Ireland and Irish Culture
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99 free Ireland and Irish Culture trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
36 free Ireland and Irish Culture trivia questions with answers. Ireland packs an improbable amount of story into 32 counties: a 5,000-year-old tomb that catches the solstice sunrise, a brewery on a 9,000-year lease, a sport played with an ash stick and a leather ball. This quiz runs 99 questions across Irish history, language, music, food, sport and landscape. Every answer was verified against a source and linked, so nothing here is folklore dressed up as fact. Ready? Ar aghaidh linn.
30 of 99 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which three-leaved plant is Saint Patrick said to have used to explain the Holy Trinity?
Shamrock
Legend holds that Patrick plucked the shamrock to illustrate three persons in one God. The three-leaved plant has been an emblem of Ireland ever since.
Q 02Before green took over, which colour was linked to Saint Patrick through the Order of St Patrick?
Blue
The Order of St Patrick, founded in 1783, adopted a shade now called St Patrick's blue. Green only took over later, through Irish nationalism.
Q 03In which year did 17 March become an official public holiday in Ireland?
1903
The Bank Holiday (Ireland) Act 1903 made Saint Patrick's Day a public holiday. The same year saw Ireland's first parade for the feast.
Q 04In which city was Ireland's first Saint Patrick's Day parade held?
Waterford
Parades began among the Irish diaspora in North America and only reached the island in the 20th century, starting in Waterford.
Q 05Light floods the inner chamber of Newgrange through its roof-box at sunrise on which day of the year?
The winter solstice
The winter solstice, the year's shortest day: the Neolithic builders aligned the 19-metre passage so it lights the chamber, and places in the annual lottery are heavily oversubscribed.
Q 06Newgrange is the principal monument of which World Heritage Site complex in County Meath?
Brú na Bóinne
Brú na Bóinne — the 'palace of the Boyne' — also contains the great mounds of Knowth and Dowth. It was built around 3100 BC, predating the pyramids at Giza.
Q 07In hurling, what is the small ball struck with the stick called?
Sliotar
The sliotar is a leather-covered ball with raised ridges. A bodhrán is a drum, a camán is the stick itself and a currach is a boat.
Q 08In hurling, how many points is it worth to put the ball under the crossbar into the net?
Three
Under the bar past the keeper is a goal, worth three points; over the bar scores one. Scores are written goals-points, so 2-10 is 16 points and 1-14 is 17.
Q 09How many players does each team field in a hurling match?
Fifteen
Hurling is 15-a-side, the same as Gaelic football. The sport is run by the Gaelic Athletic Association, founded in 1884.
Q 10The Book of Kells, made around 800 AD, was written in which language?
Latin
It is a Gospel book in Latin, lettered in insular majuscule script with black, red, purple and yellow inks.
Q 11Which Dublin institution's library puts the Book of Kells on public display?
Trinity College Dublin
Trinity College Dublin has held the Book of Kells since the 1660s and shows it in the Old Library, two volumes open at a time, with the pages turned regularly.
Q 12Carrauntoohil, the highest mountain in Ireland, rises within which range?
MacGillycuddy's Reeks
MacGillycuddy's Reeks on the Iveragh Peninsula hold Ireland's highest ground. Carrauntoohil tops out at 1,038.6 metres.
Q 13Ireland's highest peak stands on the Iveragh Peninsula, in which county?
Kerry
The Iveragh Peninsula in the south-west is circled by the Ring of Kerry road. Its mountains are the highest on the island.
Q 21Over which years is Ireland's Great Famine conventionally dated?
1845–1852
1845–1852: roughly a million people died and more than a million emigrated. The 1841 census counted about 8.2 million people; by 1851 the figure had fallen to about 6.5 million.
Q 22The 'uilleann' of the uilleann pipes comes from the Irish word for which body part?
Elbow
Píb uilleann means 'pipes of the elbow', because the player works the bellows with the arm rather than blowing.
Q 23On the uilleann pipes, what is the pipe that plays the melody called?
Chanter
The chanter carries the melody on the uilleann pipes; the three drones hold constant notes and the keyed regulators add chords, all fed by a bellows worked with the elbow.
Q 14How long was the lease Arthur Guinness signed in 1759 for a disused Dublin brewery?
9,000 years
He took the brewery for £45 a year on a lease running to the year 10759. Guinness later bought the land outright.
Q 15In which Dublin brewery did Arthur Guinness begin brewing ales in 1759?
St James's Gate
St James's Gate has brewed Guinness for more than 260 years and is now also the site of the Guinness Storehouse visitor attraction.
Q 16What name is given to the districts where Irish survives as a community language?
Gaeltacht
The Gaeltacht regions lie mostly along the western seaboard. The Oireachtas is the national parliament, not a place.
Q 17How many letters does the traditional Irish alphabet contain?
Eighteen
The traditional alphabet drops j, k, q, v, w, x, y and z, leaving 18 letters. Loanwords sometimes bring the missing letters back.
Q 18On a Claddagh ring, what does the crown stand for?
Loyalty
The heart is love, the clasped hands friendship and the crown loyalty. Which way the heart points is said to signal whether the wearer is spoken for.
Q 19The Claddagh ring is named for a fishing village beside which city?
Galway
Claddagh sat at the mouth of the River Corrib, just outside the old walls of Galway city.
Q 20Which organism caused the potato blight behind Ireland's Great Famine?
Phytophthora infestans
Phytophthora infestans is an oomycete, not a fungus, and has been traced to the Toluca Valley in Mexico before it reached Europe.
Q 24Samhain, the Gaelic festival that fed into modern Halloween, marks the start of which season?
Winter
Samhain marks the start of winter, the dark half of the Celtic year. It falls on 1 November, with celebrations beginning the previous evening because the Celtic day started at sunset.
Q 25Which distinction does Lough Neagh hold?
Largest lake in the British Isles
The Northern Irish lough covers 383 square kilometres, making it the biggest lake by area anywhere in the British Isles.
Q 26In what year did Ireland join the European Economic Community (EEC)?
1973
Ireland became a member of the European Economic Community (EEC) on January 1, 1973, following a referendum held in May 1972.
Q 27Which Irish potato pancake belongs to the northern midlands and Ulster?
Boxty
Boxty is made from raw grated potato mixed with mash, and is most at home in the north midlands, north Connacht and southern Ulster.
Q 28Who is the Irish author known for writing the Gothic horror novel 'Dracula'?
Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker, an Irish writer, achieved lasting fame for his 1897 Gothic horror novel 'Dracula', which introduced the iconic vampire character.
Q 29What does the Republic of Ireland officially call the Irish language?
Gaeilge
Gaeilge is the language's own name for itself and the form used in the constitution, which ranks Irish as the national and first official language ahead of English.
Q 30What is Ireland's national anthem, 'Amhrán na bhFiann', called in English?
"The Soldier's Song"
Ireland's national anthem is titled "Amhrán na bhFiann" in Irish, which translates to "The Soldier's Song" in English.