User:Pruning around

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                                          Irerland

Did you know that Ireland is split in two? It is split into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is like this because soldiers from England invaded the Province of Ulster and took over 6 of its 9 counties. That part is currently part of the United Kingdom. It is now called Northern Ireland because it in the northern part of the country.

          Were you wondering what counties were? Well wonder no more. Even if I didn’t know what it was when I first heard it, but now I know. Ireland was split into four Provinces, Ulster, Munster, Leinster, and Connaught. They were further divided into thirty-two counties. 6 of these are in Northern Ireland and the rest are in the Republic.

The Capital of Ireland is Dublin, it is found in the county of, well Dublin on the east coast. Other major cities or towns include Belfast, Galway, Cork, and Shannon. The airports of Ireland include the International Airports of Shannon and Dublin. The highest point in Ireland is 1 041m. With lots of cities and towns do you think Ireland has a moderate climate?

         The Climate of Ireland is extremely moderate. The average January temperature is 5.5 degrees Celsius. The average July temperature is 15 degrees Celsius. The average Rainfall a year is approximately 130cm. If it is raining in Dublin, it will probably be raining in the rest of Ireland. I call this “what affects one affects all. So if it is raining everywhere aren’t those huge field sports pretty fair.   

          Some of the biggest sports in Ireland originate from games that were played on endless fields. Hurling is a game that the Celts brought. It is extremely popular, it was originally played on huge fields but is know played in a pitch approximately 137m long and 82m wide. The way it is played is each team has 11 players, who all have large shafted wooden sticks called Hurley’s. What the Players must do is either bat the ball in the goal or over the goal but in between the goalposts that rise above the goal. To get there the players must run with the ball in there hand, but after 4 steps they must either pass, shoot, or bounce the ball. A player that has already bounced the ball twice must pass, shoot, or balance it on there Hurley. They may keep it there as long as they wish. It is the oldest field game in Europe. The games are played for two 30 minute halves at Club level or 35 minutes at Inter-County level. The other game that the Celts brought was Gaelic Football. It has basically the same rules as hurling accept the ball is bigger and if you bounce it twice you may then bounce it of your foot and catch it again. The ball is about the size of a soccer ball. Everything else is the same. The sports of soccer and rugby were well introduced and are now very popular. One of the newest sports influenced in Ireland is Horse Racing.