Corned beef and cabbage and soda bread are often thought of as foods of Ireland, but many people are surprised when they find that these foods are not typical Irish fare. The country's cuisine is generally made up of simple dishes made of lamb, beef or fish and containing some form of potato. They are lightly seasoned and simple, yet flavorful and filling.
Ireland is a known as place of Nobel Prize Winners. The four Nobel prizes came to Ireland for George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, Seamus Heaney and William Butler Yeats. The legendary writer such as Oscar Wilde and James Joyce also hails from Ireland. Ireland is a place where one existentialist may want to escape to, from the maddening crowd. It is considered as the third largest island of Europe, is the most sought after tourist destination.
The Republic of Ireland lies in the north Atlantic Ocean and is separated from Britain by the Irish Sea to the east. The northeastern part (Northern Ireland) is part of the United Kingdom. The country has a central plain surrounded by a rim of hills and mountains offering some of the most varied and unspoilt scenery in Europe. Quiet sandy beaches, semi-tropical bays warmed by the Gulf Stream, and rugged cliffs make up the 5600km or 3500 miles of coastline.