What’s the craic?
Ireland is called the Emerald Isle, because it’s so green. And it’s green because… it rains a lot! Despite this, there’s lots of fun to be had in Ireland. The Irish people are very friendly and have thousands of stories about the history and culture of Ireland.
Even though Ireland is a pretty small country, it’s quite famous around the world. That’s because lots of Irish people left Ireland and moved to America. Lots of people in the USA are still proud of their Irish roots and keep the stories and traditions alive there.
Almost everyone in Ireland speaks English as their first language, rather than Irish, although children learn Irish in school. That’s because Ireland was controlled by England for a long time and people were stopped from speaking Irish to each other.
Nowadays people recognize that the Irish lanague is important so they try to preserve it, as well as making sure to remember lots of the traditions, fairy stories and history of Ireland.
This workbook is all about the traditions, the symbols, the language and the landscape of Ireland. We’ve got a pronunciation guide too!
This workbook has 6 different activities.
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Before you start…
You’ll need some printed worksheets to complete this workbook. Start by clicking the button below and printing out the sheets.
Get a grown up to help you if you need it.
MAKE SURE TO CHECK ‘FIT TO PAGE’ WHEN YOU PRINT
When you’ve printed out the worksheets and got a pen or pencil, then scroll down to the begin the activities.
Here’s a bigger map…
You can click on the purple circles to learn more - it might help you later!
Irish Stories
Storytelling is an important job in Ireland. Remembering stories is an important way to remember traditions and lessons from the past. Many storytellers don’t read stories from books, they repeat them from their memory. Lots of people get taught stories by their grandparents and parents, then pass them on to their children.
There are a few very famous stories in Irish tradition, especially those about Fionn and the Fianna. Fionn mac Cumhaill (pronounced “fin mc-cool”) was the leader of a band of warriors called the Fianna. They travelled around Ireland and had adventures, protecting people and fighting monsters.
Other famous Irish stories that you can look for are:
the Children of Lir
Sétanta and the hound
the Salmon of Knowledge
Oisín in Tír na nÓg
Here’s another Irish story you can try…
Activity 1: First Questions
There are lots of interesting things to learn about Ireland! Can you answer the questions in this quiz?
Remember, try not to guess but actually do some research to find out the answers - ask your parents, or look on the Internet to find the answers!
Two countries on one island
The island of Ireland is two separate countries. In the north is Northern Ireland, one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. To the south and west is the Republic of Ireland or Eire.
The capital of Republic of Ireland/Eire is
_ _ _ _ _ _
The capital of Northern Ireland is _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Some people want Eire and Northern Ireland to become the same country, but some people don’t. They argue a lot about this.
Activity 2: How well do you know Ireland?
Ireland might look small but it’s actually the second biggest island in Europe! 80% of the island is the Republic of Ireland, or Eire and 20% is Northern Ireland.
Ireland has lots of green fields and many farms. There are also some big, important cities, beautiful rivers and steep high cliffs along the coast.
Let’s explore!
Ready to draw your own map of Ireland?
On page 3 of your workbook, you’ll find a blank map of Ireland. You’re going to fill in different features on the map. That means you’ll need to do some research by looking at another map of Ireland. Maybe you have an atlas with a map of Ireland? Or you can find a map online.
Start by following the grey outline with a dark pen to draw the edges of Ireland.
You’ll also need some pens or pencils of different colours: black, blue, red and purple.
With a BLACK pen, find these cities and mark them on the map:
Dublin
Galway
Cork
Limerick
Waterford
With a RED pen, find the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland and draw it
With a BLUE pen, mark these rivers on the map
The Shannon
The Liffey
The Lee
There are a lot of sheep in Ireland - more than there are people - draw some sheep on your map
Guinness is a famous Irish drink - but where do they make it? Draw an arrow on the map.
Carrauntoohil is the highest mountain in Ireland. With a PURPLE pen, mark it on the map
What is the longest river in Ireland? That’s the answer that goes in the Answer Grid ⭐
Activity 3: Irish Fairies
Ireland is a mysterious land. Irish families tell stories about different creatures which only come out sometimes. Some of these creatures are beautiful or funny, but some can be a bit scary.
Below are some descriptions of different mythological creatures from Ireland. Using the descriptions, can you draw them? There are spaces on page 4.
Use a separate piece of paper.
One of the descriptions above sort of matches this picture - which one is it? That’s the answer that goes in the Answer Grid ⭐
Activity 4: Dot-to-dot
On page 5 of the workbooks is a dot-to-dot. When you finish the lines, it will reveal an object. That object is the answer that goes in the Answer Grid.
CLUE: They are lucky in Ireland but only if you find one with 4 leaves! If it has 3 leaves, it’s called a shamrock.
Below are some other Irish symbols - a Celtic cross, a Claddagh ring and a triple knot.
Here’s an Irish story…
Oisín in Tír Na nÓg
Oisín was a famous Irish warrior who lived a very long time ago. He had many adventures
Oisín was a great warrior, sang the sweetest songs and placed the harp more beautifully than anyone in all Ireland. One day he was out riding and met a beautiful maiden with long golden hair, riding on a snowy white horse. Her name was Niamh. He immediately fell in love with her and promised to go with her to her home, Tír Na nÓg. His mother and father begged him not to go, in case he never came back, but he went anyway.
They rode across the land and when they reached the sea, Niamh’s horse neighed three times and the sea parted to allow them to cross. They rode faster than the wind and finally reached a fair land, Tír Na nÓg. Oisín married Niamh and they lived for 300 years in the most beautiful place Oisín had ever seen.
This was a land where Youth and Beauty lived forever but after 300 years, Oisín grew restless. He wanted to fight a great battle, to sing his old songs and to play his harp. And last of all, he remembered his promise to return to see his parents. Finally Niamh agreed but warned him that if he took a single step on the soil of Ireland, he would never be able to return to her.
Oisín rode on Niamh’s white horse across the sea and then the land to the place of his family. Things looked quite different and when he reached his father’s castle it was a ruin. Some men nearby were trying to move a huge stone and he leant down from the mighty horse to help them.
Oisín was a tall and strong man and he managed to lift the rock but as he did, the golden belt on the horse’s saddle broke. Oisín fell to the ground and as he landed the horse vanished and he heard Niamh scream. Immediately Oisín changed from a strong young warrior into the 300-year old man he really was. He realized that although he had stayed young in Tir na nÓg, all his friends and family had grown old and died many years before.
He was never able to find his way back to Tír Na nÓg, although he looked for the way. His story was told for many years - Oisín is the only man to have ever returned to Ireland from Tír Na nÓg, the land of Youth.
Activity 5: Let’s learn Irish!
In Ireland everyone speaks English, but lots of people also speak Irish. Irish can be difficult for some people to read, because the spellings are very different to the sounds. So we’ve created a code to help you spell some Irish words.
There are some symbols below. Can you use the symbols to translate the Irish words on page 6 of your worksheets? One has a star next to it ⭐
Not sure how to pronounce the words? We’ve made a pronunciation guide for you. Click on the buttons below to hear the words pronounced
Activity 6: Limericks from Limerick
As you know by now Limerick is a town in Ireland. You might also know the name as a kind of poem.
A limerick always:
has 5 lines
lines number 1, 2 & 5 must rhyme with each other
lines 2 & 3 must rhyme with each other
is funny or a bit rude!