News 19. 4. 2015

Ten things you probably didn’t know about Ireland and the Irish

7. Ireland was originally known as Hibernia, later Eire, and then Ireland.
The root of the name Éire is uncertain but it is thought to be a name of considerable antiquity. It first appears as Ierne in Greek writings which may have a base dating as early as the 5th century BC. The name appears as Iouvernia in Ptolemy’s map (c AD 150) and has also been found translated into Latin as Hibernia. The Latin form, Hibernia, appears in the works of Caesar.

8. The national symbol of Ireland is not the shamrock but the harp making Ireland the only world country that has a musical instrument as its symbol.

9. Ireland had Dublin Mean Time 25 minutes behind Greenwich Mean Time until October 1916. Then to synchronize, British clocks went back by one hour and Irish by 35 minutes.

10. The Oscar statuette handed out at the Academy Awards was designed by Cedric Gibbons, who was born in Dublin in 1893.
Gibbons won 11 Oscars himself after moving to Hollywood and becoming an art director and set designer for MGM.

James O’Shea @irishcentral

Václav Bernard