Irish people: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{Irish people}}

'''Irish people''' ({{lang-ga|Muintir na hÉireann}} or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an [[ethnic group]] and [[nation]] native to the island of [[Ireland]], who share a who share a common ancestry, history, and [[Culture of Ireland|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 [[Gaels|Gaelic people]] (see [[Gaelic Ireland]]). From the 9th century, small numbers of [[Vikings]] settled in Ireland, becoming the [[Norse-Gaels]]. [[Anglo-Normans]] also [[Norman invasion of Ireland|conquered parts of Ireland]] in the 12th century, while [[Kingdom of England|England]]'s 16th/17th century [[Tudor conquest of Ireland|conquest]] and [[Plantations of Ireland|colonisation of Ireland]] brought many [[English people|English]] and [[Scottish Lowlands|Lowland]] [[Scottish people|Scots]] to parts of the island, especially the north. Today, Ireland is made up of the Republic of Ireland (officially called [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]) and [[Northern Ireland]] (a [[Countries of the United Kingdom|part]] of the [[United Kingdom]]). The [[people of Northern Ireland]] hold various national identities, including British, Irish, Northern Irish, or some combination thereof.

The Irish have their own customs, [[Irish language|language]], [[Irish traditional music|music]], [[Irish dance|dance]], [[Gaelic games|sports]], [[Irish cuisine|cuisine]], and [[Irish mythology|mythology]]. Although [[Irish language|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 [[Irish clans|clans]], and the Irish also had their own [[Celtic paganism|religion]], [[Early Irish law|law code]], [[Ogham|alphabet]], and [[Gaelic Ireland#Dress|style of dress]].{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

There have been many notable Irish people throughout history. After [[History of Ireland (400–800)|Ireland's conversion to Christianity]], Irish missionaries and scholars [[Hiberno-Scottish mission|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",<ref name="ColumbanusZenit">{{cite web|url=http://www.zenit.org/rssenglish-22867|title=Pope Calls Irish Monk a Father of Europe|access-date=15 July 2007|date=11 July 2007|publisher=[[Zenit News Agency|Zenit]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080615013728/http://www.zenit.org/rssenglish-22867|archive-date=15 June 2008}}</ref> followed by saints [[Saint Kilian|Cillian]] and [[Vergilius of Salzburg|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]], [[Robert McClure|Sir Robert McClure]], [[Sir Alexander Armstrong]], [[Sir Ernest Shackleton]] and [[Tom Crean (explorer)|Tom Crean]]. By some accounts, the first European child born in North America had Irish descent on both sides.<ref name="Smiley630">Smiley, p. 630</ref> Many [[List of Presidents of the United States|presidents of the United States]] have had some Irish ancestry.