue the memory of the comfort he had received in this desart, dedicated his new built chapel to the Holy Ghost, by the name of the Paraclete, or Comforter. The envy of Alberic and Lotulf, which had long since persecuted him, was strangely revived, upon seeing so many scholars flock to him from all parts, notwithstanding the inconvenience of the place, and in contempt of…
Peter Abelard, Letters of Abelard and Heloise
The author is tied to Irish people in the knowledge graph.
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Irish people

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