Ireland was always a popular tourist destination, not for sunshine holidays, but for the scenery, culture, heritage and enjoying the craic (having a good time).
The scenery is varied, from the dramatic mountains and the wild Atlantic Ocean in the west, through the flat bog lands of the Midlands, where the mystical River Shannon flows and lakes and canals abound, to the buzz of Dublin city and the Irish Sea on the east coast. There are beautiful sandy beaches where you can walk without meeting a soul, and many walking and cycling trails to discover.
It is well known that the Irish have a way with words. It is said that if you kiss the Blarney Stone, you will have the gift of the gab. The Irish are natural storytellers, the spinners of yarns, and have a long history of orally passing on legends, poems, and songs. For a small country, Ireland has produced many of the most famous writers in the world, like James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, W.B.Yeats, Edna O’Brien and Maeve Binchy, just to mention a few.
Ireland doesn’t only excel in the area of literature; it is also famous for its music, dance, sport, history, art, food, and drink.
River dance made Irish traditional music and dance popular around the world, and the Chieftains group even before that. Rory Gallagher, Thin Lizzy, U2, Boys Zone and Westlife plus numerous others have contributed to the Irish music scene.
Traditional Irish sports like Gaelic football and hurling are popular wherever the Irish have
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