Ireland is a magnificent country that should be on every traveler’s bucket list. Its many secrets, ancient fortresses, and beautiful scenery make it unique and fascinating. If you want to learn more, here are a few interesting facts about Ireland that will make you fall in love with it.

Ireland is an insular country on Europe’s westernmost edge, and it is Europe’s second-largest island after the United Kingdom. The permanent heavy rains create the beautiful green field, which is why it is also known as the Emerald Isle.

Outside of Ireland, there are about 13 times as many Irish people as there are in the country.  While the island has a population of approximately 6 million people, the Irish diaspora numbers about 80 million people from all over the world.

If you suffer from ophidiophobia, or the fear of snakes, Ireland might be the ideal destination for you, as it is one of the few countries in the world without any of these reptiles. According to mythology, it was St. Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint, who drove them from the island, however scientific evidence from the study of fossils shows that Ireland was much too cold for reptiles to survive during the Ice Age and they never existed there in the first place.

St. Patrick’s Day, which is also the national day of Ireland and the Irish culture, is celebrated every year on the 17^th of March. It is celebrated in Ireland, but also in many other countries such as Great Britain, the United States, Argentina, Japan, and others, which makes it the most popular national holiday worldwide.

When celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, it is popular among the Irish to eat traditional food and enjoy beverages that are often colored in green, as a symbol of the holiday and an honor to the ancestors. Both Irish and non-Irish people exchange presents, which are generally traditional and authentic items that would make sense to give on such a day, such as knitwear, traditional recipes, Celtic-inspired jewelry, and apparel. If you’re celebrating this year and want to buy these kinds of gifts for your friends and family, visit https://www.shamrockgift.com/st-patricks-day-gifts  for a variety of unique and authentic St. Patrick’s Day gift ideas.

Ireland has two national symbols: the worldwide known shamrock and the lesser-known harp. The latter is also the emblem of Guinness, the world’s most famous Irish brewery, which is over 300 years old.

Ireland has been the most successful country in the Eurovision Song Contest’s history. It has competed in the competition since 1956, the year the contest was founded, and has won six times since then, the last time being in 1996.

Ireland, believe it or not, is the birthplace of Halloween! This festival may be traced back to a pagan Celtic holiday marking the end of summer and the start of what they thought was a new year. They believed that bad spirits would come onto the earth on the last night of summer and that they needed to scare them away by dressing up, lighting bonfires, and gathering everyone together. Many modern Halloween customs, such as trick-or-treating, dressing up, and playing snap apple, have Celtic origins.