The counties of Ireland are historic administrative divisions of the island. They began as Norman structures, and as the powers exercised by the Cambro-Norman barons and the Old English nobility waned over time, new offices of political control came to be established at a county level. The number of counties varied depending on the time period, however thirty-two is the traditionally accepted and used number.
Manx, also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Gaelic language of the insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family. Manx is the historical language of the Manx people.
The island of Ireland, comprising Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, has an extensive network of tens of thousands of kilometres of public roads, usually surfaced. These roads have been developed and modernised over centuries, from trackways suitable only for walkers and horses, to surfaced roads including modern motorways. Driving is on the left-hand side of the road. The major routes were established before Irish independence and consequently take little cognisance of the border other than a change of identification number and street furniture. Northern Ireland has had motorways since 1962, and has a well-developed network of primary, secondary and local routes. The Republic started work on its motorway network in the early 1980s; and historically, the road network there was once somewhat less well developed. However, the Celtic Tiger economic boom and an influx of European Union structural funding, saw national roads and regional roads in the Republic come up to international standard quite quickly. In the mid-1990s, for example, the Republic went from having only a few short sections of motorway to a network of motorways, dual carriageways and other improvements on most major routes as part of a National Development Plan. Road construction in Northern Ireland now tends to proceed at a slower pace than in the Republic, although a number of important bypasses and upgrades to dual carriageway have recently been completed or are about to begin.
The vast majority of placenames in Ireland are anglicisations of Irish language names; that is, adaptations of the Irish names to English phonology and spelling. However, some names come directly from the English language, and a handful come from Old Norse and Scots. The study of placenames in Ireland unveils features of the country's history and geography and the development of the Irish language. The name of Ireland itself comes from the Irish name Éire, added to the Germanic word land. In mythology, Éire was an Irish goddess of the land and of sovereignty.
"Without You" is a song written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of British rock group Badfinger, and first released on their 1970 album No Dice. The power ballad has been recorded by over 180 artists, and versions released as singles by Harry Nilsson (1971) and Mariah Carey (1994) became international number one hits. The Nilsson version was included in 2021's Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Paul McCartney once described it as "the killer song of all time".
"No Limit" is a song recorded by Belgian/Dutch Eurodance group 2 Unlimited, released in January 1993 by Byte, ZYX and PWL. It was their fifth single in total and the first to be released from their second album, No Limits! (1993). Co-written by the group's Ray Slijngaard and Anita Dels, the song became one of their most commercially successful singles, especially in Europe, reaching the number-one spot in 35 countries and the top 10 in several others. Like previous releases, the UK version of the single removed all of the raps from Slijngaard, leaving just Dels' vocals. One word from the rap was kept, the word 'Techno' which was looped and repeated during the middle of the song, turning the line into "Techno! Techno! Techno! Techno!" and giving the song an extra vocal hook. Its accompanying music video was directed by Nick Burgess-Jones and received heavy rotation on MTV Europe.
"Jump Around" is a song by American hip hop group House of Pain, produced by DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill, who has also covered the song, and was released in May 1992 by Tommy Boy and XL as the first single from their debut album, House of Pain (1992). The song became a hit, reaching number three in the United States. A 1993 re-release of the song in the United Kingdom, where the initial release had been a minor hit, peaked at number eight. Its music video was filmed in New York City, featuring footage from the 1992 Saint Patrick's Day parade.
"I Will Always Love You" is a song written and originally recorded in 1973 by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. Written as a farewell to her business partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, expressing Parton's decision to pursue a solo career, the country single was released in 1974. The song was a commercial success for Parton, twice reaching the top spot of the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart: first in June 1974, then again in October 1982, with a re-recording for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas soundtrack.
"Run to You" is a song performed by American singer and actress Whitney Houston, released on June 21, 1993, by Arista Records as the fourth single from The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album (1992). It was written by Jud Friedman and Allan Rich, and produced by David Foster. Originally intended to be a break-up song, it was approved by the production and stars. However, a month later, the director of The Bodyguard called, saying he liked the song so much, but he'd rather have it to be a love song so the entire song was rewritten, except for the title.
"Easy" is a song by American band Commodores from their fifth studio album, Commodores (1977), released on the Motown label. Group member Lionel Richie wrote "Easy" with the intention of it becoming another crossover hit for the group given the success of a previous single, "Just to Be Close to You", which spent two weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart and peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1977.
"Gloria" is a rock song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, and originally recorded by Morrison's band Them in 1964. It was released as the B-side of "Baby, Please Don't Go". The song became a garage rock staple and a part of many rock bands' repertoires.
The N33 road is a national primary road in Ireland. It provides a link road in County Louth between the N2 Dublin-Derry, M1 Dublin-Belfast, and Ardee-Dunleer routes. The route connects to the N2 and N52 near Ardee, and connects to a junction on the M1 near the Dunleer Bypass almost directly east of the junction on the N2, a distance of 7.59 km. As of 2008 it is the most recently allocated National Primary Route number, and held the record until 2012 when the N40 was created around the south of Cork City.
A national primary road is a road classification in Ireland. National primary roads form the major routes between the major urban centres. There are 2649 km of national primary roads. This category of road has the prefix "N" followed by one or two digits. Motorways are prefixed "M" followed by one or two digits.
"Lately" is a song by American singer, songwriter and musician Stevie Wonder, recorded for his nineteenth studio album, Hotter than July (1980). The song was released in 1981 by Tamla, reaching number three on the UK Singles Chart and number 64 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was later covered by American R&B group Jodeci and released as a promotional single for the live album Uptown MTV Unplugged in June 1993, which reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart and the top-5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Have I Told You Lately" is a song written and recorded by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison for his nineteenth studio album, Avalon Sunset (1989). It is a romantic ballad that is often played at weddings, although it was originally written as a prayer. The opening line is from the song "I Forgot to Be Your Lover" by William Bell.
"Am I That Easy to Forget" is a popular song written by country music singer Country Johnny Mathis who later sold the publishing rights to W.S. Stevenson and published in 1958. Belew recorded his song in Nashville on December 17, 1958, and released the single in March 1959, when it reached number nine on the U.S. country music chart. Other country music artists who have recorded cover versions of the song include Skeeter Davis, Ernest Tubb (1960), Jerry Wallace (1962), Gene Vincent (1966), George Jones (1967), Patti Page (1968), Ann-Margret & Lee Hazlewood (1969), Jim Reeves and Prairie Oyster (1991).
The North Circular Road, designated as the R101 regional road, is an important thoroughfare on the northside of Dublin, in Ireland. It is the northside equivalent of the South Circular Road.
A local road in the Republic of Ireland is a public road not classified as a national primary road, national secondary road, or regional road but nevertheless forming a link in the national network of roads. Local roads are numbered with four- or five-digit route numbers, prefixed by "L".
On 12 December 1993, a unit of the Provisional Irish Republican Army's (IRA) East Tyrone Brigade ambushed a two-men unmarked mobile patrol of the RUC in Fivemiletown, County Tyrone. Two constables were shot and killed instantly. A military helicopter was also fired at by a second IRA unit in the aftermath of the incident, during a follow-up operation launched in the surroundings of the town by both the British Army and the RUC. A number of suspects were questioned, but the perpetrators made good their escape. The action occurred just three days before the Downing Street Declaration.
