It speaks to Ireland’s standing as a nation of emigrants that just about everywhere, people feel as if they know something about its culture. About half of the island's population left in the years following the great potato famine of the 1840s; others left for various reasons during the more than seven centuries of struggle against British rule. A failed rebellion in 1916 ignited guerrilla warfare that led to independence in 1922,  at the price of partition. The 26 southern counties became a free state (declared the Republic of Ireland in 1949), and the six northern counties remained in Britain. Since the 1970s, the republic’s largely agrarian economy has evolved into a high-tech engine that, fueled by foreign investment, underwent rapid growth before falling into recession in 2008.

Mean daily winter temperatures vary from 4 C (39.2 F) to 7 C (44.6 F), and mean daily summer temperatures vary from 14.5 C (58.1 F) to 16 C (60.8 F)   -  Ireland, as a whole, experiences a lack of temperature extremes compared to other areas. Summers are generally warm and winters are very mild. There is a regional variation, with inland areas being cooler in winter and warmer in summer than their coastal counterparts.

The warmest areas are found along the south-west coast. Valentia Island, County Kerry has the highest annual mean temperature, at 10.4 C (50.7 F).

The coldest areas are found inland. Clones, County Monaghan and Mullingar, County Westmeath both have the lowest annual mean daily average temperature, at 8.8 C (47.8 F).

The highest temperature ever recorded in Ireland was 33.3 C (91.9 F) at Kilkenny Castle, County Kilkenny on 26 June 1887. The lowest temperature was -19.1 C (-2.4 F) at Markree Castle, County Sligo on 16 January 1881.

Extreme heat and cold are both rare throughout the country. Summer temperatures exceed 30 C (86F) usually once or twice every decade (2006, 1995, 1989, 1983, 1976 and 1975 are recent examples), though commonly reach 29 C (84.2 F) most summers, and freezes occur only occasionally in winter, with temperatures below -5 C (23.0 F) being very uncommon.

Annual rainfall
Most of the eastern half of the country has between 750 and 1000 millimeters (29 to 39 inches) of rainfall in the year. Rainfall in the west generally averages between 1000 and 1250 millimeters. In many mountainous districts rainfall exceeds 2000 (78 inches) millimeters per year. The wettest months almost everywhere are December and January. April is the driest month generally but in many southern parts, June is the driest.

The average number of "wet days" (days with more than 1 mm of rain) ranges from about 150 days a year along the east and south-east coasts, to about 225 days a year in parts of the west

$188,400,000,000

4,203,200

Higher education in Ireland dates from 1592, the year Trinity College was founded in Dublin. Currently Ireland has eight universities, as well as institutes of technology, independent colleges, and schools of art and music. In keeping with the Europe's higher-education-coordination effort known as the Bologna Process, the universities and 14 institutes of technology offer bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees.
 
A bachelor’s degree typically requires three to four years of study; some subjects, such as dentistry and medicine, last five to six years. A master’s degree lasts an additional one to two years, and a doctorate can take two to five years to achieve.
 
More than 80,000 students were enrolled full-time at universities and other institutions in 2006, along with more than 53,000 at technology colleges.
 
(Sources: BBC, International Education Board of Ireland, The Europa World of Learning, The World Factbook, )

Number of Colleges, Universities, and Technical Institutes (total): 74

Number of students enrolled: 190,000

Number of international students enrolled: 9,500

Higher Education Authority

Brooklawn House, Crampton Ave., Shelbourne Road, Dublin 4

Web site:  http://www.hea.ie/

Phone: (01) 231 7162

E-mail: mbyrne@hea.ie

Contact: Malcolm Byrne, Head of Communications