History UsefulNotes / Ireland

The current Irish "Taoiseach" (think 'Prime Minister', but don't actually say it) as of 2024 is Leo Varadkar of the Fine Gael, who had served the same position from 2017 to 2020. His Tánaiste (''tawn-ish-tuh''; Deputy Prime Minister) is Micheál Martin, a career politician and member of the formerly bitter rival political party Fianna Fáil (''fee-nuh foyl'' [[note]]See note above about Irish pronunciation[[/note]]) but currently coalition partners.

Ireland is a part of the Common Travel Area with the United Kingdom, which nets citizens of either country the right to enter, work, study, vote, and receive health and social benefits in the other country. A side effect of this is that, despite being a member of the EU, Ireland is not a part of the Schengen Area, as doing so will mean that the U.K. also has to enter (which it will adamantly never do), but the U.K. not entering will mean the invalidation of the Common Travel Area. Since the EU maintains freedom of movement by principle, the Irish are free to enter the Schengen Area without a visa for as long as they like and vice versa; the bit about Ireland not being a part of the Schengen Area has more to do about the fact that Ireland still maintains border controls with the rest of the Schengen Area,[[note]]For instance, a [[UsefulNotes/{{France}} French]] citizen will be stopped at the border, but he can just show a EU ID card and call it a day.[[/note]] plus a separate visa policy.[[note]]For instance, a UsefulNotes/{{Serbia}}n can enter and live in France for 90 days by just showing his passport, but he will need a visa if he wants to enter Ireland.[[/note]]

** Taoiseach: Leo Varadkar

* Actors Creator/ColmMeaney, Creator/PierceBrosnan, Creator/AidanGillen, Creator/RichardHarris, Creator/GabrielByrne, Creator/CillianMurphy, Creator/JonathanRhysMeyers, Creator/LiamNeeson, Creator/StuartTownsend, Creator/ColinFarrell, Creator/DanielDayLewis, Creator/BrendanGleeson (and his sons Creator/{{Domhnall|Gleeson}} and Brian), Creator/CiaranHinds, Creator/ColinMorgan, Creator/RobertSheehan, Creator/ArdalOHanlon, and Creator/FrankKelly.
* Actresses Creator/MaureenOHara, Creator/SaoirseRonan, Creator/EvannaLynch, Creator/SarahBolger, [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade Alison Doody]] and Creator/KatieMcGrath.

* Actors Creator/ColmMeaney, Creator/PierceBrosnan, Creator/AidanGillen, Creator/RichardHarris, Creator/GabrielByrne, Creator/CillianMurphy, Creator/JonathanRhysMeyers, Creator/LiamNeeson, Creator/StuartTownsend, Creator/ColinFarrell, Creator/DanielDayLewis, Creator/BrendanGleeson (and his sons Creator/{{Domhnall|Gleeson}} and Brian), Creator/CiaranHinds, Creator/ColinMorgan, Creator/RobertSheehan and Creator/ArdalOHanlon.

* Actors Creator/ColmMeaney, Creator/PierceBrosnan, Creator/AidanGillen, Creator/RichardHarris, Creator/GabrielByrne, Creator/CillianMurphy, Creator/JonathanRhysMeyers, Creator/LiamNeeson, Creator/StuartTownsend, Creator/ColinFarrell, Creator/DanielDayLewis, Creator/BrendanGleeson (and his sons Creator/{{Domhnall|Gleeson}} and Brian), Creator/CiaranHinds, Creator/ColinMorgan, Creator/RobertSheehan and [[Series/FatherTed Ardal O'Hanlon]].

Ireland is a part of the Common Travel Area with the United Kingdom, which nets citizens of either country the right to enter, work, study, vote, and receive health and social benefits in the other country. A side effect of this is that, despite being a member of the EU, Ireland is not a part of the Schengen Area, as doing so will mean that the U.K. also has to enter (which they will adamantly never do), but the U.K. not entering will mean the invalidation of the Common Travel Area. Since the EU maintains freedom of movement by principle, the Irish are free to enter the Schengen Area without a visa for as long as they like and vice versa; the bit about Ireland not being a part of the Schengen Area has more to do about Ireland maintaining a separate visa policy for non-EU members.[[note]]For instance, UsefulNotes/{{Serbia}}n citizens are free to enter the Schengen Area and live there without a visa for 90 days, but they need a visa if they want to enter Ireland.[[/note]]

Ireland is a part of the Common Travel Area with the United Kingdom, which nets citizens of either country the right to enter, work, study, vote, and receive health and social benefits in the other country. A side effect of this is that, despite being a member of the EU, Ireland is not a part of the Schengen Area, as doing so will mean that the U.K. also has to enter (which they will adamantly never do), but the U.K. not entering will mean the invalidation of the Common Travel Area. Since the EU maintains freedom of movement by principle, the Irish are still free to enter the Schengen Area without a visa for as long as they like and vice versa; the bit about Ireland not being a part of the Schengen Area has more to do about Ireland maintaining a separate visa policy for non-EU members.[[note]]For instance, UsefulNotes/{{Serbia}}n citizens are exempt to enter the Schengen Area without a visa for 90 days, but they need a visa if they want to enter Ireland.[[/note]]

The current Irish "Taoiseach" (think 'Prime Minister', but don't actually say it) as of 2020 is Micheál Martin, a career politician, member of Fianna Fáil (''fee-nuh foyl'' [[note]]See note above about Irish pronunciation[[/note]]), and his Tánaiste (''tawn-ish-tuh''; Deputy Prime Minister) is Leo Varadkar, former Taoiseach from 2017 until 2020 and member of formerly bitter rival political party Fine Gael but currently coalition partners.

The current Irish Chief Justice is Frank Clarke.

Ireland maintains the Common Travel Area with the United Kingdom, which nets citizens of either country the right to enter, work, study, vote, and receive health and social benefits in the other country. A side effect of this is that, despite being a member of the European Union, Ireland is not a member of the Schengen Area, as doing so will mean that the U.K. also has to enter (which they will adamantly never do), but the U.K. not entering will mean the invalidation of the Common Travel Area. Since the EU maintains freedom of movement by principle, the Irish are still free to enter the Schengen Area without a visa for as long as they like and vice versa; the bit about Ireland not being a part of the Schengen Area has more to do about Ireland maintaining a separate visa policy for non-EU members.[[note]]For instance, UsefulNotes/{{Serbia}}n citizens are exempt to enter the Schengen Area without a visa for 90 days, but they need a visa if they want to enter Ireland.[[/note]]

* '''Area:''' 70,273 km
(27,133 sq mi) (118th)

** Taoiseach: Micheál Martin
** Tánaiste: Leo Varadkar
** Chief Justice: Frank Clarke

* '''Area:''' 70,273 km
(27,133 sq mi) (118th)

* [=YouTuber=] and {{Lets Play}}er LetsPlay/{{Jacksepticeye}}.

* ''LiteratureAngelasAshes'' (Limerick)

* ''Angela's Ashes'' (Limerick)

* Comedian, writer, actor and filmmaker Dylan Moran

'''Fiction set in Ireland''' (unless it involves UsefulNotes/TheTroubles) will either take place in Dublin or in a tiny village in some undefined part of the countryside. Virtually nothing takes place in other cities or towns. Creator/BernardManning once identified a category of fiction called "Oirish", which involved several basic elements -- old vs new, modernity vs superstition, [[EvilBrit evil British people]], history, and adulterous affairs, all set in tiny villages in County Mayo. ''Magazine/PrivateEye'' characterized a stock Irish fictional sentence as: "Wee Bridie was walking to Holy Communion in her shiny new shoes the day the Guards came for Mulgarvey." Exceptions are few enough to list:

'''Ireland''' ('''Irish:''' ''Éire''), also known by its official descriptor the '''Republic of Ireland''' ('''Irish:''' ''Poblacht na hÉireann''), is a medium-sized, windy, [[RainRainGoAway rain-swept]] island on the northwestern fringe of Europe, which looks a bit like a teddy bear or koala (imagine it in the profile, looking away from Britain). It is also the name of the Northern European country that covers four-fifths of that island, the rest being covered by UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland (part of the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom). For Hollywood clichés about Ireland, see {{Scotireland}} and {{Oireland}}. For more about Northern Ireland, see UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland and UsefulNotes/TheTroubles.