|
Archive-name: cultures/irish-faq/part00
Last-modified: 3 Jul 99 Posting-Frequency: monthly URL: http://www.enteract.com/~cpm/irish-faq/ See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge Part zero of ten. FAQ = Frequently Asked Questions The FAQ has a new home on the web at www.enteract.com/~cpm/irish-faq/ Please update your links. This document summarises answers to some questions that are asked a lot on soc.culture.irish. (It also contains answers to questions that are not asked very frequently, but are thought to be useful anyway.) The answers come from a lot of people who have volunteered their time to write them at various times and places. Originally, this document was part of the soc.culture.celtic FAQ (maintained by Craig Cockburn; Godfrey Nolan wrote most of the Irish part). Now this FAQ covers soc.culture.irish, though a lot of the original answers are still present almost unchanged. The answers here are not _the_ answers to your questions. No article posted to a soc.* newsgroup can ever contain _the_ answers if the questions are interesting. However, the answers should be as fair and accurate possible without being bland or burdensome. Please send comments and corrections to the the maintainer. Currently, the maintainer is Christian Murphy <cpm @ enteract.com>, but I prefer if you send FAQ related messages to <irish-faq@pobox.com>. If you have a question that is not answered in the FAQ, it is a much better idea to ask in soc.culture.irish than to ask me personally. I am not an expert in things Irish, just the guy who edits and posts the FAQ. The newsgroup is also the right place to discuss controversial questions. Irish accented characters in this document are represented using the ISO-8859-1 character set, which can be used to represent all western European languages. Also known as Latin-1, ISO-8859-1 is a de facto standard on Usenet. If you can't read the accented characters, ask for help (for example from your service provider). Slashes for accents are ugly and unnecessary. Again, please let me know if you find any inaccuracies in the FAQ! I cannot check everything and some things are bound to get out of date. The FAQ is corrected and updated fairly regularly, usually at least every month. If you are reading a version that is more than a couple of months old, it may be worth getting the current version. I'd like to thank the following people, who have contributed to the health and well-being of the FAQ by sending comments/suggestions/updates/corrections/additions or posting interesting information to soc.culture.irish. Aidan Hollinshead Áine McManus Bart Connolly Brendan Lawlor Clive Staunton Dave Westland Donal Mac Craith Fiona C Hyland Gerard Cunningham Godfrey Nolan Ivan Harrow Jeanne Cruden Joe Bernstein K.E. Dennis Markie Becker Paul Linehan Peter Muldoon Richard Logue Richard Marsh Robin Popplestone Séamas Ó Brógáin Sean V. Kelley Steve McKinty Timothy Murphy [ Obviously they do not all necessarily endorse the whole of this FAQ. ] My thanks also to others who contributed but did not want to be named and anyone I forgot to credit (please let me know!). Contents Part 1: Basics 1) What is the newsgroup "soc.culture.irish" about? 2) Where is the Irish culture? 3) I found a lot of nastiness here. Are real Irish people like that? 4) Could you please send me the Irish FAQ? 5) What is netiquette? 6) What is a troll? What should I do when I see one? 7) What are the basics I should know about Ireland? 8) What are the basics about the Republic? 9) What are the basics about Northern Ireland? 10) I'm a bit confused by all the names. Please explain. 11) What about Irish-Americans? 12) Why is there a conflict in the North? 13) Where can I find more information about the flags of Ireland? Part 2: Tourism and the Web 1) How can I contact the Irish Tourist Board? 2) How can I contact the Northern Ireland Tourist Board? 3) How can I contact hostels in Ireland? 4) What festivals are worth visiting? 5) Can I visit Ireland on the web? Part 3: The Irish Language 1) What kind of language is Irish? 2) Tell me about introductory Courses to the Irish language. 3) Where can I learn Irish abroad (or online)? 4) What summer courses in Irish Gaelic are there? 5) Do you know of any Irish language Cassette tapes? 6) What bookstores in the States have Irish books? 7) What is the name of the pin worn by fluent Irish speakers? 8) Where can I find computer terms in Irish? 9) Are there any Irish speakers on-line? 10) What do all these Irish place names really mean? 11) How do you say "kiss my ass" in Irish? Part 4: Politics 1) What should I call it? 2) What should I call them? 3) Doesn't the Irish constitution lay claim to Northern Ireland? 4) What's special about elections in the Republic? 5) What are the political parties in the Republic? 6) What are the political parties in Northern Ireland? 7) Isn't contraception illegal in the Republic? 8) What about D.I.V.O.R.C.E. ? 9) Can anybody explain the abortion referendum? 10) Wasn't homosexuality banned in Ireland? 11) Where can I find the text of the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement? Part 5: History 1) Why is Ireland divided? 2) How did the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland start? 3) What books are there on Irish history? 4) Chronological list of dates from Irish History Part 6: The Famine 1) Why is it important? 2) Why is it controversial? 3) What happened? 4) Why did so many people die? 5) Was the Famine genocide? 6) Any references? 7) Where can I find other points of view? Part 7: Cuisine (Recipes) 1) Corned Beef & Cabbage 2) Colcannon 3) Irish Soda Bread 4) Shortbread 5) Boxty 6) Potato Cakes 7) Coddle 8) Hot Ginger & Lemon 9) Other sources Part 8: Miscellaneous 1) I'm considering looking for a job in Ireland. Any hints? 2) Where can I get information about moving back to Ireland? 3) How do I apply for Irish citizenship? 4) Do I qualify for Irish citizenship if my great-grandparent was Irish? 5) Could I not get citizenship by first getting a parent to get it? 6) Which Irish embassy or consulate should I contact? 7) Is dual citizenship allowed (for example if I'm a U.S. citizen)? 8) I'm an American student: can I get a working visa? 9) I'm looking for XXX from Ireland: how can I reach him/her? 10) What are black Irish and shanty Irish? 11) What are Scotch-Irish? 12) What are black protestants? 13) What are travellers? 14) How do I pronounce "celt" and "celtic"? 15) What's the difference between clover and shamrock? 16) Does anybody know the lyrics for [Danny Boy, Galway Bay, etc.] ? 17) Where can I order Irish turf in the U.S.? 18) What are Claddagh rings? Part 9: Irish Names 1) Does anyone have a list of Irish first names? 2) How do you pronounce that? 3) Are there any books of Irish names? 4) I'm looking for information about a family name. Part 10: Glossary 1) Geography 2) Irish Language 3) Irish Politics 4) NI Politics 5) NI Paramilitaries 6) Government 7) Semi-State Bodies 8) Taxation & Spending 9) Other Bodies 10) Sport 11) Current Affairs 12) NI Current Affairs 13) Dead White Males 14) Other Historical Terms 15) Monuments 16) Irish-America 17) Myth and Folklore 18) General Terms User Contributions:Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: |
Regards
Ivan Brookes