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O'Faoláin, Seán

(Encyclopedia)O'Faoláin, Seán shôn ōfălˈən [key], 1900–1991, Irish writer. The relation of the individual to society was often the theme of his novels and stories. He frequently wrote about Ireland, analyz...

Markiewicz, Constance Georgine, Countess

(Encyclopedia)Markiewicz, Constance Georgine, Countess märkyāˈvĭts [key], 1868–1927, Irish politician and patriot. A member of Sinn Féin, she was sentenced to death for her militant part in the Easter Rebell...

Brian Boru

(Encyclopedia)Brian Boru or Brian Boroimhe both: brīˈən, brēn; bəro͞oˈ, bərōˈ [key], 940?–1014, king of Ireland. A clan prince, he succeeded his brother Mathghamhain, who had seized the throne of Munste...

Tara

(Encyclopedia)Tara târˈə [key], village, Co. Meath, E Republic of Ireland. The Hill of Tara (507 ft/155 m high) was the seat of the high kings of Ireland from ancient times until the 6th cent. and may have been ...

Orangemen

(Encyclopedia)Orangemen, members of the Loyal Orange Institution, familiarly called the Orange Order, a Protestant Irish society founded and flourishing mainly in Ulster. It was established (1795) to maintain the P...

Friel, Brian

(Encyclopedia)Friel, Brian frēl [key], 1929–2015, Irish playwright, b. Killyglogher, Northern Ireland. Treating themes that enmesh both Irelands, he became the most acclaimed Irish dramatist of the late 20th cen...

whiskey

(Encyclopedia)whiskey [from the Gaelic for “water of life”], spirituous liquor distilled from a fermented mash of grains, usually rye, barley, oats, wheat, or corn. Inferior whiskeys are made from potatoes, bee...

Curran, John Philpot

(Encyclopedia)Curran, John Philpot kŭrˈən [key], 1750–1817, Irish statesman and orator. He became the best-known trial lawyer in Dublin when he was still very young and entered the Irish Parliament in 1783. He...

Reynolds, Albert

(Encyclopedia)Reynolds, Albert, 1935–2014, Irish political leader. A successful business executive, Reynolds won (1977) a seat in the Irish parliament as a member of the Fianna Fáil party. He was minister of pos...

Hone, Nathaniel

(Encyclopedia)Hone, Nathaniel, 1718–84, Irish miniaturist and portrait painter. Hone is noted for his smoothly painted, informal portraits of middle-class subjects. His painting The Conjurer (1775) formed part of...