CAPITAL : Dublin (Baile Átha Cliath)
FLAG : The national flag is a tricolor of green, white, and orange vertical stripes.
ANTHEM : Amhrán na bhFiann (The Soldier's Song).
MONETARY UNIT : The euro replaced the Irish punt as the official currency in 2002. The euro is divided into 100 cents. There are coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents and 1 euro and 2 euros. There are notes of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 euros. As of May 2003, €1 = $1.0977 (or $1 = €0.911).
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES : Since 1988, Ireland has largely converted from the British system of weights and measures to the metric system.
HOLIDAYS : New Year's Day, 1 January; St. Patrick's Day, 17 March; Bank Holidays, 1st Monday in June, 1st Monday in August, and last Monday in October; Christmas Day, 25 December; St. Stephen's Day, 26 December. Movable religious holidays include Good Friday and Easter Monday.
TIME : GMT.
Within historic times, Ireland has been inhabited by Celts, Norsemen, French Normans, and English. Through the centuries, the racial strains represented by these groups have been so intermingled that no purely ethnic divisions remain.
Ireland has no territories or colonies.
A New History of Ireland. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993.
Breen, Richard. Understanding Contemporary Ireland: State, Class, and Development in the Republic of Ireland. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990.
Daly, Mary E. Industrial Development and Irish National Identity, 1922–1939. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1992.
'Fearful Relities': New Perspectives on the Famine. Dublin, Ireland: Irish Academic Press, 1996.
Fulton, John, Dr. The Tragedy of Belief: Division, Politics, and Religion in Ireland. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
Gibbons, Luke, Richard Kearney, and Willa Murphy (eds.). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Irish Culture. London: Routledge, 2002.
Hachey, Thomas E. The Irish Experience: A Concise History. Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe, 1996.
Harkness, D. W. Ireland in the Twentieth Century: Divided Island. Hampshire, England: Macmillan Press, 1996.
International Smoking Statistics: A Collection of Historical Data from 30 Economically Developed Countries. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Kearney, Richard. Post Nationalist Ireland: Politics, Culture, Philosophy. New York: Routledge, 1997.
McElrath, Karen (ed.). HIV and AIDS: A Global View. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002.
O'Brien, Jacqueline W. Ancient Ireland: From Prehistory to the Middle Ages. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
O'Day, Alan, and John Stevenson (eds.). Irish Historical Documents since 1800. Savage, Md.: Barnes and Noble Books, 1992.
Roy, James Charles. The Fields of Athenry: A Journey through Irish History, Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 2001.
Sawyer, Roger. 'We are but Women': Women in Ireland's History. New York: Routledge, 1993.
Turner, Michael Edward. After the Famine: Irish Agriculture, 1850-1914 . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Whelan, Kevin. The Tree of Liberty: Radicalism, Catholicism, and the Construction of Irish Identity, 1760-1830. Cork, Ireland: Cork University Press in association with Field Day, 1996.