Geography Of Ireland
Ireland is an island in northwest Europe in the north Atlantic Ocean whose main geographical features include low central plains surrounded by a ring of coastal mountains. The highest peak is Carrauntoohil (Irish: Corrán Tuathail), which is 1,041 metres (3,415 ft) above sea level. The western coastline is rugged, with many islands, peninsulas, headlands and bays. The island is bisected by the River Shannon, which at 386 km (240 mi) with a 113 km (70 mi) estuary is the longest river in Ireland and flows south from County Cavan in Ulster to meet the Atlantic just south of Limerick. There are a number of sizeable lakes along Ireland's rivers, of which Lough Neagh is the largest.
Politically, the island consists of the state, Ireland, with jurisdiction over about five sixths of the island; and Northern Ireland, a constituent country of the United Kingdom, with jurisdiction over the remaining sixth. Located west of the island of Great Britain, it is located at approximately 53°N 8°W / 53°N 8°W / 53; -8Coordinates: 53°N 8°W / 53°N 8°W / 53; -8. It has a total area of 84,421 km2 (32,595 sq mi). It is separated from Great Britain by the Irish Sea and from mainland Europe by the Celtic Sea. Ireland and Great Britain, together with nearby islands, are known collectively as the British Isles; as the term British Isles is controversial in relation to Ireland, the alternative term Ireland and Britain is often used as a neutral term for the islands.
Read more about Geography Of Ireland: Geological Development, Climate, Political and Human Geography, Natural Resources
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“Where the heart is, there the muses, there the gods sojourn, and not in any geography of fame. Massachusetts, Connecticut River, and Boston Bay, you think paltry places, and the ear loves names of foreign and classic topography. But here we are; and, if we tarry a little, we may come to learn that here is best. See to it, only, that thyself is here;—and art and nature, hope and fate, friends, angels, and the Supreme Being, shall not absent from the chamber where thou sittest.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Ktaadn, near which we were to pass the next day, is said to mean “Highest Land.” So much geography is there in their names.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Life springs from death and from the graves of patriot men and women spring living nations.... They think that they have pacified Ireland. They think that they have purchased half of us and intimidated the other half. They think that they have foreseen everything, think they have provided against everything; but the fools, the fools, the fools, they have left us our Fenian dead, and while Ireland holds these graves Ireland unfree shall never be at peace.”
—Patrick Henry Pearse (1879–1916)