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English was first introduced to Ireland in the Norman invasion . It was spoken by a few peasants and merchants brought over from England , and was largely replaced by Irish before the Tudor Conquest of Ireland . It was introduced as the official language with the Tudor and Cromwellian conquests . The Ulster plantation... |
Less than 10 % of the population of the Republic of Ireland today speak Irish regularly outside of the education system and 38 % of those over 15 years are classified as " Irish speakers " . In Northern Ireland , English is the de facto official language , but official recognition is afforded to Irish , including spec... |
= = Culture = =
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Ireland 's culture comprises elements of the culture of ancient peoples , later immigrant and broadcast cultural influences ( chiefly Gaelic culture , Anglicisation , Americanisation and aspects of broader European culture ) . In broad terms , Ireland is regarded as one of the Celtic nations of Europe , alongside Scot... |
Religion has played a significant role in the cultural life of the island since ancient times ( and since the 17th century plantations , has been the focus of political identity and divisions on the island ) . Ireland 's pre @-@ Christian heritage fused with the Celtic Church following the missions of Saint Patrick in... |
Since the 20th century the Irish pubs worldwide have become , especially those with a full range of cultural and gastronomic offerings , outposts of Irish culture .
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The Republic of Ireland 's national theatre is the Abbey Theatre , which was founded in 1904 , and the national Irish @-@ language theatre is An Taibhdhearc , which was established in 1928 in Galway . Playwrights such as Seán O 'Casey , Brian Friel , Sebastian Barry , Conor McPherson and Billy Roche are internationall... |
= = = Arts = = =
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Ireland has made a large contribution to world literature in all its branches , particularly in the English language . Poetry in Irish is among the oldest vernacular poetry in Europe , with the earliest examples dating from the 6th century . In English , Jonathan Swift , still often called the foremost satirist in the... |
In the 20th century , Ireland produced four winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature : George Bernard Shaw , William Butler Yeats , Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney . Although not a Nobel Prize winner , James Joyce is widely considered to be one of the most significant writers of the 20th century . Joyce 's 1922 nove... |
Music has been in evidence in Ireland since prehistoric times . Although in the early Middle Ages the church was " quite unlike its counterpart in continental Europe " , there was considerable interchange between monastic settlements in Ireland and the rest of Europe that contributed to what is known as Gregorian chan... |
Irish traditional music and dance has seen a surge in popularity and global coverage since the 1960s . In the middle years of the 20th century , as Irish society was modernising , traditional music had fallen out of favour , especially in urban areas . However during the 1960s , there was a revival of interest in Iris... |
The earliest known Irish graphic art and sculpture are Neolithic carvings found at sites such as Newgrange and is traced through Bronze age artefacts and the religious carvings and illuminated manuscripts of the medieval period . During the course of the 19th and 20th centuries , a strong tradition of painting emerged... |
= = = Science = = =
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The Irish philosopher and theologian Johannes Scotus Eriugena was considered one of the leading intellectuals of his early Middle Ages . Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton , an Irish explorer , was one of the principal figures of Antarctic exploration . He , along with his expedition , made the first ascent of Mount Erebus a... |
19th century physicist , John Tyndall , discovered the Tyndall effect . Father Nicholas Joseph Callan , Professor of Natural Philosophy in Maynooth College , is best known for his invention of the induction coil , transformer and he discovered an early method of galvanisation in the 19th century .
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Other notable Irish physicists include Ernest Walton , winner of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics . With Sir John Douglas Cockcroft , he was the first to split the nucleus of the atom by artificial means and made contributions to the development of a new theory of wave equation . William Thomson , or Lord Kelvin , is t... |
George Johnstone Stoney introduced the term electron in 1891 . John Stewart Bell was the originator of Bell 's Theorem and a paper concerning the discovery of the Bell @-@ Jackiw @-@ Adler anomaly and was nominated for a Nobel prize . Notable mathematicians include Sir William Rowan Hamilton , famous for work in class... |
Ireland has nine universities , seven in the Republic of Ireland and two in Northern Ireland , including Trinity College , Dublin and the University College Dublin , as well as numerous third @-@ level colleges and institutes and a branch of the Open University , the Open University in Ireland .
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= = = Sports = = =
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The island of Ireland fields a single international team in most sports . One notable exception to this is association football , although both associations continued to field international teams under the name " Ireland " until the 1950s . An all @-@ Ireland club competition for soccer , the Setanta Cup , was created... |
Gaelic football is the most popular sport in Ireland in terms of match attendance and community involvement , with about 2 @,@ 600 clubs on the island . In 2003 it represented 34 % of total sports attendances at events in Ireland and abroad , followed by hurling at 23 % , soccer at 16 % and rugby at 8 % and the All @-... |
Many other sports are also played and followed , including basketball , boxing , cricket , fishing , greyhound racing , handball , hockey , horse racing , motor sport , show jumping and tennis .
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= = = = Field sports = = = =
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Gaelic football , hurling and handball are the best @-@ known of the Irish traditional sports , collectively known as Gaelic games . Gaelic games are governed by the Gaelic Athletic Association ( GAA ) , with the exception of ladies ' Gaelic football and camogie ( women 's variant of hurling ) , which are governed by ... |
The Irish Football Association ( IFA ) was originally the governing body for soccer across the island . The game has been played in an organised fashion in Ireland since the 1870s , with Cliftonville F.C. in Belfast being Ireland 's oldest club . It was most popular , especially in its first decades , around Belfast a... |
In 1950 , FIFA directed the associations only to select players from within their respective territories and , in 1953 , directed that the FAI 's team be known only as " Republic of Ireland " and that the IFA 's team be known as " Northern Ireland " ( with certain exceptions ) . Northern Ireland qualified for the Worl... |
Unlike soccer , Ireland continues to field a single national rugby team and a single association , the Irish Rugby Football Union ( IRFU ) , governs the sport across the island . The Irish rugby team have played in every Rugby World Cup , making the quarter @-@ finals in four of them . Ireland also hosted games during... |
= = = = Other sports = = = =
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Horse racing and greyhound racing are both popular in Ireland . There are frequent horse race meetings and greyhound stadiums are well @-@ attended . The island is noted for the breeding and training of race horses and is also a large exporter of racing dogs . The horse racing sector is largely concentrated in the Cou... |
Irish athletics has seen a heightened success rate since the year 2000 , with Sonia O 'Sullivan winning two medals at 5 @,@ 000 metres on the track ; gold at the 1995 World Championships and silver at the 2000 Sydney Olympics . Gillian O 'Sullivan won silver in the 20k walk at the 2003 World Championships , while spri... |
Ireland has won more medals in boxing than in any other Olympic sport . Boxing is governed by the Irish Amateur Boxing Association . Michael Carruth won a gold medal and Wayne McCullough won a silver medal in the Barcelona Olympic Games and in 2008 Kenneth Egan won a silver medal in the Beijing Games . Paddy Barnes se... |
Golf is very popular and golf tourism is a major industry attracting more than 240 @,@ 000 golfing visitors annually . The 2006 Ryder Cup was held at The K Club in County Kildare . Pádraig Harrington became the first Irishman since Fred Daly in 1947 to win the British Open at Carnoustie in July 2007 . He successfully ... |
= = = = Recreation = = = =
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The west coast of Ireland , Lahinch and Donegal Bay in particular , have popular surfing beaches , being fully exposed to the Atlantic Ocean . Donegal Bay is shaped like a funnel and catches west / south @-@ west Atlantic winds , creating good surf , especially in winter . Since just before the year 2010 , Bundoran ha... |
With thousands of lakes , over 14 @,@ 000 kilometres ( 8 @,@ 700 mi ) of fish bearing rivers and over 3 @,@ 700 kilometres ( 2 @,@ 300 mi ) of coastline , Ireland is a popular angling destination . The temperate Irish climate is suited to sport angling . While salmon and trout fishing remain popular with anglers , sal... |
= = = Food and drink = = =
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Food and cuisine in Ireland takes its influence from the crops grown and animals farmed in the island 's temperate climate and from the social and political circumstances of Irish history . For example , whilst from the Middle Ages until the arrival of the potato in the 16th century the dominant feature of the Irish e... |
For this reason , pork and white meat were more common than beef and thick fatty strips of salted bacon ( or rashers ) and the eating of salted butter ( i.e. a dairy product rather than beef itself ) have been a central feature of the diet in Ireland since the Middle Ages . The practice of bleeding cattle and mixing t... |
The introduction of the potato in the second half of the 16th century heavily influenced cuisine thereafter . Great poverty encouraged a subsistence approach to food and by the mid @-@ 19th century the vast majority of the population sufficed with a diet of potatoes and milk . A typical family , consisting of a man , ... |
Since the last quarter of the 20th century , with a re @-@ emergence of wealth in Ireland , a " New Irish Cuisine " based on traditional ingredients incorporating international influences has emerged . This cuisine is based on fresh vegetables , fish ( especially salmon , trout , oysters , mussels and other shellfish ... |
Ireland once dominated the world 's market for whiskey , producing 90 % of the world 's whiskey at the start of the 20th century . However , as a consequence of bootleggers during the prohibition in the United States ( who sold poor @-@ quality whiskey bearing Irish @-@ sounding names thus eroding the pre @-@ prohibit... |
Irish whiskey , as researched in 2009 by the CNBC American broadcaster , remains popular domestically and has grown in international sales steadily over a few decades . Typically CNBC states Irish whiskey is not as smoky as a Scotch whisky , but not as sweet as American or Canadian whiskies . Whiskey forms the basis o... |
Stout , a kind of porter beer , particularly Guinness , is typically associated with Ireland , although historically it was more closely associated with London . Porter remains very popular , although it has lost sales since the mid @-@ 20th century to lager . Cider , particularly Magners ( marketed in the Republic of... |
= St Nazaire Raid =
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The St Nazaire Raid or Operation Chariot was a successful British amphibious attack on the heavily defended Normandie dry dock at St Nazaire in German @-@ occupied France during the Second World War . The operation was undertaken by the Royal Navy and British Commandos under the auspices of Combined Operations Headqua... |
The obsolete destroyer HMS Campbeltown , accompanied by 18 smaller craft , crossed the English Channel to the Atlantic coast of France and was rammed into the Normandie dock gates . The ship had been packed with delayed @-@ action explosives , well hidden within a steel and concrete case , that detonated later that da... |
A force of commandos landed to destroy machinery and other structures . Heavy German gunfire sank , set ablaze or immobilised all the small craft intended to transport the commandos back to England ; the commandos had to fight their way out through the town to try to escape overland . They were forced to surrender whe... |
After the raid 228 men of the force of 611 returned to Britain ; 169 were killed and 215 became prisoners of war . German casualties were over 360 dead , some killed after the raid when Campbeltown exploded . To recognise their bravery , 89 decorations were awarded to members of the raiding party , including five Vict... |
= = Background = =
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St Nazaire is on the north bank of the Loire 400 km ( 250 miles ) from the nearest British port . In 1942 , it had a population of 50 @,@ 000 . The St Nazaire port has an outer harbour known as the Avant Port , formed by two piers jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean . This leads to two lock gates before the Bassin de ... |
Beyond the basin is the larger inner dock called the Bassin de Penhoët , which can accommodate ships up to 10 @,@ 000 tons . There is also an old entrance to the Bassin de St Nazaire located southwest of the Normandie dry dock . Built to house the ocean liner SS Normandie , this dock was the largest dry dock in the wo... |
On 24 May 1941 , the Battle of the Denmark Strait was fought between the German ships Bismarck and Prinz Eugen and the British ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Hood . Hood was sunk and the damaged Prince of Wales was forced to retire . Bismarck , also damaged , ordered her consort to proceed independently while she h... |
Britain 's Naval Intelligence Division first proposed a commando raid on the dock in late 1941 . When the German battleship Tirpitz was declared operational in January 1942 , the Royal Navy ( RN ) and Royal Air Force ( RAF ) were already drawing up plans to attack her . Planners from Combined Operations Headquarters w... |
Combined Operations examined a number of options while planning the destruction of the dock . At this stage of the war the British government still tried to avoid civilian casualties . This ruled out a bombing attack by the RAF , which at the time did not possess the accuracy needed to destroy the dock without serious... |
The Special Operations Executive were approached to see if its agents could destroy the dock gates . They decided that the mission was beyond their capabilities because the weight of explosives required would have needed too many agents to carry them . The Royal Navy was also unable to mount an operation , as St Nazai... |
The planners then examined whether a commando force was feasible to accomplish the task . An unusually high spring tide was due in March 1942 which would allow a light ship to pass over the sand banks in the estuary and approach the docks , bypassing the heavily defended dredged channel . The approach was too shallow ... |
= = Plan = =
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The purpose of the raid was to destroy three objectives : the Normandie dock , the old gates into the Bassin de St Nazaire together with the water pumping machinery and other installations , and any U @-@ boats or other shipping in the area . The initial Combined Operations plan required two specially lightened destro... |
Commandos on board would then disembark and use demolition charges to destroy nearby dock installations , searchlights and gun emplacements . The destroyer would then be blown up , and the second ship would come in and evacuate the ship 's crew and the commandos . At the same time the RAF would carry out a number of d... |
When the plan was presented to the Admiralty they refused to support it . The certain loss of one or both destroyers to eliminate the dry dock was out of the question . They suggested they could provide an old Free French destroyer , the Ouragan , and a flotilla of small motor launches to transport the commandos and e... |
Approval for the mission , codenamed Operation Chariot , was given on 3 March 1942 . Using a French ship would involve using the Free French forces and increase the number of people aware of the raid . Consequently , it was decided the navy would have to provide a ship of their own . The RAF complained that the raid w... |
Combined Operations Headquarters worked closely with several intelligence organisations to plan the raid . The Naval Intelligence Division compiled information from a variety of sources . A detailed plan of the town of St Nazaire was provided by the Secret Intelligence Service , and information on the coastal artiller... |
The RN 's Operational Intelligence Centre selected the route and timing for the raid based on intelligence about the location of minefields and German recognition signals sourced from Enigma decrypts and knowledge of Luftwaffe patrols compiled by the Air Ministry 's Air Intelligence Branch . When all the plans had bee... |
= = Composition of the raiding force = =
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The revised Combined Operations plan required one destroyer to ram the dock gates and a number of smaller craft to transport the Commandos . The Royal Navy would therefore provide the largest contingent for the raid , under the overall command of the senior naval officer , Commander Robert Ryder . The ship selected to... |
Converting Campbeltown for the raid took ten days . She had to be lightened to raise her draught to get over the sand banks in the estuary . This was achieved by completely stripping all her internal compartments . The dockyard removed her three 4 inch ( 100 mm ) guns , torpedoes and depth charges from the deck and re... |
Two of her four funnels were removed , and the forward two were cut at an angle to resemble those of a German destroyer . The bow was packed with 4 @.@ 5 tons of high explosives , which were set in concrete . It was decided that the explosive charge would be timed to detonate after the raiders had left the harbour . T... |
Other naval units involved were two Hunt class destroyers , HMS Tynedale ( L96 ) and Atherstone ( L05 ) , which would accompany the force to and from the French coast and remain out at sea during the raid . A Motor Gun Boat ( MGB 314 ) was the headquarters ship for the raid , with Commander Ryder and the commanding of... |
To assist in transporting the Commandos , 12 motor launches ( ML ) were assigned from the 20th and 28th Motor Launch flotillas . These boats were re @-@ armed with two Oerlikon 20 mm guns mounted forward and aft to complement their twin Lewis guns . At the last minute another four MLs were assigned from the 7th Motor ... |
The man selected to lead the Commando force was Lieutenant Colonel Charles Newman ; his No. 2 Commando would provide the largest Commandos contingent , 173 men , for the raid . The Special Service Brigade headquarters used the raid to provide experience for their other units and 92 men were drawn from Nos 1 , 3 , 4 , ... |
The Commandos were divided into three groups ; One and Two would travel in the MLs , while Three would be in Campbeltown . Under the command of Captain Hodgeson , Group One had the objectives of securing the Old Mole and eliminating the anti @-@ aircraft gun positions around the southern quays . They were then to move... |
Group Two , under the command of Captain Burn , would land at the old entrance to the St Nazaire basin . Their objectives were to destroy the anti @-@ aircraft positions in the area and the German headquarters , to blow up the locks and bridges at the old entrance into the basin and then to guard against a counter @-@... |
The Commandos were aided in their planning for the operation by Captain Bill Pritchard of the Royal Engineers , who had pre @-@ war experience as an apprentice in the Great Western Railway dockyards and whose father was the dock master of Cardiff Docks . In 1940 while part of the British Expeditionary Force in France ... |
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