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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 ...

Westmeath

(Encyclopedia)Westmeath wĕstmēthˈ, wĕstˈmēᵺ [key], county (1991 pop. 61,880), 681 sq mi (1,764 sq km), central Republic of Ireland. The county seat is Mullingar. A part of the central plain of Ireland, the ...

Fianna Fáil

(Encyclopedia)Fianna Fáil fēˈənə fäl [key], Irish political party, organized in 1926 by opponents of the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 establishing the Irish Free State and setting up Northern Ireland as part of...

new towns

(Encyclopedia)new towns, planned urban communities in Great Britain, developed by long-term loans from the central government and first authorized by the New Towns Act of 1946. The chief purpose of the act was to r...

Man, Isle of

(Encyclopedia)Man, Isle of, island and dependency of the British crown (2015 est. pop. 83,000), 227 sq mi (588 sq km), off Great Britain, in the Irish Sea. The coast is rocky with precipitous cliffs; the Calf of Ma...

Saint George's Channel

(Encyclopedia)Saint George's Channel, strait, c.100 mi (160 km) long and 50 to 95 mi (80–153 km) wide, linking the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea. It separates SE Ireland from Wales. ...

Bickerstaffe, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Bickerstaffe, Isaac, c.1735–c.1812, English dramatist, b. Ireland. Included among his comedies and ballad operas are The Maid of the Mill (produced in 1765) and The Padlock (produced in 1768). ...

Galway Bay

(Encyclopedia)Galway Bay, inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, 30 mi (48 km) long, W Republic of Ireland, in counties Galway and Clare. The Aran Islands protect its entrance. Numerous islands dot the Galway Bay, which rece...

Bello, Sir Ahmadu

(Encyclopedia)Bello, Sir Ahmadu, 1910–66, Nigerian political, b. Rabbah (now in Sokoto State), NW Nigeria. A Fulani and descendent of Usuman dan Fodio, the founder of the Sokoto caliphate, he was a major figure i...

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...