Culture of Ireland

Theculture of Irelandincludes theart,music,dance,folklore,traditional clothing,language,literature,cuisineandsportassociated withIrelandand theIrish people. For most of its recorded history, the country’s culture has been primarilyGaelic(seeGaelic Ireland). Strongfamily values,witand an appreciation fortraditionare commonly associated with Irish culture.
Irish culture has been greatly influenced byChristianity, most notably by theRoman Catholic Church, andreligionplays a significant role in the lives of many Irish people. Today, there are often notable cultural differences between those ofCatholic,ProtestantandOrthodoxbackground. References to God can be found in spoken Irish, notably exemplified by the Irish equivalent of “Hello” — “Dia dhuit” (literally:"God be with you").
Irish culture hasCeltic,Danish,Norwegian,Swedish,FrenchandSpanishinfluences. It also hasBritishinfluences, primarily due to over eight centuries ofBritish rule in Ireland, which suppressed numerous aspects of Irish culture.TheVikingsfirstinvaded Irelandin the 8th century, fromDenmark,NorwayandSwedenin modern-dayScandinavia. They had a significant influence on Ireland’smaterial cultureat the time.TheNormansinvadedIreland in the 12th century, bringing British and French influences. Additionally,Irish Travellershave had some influence on the broader cultural tapestry of Ireland, introducingnomadictraditions and other cultural practices. In recent decades, Ireland has also to some degree been influenced by migration from the formerEastern Bloc.
Due to large-scale emigration from Ireland, Irish culture has a wide reach in the world, and festivals such asSaint Patrick's Day(Irish:Lá Fhéile Pádraig) andHalloween(which finds its roots in the Gaelic festivalSamhain) are celebrated across much of the globe.Irish culture has to some extent been inherited and modified by theIrish diaspora, which in turn has influenced the home country. Moreover, the culture of Ireland is to some degree influenced by its native folklore and legends, such as those detailed inLebor Gabála Érenn.
Asarchaeologicalevidence from sites such as theCéide Fieldsin County Mayo andLough Gurin County Limerick demonstrates, the farm in Ireland is an activity that goes back to theNeolithic, about 6,000 years ago. Before this, the first settlers of the island of Ireland after the last Ice Age were a new wave of cavemen and theMesolithic period.In historic times, texts such as theTáin Bó Cúailingeshow a society in which cows represented a primary source of wealth and status. Little of this had changed by the time of theNorman invasion of Irelandin the 12th century.Giraldus Cambrensisportrayed a Gaelic society in which cattle farming andtranshumancewas the norm.
The Normans replaced traditional clan land management (under Brehon Law) with themanorial systemofland tenureand social organisation. This led to the imposition of the village, parish andcountyover the native system oftownlands. In general, a parish was a civil and religious unit with a manor, a village and a church at its centre. Each parish incorporated one or more existing townlands into its boundaries. With the gradual extension of Englishfeudalismover the island, the Irish county structure came into existence and was completed in 1610.These structures are still of vital importance in the daily life of Irish communities. Apart from the religious significance of the parish, most rural postal addresses consist of house and townland names. The village and parish are key focal points around which sporting rivalries and other forms of local identity are built and most people feel a strong sense of loyalty to their native county, a loyalty which also often has its clearest expression on the sports field.
With the TudorElizabethanEnglishconquestin the 16th-17th centuries, theCromwellian conquest of Ireland, and the organizedplantationsof English Tudor, and later Scottish, colonists, the Scottish confined to what's now mostly Northern Ireland, the patterns of land ownership in Ireland were altered greatly. The old order of transhumance and open range cattle breeding died out to be replaced by a structure of great landed estates, small tenant farmers with more or less precarious hold on their leases, and a mass of landless labourers. This situation continued up to the end of the 19th century, when the agitation of theLand Leaguebegan to bring about land reform. In this process of reform, the former tenants and labourers became land owners, with the great estates being broken up into small- and medium-sized farms and smallholdings. The process continued well into the 20th century with the work of theIrish Land Commission. This contrasted with Britain, where many of the big estates were left intact. One consequence of this is the widely recognised cultural phenomenon of "land hunger" amongst the new class of Irish farmer. In general, this means that farming families will do almost anything to retain land ownership within the family unit, with the greatest ambition possible being the acquisition of additional land. Another is thathillwalkersin Ireland today are more constrained than their counterparts in Britain, as it is more difficult to agree rights of way with so many small farmers involved on a given route, rather than with just one landowner.
Irish Travellers(Shelta:Mincéirí) are known for their historically nomadic lifestyle; residing in ornamented barrel top wagons, they would traverse predominantly rural areas of the island. Their propensity for rural living was influenced by a variety of factors including cultural traditions, a desire for privacy and autonomy, work opportunities and their fondness of the natural world. Travellers would often find work in rural areas, predominantly in farming, horse trading and tinsmithing. While many Mincéirí in contemporary Ireland are now settled, including in urban areas, they often maintain rural traditions such as horseback riding, and attend traditional fairs and festivals in the countryside.
Christmasin Ireland has several local traditions. On 26 December (St. Stephen's Day), there is a custom of "Wrenboys"who call door to door with an arrangement of assorted material (which changes in different localities) to represent a deadwren"caught in the furze", as their rhyme goes.
The national holiday in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland isSaint Patrick's Day, that falls on the date 17 March and is marked by parades and festivals in cities and towns across the island of Ireland, and by the Irish diaspora around the world. The festival is in remembrance ofSaint Patrick, the most significant of Ireland's three patron saints. Pious legend credits Patrick with the banishing of the snakes from the island, and the legend also credits Patrick with teaching the Irish about the concept of theTrinityby showing people theshamrock, a 3-leaved clover, using it to highlight the Christianbeliefof 'three divine persons in the one God'.
InNorthern IrelandThe Twelfthof July, or Orangemen's Day, commemoratesWilliam III's victory at theBattle of the Boyne. Apublic holiday, it is celebrated by Irish Protestants, in particularUlster Protestants, the vast majority of whom live in Northern Ireland. It is notable for the numerousparadesorganised by theOrange Orderwhich take place throughout Northern Ireland. These parades are colourful affairs withOrange Bannersand sashes on display and include music in the form of traditional songs such as "The Sash" and "Derry's Walls" performed by a mixture of pipe, flute, accordion, and brass marching bands. The Twelfth remains controversial as many in Northern Ireland's large and majority-nationalistCatholic community see the holiday, celebrating a victory over Catholics that ensured the continued establishment of aProtestant Ascendancy, as triumphalist, supremacist, and an assertion of British and Ulster Protestant dominance.
The 1st of February, known asSt. Brigid's Day (after St. Brigid, one of the patron saints of Ireland) orImbolc, also does not have its origins in Christianity, being instead another religious observance superimposed at the beginning of spring. St. Brigid’s Day is the only official public holiday named after a woman in Ireland. TheBrigid's crossmade from rushes represents a pre-Christian solar wheel.
Other pre-Christian festivals, whose names survive as Irish month names, areBealtaine(May),Lúnasa(August) andSamhain(November). The last is still widely observed asHalloweenwhich is celebrated all over the world, including in theUnited Statesfollowed byAll Saints' Day, another Christian holiday associated with a traditional one. Important church holidays include Easter, and variousMarianobservances.
Christianity was brought to Ireland during or prior to the 5th centuryand its early history among the Irish is in particular associated withSaint Patrick, who is generally considered Ireland's leadingpatron saint.The Celtic festival ofSamhain, not to be confused withHalloween, originated in Ireland and a reconstructed version is celebrated by some across the globe.
Ireland is a place where religion and religious practice have long been held in high esteem. The majority of people on the island areRoman Catholics;however, there are significantProtestantandOrthodoxminorities. Protestants are mostly concentrated inNorthern Ireland, where they long made up apluralityof the population.The three main Protestant denominations on the island are the AnglicanChurch of Ireland, thePresbyterian Church in Irelandand theMethodist Church in Ireland. These are also joined by numerous other smaller denominations includingBaptists, several American gospel groups and theSalvation Army.Orthodox Christianityalso has a notable presence in Ireland, where it has been the fastest growing religion since 1991, largely due to immigration from Eastern Europe.Other minority denominations of Christianity includeJehovah's WitnessesandThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS). In addition to the Christian denominations there are centres forBuddhists,Hindus,Baháʼís,Pagansand for people of theIslamicandJewishfaiths.
In the 2021 Census, of those in theRepublic of Irelandthat stated their religious identity, 81.6% identified asChristian; 68.8% as Roman Catholic, 4.2% as Protestant, 2.1% as Orthodox, 0.7% as other Christians, while 1.6% identified asMuslim, 0.7% asHindu, 14.8% as having no religion and 7.1% not stating their religious identity.Amongst the Republic's Roman Catholics, weekly church attendance has declined sharply over the past few decades, from 87% in 1981, to 60% in 1998, to 30% in 2021.Still, this remains one of the higher attendance rates in Europe.The decline is said to be linked to reports ofCatholic Church sexual abuse cases in Ireland.
Highly respected in Ireland historically were the stories of heroes such asFionn mac Cumhailland his followers, theFianna, from theFenian cycle, andCuchulainfrom theUlster Cycle, along with some of the High Kings. Legend has it that Fionn mac Cumhaill built theGiant's Causewayas a line of stepping-stones to Scotland, not to get his feet wet while seeking to fight an ugly Scottish giant. He also is said to have once scooped up part of Ireland to fling it at a rival, but it missed and landed in theIrish Sea– the clump becoming theIsle of Man, a pebbleRockall, and the void left behind filling asLough Neagh. The Irish kingBrian Boruwho ended the domination of the so-calledHigh Kingship of Irelandby theUí Néill, is part of the historical cycle. The Irish princessIseultis the adulterous lover ofTristanin theArthurianromance and tragedyTristan and Iseult. The many legends of ancient Ireland were captured by many collators, includingLady Gregoryin two volumes with forewords byW. B. Yeats. These stories depict a status for Celtic women in ancient times somewhat different from many other cultures of the period.
According to the tales, theleprechaunis a mischievous fairy type creature in emerald green clothing who when not playing tricks spend all their time busily making shoes; he is said to have apot of goldhidden at the end of therainbowand if ever captured by a human has the magical power to grant three wishes in exchange for release.There are also tales of thepookaandbanshees, among others.
Halloweenis a traditional and much celebrated holiday in Ireland on the night of 31 October.Supposedly the first evidence of the word halloween is found in a 16th-century Scottish document as a shortening forAll-Hallows-Eve,and according to some historians it has its roots in thegaelicfestivalSamhain, where the Gaels believed the border between this world and theotherworldbecame thin, and the dead would revisit the mortal world.In Ireland, traditional Halloween customs include;Guising– children disguised incostumegoing from door to door requesting food or coins – which became practice by the late 19th century,turnipshollowed-out and carved with faces to make lanterns,holding parties where games such asapple bobbingare played.Other practices in Ireland include lightingbonfires, and havingfireworkdisplays.Mass transatlantic Irish and Scottish immigration in the 19th century popularised Halloween in North America.
For a comparatively small place, the island of Ireland has made a disproportionately large contribution to world literature in all its branches, in both the Irish and English languages. The island's most widely known literary works are undoubtedly in English. Particularly famous examples of such works are those ofJames Joyce,Bram Stoker,Jonathan Swift,Oscar Wildeand Ireland's four winners of theNobel Prize for Literature;William Butler Yeats,George Bernard Shaw,Samuel BeckettandSeamus Heaney. Three of the four Nobel prize winners were born in Dublin (Heaney being the exception, having lived in Dublin but being born inCounty Londonderry), making it the birthplace of more Nobel literary laureates than any other city in the world.The Irish language has the third oldest literature in Europe (afterGreekandLatin),the most significant body of written literature (both ancient and recent) of anyCeltic language, as well as a strong oral tradition of legends and poetry. Poetry in Irish represents the oldestvernacularpoetry in Europe, with the earliest examples dating from the 6th century.
The early history of Irish visual art is generally considered to begin with early carvings found at sites such asNewgrangeand is traced throughBronze Ageartefacts, particularly ornamental gold objects, and theCeltic broochesandilluminated manuscriptsof the"Insular"Early Medieval period. During the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, a strong indigenous tradition of painting emerged, including such figures asJohn Butler Yeats,William Orpen,Jack YeatsandLouis le Brocquy.
The Irish tradition offolk musicand dance is also widely known, and both were redefined in the 1950s. In the middle years of the 20th century, as Irish society was attempting to modernise, traditionalIrish musicfell out of favour to some extent, especially in urban areas. Young people at this time tended to look to Britain and, particularly, the United States as models of progress andjazzandrock and rollbecame extremely popular. During the 1960s, and inspired by the American folk music movement, there was a revival of interest in the Irish tradition. This revival was inspired by groups likeThe Dubliners, theClancy BrothersandSweeney's Menand individuals likeSeán Ó Riada. The annualFleadh Cheoil na hÉireannis the largest festival of Irish music in Ireland. Groups and musicians likeHorslips,Van Morrisonand evenThin Lizzyincorporated elements of traditional music into a rock idiom to form a unique new sound. During the 1970s and 1980s, the distinction between traditional and rock and pop musicians became blurred, with many individuals regularly crossing over between these styles of playing as a matter of course. This trend can be seen more recently in the work of bands likeU2,Snow Patrol,The Cranberries,The UndertonesandThe Corrs, and individual artists such asEnya.
Irish and English are the most widely spoken languages in Ireland. English is the most widely spoken language on the island overall, and Irish is spoken as a first language only by a small minority, primarily, though not exclusively, in the government-definedGaeltachtregions in the Republic. A larger minority have Irish as a second language, with 40.6% of people in theRepublic of Irelandclaiming some ability to speak the language in the 2011 census.Article 8 of theConstitution of Irelandstates that Irish is thenationalandfirst officiallanguage of the Republic of Ireland.English in turn is recognised as the State'ssecond official language.Hiberno-English, the dialect of English spoken in most of the Republic of Ireland, has been greatly influenced by Irish.
InNorthern Ireland, English is ade factoofficial language, withUlster Englishbeing common. In 2022, the Irish language received official language status in Northern Ireland as a result of theIdentity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act, withUlster Scotsreceiving minority language status.In addition, these languages have recognition under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, with 8.1% claiming some ability in Ulster Scots and 10.7% in Irish.In addition, thedialect and accentof the people of Northern Ireland is noticeably different from that of the majority in the Republic of Ireland, being influenced by Ulster Scots and Northern Ireland's proximity to Scotland.
Several other languages are spoken on the island, includingShelta, a mixture of Irish,Romaniand English, spoken widely byTravellers. Two sign languages have also been developed on the island,Northern Irish Sign LanguageandIrish Sign Language; they have quite different bases.
Some other languages have entered Ireland with immigrants – for example,Polishis now the second most widely spoken language in Ireland after English, Irish being the third most commonly spoken language.
There are many references to food and drink in early Irish literature.Honeyseems to have been widely eaten and used in the making ofmead. The old stories also contain many references to banquets, although these may well be greatly exaggerated and provide little insight into everyday diet. There are also many references tofulacht fia, which are archaeological sites commonly believed to have once been used for cookingvenison. Thefulacht fiahave holes or troughs in the ground which can be filled with water. Meat can then be cooked by placing hot stones in the trough until the water boils. Manyfulach fiasites have been identified across the island of Ireland, and some of them appear to have been in use up to the 17th century.
Excavations at theVikingsettlement in theWood Quayarea of Dublin have produced a significant amount of information on the diet of the inhabitants of the town. The main animals eaten were cattle, sheep and pigs, with pigs being the most common. This popularity extended down to modern times in Ireland. Poultry and wild geese as well as fish and shellfish were also common, as were a wide range of native berries and nuts, especiallyhazel. The seeds ofknotgrassandgoosefootwere widely present and may have been used to make aporridge.
TheTudor conquest of Irelandled to significant changes in the Irish diet, as it introduced a new agro-alimentary system of intensive grain-based agriculture and led to large areas of land being turned over to grain production. The potato was introduced into Ireland in the second half of the 16th century, as a result of theColumbian exchange, initially as a garden crop; it eventually came to serve as the main food field crop of the tenant and labouring classes, which formed a majority of the population. Ireland also grew large quantities ofcorned beef, though the vast majority of it was exported.The over-reliance on potatoes as a staple crop in Irish cuisine meant that the people of Ireland were vulnerable to poor potato harvests. TheIrish Famineof 1740 was the result of extreme cold weather, but theGreat Famineof 1845–1849 was caused bypotato blightwhich spread throughout the Irish crop which consisted largely of a single variety, theLumper. During the famine, approximately one million people died and a million more emigrated elsewhere.
In the 21st century, the modern selection of foods common to Western cultures has also to some extent been adopted in Ireland. Both USfast foodculture and continental European dishes have influenced the country, along with other world dishes introduced in a similar fashion to the Western world. In addition to Irish food, meals eaten in Ireland may include pizza, curry and Chinese food, with some west African dishes making an appearance lately. Supermarket shelves now contain ingredients for, among others, traditional, Polish, Mexican, Indian and Chinese dishes.
The proliferation of fast food has led to increasing public health problems includingobesity, and one of the highest rates ofheart diseasein the world.In Ireland, theFull Irishhas been particularly cited as being a major source for a higher incidence ofcardiacproblems, quoted as being a"heart attack on a plate". All the ingredients arefried, although more recently the trend is togrillas many of the ingredients as possible.
In tandem with these developments, the last quarter of the century saw the emergence of a new Irish cuisine based on traditional ingredients handled in new ways. This cuisine is based on fresh vegetables, fish, especiallysalmonandtrout,oystersand other shellfish, traditionalsoda bread, the wide range of hand-made cheeses that are now being made across the country, and, of course, the potato. Traditional dishes, such as theIrish stew, Dublincoddle, theIrish breakfastandpotato bread, have enjoyed a resurgence. Schools like theBallymaloe Cookery Schoolhave emerged to cater for the associated increased interest in cooking with traditional ingredients.
"Pub culture" refers to the habit amongst Irish people of frequentingpublic houses(pubs). It extends beyond mere alcohol consumption (upon which it is not dependent), encompassing a variety of social traditions. Pubs vary widely according to the clientele they serve, and the area they are in. Best known, and loved amongst tourists is the traditional pub, with itstraditional Irish music(or "trad music") often performed live, tavern-like warmness, memorabilia and traditional Irish ornamentation. Often such pubs will also serve Irish food, particularly during the day. Typically pubs are important meeting places, where people can gather and meet their neighbours and friends in a relaxed atmosphere; similar to the café cultures of other countries. Many modern pubs, not necessarily traditional, still emulate traditional pubs, only perhaps substituting traditional music for a DJ or non-traditional live music.
Many larger pubs in cities eschew such trappings entirely, opting for loud music, and focusing more on the consumption of drinks, which is not a focus of traditional Irish culture. Such venues are popular "pre-clubbing" locations. "Clubbing" has become a popular phenomenon amongst young people in Ireland during theceltic tigeryears. Clubs usually vary in terms of the type of music played, and the target audience. Belfast has a unique underground club scene taking place in settings such as churches, zoos, and crematoriums. The underground scene is mainly orchestrated by DJChristopher McCafferty.
A significant recent change to pub culture in the Republic of Ireland has been the introduction of asmoking ban, in all workplaces, which includes pubs and restaurants. Ireland was the first country in the world to implement such a ban which was introduced on 29 March 2004.A majority of the population support the ban, including a significant percentage of smokers. Nevertheless, the atmosphere in pubs has changed greatly as a result, and debate continues on whether it has boosted or lowered sales, although this is often blamed on the ever-increasing prices, or whether it is a "good thing" or a "bad thing". A similar ban, under the Smoking (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, came into effect in Northern Ireland on 30 April 2007.
National and international organisations have labelled Ireland as having a problem with over-consumption of alcohol. In the late 1980s alcohol consumption accounted for nearly 25% of all hospital admissions. While this figure has been decreasing steadily, as of 2007, approximately 13% of overall hospital admissions were alcohol related.In 2003, Ireland had the second-highest per capita alcohol consumption in the world, just below Luxembourg at 13.5 litres (per person 15 or more years old), according to theOECDHealth Data 2009survey.According to the latest OECD figures, alcohol consumption in Ireland has dropped from 11.5 litres per adult in 2012 to 10.6 litres per adult in 2013. However, research showed that in 2013, 75% of alcohol was consumed as part of a drinking session where the person drank six or more standard units (which equates to three or more pints of beer). This meets theHealth Service Executive's definition of binge drinking.
Sport on the island of Ireland is popular and widespread. A wide variety of sports are played throughout the island, with the most popular beingGaelic football,hurling,soccer,rugby union, andgolf.
Four sports account for over 80% of event attendance:Gaelic footballis the most popular sport in Ireland in terms of match attendance and community involvement, and represents 34% of total sports attendances at events in the Republic of Ireland and abroad, followed byhurlingat 23%, soccer at 16% and rugby at 8%.and theAll-Ireland Football Finalis the most watched event in Ireland's sporting calendar.
Swimming, golf, aerobics, soccer, cycling, Gaelic football, and billiards, pool and snooker, are the sporting activities with the highest levels of playing participation.Other sports with material playing populations, including at school level, includetennis,hockey,pitch and putt, rugby, basketball, boxing,cricketandsquash. Significant numbers attend horse racing meetings, and Ireland breeds and trains many racehorses; greyhound racing also has dedicated racecourses.
Soccer is the most popular sport involving national teams. The success of the Ireland team at the1990 FIFA World Cupsaw 500,000 fans in Dublin to welcome the team home.The team's song "Put 'Em Under Pressure" topped the Irish charts for 13 weeks.
In Ireland most sports, including rugby union, Gaelic football, hurling and handball, cycling and golf, are organised on an all-island basis, with, where relevant, a single team representing the island of Ireland in international competitions. A few sports, such as soccer, have separate organising bodies inNorthern Irelandand theRepublic of Ireland. Traditionally, those in the North who identify as Irish, predominantly Catholics and nationalists, support the Republic of Ireland team.At the Olympics, a person from Northern Ireland can choose to represent either theGreat Britainteam or theIrelandteam. Also as Northern Ireland is aHome Nationof the United Kingdom it also sends aNorthern Ireland Teamto theCommonwealth Gamesevery four years.
In the Republic of Ireland there are several daily newspapers, including theIrish Independent,The Irish Examiner,The Irish Times,The Star,The Evening Herald,Daily Ireland, theIrish Sun, and the Irish languageLá Nua. The best selling of these is the Irish Independent, which is published in bothtabloidandbroadsheetform.The Irish Timesis Ireland'snewspaper of record.
The Sunday market is quite saturated with many British publications. The leading Sunday newspaper in terms of circulation is TheSunday Independent. Other popular papers includeThe Sunday Times,The Sunday Tribune,The Sunday Business Post,Ireland on Sundayand theSunday World.
InNorthern Irelandthe three main daily newspapers areThe News Letter, which isUnionistin outlook,The Irish News, mainlyNationalistin outlook and theBelfast Telegraph. Also widely available are the Northern Irish versions of the main UK wide daily newspapers and some Scottish dailies such as theDaily Record.
In terms of Sunday papers the Belfast Telegraph is the only one of the three main Northern Irish dailies that has a Sunday publication which is called the Sunday Life. Apart from this all the main UK wide Sunday papers such asThe Sun on Sundayare widely available as are some Irish papers such as the Sunday world.
There are quite a large number of local weekly newspapers both North and South, with most counties and large towns having two or more newspapers. Curiously Dublin remains one of the few places in Ireland without a major local paper since theDublin Evening Mailclosed down in the 1960s. In 2004 theDublin Dailywas launched, but failed to attract enough readers to make it viable.
One major criticism of the Republic of Ireland newspaper market is the strong positionIndependent News & Mediahas on the market. It controls theEvening Herald,Irish Independent,Sunday Independent,Sunday WorldandThe Staras well as holding a large stake in the cable companyChorus, and indirectly controllingThe Sunday Tribune. TheIndependenttitles are perceived by manyIrish republicansas having a pro-British stance. In parallel to this, theIndependenttitles are perceived by many opposition supporters as being proFianna Fáil.
The Irish magazine market is one of the world's most competitive, with hundreds of international magazines available in Ireland, ranging fromTimeandThe EconomisttoHello!andReader's Digest. This means that domestic titles find it very hard to retain readership. Among the best-selling Irish magazines are theRTÉ Guide,Ireland's Eye,Irish Tatler,VIP,PhoenixandIn Dublin.
The first known radio transmission in Ireland was a call to arms made from theGeneral Post Officein O'Connell Street during theEaster Rising. The first official radio station on the island was2BE Belfast, which began broadcasting in 1924. This was followed in 1926 by2RN Dublinand6CK Corkin 1927. 2BE Belfast later becameBBC Radio Ulsterand 2RN Dublin becameRTÉ. The first commercial radio station in the Republic,Century Radio, came on air in 1989.
During the 1990s and particularly the early 2000s, dozens of local radio stations have gained licences. This has resulted in a fragmentation of the radio broadcast market. This trend is most noticeable in Dublin where there are now 6 private licensed stations in operation.
Different television stations are available depending on location in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland. In Northern Ireland the main terrestrial television stations are the main UK wide channelsBBC One,BBC Two,ITV,Channel 4andChannel 5. Both the BBC and ITV have local regional programing specific to Northern Ireland produced and broadcast throughBBC Northern IrelandandUTV.
In terms of Satellite-carried channels in Northern Ireland these are the same as for the rest of the United Kingdom including allSkychannels.
In the Republic of Ireland some areas first received signal fromBBC Walesand then latter fromBBC Northern Irelandwhen it began broadcasting television programmes in 1959 before RTÉ Television opened in 1961. Today the Republic's main terrestrial channels areRTÉ One,RTÉ Two,TV3which began broadcasting in 1998 andTeilifís na Gaeilge(TnaG), now calledTG4which started its Irish language service in 1996.
British and satellite-carried international television channels have widespread audiences in the Republic. TheBBCandITVfamilies of channels are available free to air across the Republic and there is widespread availability of the four main UK channels (BBC1, BBC2, ITV1 and Channel Four) but only limited coverage fromFive.Sky One,E4, and several hundred satellite channels are widely available. Parts of the Republic can access the UK digital TV systemFreeview.
TheRepublic of Ireland's film industryhas grown rapidly in recent years thanks largely to the promotion of the sector byBord Scannán na hÉireann(The Irish Film Board)and the introduction of generous tax breaks. Some of the most successful Irish films includedIntermission(2001),Man About Dog(2004),Michael Collins(1996),Angela's Ashes(1999),My Left Foot(1989),The Crying Game(1992),In the Name of the Father(1994) andThe Commitments(1991). The most successful Irish film directors areKenneth Branagh,Martin McDonagh,Neil Jordan,John Carney, andJim Sheridan. Irish actors includeRichard Harris,Peter O'Toole,Maureen O'Hara,Brenda Fricker,Michael Gambon,Colm Meaney,Gabriel Byrne,Pierce Brosnan,Liam Neeson,Daniel Day-Lewis,Ciarán Hinds,James Nesbitt,Cillian Murphy,Jonathan Rhys Meyers,Saoirse Ronan,Brendan Gleeson,Domhnall Gleeson,Michael Fassbender,Ruth Negga,Jamie DornanandColin Farrell.
Ireland has also proved a popular location for shooting films withThe Quiet Man(1952),Saving Private Ryan(1998),Braveheart(1995),King Arthur(2004) andP.S. I Love You(2007) all being shot in Ireland.
Ireland is well supplied with museums and art galleries and offers, especially during the summer months, a wide range of cultural events. These range from arts festivals to farming events. The most popular of these are the annual Dublin Saint Patrick's Day Festival which attracts on average 500,000 people and theNational Ploughing Championshipswith an attendance in the region of 400,000. There are also a number of Summer Schools on topics from traditional music to literature and the arts.
Major organisations responsible for funding and promoting Irish culture are: