For some people, Ireland is the country to go to find leprechauns. But leprechauns don’t actually populate Ireland. Yet, what can be found in this country are interesting cultural facts that may be considered almost magical.

First, one must know a little about Ireland’s story. Historians claimed that in 600-150 B.C., Celtic tribes began settling on the island. The Romans called it “Hibernia” but they did not include Hibernia in its empire. Then, in the 8th century, there were attacks from Norsemen. This was stopped in 1014 when King Brian Boru was able to defeat the Danes. But in the 12th century, the English began invading Ireland. Since then, for the next seven centuries, there was an Anglo-Irish struggle.

Until, in 1921 when Ireland finally gained independence from the United Kingdom. Then, in 1973, Ireland became a part of the European Union, and in 1998 implemented the Good Friday Agreement, which sought to unify Ireland. With such rough beginnings, Ireland managed to be the most globalized country in the world, according to a study by A.T. Kearney and the Foreign Policy magazine. This is due to Ireland’s great bulk of trade with other countries and contacts with people from all over the world.

Here are more interesting facts about Ireland as a country and as a contributor to the world’s cultures

• Ireland is a country in which there is an event called “recreational rioting”. This is because in some parts of North Ireland where there is a mix of Catholics and Protestants, there are teenagers who still throw bricks.

• Fifteen of Ireland’s major railway stations are named after the leaders of the famous 1916 rebellion. The naming of the railway stations serves to honor them

• The phrase “tying the knot” came from an ancient “handfasting” marriage custom of the Celtic people. In this custom, the bride and groom had their wrists tied together.

• The castles in Ireland have a “murder hole”. That is, there is a lobby inside the front door, and above it is a ceiling with a “hole” through which arrows, daggers, or hot liquids hit the unwanted visitors.

• Ireland there is a place called Hook Head, and another village called Crooke. According to historical accounts, the English Oliver Cromwell, in his plan to siege Waterford had devised to options, either to take ships around Hook Head or march through Crooke village. This was the origin of the phrase “by hook or by crook”.

• The origin of the word “slogan” is Irish, the sluagh-ghairm. This means “war cry”.

• Vikings were believed to establish Dublin. Many centuries later, the name of Dublin can be found in many towns such as California, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Texas