Paul McGinley

Paul McGinley (born December 16, 1966 in Dublin) is an Irish golfer who plays on the PGA European Tour. He is most famous for holing the winning putt for the European team in the 2002 Ryder Cup. He currently resides in Sunningdale, England. McGinley turned professional in 1991. He has won four events on the European Tour. Up to and including 2005 his best finish on the European Tour Order of Merit is third in 2005.

European Tour wins

- 1996 - Hohe Brucke Open
- 1997 - Oki Pro-Am
- 2001 - The Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open
- 2005 - Volvo Masters

Other wins

Amateur:
- 1988 Irish Youths Championship, Scottish Youths Championship
- 1989 Irish Amateur Championship Professional:
- 1997 Irish PGA Championship
- 2000 Irish PGA Championship
- 2002 Smurfit Irish PGA Championship
- 2003 Smurfit Irish PGA Championship

Team appearances

- Walker Cup (amateur, representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1991
- Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 2002 (winners), 2004 (winners)
- Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Ireland): 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
- World Cup (representing Ireland): 1993, 1994, 1997 (winners), 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
- The Seve Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland) 2002 (winners), 2005 (winners)

External links

- [http://www.paulmcginley.net/ism/sites/mcginley/ Official site]
- [http://www.europeantour.com/players/bio.sps?iPlayerNo=5516 Europeantour.com biography]
- [http://www.sportism.net/ism/sites/sportism/mcginley.shtml Sportism biography]
- [http://www.golfstarsonline.com/M/Paul_McGinley/ Golf Stars Online] - links to features and profiles McGinley, Paul McGinley, Paul

Paul McGinley

European Tour wins

- 1996 - Hohe Brucke Open
- 1997 - Oki Pro-Am
- 2001 - The Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open
- 2005 - Volvo Masters

Other wins

Team appearances

External links

1966

1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link goes to calendar)

Events

January

- January 1 - In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic.
- January 2 - Strike of public transportation workers in New York City - ends January 13
- January 3 - First Acid Test at the Fillmore, San Francisco
- January 4 - Military coup in Upper Volta (later Burkina Faso).
- January 4 - Prime ministers of India and Pakistan meet in Moscow
- January 5 - Fire due to a gas leak in Feyzin oil refinery near Lyon, France - 12 dead, 80 injured
- January 10 - Pakistani-Indian peace negotiations end successfully in Moscow
- January 10 - French paper L'Express publishes a story of Georges Figon, who took part of the kidnapping of Mehdi Ben Barka. January 18 French police announces that Figon has committed suicide just before he was about to be arrested
- January 11 - Conference about the situation in Rhodesia begins in Lagos
- January 11 - Indian prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri dies
- January 12 - Lyndon Johnson states that the United States should stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there is ended.
- January 13 - Robert C. Weaver becomes the first African American Cabinet member by being appointed United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
- January 15 - A violent military coup in Nigeria
- January 15 - Moscow announces that Sergei Korolev is dead
- January 17 - The Nigerian coup is overturned
- January 17 - A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 jet tanker over Spain, dropping three 70-kiloton hydrogen bombs near the town of Palomares and one into the sea
- January 17 - Carl Brashear, the first African American United States Navy diver, is involved in an accident on a routine mission which amputates his leg.
- January 18 - About 8000 US soldiers land in South Vietnam - numbers of US troops total 190.000
- January 19 - Indira Gandhi is elected Prime Minister of India - sworn in January 24
- January 19 - Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies resigns
- January 20 - Demonstrations against high food prices in Hungary
- January 21 - Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro resigns due to a power struggle in his party
- January 22 - Military government of Nigeria announces that ex-prime minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa has been killed during the coup
- January 26 - Harold Holt becomes Prime Minister of Australia when Robert Menzies retires
- January 26 - Three Beaumont chrildren disapper on their way to Glenelg Beach Adelaide SA, Australia. Never to be seen again
- January 27 - British government promises USA that British troops in Malaysia stay until more peaceful conditions in the region
- January 29 - The first of 608 performances of Sweet Charity opens at the Palace Theatre in New York City.
- January 31 - United Kingdom ceases all trade with Rhodesia
- January - First SR-71 spy plane goes into service.

February

- February 1 - West Germany has purchased 2600 political prisoners from East Germany
- February 3 - The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft makes the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon
- February 4 - Japanese passenger jet crashes into Tokyo Bay - 133 dead
- February 6 - Fidel Castro blames China for spreading anti-Soviet propaganda among Cuban soldiers
- February 10 - Soviet writers Yuli Daniel and Andrei Sinjavski are sentenced for five and seven years, respectively, for anti-Soviet writings
- February 11 - Belgian government resigns
- February 14 - The Australian Dollar was introduced at a rate of two dollars per pound, or ten shillings per dollar.
- February 19 - Naval minister of United Kingdom, Christopher Mayhew, resigns
- February 20 - When Valeri Tarsis, Soviet author and translator is abroad, Soviet Union negates his citizenship
- February 23 - A military coup in Syria replaces the previous government with a Ba'athist regime.
- February 24 - A military coup in Ghana raises sacked general Ankrah to power while president Kwame Nkrumah is abroad.
- February 26 - Curfew in Jakarta
- February 28 - US astronauts Charles Bassett and Elliott See are killed in an aircraft accident in St. Louis, MO

March

- March 1 - Soviet space probe Venera 3 crashes on Venus, becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface.
- March 1 - The Ba'ath Party takes power in Syria
- March 2 - Kwame Nkrumah arrives in Guinea and is granted an asylum
- March 4 - The Beatles: In an interview published in The Evening Standard, John Lennon comments, "We're more popular than Jesus now," eventually sparking a controversy in the United States.
- March 5 - Massive theft of nuclear materials revealed in Brazil
- March 7 - Charles De Gaulle asks US president Johnson for negotiations about the state of NATO equipment in France
- March 8 - Anti-communist demonstrations in Indonesian foreign ministry
- March 8 – Ronald Kray, one of the Kray twins, shoots rival gangster George Cornell; the incidents leads to brother's incarceration
- March 8 - Vietnam War: Australia announces it is going to substantially increase its number of troops in Vietnam
- March 8 - A IRA bomb destroys Nelson's Pillar in Dublin
- March 10 - Crown Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands marries Claus von Amsberg.
- March 10 - Wedding of Beatrix, the crown princess of Netherlands and Claus von Amsberg. Some spectators demonstrate against the groom, because he is German
- March 11 – Indonesian president Sukarno gives all executive powers to general Suharto
- March 11 - French president Charles De Gaulle states that French troops will be taken out of NATO and that all French NATO bases and HQ's must be closed within a year
- March 16 - Gemini 8 docks with Agena target satellite
- March 17 - More anti-communist demonstrations in Indonesia
- March 17 - Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.
- March 23 - Pope Paul VI and Dr Arthur Michael Ramsey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, meet in Rome - the first official meeting for 400 years between the Catholic and the Anglican Churches
- March 26 - Demonstrations again the Vietnam War in USA
- March 27 - In South Vietnam, 20.000 Buddhists march in demonstrations against the policies of the military government
- March 28 - Indira Gandhi visits Washington DC
- March 29 - 23rd Communist party conference in Soviet Union - Leonid Brezhnev demands that US troops leave Vietnam and announces that Chinese-Soviet relations are not satisfying
- March 31 - The Labour Party under Harold Wilson win the British General Election
- March 31 - The Soviet Union launches Luna 10 which later becomes the first space probe to enter orbit around the moon

April

- April 2 - Indonesian army demands that the country rejoin the United Nations
- April 4 - Luna 10 enters orbit around the moon
- April 7 - The United Kingdom asks the UN Security Council authority to use force to stop oil tankers that violate oil embargo against Rhodesia. Authority is given April 10
- April 8 - Buddhists in South Vietnam protest against the fact that the new government has not set a date for free elections
- April 12 - Jan Berry of Jan & Dean suffers brain damage in a serious automobile accident in Beverly Hills, California
- April 14 - South Vietnamese government promises free elections in 3-5 months
- April 15 - anti-Nasser conspiracy exposed in Egypt
- April 18 - China declares that it stops economic aid to Indonesia
- April 21 - Artificial heart installed to the chest of Marcel DeRudder in Houston hospital
- April 21 - The opening of Parliament of the United Kingdom is televised for the first time
- April 27 - Pope Paul VI and Soviet premier Gromyko meet in the Vatican - the first meeting between representatives of the Catholic Church and Soviet Union
- April 28 - In Rhodesia, security forces kill 7 ZANLA men in combat- Chimurenga, ZANU rebellion begins
- April 29 - US troops in Vietnam total 250.000
- April 30 - regular hovercraft service begins over the English Channel (discontinued 2000 due to Channel Tunnel)

May

- May 1 - Floods in Finnish coast
- May 4 - Fiat signs a contract with Soviet government to build a car factory in Soviet Union
- May 6 - The Moors Murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley sentenced for life imprisonment
- May 12 - African members of the UN Security Council say that British army should blockage Rhodesia
- May 12 - Radio Peking claims that US planes have shot down a Chinese plane over Yunnan - US denies the story the next day
- May 14 - Turkey and Greece intend to start negotiations about the situation in Cyprus
- May 15 - Indonesia asks Malaysia for peace negotiations
- May 16-July 1 - Seamen's strike in Britain
- May 15 - South Vietnam army besieges Da Nang
- May 24 - Troops of Uganda army arrest Edward Mutesa II of Buganda and occupy his palace
- May 24 - Nigerian government forbids all political activity in the country (until the January 17 1969)
- May 25 - Explorer program: Explorer 32 launches
- May 25 - In St. Louis, Missouri, US Vice-President Hubert Humphrey and US Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall dedicate the Gateway Arch as part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
- May 26 - Guyana achieves independence.
- May 28 - Fidel Castro announces a martial law in Cuba because of possible US attack
- May 28 – Indonesian and Malayan governments declare that Indonesian Confrontation is over. Treaty signed in August 11
- May 31 - Philippines reform diplomatic relations with Malaysia

June

- June 2 - Eamon de Valera re-elected as Irish president
- June 2 - Surveyor program: Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarumon the Moon, becoming the first spacecraft to soft land on another world
- June 2 - Four former cabinet ministers executed in Zaire for alleged involvement in a plot to kill Mobutu Sese Seko
- June 3 - Joaquín Balaguer elected president of Dominican Republic
- June 5 - Gene Cernan completes second U.S. spacewalk (which lasted 2 hours, 7 minutes) on the Gemini 9 mission.
- June 6 - James Meredith, civil rights activist, is shot while trying to march across Mississippi
- June 13 - The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Miranda v. Arizona that the police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning them
- June 14 - The Vatican announces the abolition of Index Librorum Prohibitum index of banned books
- June 17 - Air France personnel strike begins
- June 18 - CIA chief William F. Raborn resigns - Richard Helms will be his successor
- June 20-July 1 - Charles De Gaulle visits Soviet Union
- June 21- Opposition leader Arthur Calwell injured when shot after attending a political meeting in Mosman, Sydney, Australia
- June 28 - In Argentina a Junta deposes president Arturo Umberto Illia in a coup and appoints general Juan Carlos Ongania to lead
- June 29 - Sailors' strike, organised by the National Union of Seamen ends in the United Kingdom
- June 29 - Vietnam War: US planes begin bombing Hanoi and Haiphong
- June 30 - France formally leaves NATO

July

- July 1 - Joaquin Balaguer becomes president of the Dominican Republic.
- July 3 - Rene Barrientos elected president of Bolivia
- July 4 - North Vietnam declares general mobilization
- July 4 - President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into law. The act goes into effect the following year.
- July 6 - Malawi becomes a republic
- July 7 - Conference of Warsaw Pact ends with a promise to support North Vietnam
- July 12 - Indira Gandhi visits Moscow
- July 12 - Zambia threatens to leave British Commonwealth because of British peace overtures to Rhodesia
- July 12 - US lieutenant major W.H. Whalen arrested for spying
- July 14 - Israeli and Syrian jet fighters fight over the Jordan River
- July 14 - In Chicago, Illinois, Richard Speck murders eight student nurses in their dormitory
- July 14 - Gwynfor Evans becomes member of Parliament for Carmarthen, the first Plaid Cymru MP in the UK.
- July 16 - British Prime Minister Harold Wilson flies to Moscow to try to start peace negotiations about Vietnam War - Soviet Government refutes his ideas
- July 17 - Richard Speck arrested - he tries to commit suicide but fails
- July 18 - Gemini X lifts off for earth orbit with astronauts John Young and Michael Collins, setting a world altitude record of 474 miles.
- July 18 - The Hough Riots break out in Cleveland, Ohio, the city's first race riot.
- July 19 - Chinese delegate in Netherlands, Liu en-Tsiu, is declared persona non grata because of death of a Chinese engineer in unclear circumstances; there are claims that he was kidnapped and taken to the delegate's office
- July 22 - Chinese government announces Dutch delegate G. J. Jongejans persona non grata but tells him not to leave the country before group of Chinese engineers has left the Netherlands
- July 23 - Katangese troops in Stanleyville, Congo, revolt in support of the exiled minister Moise Tschombe. Mutiny lasts several weeks
- July 24 - U Thant visits Moscow
- July 26 - Lord Gardiner issues the Practice Statement in the House of Lords stating that the House is not bound to follow its own previous precedent
- July 28 - USA announces that U-2 reconnaissance plane has disappeared over Cuba
- July 29 - Nigerian army rebels and execute the head of state general Irons, Richard Steven Horvitz is born.
- July 30 - England beat West Germany 4-2 to win the World Cup at Wembley

August

- August 1 - Sniper Charles Whitman kills 13 from the University of Texas at Austin Main Building.
- August 1 - Military coup in Nigeria - general Yakubu Gowon takes over
- August 2 - Spanish government forbids overflights of British military aircraft
- August 5 - Martin Luther King leads a civil rights march in Chicago
- August 6 - Rene Barrientos takes office as the president of Bolivia
- August 6 - Bridge over the Tagus River in Lisbon, Portugal, is opened
- August 7 - Race riots occur in Lansing,Michigan.
- August 10 - East German court sentences Günter Laudahn to life imprisonment for espionage for USA
- August 10 - Lunar Orbiter 1, the first US spacecraft to orbit another world, is launched
- August 12 - In the Massacre of Braybrook Street, Harry Roberts, John Duddy and Jack Witney shoot dead three plain clothes policemen in London - they are later sentenced to life imprisonment
- August 13 - China begins Cultural Revolution
- August 13 - An earthquake in Turkey - 2394 dead, 10000 injured
- August 15 - Syrian and Israeli troops clash over Lake Genesaret for three hours
- August 15 - New York Herald Tribune stops publication
- August 16 - Vietnam War: The House Un-American Activities Committee begins investigations of Americans who have aided the Viet Cong with the intent to introduce legislation making these activities illegal. Anti-war demonstrators disrupt the meeting and 50 are arrested.
- August 17 - Saudi Arabia and United Arab Republic begin negotiations in Kuwait to end the war in Yemen
- August 18 - Vietnam War: D Company, 6th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment meets and defeats a Viet Cong force estimated to be four times larger, at the Battle of Long Tan in Phuoc Tuy Province, Republic of Vietnam
- August 19 - Earthquake in eastern Turkey destroys whole cities
- August 21 - Seven men sentenced to death in Egypt for anti-Nasser agitation
- August 22 - Formation of the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC), predecessor of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW)
- August 26 - Riots in French Somaliland
- August 30 - France offers independence to French Somaliland

September

- September 1 - United Nations Secretary-General U Thant declares that he is not going to seek re-election because UN efforts in Vietnam have failed.
- September 6 - In Cape Town, the South African architect of Apartheid, Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd is stabbed to death by Dimitri Tsafendas during a parliamentary meeting
- September 7 - The final new episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show airs (the first episode aired on October 3, 1961).
- September 8 - "The Man Trap", the first episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek airs.
- September 9 - NATO decides to move SHAPE headquarters to Belgium.
- September 13 - Balthazar Johannes Vorster becomes new South African prime minister
- September 13 - TASS reports about clashes between members of the Chinese Communist Party and the Red Guard
- September 16 - In South Vietnam, Thich Tri Quang begins a 100-day hunger strike
- September 16 - Metropolitan Opera house opened in New York City
- September 18 - Valerie Percy, the 21 year old daughter of Senator Charles Percy, is stabbed and bludgeoned to death in the family mansion on Chicago's North Shore.
- September 19 - Scotland Yard arrests Ronald Edwards suspected of being involved of the great train robbery
- September 30 - October 1 (midnight) - Baldur von Schirach and Albert Speer released from Spandau Prison
- September 30 - Botswana achieves independence.

October

- October 3 - Tunisia severs its diplomatic relations to United Arab Republic
- October 4 - Israel applies for the outer membership of EEC
- October 4 - Basutoland becomes independent and takes the name Lesotho
- October 5 - UNESCO signs the Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers. This even is now celebrated as World Teachers' Day.
- October 7 - Soviet Union declares that all Chinese students must leave the country before the end of October
- October 11 - France and Soviet Union sign a treaty about cooperation in nuclear research
- October 14 - The city of Montreal inaugurates its metro system (see Montreal Metro)
- October 15 - US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs a bill creating the United States Department of Transportation.
- October 17 - Lesotho and Botswana accepted to join United Nations
- October 21 – Aberfan disaster in South Wales, United Kingdom
- October 22 - British spy George Blake escapes from HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs prison; he is next seen in Moscow
- October 22 - Spain demands that United Kingdom stop military flights to Gibraltar - Britain says no the next day
- October 24 - Negotiations about the Vietnam War begin in Manila, Philippines
- October 25 - Military court in Jakarta sentences ex-foreign minister Subandrio to death
- October 25 - Spain closes its Gibraltar border against non-pedestrian traffic
- October 26 - NATO moves its HQ from Paris to Brussels
- October 27 - United Nations takes Namibia from South Africa
- October 28 - US artist Lynne Seemayer paints the Pink Lady, a 60-feet tall picture of a naked woman, above a tunnel on Malibu Canyon Road. Authorities have it painted over in November 3 (see [http://www.snopes.com/autos/hazards/pinklady.asp])
- October 29 - Guinean delegation en route to OAU meeting in Ethiopia is made hostages of Ghana government in Accra

November

- November 2 - The Cuban Adjustment Act enters force, allowing 123,000 Cubans the opportunity to apply for permanent residence in the United States
- November 4 - The Arno river floods Florence, damaging many art treasures
- November 5 - 38 African states demand that United Kingdom use force against Rhodesian government
- November 6 - Lunar Orbiter 2 is launched.
- November 8 - Former Massachusetts Attorney General Edward Brooke becomes the first African American elected to the United States Senate.
- November 11 - A mine kills three Israeli paratroopers on the West Bank border.
- November 11 - Spain declares general amnesty about crimes committed during the Spanish Civil War (effectively only for Falangists side)
- November 12 - Birthdate of Stuart King, popular American TV actor beginning in the 1990's.
- November 15 - Gemini program: Gemini 12, carrying astronauts James A. Lovell and Buzz Aldrin, splashes down safely in the Atlantic Ocean 600 km east of the Bahamas.
- November 15 - Harry Maurice Roberts, who had killed three policemen in August, is caught near London
- November 16 - US doctor Samuel Sheppard is acquitted in his second trial of murder of his pregnant wife in 1954
- November 17 - UN General Assembly decides to found United Nations Industrial Development Organization
- November 17 - Spectacular meteor shower of Leonids passes over Arizona at the rate of 2300 a minute for 20 minutes
- November 21 - Army crushes an attempted coup in Togo
- November 28 - Truman Capote's Black and White Ball - dubbed The Party of the Century - is held in New York City.
- November 30 - Barbados achieves independence.

December

- December 1 - Kurt Georg Kiesinger is elected Chancellor of West Germany
- December 1 - British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Rhodesian Prime minister Ian Smith negotiate on HMS Tiger in Mediterranean
- December 2 - U Thant agrees to serve a second term as UN Secretary general
- December 3 - Anti-Portuguese demonstrations in Macau. Curfew declared the next day
- December 7 - Syria offers weapons to rebels in Jordan
- December 7 - Barbados is accepted into United Nations
- December 16 - UN Security council approves oil embargo against Rhodesia
- December 17 - South Africa does not join the trade embargo against Rhodesia
- December 20 - Harold Wilson withdraws all his previous offers to Rhodesian government and announces that he agrees to the independence only after the founding of black majority government
- December 22 - Rhodesian Prime minister Ian Smith declares that he considers that Rhodesia is already a republic
- December 26 - The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach
- December 31 - Walter Ulbricht talks about negotiations about German unification
- December 31 - Thieves steal millions worth of paintings from Dulwich Art Gallery in London
- December 31 - Congolese government takes over the Union Minière du Haut Katanga.

Unknown dates

- Cultural Revolution declared in mainland China.
- In Burundi, King Mwambutsa IV is deposed by his son Ntare V, who is in turn deposed by prime minister Michel Micombero.
- Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton found Black Panther Party.
- Haile Selassie visits Jamaica for the first time, meeting with Rastafarian leaders
- Konstantin Chernenko, later leader of Soviet Union, becomes candidate member of the Central Committee.
- Surrealist Movement in the United States founded by Franklin and Penelope Rosemont.
- Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn are awarded the Fermi Prize.
- Congress of the United States creates National Council for Marine Resources and Engineering Development.
- Martin Richards designs the BCPL programming language.
- The DKW automobile goes out of production.
- World Buddhist Sangha Council convened by Theravadins in Sri Lanka with the hope of bridging differences and working together.
- Long-term potentiation (LTP), the putative cellular mechanism of learning and memory, is first observed by Terje Lømo in Oslo, Norway.
- Actress Saira Banu marries actor Dilip Kumar.

Births

January-April

- January 1 - Michael Imperioli, American actor
- January 12 - Rob Zombie, American musician, artist, and writer
- January 13 - Patrick Dempsey, American actor
- January 17 - Shabba Ranks, Jamaican singer
- January 19 - Floris Jan Bovelander, Dutch field hockey player
- January 20 - Tracii Guns, American guitarist
- January 29 - Romário, Brazilian footballer
- February 1 - Michelle Akers, American soccer player
- February 6 - Rick Astley, British singer
- February 9 - Ellen van Langen, Dutch athlete
- February 11 - Stephen Gregory, American actor
- February 11 - Anthony Parker, American football player
- February 20 - Cindy Crawford, American model
- February 22 - Brian G

Ireland

:This page is about the island of Ireland. For the state also called Ireland, see Republic of Ireland. :For an explanation of terms like Ulster, Northern Ireland, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology) . British Isles (terminology)] Ireland (Irish: Éire) is the third-largest island in Europe. It lies in the Atlantic Ocean and it is composed of the Republic of Ireland (officially, Ireland), which covers five sixths of the island (south, east, west and north-west), and Northern Ireland; part of the United Kingdom, which covers the northeastern sixth of the island. The population of the island is approximately 5.8 million people; 4.1 million in the Republic of Ireland (1.6 million in Greater Dublin) and 1.7 million in Northern Ireland (0.6 million in Greater Belfast). Belfast 2003. Scotland, the Isle of Man and Wales are visible to the east]]
Geography
Wales with more details).]] A ring of coastal mountains surrounds low central plains. The highest peak is Carrauntuohill (Irish: Corrán Tuathail), which is 1041 m (3414 feet). The island is bisected by the River Shannon, at 259 km (161 mi) the longest river in Ireland or Britain. The island's lush vegetation, a product of its mild climate and frequent but soft rainfall, earns it the sobriquet "Emerald Isle". The island's area is 84,079 km² (32,477 mile²). Ireland is divided into four provinces: Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster. In Irish these are referred to as Cúige's ( Cúige - meaning fifths). Previously there were five provinces - Connacht, Munster, Ulster, Leinster and Meath, comprising the counties of Meath, Westmeath and Longford. These were further divided into 32 counties for administrative purposes. Six of the Ulster counties remain under British sovereignty as Northern Ireland following Ireland's partition in 1922 (the remaining 26 forming present-day Republic of Ireland); since the UK's 1974 reshuffle these county boundaries no longer exist in Northern Ireland for administrative purposes, although Fermanagh District Council is almost identical to the county. In the Republic, the county boundaries are still adhered to for local government, albeit with Tipperary and Dublin subdivided (some cities also have their own administrative regions). For election constituencies, some counties are merged or divided, but constitutionally the boundaries have to be observed. Across Ireland, the 32 counties are still used in sports and in some other cultural areas and retain a strong sense of local identity. Ireland's least arable land lies in the south-western and western counties. These areas are largely spectacularly mountainous and rocky, with beautiful green vistas.

Politics
Dublin Politically, Ireland is divided into:
- The Republic of Ireland, with its capital in Dublin. This state is often simply referred to internally and internationally as "Ireland" in English or "Éire" in Irish. Technically Ireland and Éire are the official names of the state while the "Republic of Ireland" is its official description.
- Northern Ireland is unofficially known as 'the North', and 'Ulster' (the province of Ulster also includes Donegal, Cavan, and Monaghan which are in the Republic). Northern Ireland is a region of the United Kingdom. Prior to the Government of Ireland Act 1920 the island had been a unified political entity within the United Kingdom (see United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) from 1801. From 1541 the Kingdom of Ireland was established by the King of England, though this realm did not cover the whole island till the early 17th century. Up to then, Ireland had been politically divided into a number of different Irish kingdoms (Leinster, Munster, Connacht, Mide, Ulster, and others). Contrary to some assertions, at no time did a national kingdom headed by an Ard Ri exist. In a number of respects, the island operates officially as a single entity, for example, in most kinds of sports. The major religions, the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Ireland and the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, are organised on an all-island basis. Some 92% of the population of the Republic of Ireland and about 44% of Northern Ireland is Roman Catholic. Some trade unions are also organised on an all-Irish basis and associated with the Irish Congress of Trades Unions (ICTU) in Dublin, while others in Northern Ireland are affiliated with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in the United Kingdom - though such unions may organise in both parts of the island as well as in Britain. The island also has a shared culture across the divide in many other ways. Traditional Irish music, for example, though showing some variance in all geographical areas, is, broadly speaking, the same on both sides of the border. Irish and Scottish traditional music have many similarities. The Ireland Funds, an international fund-raising organisation, tries to help people on both sides find peace and reconciliation through community development, education, arts and culture. The island is often referred to as being part of the British Isles. However, some people, especially in Ireland, take exception to this name, which seems to suggest that both islands belong to Britain. For this reason, "Britain and Ireland" is commonly used as a more neutral alternative. Another suggestion, although much less used, is the Islands of the North Atlantic (IONA).
Flag of Ireland
There is no universally agreed flag that represents the island of Ireland. Historically a number of flags were used, including St. Patrick's cross, the flag sometimes used for the Kingdom of Ireland and which represented Ireland on the Union Jack after the Act of Union, a green flag with a harp (used by some radical nationalists in the 19th century and which is also the flag of Leinster), a blue flag with a harp used from the 18th century onwards by many nationalists (now the standard of the President of Ireland), and the Irish tricolour. However as the tricolour is the flag of the Republic of Ireland it is not used to represent the island of Ireland, given that the island also includes Northern Ireland. The Royal Standard also shows a version of an ancient Irish flag in one of its four quadrants. St Patrick's Saltire is used to represent the island of Ireland by the all-island Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU). In contrast the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) uses the tricolour to represent the whole island.
History
Gaelic Athletic Association]] Ireland was mostly ice-covered and joined by land to Britain and Europe during the last ice age, has been inhabited for about 9,000 years. Stone age inhabitants arrived sometime after 8000 BC, with the culture progressing from Mesolithic to high Neolithic over the course of three or four millennia. The Bronze Age, which began around 2500 BC, saw the production of elaborate gold and bronze ornaments and weapons. The Iron Age in Ireland is associated with people now known as Celts. They are traditionally thought to have colonised Ireland in a series of waves between the 8th and 1st centuries BC, with the Gael, the last wave of Celts, conquering the island and dividing it into five or more kingdoms. Many scholars, however, now favour a view that emphasises cultural diffusion from overseas over significant colonisation.The Romans referred to Ireland as Hibernia. Ptolemy in AD 100 records Ireland's geography and tribes. Native accounts are confined to Irish poetry, myth, and archaeology. The exact relationship between Rome and the tribes of Hibernia is unclear; the only references are a few Roman writings. Tradition maintains that in AD 432, St. Patrick arrived on the island and, in the years that followed, worked to convert the Irish to Christianity. The druid tradition collapsed in the face of the spread of the new faith. Irish Christian scholars excelled in the study of Latin learning and Christian theology in the monasteries that flourished, preserving Latin learning during the Early Middle Ages. The arts of manuscript illumination, metalworking, and sculpture flourished and produced such treasures as the Book of Kells, ornate jewellery, and the many carved stone crosses that dot the island. This era was interrupted in the 9th century by 200 years of intermittent warfare with waves of Viking raiders who plundered monasteries and towns. Eventually they settled in Ireland, and established many towns, including the modern day cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford. In 1172, King Henry II of England gained Irish lands by the granting of the 1155 Bull Laudibiliter to him by then English Pope Adrian IV, and from the 13th century, English law began to be introduced. English rule was largely limited to the area around Dublin, known as the Pale, and Waterford, but this began to expand in the 16th century with the final collapse of the Gaelic social and political superstructure at the end of the 17th century, as a result of the Tudor re-conquest of Ireland and English and Scottish Protestant colonisation in the Plantations of Ireland, which established English control over the whole island. After the the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Irish Catholics were barred from voting or attending the Irish Parliament. The new English Protestant ruling class was known as the Protestant Ascendancy In 1800 the Irish Parliament passed the Act of Union which, in 1801, merged the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The whole island of Ireland would remain within the United Kingdom, ruled directly by the UK Parliament in London. The 19th century saw the Great Famine of the 1840s in which at least 1 million Irish people died and over a million were forced to emigrate. The late 19th and early 20th century saw a vigorous but unsuccessful campaign for Irish home rule, followed by the eclipse of moderate nationalism by militant separatism. In 1922, following the Anglo-Irish War, twenty-six counties of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom as the Irish Free State. The remaining six, in the north-east, remained within the Union as Northern Ireland. Secession for the rest of Ireland led directly to the Civil War, as militant nationalists split into two factions and turned against one another.
History since partition

Irish Independence: The Irish Free State, Éire, Ireland
The Anglo-Irish Treaty was narrowly ratified by the Dáil in December 1921 but was rejected by a large minority, resulting in the Irish Civil War which lasted until 1923. In 1922, in the middle of this civil war, the Irish Free State came into being. For its first years the new state was governed by the victors of the Civil War. However in the 1930s Fianna Fáil, the party of the opponents of the treaty, were elected into government. The party introduced a new constitution in 1937 which renamed the state to simply "Éire or in the English language, Ireland" (preface to the Constitution). The state was neutral during World War II but offered some assistance to the Allies. In 1949 the state declared itself to be a republic and that henceforth it should be described as the Republic of Ireland. The state was plagued by poverty and emigration until the 1990s. That decade saw the beginning of unprecedented economic success, in a phenomenon known as the "Celtic Tiger". By the early 2000s, it had become one of the richest countries (in terms of GDP per capita) in the European Union, moving from being a net recipient to a net contributor and from a population with net emigration to one with net immigration.
Northern Ireland
From its creation in 1921 until 1972 Northern Ireland enjoyed limited self-government within the United Kingdom, with its own parliament and prime minister. However the Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland each voted almost entirely along sectarian lines, meaning that the government of Northern Ireland (elected by "first past the post") was always controlled by the Ulster Unionist Party. Consequently, Catholics could not participate in the government, which at times openly encouraged discrimination in housing and employment. Nationalist grievances at unionist discrimination within the state eventually led to large civil rights protests in 1960s, which the government suppressed heavy-handedly, most notably on "Bloody Sunday". It was during this period of civil unrest that the paramilitary Provisional IRA, who favoured the creation of a united Ireland, began its campaign against Unionist rule. Other groups, legal and illegal on the unionist side, and illegal on the nationalist side, began to participate in the violence and the period known as the "Troubles" began. Owing to the civil unrest the British government suspended home rule in 1972 and imposed direct rule. In 1998, following a Provisional IRA cease-fire, the Good Friday Agreement was concluded and attempts began to be made to restore self-government to Northern Ireland on the basis of power sharing between the two communities. Violence has greatly decreased since the signing of the accord. In 2001 the armed police force in the north (which operated much like an army with armoured cars etc.), The Royal Ulster Constabulary (or RUC for short), was removed in place of the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) as a result of easing tensions. On July 28 2005, the Provisional IRA (PIRA) announced the end of its armed campaign and on September 25 2005 international weapons inspectors supervised the full disarmament of the PIRA.
Sport
Gaelic football and hurling are the most popular sports in Ireland. Along with Camogie, Ladies' Gaelic football, handball and rounders, they make up the national sports of Ireland, collectively known as Gaelic Games. All Gaelic games are governed by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), with the exception of Ladies' Gaelic Football, which is governed by a separate organisation. The GAA is organised on an all-Ireland basis with all 32 counties competing; traditionally, counties first compete within their province, in the provincial championships, and the winners then compete in the All-Ireland senior hurling or football championships. The headquarters of the GAA (and the main stadium) is located at the 83,000 capacity Croke Park in north Dublin. All major GAA games are played here, including the semi-finals and finals of the All-Ireland championships. All GAA players, even at the highest level, are amateurs and receive no wages. The Irish rugby team includes players from north and south, and the Irish Rugby Football Union governs the sport on both sides of the border. Consequently in international rugby, the Ireland team represents the whole island. The same is true of cricket. However, when Ireland was partitioned, organisation of football (soccer) in the Republic was transferred from the Belfast-based Irish Football Association (IFA) to the new Football Association of Ireland (FAI). The IFA remained in charge of the game in the six counties. (Consequently in International Association Football, the island has two teams: the Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland.) Northern Ireland qualified for the World Cup Soccer finals in 1958 (where they made it to the quarter finals), 1982 and 1986. The Republic of Ireland made it to the World Cup in 1990 (where they made it to the quarter finals), 1994 and 2002. Greyhound racing and horse racing are both popular in Ireland: greyhound stadiums are well attended and there are frequent horse race meetings. The Republic is noted for the breeding and training of race horses and is also a large exporter of racing dogs. The horse racing sector is largely concentrated in the central east of the Republic. Boxing is also an all-island sport governed by the Irish Amateur Boxing Association. Golf is an extremely popular sport in Ireland and Golfing Tourism is a major industry. The 2006 Ryder Cup will be held in the K Club in Co. Kildare, which is just outside Dublin. Prominent Irish sporting stars are: Sean Kelly (cycling), Stephen Roche (cycling), Brian O'Driscoll (rugby), Roy Keane (soccer), Damien Duff (soccer), D.J. Carey (hurling), Peter Canavan (GAA), Aidan O'Brien (racehorse trainer), Kieren Fallon (jockey), Eddie Jordan (F1), Padraig Harrington (golf), Sonia O'Sullivan (athlethics), Steve Collins (boxing) and Ken Doherty (snooker).
Culture

Literature and the arts
For a comparatively small country, Ireland has made a disproportionately large contribution to world literature in all its branches, mainly in English. Poetry in Irish represents the oldest vernacular poetry in Europe with the earliest examples dating from the 6th century; Jonathan Swift, still often called the foremost satirist in the English language, was wildly popular in his day (Gulliver's Travels, A Modest Proposal, etc.) and remains so in modern times amongst both children and adults. In more recent times, Ireland has produced four winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature: George Bernard Shaw, William Butler Yeats, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney. Although not a Nobel Prize winner, James Joyce is widely considered one of the most significant writers of the 20th century. His 1922 novel Ulysses is sometimes cited as the greatest English-language novel of the 20th century and his life is celebrated annually on June 16th in Dublin as the Bloomsday celebrations. The early history of Irish visual art is generally considered to begin with early carvings found at sites such as Newgrange and is traced through Bronze age artifacts, particularly ornamental gold objects, and the religious carvings and illuminated manuscripts of the mediæval period. During the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, a strong indigenous tradition of painting emerged, including such figures as John Butler Yeats, William Orpen, Jack Yeats and Louis le Brocquy.
Music and dance
The Irish tradition of folk music and dance is also widely known. In the middle years of the 20th century, as Irish society was attempting to modernise, traditional music tended to fall out of favour, especially in urban areas. During the 1960s, and inspired by the American folk music movement, there was a revival of interest in the Irish tradition. This revival was led by such groups as The Dubliners, The Chieftains, the Clancy Brothers and Sweeney's Men and individuals like Sean Ó Riada and Danny O'Flaherty. Irish and Scottish traditional music are similar. Before long, groups and musicians including Horslips, Van Morrison and even Thin Lizzy were incorporating elements of traditional music into a rock idiom to form a unique new sound. During the 1970s and 1980s, the distinction between traditional and rock musicians became blurred, with many individuals regularly crossing over between these styles of playing as a matter of course. This trend can be seen more recently in the work of bands and individuals like U2, Clannad, The Cranberries, Van Morrison, Rory Gallagher, and The Pogues. Nevertheless, Irish music has shown an immense inflation of popularity with many attempting to return to their roots. There are also contemporary music groups that stick closer to a "traditional" sound, including Altan, Gaelic Storm, Lúnasa, and Solas. Others incorporate multiple cultures in a fusion of style, such as Afro Celt Sound System and Canadian Loreena McKennitt. Ireland has done well in the Eurovision Song Contest, being the most successful country in the competition with seven wins. This achievement evokes mixed feelings in many Irish people.
Demographics
Ireland has been inhabited for at least 9000 years, although little is known about the neolithic inhabitants of the island. Early historical and genealogical records note the existance of dozens of different peoples (Attacotti, Conmaicne, Éoganacht, Érainn, Soghain, to name but a few). Over the last 1000 years, there have been influences by the Vikings, who founded several ports, including Dublin, and Normans, with significant admixture to the gene pool. However the greater part of the Irish population descends from the original inhabitants of the island who came after the end of the Ice Age. Although for many years the Irish were believed to be of Celtic origin, recent genetic evidence shows that both the Irish and the Welsh (and to a lesser degree England and Scotland) have many genetic traits in common with the people of the Basque region. Some theorize that although Basque is certainly not a Celtic language, there may have been a Celto-Basque link while others postulate that the pre-Celtic population of the island may have had Basque origins. Both positions are difficult to prove, as the information is relatively new. Culturally however, Ireland is undeniably Celtic. Mingling of native Irish inhabitants with the latinate peoples of Spain, France and Rome during the height of the Roman Empire (and later following the expulsion of many Protestants from the predominantly Catholic Southern France, many of whom subsequently migrated to Ireland) gave rise to what some refer to as Franco-celts or Latin-celts. These people are charecterised particularly by very dark, black hair color, a trait that does not occur in "pure" Anglo-Saxon, and other significant genetic similarities to Southern Europeans. Franco-celts (or Latin-celts) are responsible in part, but not wholey, for the moderately high occurrence of black hair and other Southern European characteristics amongst the Irish population. Ireland's largest religious denomination is Roman Catholicism (about 70%), and most of the rest of the population adhere to one of the various Protestant denominations. The largest is the Church of Ireland. The Irish Muslim community is growing, mostly through increased immigration (see Islam in Ireland). The island also has a small Jewish community (See History of the Jews in Ireland), although this has declined somewhat in recent years. Since joining the EU in 2004, Polish people have been the largest source of immigrants from Eastern Europe, followed by other migrants from Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Latvia. Ireland has also had large numbers of Romanians entering the country since the 1990s. A high standard of living, high wages and EU citizenship attract many of the migrants from the newest of the European Union countries. Nigerians, Chinese and people from other African countries also make up a large proportion of migrants to Ireland.
Infrastructure

Transport

Air
Africa The three most important international airports in the Republic are Dublin Airport, Cork Airport and Shannon Airport. All provide extensive services to the UK, continental Europe and North America. The Irish national airline Aer Lingus and low-cost operator Ryanair are based at Dublin. Shannon is an important stopover on trans-Atlantic route for refuelling operations. There are several smaller regional airports in the Republic (Galway Airport, Kerry Airport, Knock International Airport, Sligo Airport, Waterford Airport) that mostly limit their services to Ireland and the United Kingdom. In Northern Ireland there are three main airports. Belfast International (Aldergrove) provides routes to Ireland and Great Britain, as well as many international services to Europe and recently Belfast-New York (Newark). Belfast City and City of Derry Airport mainly provide flights to Great Britain.
Rail
Great Britain The rail network in Ireland was developed by various private companies with the help of British Government funding throughout the late 19th century, reaching its greatest extent around the 1920s. The broad gauge of 1600 mm (5 ft 3 in) was eventually settled upon throughout the island, although there were narrow gauge (3 ft) railways also. Ireland also has one of the largest freight railways in Europe, operated by Bord na Móna. This company has a narrow gauge railway of 1200 miles. In Dublin a new Light Rail System, named Luas opened in 2004. Two lines serve the south and west suburbs as well as the north city centre. More lines are planned as well as an eventual upgrade to Metro. The scheme is being run by the RPA.
Road
RPA] As with Britain, motorists must drive on the left in Ireland, unfortunately tourists driving on the wrong side of the road cause serious [http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1145.html accidents] every year. The island of Ireland has an extensive road network, despite the low quality of many of these until recently. Northern Ireland has historically had better main roads, while the Republic of Ireland has an increasing motorway network, focused on Dublin and the east coast. Historically land owners developed most roads and later Turnpike Trusts collecting tolls so that as early as 1800 Ireland had a 10,000 mile [http://www.cie.ie/about_us/schools_and_enthusiasts.asp road network]. 1815 marked the inauguration of the first horsecar service from Clonmel to Thurles and Limerick. Nowadays the main bus companies are Bus Éireann in the South and Ulsterbus in the North, with Dublin Bus serving the needs of greater Dublin.
Energy
Dublin Bus For much of their existence electricity networks in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland were entirely separate. Both networks were designed and constructed independently, but are now connected with three interlinks and also connected by Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) through Great Britain to mainland Europe. The Electricity Supply Board (ESB) in the Republic drove a rural electrification programme in the 1940s until the 1970s. The natural gas network is also now all-island, with a connection from Antrim to Scotland. Most of Ireland's gas comes from the Kinsale field. The Corrib Gas Field in Mayo has yet to come online, and is facing some localised opposition over the controversial decision to refine the gas onshore. Ireland, north and south has faced difficulties in providing continuous power at peak load. The situation in Northern Ireland is complicated by the issue of private companies not supplying NIE with enough power, while in the Republic, the ESB has failed to modernise its power stations. In the latter case, availability of power plants has averaged 66% recently, one of the worst such figures in Western Europe. There have been recent efforts in Ireland to use renewable energy such as wind energy with large wind farms being constructed in coastal counties such as Donegal, Mayo and Antrim. Recently what will be the world's largest offshore wind farm is being developed at Arklow Bank off the coast of Wicklow. It is estimated to generate 10% of Irelands energy needs when it is complete. These constructions have in some cases been delayed by opposition from locals, most recently on Achill Island, some of whom consider the wind turbines to be unsightly. Another issue in the Republic of Ireland is the failure of the ageing network to cope with the varying availability of power from such installations. Turlough Hill is the only energy storage mechanism in Ireland.
See also

- List of Ireland-related topics
- Republic of Ireland
- Northern Ireland
- Kingdom of Ireland
- The Ireland Funds
- Irish people
External links

- [http://wikitravel.org/en/Republic_of_Ireland Wikitravel guide to the Republic of Ireland]
- [http://wikitravel.org/en/Northern_Ireland Wikitravel guide to Northern Ireland]
- [http://www.ireland-map.co.uk/ Map of Ireland]
- [http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/heaven/dnairish.pdf.pdf#search='Ychromosome%20variation%20and%20Irish%20origins' Y-chromosome variation and Irish origin]
- [http://pdphoto.org/PictureHome.php?cid=23&mat=pdef&md=cid Public domain photos of Ireland] Category:Islands in the British Isles Category:Ireland ko:아일랜드 섬 ja:アイルランド島 simple:Ireland th:ไอร์แลนด์

Golfer

In golf the distinction between amateurs and professionals in rigorously maintained. An amateur who plays for money even once loses usually loses his or her amateur status permanently and is banned from all amateur tournaments. A professional may not play in amateur tournaments. It is very difficult for a professional to regain his or her amateur status; simply agreeing not to take payment for a particular tournament isn't enough. Professional golfers are divided into two main groups, with a limited amount of overlap between them.
- The great majority of professional golfers (at least 95%) make their living from teaching the game, running golf clubs and courses, and dealing in golf equipment. In American English the term golf pro often applies to these individuals. The senior professional golfer at a golf club is referred to as the club professional. If he or she has assistants who are registered professional golfers, they are known as assistant professionals. A golfer who concentrates wholly or nearly so on giving golf lessons is a teaching professional, or a golf coach. Most of these people will enter a few tournaments against their peers each year, and occasionally they may qualify to play in important tournaments with the other group of professional golfers mentioned below.
- A much smaller but higher profile group of professional golfers earn a living from playing in golf tournaments, or aspire to do so. Their income comes from prize money and endorsements. These individuals are referred to as tournament golfers, tour professionals, or in American English as pro golfers. See professional golf tours for further details. Historically the distinction between amateur and professional golfers had much to do with social class. In 18th and 19th century Britain golf was played by the rich for pleasure. The early professionals were working class men who made a living from the game in a variety of ways: caddying, greenkeeping, clubmaking, and playing challenge matches. When golf arrived in America at the end of the 19th century it was an elite sport there too. Early American golf clubs imported their professionals from Britain. It wasn't possible to make a living solely from playing tournament golf until some way into the 20th century (Walter Hagen is sometimes considered to have been the first man to do so). In the developed world, the class distinction is now almost entirely irrelevant. Golf is affordable to a large proportion of the population, and most golf professionals are from middle class backgrounds, often the same sort of backgrounds as the members of the clubs where they work or the people they teach the game, and educated to university level. Leading tournament golfers are very wealthy; upper class in the modern U.S. usage of the term. However in some developing countries, there is still a class distinction. Often golf is restricted to a much smaller and more elite section of society than is the case in countries like the U.S. and the UK. Professional golfers from these countries are quite often from poor backgrounds and start their careers as caddies, for example, Angel Cabrera of Argentina, and Zhang Lian-Wei who is the first significant tournament professional from the People's Republic of China. In various countries, Professional Golfers' Associations (PGAs) serve either or both of these categories of professionals. There are separate LPGAs (Ladies Professional Golf Associations) for women.

Europe

:This article is about the continent. For other meanings, see Europe (disambiguation). Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula or subcontinent, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. It is conventionally considered a continent, which, in this case, is more of a cultural distinction than a geographic one. It is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean