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The Irish National Theatre was founded at the Abbey Theatre by the Gaelic Revival Movement led by Lady Augusta Gregory and WB Yeats and first opened its doors in 1904. From the outset it had a radical reputation, putting on revolutionary plays such as Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars . The theatre then went into decline, before being gutted by fire in 1951. It reopened in 1966 as the Abbey and Peacock Theatres. The work performed at the Peacock is more experimental, while the Abbey stages conventional productions and new works.

Griffith (1871–1922) launched Sinn Fein in 1906 and was elected president of the Dáil in 1922.

Built to accommodate the Irish House of Lords and House of Commons, the building is almost as magnificent as its English counterpart. Three architects were involved in its creation: Sir Edward Lovett Pearce designed the Palladian central block, with temple and portico flanked by colonnaded wings, in 1729; James Gandon contributed the portico to the east in 1785; and Richard Parkes added the western Ionic portico. In 1803, the building was taken over by the Bank of Ireland.

After his defeat by William of Orange at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, James II fled to France leaving Ireland in the hands of the Protestant Ascendancy. These were English descendants of Tudor and Stuart settlers. The native Irish suffered for more than a century from the stringent penal measures inflicted on them.

Playwright Friel’s (b.1929) successes include Dancing at Lughnasa (1990).

Connacht’s Queen Medb (Maeve) raided Ulster to seize the chief Daire’s famous bull. All the men of Ulster being under a spell, the boy Cuchulainn fought alone, killing all Medb’s warriors. Medb retreated.

A get-together to drink, sing, dance and stamp your feet to traditional music.

High, richly carved stone crucifixes with a central circle are a feature of Celtic churches.

Distinctive traditional interlocking patterns that decorate ancient Celtic jewellery have always remained popular in Ireland.