Man of Aran (1934) is a fictional documentary by Robert J. Flaherty about life on the Aran Islands off the western coast of Ireland. It portrays characters living in premodern conditions, documenting their daily routines such as fishing off high cliffs, farming potatoes where there is little soil, and hunting for huge basking sharks to get liver oil for lamps. Some situations are fabricated, such as one scene in which the shark fishermen are almost lost at sea in a sudden gale. Additionally, the family members shown are not actually related, having been chosen from among the islanders for their photogenic qualities.

George Stoney's 1978 documentary How the Myth was Made, which is included in the special features of the DVD, relates that the Aran Islanders had not hunted sharks in this way for over fifty years at the time the film was made. Man of Aran is Flaherty's re-creation of culture on the edges of modern society, even though much of the primitive life depicted had been left behind by the 1930s. It is impressive, however, for its drama, for its spectacular cinematography of landscape and seascape, and for its concise editing.

The UK rock band British Sea Power was asked to record a new soundtrack for the film's 2009 DVD release, performing the score at a series of live events in the UK including one accompanying the film itself at the British Film Institute.

The Cripple of Inishmaan by Martin McDonagh is a play set on the Aran Islands at the time of the filming of Man of Aran.

The film won the Mussolini Cup for best foreign film at the Venice Film Festival.

Cast

Colman 'Tiger' King — A Man of Aran

Maggie Dirrane — His Wife

Michael Dillane — Their Son

Pat Mullin — Shark Hunter

Patch 'Red Beard' Ruadh — Shark Hunter

Patcheen Faherty — Shark Hunter

Tommy O'Rourke — Shark Hunter

'Big Patcheen' Conneely of the West — Canoeman

Stephen Dirrane — Canoeman

Pat McDonough — Canoeman

References

External links

Category:1934 films Category:British films Category:Aran Islands Category:Films directed by Robert Flaherty Category:Black-and-white films Category:English-language films Category:ethnofiction films

Name	Samus Aran
Caption	Samus Aran in her Varia Suit, as she appears in the 2007 video game
Series	Metroid
Firstgame	Metroid (1986)
Creator	Makoto Kano
Artist	Hiroji Kiyotake
Voiceactor	Jennifer Hale (2002–2007)Alésia Glidewell (2008)Jessica Martin (2010)
Japanactor	Ai Kobayashi ()
Liveactor	Chisato Morishita ( commercial)

is the protagonist of the Metroid video game series. Introduced in the 1986 video game Metroid, Samus is a female ex-army soldier bounty hunter usually fitted with a powered armor suit with weapons that include beams and missiles. Throughout the series, she executes missions given to her by the Galactic Federation while hunting the antagonistic Space Pirates and their leader, Ridley, along with the energy-draining extraterrestrial parasites called Metroids. Orphaned at a young age, Samus was brought up by the extraterrestrial avianoid Chozo race, who trained her as a warrior. The Chozo also gave her the Power Suit, and infused her with their blood in order to create a perfect warrior. The suit gives Samus the ability to transform herself into a sphere called the Morph Ball in order to roll through tight areas such as tunnels.

Samus has appeared in all eleven Metroid video games as of 2010. She has also been featured in media outside of the series, including the comic book version of , all three games in the Super Smash Bros. series of multiplayer fighting games, and the video games (1996), Kirby Super Star (1996), and Kirby's Dream Land 3 (1997), in which she makes cameo appearances. Makoto Kano created the characters for the original Metroid, while Hiroji Kiyotake designed the main protagonist Samus. The idea for the character to be female came up partway through the development of Metroid, when the developers determined that it would be an interesting twist to reveal her as female at the end of the game. Samus is one of the first major female protagonists in a video game, and her popularity among fans has helped her top several lists of the best video game heroines.

Development

The style for the original Metroid game was designed to be a cross between the side-scrolling gameplay of the Super Mario games and the exploration and puzzle-solving aspects of The Legend of Zelda series, with inspiration from science fiction. The game's characters were conceived by Makoto Kano, Samus is able to collapse into a ball to travel through tight areas. The ability, called the Maru Mari in the original Metroid (1986), and later the more popular title of Morph Ball in Super Metroid, was conceived by the developers because it required less effort to animate than "a cyborg crawling on all fours", and the producer for Metroid, Gunpei Yokoi, took advantage of this shortcut.

The game's atmosphere was influenced by Ridley Scott's film, Alien (1979). Samus was one of the first major female protagonists in a video game. Sakamoto noted that during the course of the Metroid series, developers constantly try to express Samus's femininity without turning her into a sex object. Samus's image was based on actress Kim Basinger from 9 Weeks and My Stepmother Is an Alien.Sakamoto and Kiyotake said that the character's last name "Aran" was taken from Edison Arantes do Nascimento, the birth name of famous soccer player Pelé. Samus, who is tall and weighs while in armor, now works as a freelance bounty hunter, and is called on by the Galactic Federation to execute missions "because of her superior skills and sense of justice". The Gunship was destroyed in Metroid Fusion when she crashed it into an asteroid belt.

In Metroid Prime (2002), Samus travels to the planet Tallon IV, which contains a Chozo colony in ruins and a Space Pirate base. There she learns of Phazon, a mysterious mutagen that can alter the genetic material of an organism. Samus is eventually able to access the source of the planet's Phazon contamination, a meteor impact crater, where she defeats the Phazon-infused creature Metroid Prime. In (2004), Samus is sent to the planet Aether, a Phazon meteor-ravaged planet split into light and dark dimensions. There she battles the Ing, creatures that are able to possess other organisms, and Dark Samus, an evil doppelgänger of herself formed from the remains of Metroid Prime. In Metroid Prime Hunters (2006), Samus competes against six rival bounty hunters in a race to recover an alien ultimate weapon. In (2007), Samus is infected by Phazon and is slowly corrupted by the mutagen while she works to prevent it from spreading to other planets. By the end of the game, she renders all Phazon inert by destroying its original source, the planet Phaaze, and defeats Dark Samus. An article at 1UP.com describes Samus in the Captain N comics as "rambunctious, reckless, and gets into pissing contests with Lana over Kevin's affections, which makes for some of the most entertaining situations in the series". The reviewer added, "Not to say that the deadly quiet, contemplative Samus who fights for truth and justice in the more recent Metroid games isn't awesome, but there's something compelling about a Samus who's greedy and conniving—and is proud to admit it."

Comic book and manga adaptations of Metroid games were also developed. Samus is a playable character in all three games in the Super Smash Bros. series of multiplayer fighting games, where she can use her array of weapons in combat against characters from other video games. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008) also features an alternate form of Samus called Zero Suit Samus, in which the heroine loses her Power Suit and has a different set of movements and attacks. She also stars in the Subspace Emissary fighting R.O.B. with Pikachu. Samus also cameos in the Galactic Pinball (1995), (1996), Kirby Super Star (1996), and Kirby's Dream Land 3 (1997) video games. Samus also makes a non-playable appearance in the Nintendo 3DS game (created by Metroid: Other M co-developers Team Ninja).

Samus also appeared in an episode of MAD.

Reception

Samus has been generally well-received by video gamers. Paul O'Connor, the lead game designer for Sammy Studios and a fan of the Metroid series, described Samus as a "quiet and mysterious presence in Metroid Prime". IGN remarked that Samus has a cult following greater than most other female video game characters.

On IGN, Samus was chosen as the most requested character who should have her own movie franchise by the website's users. The website remarked that her tragic past makes her a perfect candidate for a movie, especially the loss of both her parents to the Space Pirates. Among their list of voted characters, IGN considered Samus to be the video game character that "could lead the pack of video game adaptations that actually manage to live up to the source material". The website believed that Samus's theme song should be "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" by Aerosmith because she "spends her time running around in a manly battle suit blasting first and taking names later". Samus's popularity led to a toy line; First 4 Figures, a United Kingdom-based toy company, built 2,500 Varia Suit Samus figures, selling all of them. Nintendo Power listed Samus as their third favourite hero, citing her bravery in the face of dangerous situations. Samus ranked fifth on GameDaily's Top 10 Smash Bros. Characters list. In his review of Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64, Former GameSpot editor Jeff Gerstmann called Samus one of the characters that made Nintendo "what it is today". IGN ranked Samus as the third-best character for Super Smash Bros. Samus appeared in multiple GameFAQs "Character Battle" contests, winning the "Character Battle V" in 2006. GameSpot featured her in their poll "All Time Greatest Game Hero".

Samus's portrayal in Metroid: Other M was heavily criticized by many. Unlike other Metroid games, where Samus took full advantage of weapons and abilities available, she deactivated most of them until Commander Adam Malkovich authorized their use, despite obvious uses for them. For example, she did not turn on her heat-resistant Varia Suit, which would have let her avoid taking damage from high-temperature rooms, until Adam approved it after she had gone through multiple such rooms. The justification given was a fear of the destructive power of her weapons, particularly her Power Bombs, but this did not explain the disabling of purely defensive parts such as the Varia Suit. This degree of subservience by a woman to a man was taken by some as a "sexist" portrayal. Samus's implied feelings for Adam, combined with her looking to him as "a father figure", made for the perception of an Electra complex. Abbie Heppe wrote that Samus "cannot possibly wield the amount of power she possesses unless directed to by a man", though she also went as far to criticize people who liked the game stating she would never talk to a person who liked the game ever again. Game Informer listed her 1st on their list of the "Top 10 Dorks of 2010", citing her "lame backstory" in Other M.

Not all opinions on Samus' portrayal in Other M were negative. An article on Koku Gamer titled "The Psychology of Samus and the Roles of Adam and Ridley" defended Other M Samus.

Gender

As a female in a male-dominated role, Samus has been considered a breakthrough for female characters in video games. They also listed the discovery of her gender as the greatest moment in Nintendo history. The Irish Times found it refreshing to learn that the series' protagonist, who is "well disguised under the suit of heavy armour", is female. In the book Gaming Lives in the Twenty-First Century: Literate Connections by Gail Hawisher, Cynthia Selfe, and James Paul Gee, they wrote that Samus is perhaps the most nonsexualized female video-game character ever, a belief shared by Steve Rabin, who in Introduction to Game Development also considers Samus as one of Nintendo's most popular video game mascots. Justin Hoeger wrote in The Sacramento Bee: "Unlike most other female video game characters, Samus isn't some husky-voiced bimbo in tight leather included only for sex appeal. Samus is tough, silent, heavily armed and spends most of her time in a bulky suit of high-tech Power Armor." She was listed on GameDaily's list of hottest blondes in video games, described as both one of Nintendo's most famous protagonists as well as a "curvaceous, drop-dead-gorgeous woman".

The Toronto Star argued that the sexual politics surrounding Samus and the Metroid series needed to stop, as they considered it unwarranted. They remarked that although Samus is female, it is not a significant characteristic after considering the fact that she spends most of her time in a suit of armor that "precludes creepy ogling". Rupert Goodwins of The Independent wrote, "Samus Aran [...] is apparently female, although the Transformer-like suit she wears could just as easily contain a large centipede; it's hardly a breakthrough for feminism."

GameDaily ranked Samus seventh on a list of the Top 50 Hottest Game Babes, describing her as "a refreshing change of pace, a tough, no nonsense warrior that isn't afraid to remove her famous orange and yellow power suit and let her hair down, especially to reveal her skin tight clothing". The website also ranked her number one on a list of the Top 25 Nintendo Characters of All Time. In another article, they listed the "smart and sexy heroine" archetype as one of their Top 25 Video Game Archetypes, using Samus as an example. UGO.com ranked Samus 11th on a list of the Top 11 Girls of Gaming, eighth on a list of the Top 50 Hottest Sci-Fi Girls, and twentieth in a list of Top 100 Heroes of All-Time. The website noted that the original "jaw-dropping moment" was when Samus was revealed to be a woman in the original Metroid, a moment which Game Informer considers to be the greatest twist in video games. GameTrailers named Samus number one on a list of the Top Ten Women of Gaming, and number three among Axe's Top Ten Gamer Babes.

References

External links

Samus Aran at IGN

Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1986 Category:Intelligent Systems characters Category:Metroid Category:Nintendo protagonists Category:Super Smash Bros. fighters Category:Female video game characters Category:Fictional adoptees Category:Fictional bodyguards Category:Fictional bounty hunters Category:Fictional cyborgs Category:Fictional explorers Category:Fictional orphans Category:Fictional women soldiers and warriors Category:Fictional police officers Category:Fictional government agents Category:Fictional extraterrestrial-human hybrids Category:Fictional genetically engineered characters Category:Fictional characters who can move at superhuman speeds

The Irish people (, na hÉireannaigh) are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years (according to archaeological studies, see Prehistoric Ireland), with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha Dé Danann and the Milesians.

The main groups that interacted with the Irish in the Middle Ages include the Scottish people and the Vikings. Due to this contact, Icelanders are especially noted for having some Irish descent. The Anglo-Norman invasion of the High Middle Ages, the English plantations and the subsequent English rule of the country introduced the Normans and Flemish into Ireland. Welsh, Picts, Bretons, and small parties of Gauls and even Anglo-Saxons are known in Ireland from much earlier times.

There have been many notable Irish people throughout history. The 6th century Irish monk and missionary Columbanus is regarded as one of the "fathers of Europe", followed by Kilian of Würzburg and Vergilius of Salzburg. The scientist Robert Boyle is considered the "father of chemistry". Famous Irish explorers include Brendan the Navigator, Ernest Shackleton, and Tom Crean. By some accounts, the first European child born in North America had Irish descent on both sides; while an Irishman was also the first European to set foot on American soil in Columbus' expedition of 1492.

Large populations of people of Irish ethnicity live in many western countries, particularly in English-speaking countries. Historically, emigration has been caused by politics, famine and economic issues. An estimated 50 to 80 million people make up the Irish diaspora today, which includes Great Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Jamaica, Trinidad, South Africa, New Zealand, Mexico, France, Germany and Brazil. The largest number of people of Irish descent live in the United States—about ten times more than in Ireland itself. However, it had been recognised that the estimated numbers of the Irish dispora could be hugely inaccurate, including the majority of ancestral censuses conducted within the United States and Canada, in which it requires self-reported ancestry, often at times completely inaccurate. The majority of people living within immigrated populations (i.e. Australia, United States, Canada etc.) are of mixed ancestry due to decades, at times centuries, of inter-marriage with other immigrants or indigenous populations, hence claiming one specific ancestry is often at times personal preference or perceived ancestry rather than fact. The author Jim Webb also suggests that a large number, he suspects near half of claimed Irish-American ancestry, especially for Protestants, are actually Ulster Scots (Scottish people who populated Northern Ireland, not to be confused with Scottish People)

Origins and antecedents

In its summary of their article 'Who were the Celts?' the National Museum Wales note "It is possible that future genetic studies of ancient and modern human DNA may help to inform our understanding of the subject. However, early studies have, so far, tended to produce implausible conclusions from very small numbers of people and using outdated assumptions about linguistics and archaeology." Nineteenth century anthropology studied the physical characteristics of Irish people in minute detail

Prehistoric and legendary ancestors

tomb, 6000 BC]] During the past 8,000 years of inhabitation, Ireland has witnessed many different peoples arrive on its shores. The ancient peoples of Ireland—such as the creators of the Céide Fields and Newgrange—are almost unknown. Neither their languages nor terms they used to describe themselves have survived. As late as the middle centuries of the 1st millennium the inhabitants of Ireland did not appear to have a collective name for themselves. Ireland itself was known by a number of different names, including Banba, Scotia, Fódla, Ériu by the islanders, Hibernia and Scotia to the Romans, and Ierne to the Greeks.

Scotland takes its name from Scotus which in Latin translates into Irishman (masculine form of Scoti. This is in reference to the Gaelic settlers from Ireland which was named Scotia (feminine form of Scoti) during this Epoch. The character is almost certainly a mere personification of a supposed migration by a group or groups from Iberia to Ireland. It is from this that the Irish were, as late as the 1800s, popularly known as "Milesian". Medieval Irish historians, over the course of several centuries, created the genealogical dogma that all Irish were descendants of Míl, ignoring the fact that their own works demonstrated inhabitants in Ireland prior to his supposed arrival.

This doctrine was adapted between the 10th and 12th centuries, as demonstrated in the works of Eochaidh Ua Floinn (936-1004); Flann Mainistrech (died 25 November 1056); Tanaide (died c. 1075) and Gilla Cómáin mac Gilla Samthainde (fl. 1072). Many of their compositions were incorporated into the compendium Lebor Gabála Érenn.

This tradition was enhanced and embedded in the tradition by successive historians such as Dubsúilech Ó Maolconaire (died 1270); Seán Mór Ó Dubhagáin (d.1372); Giolla Íosa Mór Mac Fir Bhisigh (fl. 1390–1418); Pilip Ballach Ó Duibhgeannáin (fl. 1579–1590) and Flann Mac Aodhagáin (alive 1640). The first Irish historian who questioned the reliability of such accounts was Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh (murdered 1671).

Genetics

The frequency of Y-DNA haplogroup R1b (the most common haplogroup in Europe) is highest in the populations of Atlantic Europe and, due to European emigration, in North America, South America, and Australia. In Ireland and the Basque Country its frequency exceeds 90% and approaches 100% in Western Ireland. The incidence of R1b is 70% or more in parts of northern and western England, northern Iberia, western France, Wales and Scotland. R1b's incidence declines gradually with distance from these areas but it is still common across the central areas of Europe. R1b is the most frequent haplogroup in Germany, and is common in southern Scandinavia and in Italy. This led to writers, such as Stephen Oppenheimer and Brian Sykes, to conclude that the majority of Irish people (and indeed all natives of the British Isles) primarily descend from an "Iberian refugium" population bottleneck dating back to the last ice age.

However, this haplogroup is now believed by some to have originated over 12,000 years more recently than previously thought. It thus follows that Irish and many other R1b subclades will be considerably younger than the maximum age of 18,000 years. The previous estimates, based on inaccurate dating methods (30,000+ years BP), made R1b and its subclades seem to be more useful indicators of the paleolithic era populations of western Europe than they actually are. According to recent 2009 studies by Bramanti et al. and Malmström et al. on mtDNA, related western European populations appear to be largely from the neolithic and not paleolithic era, as previously thought. There was discontinuity between mesolithic central Europe and modern European populations mainly due to a extremely high frequency of haplogroup U (particularly U5) types in mesolithic central European sites.

That there exists an especially strong genetic association between the Irish and the Basques, one even closer than the relationship between other west Europeans, was first challenged in 2005, and in 2007 scientists began looking at the possibility of a more recent Mesolithic- or even Neolithic-era entrance of R1b into Europe. A new study published in 2010 by Balaresque et al. implies either a Mesolithic- or Neolithic- (not Paleolithic) era entrance of R1b into Europe. However, all these genetic studies are in agreement that the Irish and Basque (along with the Welsh) share the highest percentage of R1b populations.

History

Early expansion and the coming of Christianity

imparting his blessing to the "Twelve Apostles of Ireland"]]

One Roman historian records that the Irish people were divided into "sixteen different nations" or tribes. Traditional histories assert that the Romans never attempted to conquer Ireland, although it may have been considered.

Among the most famous people of ancient Irish history are the High Kings of Ireland, such as Cormac mac Airt and Niall of the Nine Hostages, and the semi-legendary Fianna. The 20th century writer Seumas MacManus wrote that even if the Fianna and the Fenian Cycle were purely fictional, it would still be representative of the character of the Irish people:

The introduction of Christianity to the Irish people during the 5th century brought a radical change to the Irish people's foreign relations. The only military raid abroad recorded after that century is a presumed invasion of Wales, which according to a Welsh manuscript may have taken place around the 7th century. while Saints Kilian and Vergilius became the patron saints of Würzburg in Germany and Salzburg in Austria, respectively. Irish missionaries founded monasteries outside Ireland, such as Iona Abbey, the Abbey of St Gall in Switzerland, and Bobbio Abbey in Italy.

Common to both the monastic and the secular bardic schools were Irish and Latin. With Latin, the early Irish scholars "show almost a like familiarity that they do with their own Gaelic". There is evidence also that Hebrew and Greek were studied, the latter probably being taught at Iona.

Since the time of Charlemagne, Irish scholars had a considerable presence in the Frankish court, where they were renowned for their learning. The most significant Irish intellectual of the early monastic period was the 9th century Johannes Scotus Eriugena, an outstanding philosopher in terms of originality. He had considerable familiarity with the Greek language, and translated many works into Latin, affording access to the Cappadocian Fathers and the Greek theological tradition, previously almost unknown in the Latin West. The first name of Njáll Þorgeirsson, the chief protagonist of Njáls saga, is a variation of the Irish name Neil. According to Eirik the Red's Saga, the first European couple to have a child born in North America was descended from the Viking Queen of Dublin, Aud the Deep-minded, and a Gaelic slave brought to Iceland. It is very common for people of Gaelic origin to have the English versions of their surnames beginning with "O'" or "Mc" (less frequently "Mac" and occasionally shortened to just "Ma" at the beginning of the name).

"O'" comes from the Gaelic Ó which in turn came from Ua, which means "grandson", or "descendant" of a named person. Names that begin with "O'" include Ó Briain (O'Brien), Ó Cheallaigh (O'Kelly), Ó Conchobhair (O'Connor), Ó Domhnaill (O'Donnell), Ó Cuilinn (Cullen), Ó Máille (O'Malley), Ó Néill (O'Neill), Ó Sé (O'Shea), Ó Súilleabháin (O'Sullivan), and Ó Tuathail (O'Toole).

"Mac" or "Mc" means "son". Names that begin with Mac include Mac Diarmada (MacDermott), Mac Cárthaigh (MacCarthy), Mac Domhnaill (MacDonnell), and Mac Mathghamhna (MacMahon, MacMahony, etc.). However, "Mac" and "Mc" are not mutually exclusive, so, for example, both "MacCarthy" and "McCarthy" are used. While both "Mac" and "O'" prefixes are Gaelic in origin, "Mac" is more common in Scotland and in Ulster than in the rest of Ireland; furthermore, "Ó" is far less common in Scotland than it is in Ireland.

There are a number of Irish surnames derived from Norse personal names, including Mac Suibhne (Sweeney) from Swein and McAuliffe from "Olaf". The name Cotter, local to County Cork, derives from the Norse personal name Ottir. The name Reynolds is an Anglicization of the Gaelic Mac Raghnaill, itself originating from the Norse names Randal or Reginald. Though these names were of Viking derivation some of the families who bear them appear to have had Gaelic origins.

"Fitz" is an old Norman French variant of the Old French word fils (variant spellings filz, fiuz, fiz, etc.), used by the Normans, meaning son. The Normans themselves were descendants of Vikings, who had settled in Normandy and thoroughly adopted the French language and culture. With the exception of the Gaelic-Irish Fitzpatrick (Mac Giolla Phádraig) surname, all names that begin with Fitz - including FitzGerald (Mac Gearailt), Fitzsimons (Mac Síomóin/Mac an Ridire) and FitzHenry (Mac Anraí) - are descended from the initial Norman settlers. A small number of Irish families of Gaelic origin came to use a Norman form of their original surname—so that Mac Giolla Phádraig became Fitzpatrick — while some assimilated so well that the Gaelic name was dropped in favor of a new, Hiberno-Norman form. Another common Irish surname of Norman Irish origin is the 'de' habitational prefix, meaning 'of' and originally signifying prestige and land ownership. Examples include de Búrca (Burke), de Brún, de Barra (Barry), de Stac (Stack), de Tiúit, de Faoite (White), de Londras (Landers), de Paor (Power). The Irish surname "Walsh" (in Gaelic Breathnach) was routinely given to settlers of Welsh origin, who had come during and after the Norman invasion. The Joyce and Griffin/Griffith (Gruffydd) families are also of Welsh origin.

The Mac Lochlainn, Ó Maol Seachlainn, Ó Maol Seachnaill, Ó Conchobhair Mac Loughlin and Mac Diarmada Mac Loughlin families, all distinct, are now all subsumed together as MacLoughlin. The full surname usually indicated which family was in question, something that has being diminished with the loss of prefixes such as Ó and Mac. Different branches of a family with the same surname sometimes used distinguishing epithets, which sometimes became surnames in their own right. Hence the chief of the clan Ó Cearnaigh (Kearney) was referred to as An Sionnach (Fox), which his descendants use to this day. Similar surnames are often found in Scotland for many reasons, such as the use of a common language and mass Irish migration to Scotland in the late 19th and early to mid-20th centuries.

Late Medieval and Tudor Ireland

, from a drawing of 1521 by Albrecht Dürer]] The Irish people of the Late Middle Ages were active as traders on the European continent. They were distinguished from the English (who only used their own language or French) in that they only used Latin abroad—a language "spoken by all educated people throughout Gaeldom". The explorer Christopher Columbus visited Ireland to gather information about the lands to the west.

An English report of 1515 states that the Irish people were divided into over sixty Gaelic lordships and thirty Anglo-Irish lordships. The English term for these lordships was "nation" or "country". The various branches of Irish learning—including law, poetry, history and genealogy, and medicine—were associated with hereditary learned families. The poetic families included the Uí Dhálaigh (Daly) and the MacGrath. Learning was not exclusive to the hereditary learned families, however; one such example is Cathal Mac Manus, the 15th century diocesan priest who wrote the Annals of Ulster. Boyle was an atomist, and is best known for Boyle's Law. The hydrographer Sir Francis Beaufort (1774–1857), an Irish naval officer of Huguenot descent, was the creator of the Beaufort scale for indicating wind force. George Boole (1815–1864), the mathematician who invented Boolean algebra, spent the latter part of his life in Cork. The 19th century physicist George Stoney introduced the idea and the name of the electron. He was the uncle of another notable physicist, George FitzGerald.

The Irish bardic system, along with the Gaelic culture and learned classes, were upset by the plantations, and went into decline. Among the last of the true bardic poets were Brian Mac Giolla Phádraig (c. 1580–1652) and Dáibhí Ó Bruadair (1625–1698). The Irish poets of the late 17th and 18th centuries moved toward more modern dialects. Among the most prominent of this period were Séamas Dall Mac Cuarta, Peadar Ó Doirnín, Art Mac Cumhaigh, Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Ghunna, and Seán Clárach Mac Domhnaill. Irish Catholics continued to receive an education in secret "hedgeschools", in spite of the Penal laws. A knowledge of Latin was common among the poor Irish mountaineers in the 17th century, who spoke it on special occasions, while cattle were bought and sold in Greek in the mountain market-places of Kerry.

For a comparatively small population of about 6 million people, Ireland has made an enormous contribution to literature. Irish literature encompasses the Irish and English languages. Notable Irish writers include Jonathan Swift (1667–1745), Laurence Sterne, Oliver Goldsmith, Bram Stoker, James Joyce. Among the famous Irish poets are William Butler Yeats, Francis Ledwidge, "A.E." Russell and Seamus Heaney. Irish playwrights include Oscar Wilde, Lady Gregory, John Millington Synge, Edward Plunkett, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, Sean O'Casey, Brendan Behan and Brian Friel. Some of the 20th century writers in the Irish language include Brian O'Nolan, Peig Sayers, Muiris Ó Súilleabháin, and Máirtín Ó Direáin.

19th Century

The Great Hunger

20th century

In 1921, with the formation of the Irish Free State, six counties in the northeast remained in the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland. It is predominately religion, historical, and political differences that divide the two communities of (nationalism and unionism). Four polls taken between 1989 and 1994 revealed that when asked to state their national identity, over 79% of Northern Ireland Protestants replied "British" or "Ulster" with 3% or less replying "Irish", while over 60% of Northern Ireland Catholics replied "Irish" with 13% or less replying "British" or "Ulster". A survey in 1999 showed that 72% of Northern Ireland Protestants considered themselves "British" and 2% "Irish", with 68% of Northern Ireland Catholics considering themselves "Irish" and 9% "British". The survey also revealed that 78% of Protestants and 48% of all respondents felt "Strongly British", while 77% of Catholics and 35% of all respondents felt "Strongly Irish". 51% of Protestants and 33% of all respondents felt "Not at all Irish", while 62% of Catholics and 28% of all respondents felt "Not at all British".

Ulster people surnames tend to differ based on which community families originate from. Ulster Protestants tend to have either English or Scottish surnames while Catholics tend to have Irish surnames, although this is not always the case. There are many Catholics in Northern Ireland with surnames such as Emerson, Whitson, Livingstone, Hardy, Tennyson, MacDonald (this surname is also common with Highland Roman Catholics in Scotland), Dunbar, Groves, Legge, Scott, Gray, Page, Stewart, Roberts, Rowntree, Henderson, et al., due to intermarriage.

Recent history

Religions

In the Republic of Ireland, as of 2006, 3,681,446 people or about 86.83% of the population claim to be Roman Catholic. In Northern Ireland about 53.1% of the population are Protestant (21.1% Presbyterian, 15.5% Church of Ireland, 3.6% Methodist, 6.1% Other Christian) whilst a large minority are Catholic at approximately 43.8%, as of 2001.

The 31st International Eucharistic Congress was held in Dublin in 1932, that year being the supposed 1,500th anniversary of Saint Patrick's arrival. Ireland was then home to 3,171,697 Catholics, about a third of whom attended the Congress. It was noted in Time Magazine that the Congress' special theme would be "the Faith of the Irish." The idea of faith has affected the question of Irish identity even in relatively recent times, apparently more so for Catholics and Irish-Americans:

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This has been a matter of concern over the last century for followers of nationalist ideologists such as DP Moran.

Europe

Ireland joined the European Community in 1973, and Irish citizens became additionally Citizens of the European Union with the Maastricht Treaty signed in 1992. This brought a further question for the future of Irish identity; whether Ireland was "closer to Boston than to Berlin:"

Celebrities

Famous Irish singers and musicians have included the harpist Turlough O'Carolan (1670–1738), Catherine Hayes and Count John McCormack; and more recently U2, Enya, The Script, The Coronas, Clannad, Christy Moore, Planxty, Thin Lizzy, The Clancy Brothers, Tommy Makem, The Corrs, Dónal Lunny, Van Morrison, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Rory Gallagher, Phil Lynott, Gary Moore, Sinéad O'Connor, Bob Geldof, Shane MacGowan, David King, The Cranberries, James Galway, Colm Wilkinson, Johnny Logan, Damien Rice, Chris de Burgh, Glen Hansard, Kíla, Boyzone, Westlife and The Dubliners.

Famous Irish actors include Maureen O'Hara, Peter O'Toole, Jeremy Renner, Liam Neeson, Richard Harris, Greer Garson, Pierce Brosnan, Spike Milligan, Stephen Boyd, Brendan Gleeson, Cillian Murphy, Colm Meaney, Colin Farrell, Robert Sheehan, Saoirse Ronan and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. One of the most significant national Irish media figures is Gay Byrne, who presented the Late Late Show from 1962–1999. There are several other Irish broadcasters of note who developed careers outside of Ireland, such as Terry Wogan, Graham Norton and Eamonn Andrews, who are well known internationally.

Famous Irish film directors include Pat O'Connor, Terry George, Brian Desmond Hurst, and Neil Jordan.

Famous Irish news personalities include Soledad O'Brien of CNN.

In sport, modern Irish figures include Colm Cooper, Peter Canavan, Darragh Ó Sé and Pádraic Joyce (Gaelic football), Henry Shefflin, Joe Canning and Seán Óg Ó hAilpín (hurling), George Best, Richard Dunne, Robbie Keane, Roy Keane, Steve Staunton and Martin O'Neill (soccer); Pádraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy, Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke (golf); Steve Collins, Barry McGuigan and Bernard Dunne (boxing); Keith Wood, Brian O'Driscoll, and Paul O'Connell (Rugby Union); Mary Peters, William Porterfield (cricket), Eamonn Coghlan, John Treacy and Sonia O'Sullivan (athletics); Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche (cycling), Michelle Smith, Andrew Bree (swimming), Niall O'Brien (cricket) , Dave Finlay, Sheamus (wrestling) and Brian Carney (Rugby League)

Ireland has produced many famous comedians, known both nationally and internationally. Many of them draw their humour from being Irish, or from their province, county or locality. Irish comedians who were born or raised in Dublin include Dave Allen, Frank Kelly, Dermot Morgan, Ed Byrne, Andrew Maxwell, and Jason Byrne. Ulster-born comedians include Colin Murphy, Patrick Kielty, and Ardal O'Hanlon, while Leinster has also produced, Neil Delamere, Tommy Tiernan, Deirdre O'Kane and Dylan Moran. Munster and Connaught have produced comedian Pat Shortt, Graham Norton, and comedienne Pauline McLynn respectively. Comedians of Irish descent, born outside Ireland, include George Carlin, Des Bishop (who performed the first live stand up gig in Irish), Conan O'Brien, Roseann O'Donnell, Stephen Byrne (broadcaster) and Jimmy Carr.

Irish diaspora

, Marshal of France and first elected President of the French Third Republic]] The Irish diaspora consists of Irish emigrants and their descendants in countries such as the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and nations of the Caribbean such as Jamaica and Barbados. These countries, known sometimes as the Anglosphere, all have large minorities of Irish descent, who in addition form the core of the Catholic Church in those countries. People of Irish descent also feature strongly in Latin America, especially in Argentina and important minorities in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. In 1995, President Mary Robinson reached out to the "70 million people worldwide who can claim Irish descent." Today the diaspora is believed to contain an estimated 80 million people. In the early years of the English Civil War, a French traveller remarked that the Irish "are better soldiers abroad than at home". Later, Irish brigades in France and Spain fought in the Wars of the Spanish and Austrian Succession and the Napoleonic Wars.

The most famous cause of emigration was Irish Potato Famine of the late 1840s. A million are thought to have emigrated to Liverpool as a result of the famine. For both the Irish in Ireland and those in the resulting diaspora, the famine entered folk memory and became a rallying point for various nationalist movements.

visiting the John Barry Memorial in Wexford, Ireland]] People of Irish descent are the second largest self-reported ethnic group in the United States, after German Americans. Nine of the signatories of the American Declaration of Independence were of Irish origin. Among them was the sole Catholic signatory, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, whose family were the descendants of Ely O’Carroll, an Irish prince who had suffered under Cromwell. At least twenty-five presidents of the United States have some Irish ancestral origins, including George Washington. Since John F. Kennedy took office in 1961, every American President has had some Irish blood. An Irish-American, James Hoban, was the designer of the White House. Commodore John Barry was the father of the United States Navy.

In the mid-19th century, large numbers of Irish immigrants were conscripted into Irish regiments of the United States army at the time of the Mexican-American War. The vast majority of the 4,811 Irish-born soldiers served honorably in the American army, but some defected to the Mexican Army, primarily to escape mistreatment by Anglo-Protestant officers and the strong anti-Catholic discrimination in America. These were the San Patricios, or Saint Patrick's Battalion—a group of Irish led by Galway-born John O'Riley, with some German, Scottish and American Catholics.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, 300,000 free emigrants and 45,000 convicts left Ireland to settle in Australia. Today, Australians of Irish descent are one of the largest self-reported ethnic groups in Australia, after English and Australian. In the 2006 Census, 1,803,741 residents identified themselves as having Irish ancestry either alone or in combination with another ancestry. However this figure does not include Australians with an Irish background who chose to nominate themselves as 'Australian' or other ancestries. The Australian embassy in Dublin states that up to 30 percent of the population claim some degree of Irish ancestry.

It is believed that as many as 30,000 Irish people emigrated to Argentina between the 1830s and the 1890s. Today Irish-Argentines number over 1,000,000—about 1.25% of the population. Some famous Argentines of Irish descent include Che Guevara, former president Edelmiro Julián Farrell, and admiral William Brown. There are people of Irsh descent all over South America, such as the Chilean liberator Bernardo O'Higgins and the Peruvian photographer Mario Testino. Although some Irish retained their surnames intact, others were assimilated into the Spanish vernacular. The last name O'Brien, for example, became Obregón.

People of Irish descent are also one of the largest self-reported ethnic groups in Canada, after English, French and Scottish Canadians. As of 2006, Irish Canadians number around 4,354,155.

See also

European ethnic groups

Irish martial arts

List of expatriate Irish populations

List of Ireland-related topics

List of Americans of Irish descent

The Ireland Funds

Notes

References

External links

Irish surname origins

Irish ancestors on Ireland.com

Category:Celtic culture Category:Ethnic groups in Europe Category:Ethnic groups in Ireland