The Geography ABC’s series is a unique and fun way to supplement your world geography curriculum. This series offers thirty-two countries and two different lesson plans. Each country has the alphabet listed with a fact that pertains to just that country. For a complete list of countries and lesson plans, a link to the Geography ABC's Index is at the bottom of the article.
Ireland
Dia duit! Welcome!
A is for Aran Islands, the home of the famous heavy hand knitted, woolen Aran pullover.
B is for bodrhan, a hand held drum with a wooden body and goat skin head used in traditional Irish music.
C is for Clachans (beehive homes). Clusters of homes stacked on a hill side built by early Christians.
D is for Dublin, the capital city of Ireland.
E is for Emerald Isle. What Ireland is often referred to due to it’s beautiful greenery.
F is for flag. The Irish flag is made up of three colors. Green to represent the people of the Catholic religion, orange that represents Protestants and white in the middle for lasting peace.
G is for Grianan of Aileach, a circular stone fort built more than a 1,000 years ago.
H is for horses. Ireland is famous for its horses with the Irish Derby being one of the world’s major horse racing events.
I is for Irish Stoats, a hardy animal believed to have survived the last ice age.
J is for Jacob’s Ladder. A cup shaped lavender color flower.
K is for Kissing the Blarney Stone. Blarney Castle is home of the blarney stone. More than 300,000 people come to kiss the Blarney
Stone each year. It is thought to improve one‘s speech.
L is for leprechauns, dwarf size men who make shoes, hid pots of gold and play mischievous jokes on people.
M is for the Monastery of Kells, one of the oldest monastery - 1,200 years old.
N is for no snakes. Ireland has no snakes.
O is for oyster, caught in the Galway Bay are considered a delicacy.
P is for Poulnabrone Dolmen, which means hole of sorrows.
Q is for Queen Grace O’Malley, a pirate queen that built a castle on the shores of Ireland.
R is for Reask stone. A stone pillar decorated with a cross and Latin inscriptions, one of the earliest Celtic monuments.
S is for St. Patrick’s Day, a national holiday to honor the country’s patriot saint.
T is for Taviseach, the title of Ireland’s prime minister.
U is for umbrella. It rains everyday in western Ireland.
V is for Vikings, who were the first to invade the Celtic people.
W is for Wicklow Mountains that provides a spectacular view of waterfalls, lakes, valleys and deep gorges.
X marks the spot
Y is for Yeats, the poet WB Yeats was born in Dublin.
Z is for Zinc. Ireland’s zinc mines are one of the largest in Europe
Article Index for Geography ABC’s: Argentina, *Australia, Brazil, *Canada, *China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, *France, *Germany, *Great Britain, *Greece,,*Greenland, India, *Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, *Mexico, Peru, *Russia, South Africa, Spain, *Sweden, Thailand, *The Congo, *Turkey*United States
Lesson Plan for 5th through 8th grade using the Geography ABC’s
* Denotes countries not yet posted in the series.
