Северная Ирландия

SYMBOLS USED IN NORTHERN IRELAND

Title: Red Hand of Ulster
Description: The Red Hand of Ulster is the official seal of the O'Neill family. It is believed to originate from a mythical tale wherein two chieftains were racing across a stretch of water in a bid to be the first to reach the land and claim it as his own. Realising his foe would touch the land first, one chieftain cut off his hand and threw it onto the shore, thereby claiming the land before his adversary reached it.

Title: Shamrock
Description: Legend has it that the shamrock was used by St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, to illustrate the Holy Trinity, is used on St. Patrick's day on 17 March.

Title: Harp
Description: This instrument has long symbolised the island of Ireland. It's origins come from when Owen Roe O'Neill, a Gaelic Chieftain, adopted a green flag incorporating the harp. Being seen as a threat to the English invaders, playing the harp was banned, despite remaining on the royal insignia as representing Ireland in the growing British Empire.

The Ulster Banner , also known as the Ulster flag, the Northern Ireland flag or the Red Hand of Ulster flag, is still used to represent Northern Ireland in some sporting events. The flag is a heraldic banner taken from the coat of arms granted in 1924 which is based on the flag of England and the flag of Ulster, with the addition of a crown to symbolise the loyalty of Ulster unionists to the British Monarchy. As with the flag of Ulster, it contains the Red Hand of Ulster at the centre. The six pointed star represents the six counties that make up Northern Ireland.

The national flag of Ireland is a vertical tricolour of green, white, and orange. It is also known as the Irish tricolour . Officially the flag has no meaning in the Irish Constitution, but a common interpretation is that the green represents the Irish nationalist tradition of Ireland and the orange represents the Orange tradition in Ireland, with white representing peace between them.

The Coat of Arms of Northern Ireland was granted to the Government of Northern Ireland in 1924. The supporters were granted in 1925, and consist of a red lion supporting a blue banner bearing a gold harp and crown, and an Irish elk in proper colours, supporting a banner of the arms of the De Burgo Earls of Ulster, the basis for the Flag of Ulster. In the middle is St. Patrick’s cross with six pointed star in his middle, which contains also Red Hand of Ulster.

GEOGRAPHY AND ECONOMY

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west.

Northern Ireland consists of six of the traditional nine counties of the historic Irish province of Ulster. It was created as a distinct division of the United Kingdom on 3 May 1921. For over 50 years it had its own government and parliament.

Northern Ireland was for many years the site of a violent and bitter ethno-political conflict—The Troubles—between those claiming to represent nationalists, who are predominantly Roman Catholic, and those claiming to represent unionists, who are predominantly Protestant. Unionists want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom, while nationalists wish it to be politically united with the rest of Ireland. Since the signing of the "Good Friday Agreement" in 1998, most of the paramilitary groups involved in the Troubles have ceased their armed campaigns.

This is a land of blue mountains and forest parks, mazy lakes and windswept moors, white Atlantic sands, an inland sea. In fact, it's a country that is just pretending to be small. Dozens of small towns are hidden away down among the green places of the countryside, and fishing villages string out along the shores. Distinctive field patterns, for instance, are especially striking, and so are ruined castles. Built from the 12th century onwards, and once symbols of both oppression and reassurance, they are now among Ulster's finest architectural treasures. Northern Ireland is only 5,500 square miles in area - about the size of Yorkshire or Connecticut - you can see most of the main attractions in a week without clocking up more than 500 miles.

Northern Ireland was covered by an ice sheet for most of the last ice age. The centrepiece of Northern Ireland's geography is Lough Neagh, at 151 square miles (391 km² ) the largest freshwater lake both on the island of Ireland and in the British Isles. The largest island of Northern Ireland is Rathlin. Strangford Lough is the largest inlet in the British Isles, covering 150 km² (58 sq mi).

There are substantial uplands in the Sperrin Mountains with extensive gold deposits, granite Mourne Mountains and basalt Antrim Plateau. None of the hills are especially high, with Slieve Donard in the Mournes reaching 849 metres (2,785 ft), Northern Ireland's highest point.

The Lower and Upper River Bann, River Foyle and River Blackwater form extensive fertile lowlands, with excellent arable land.

The whole of Northern Ireland has a temperate maritime climate. The weather is unpredictable at all times of the year.