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History of Ireland

Can you guess these facts about the history of Ireland?
Includes both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
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Last updated: January 27, 2026
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First submittedJanuary 24, 2019
Times taken31,047
Average score64.7%
Rating4.39
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Answer
Group of people who migrated to Ireland starting around 500 BC
The Celts
Saint credited with introducing Christianity to Ireland in the year 432
St. Patrick
Group who raided Ireland starting around 795 AD, and later settled in Dublin
The Vikings
The small area around Dublin under direct English control during the Middle Ages
The Pale
Stick-based Irish sport which has roots going back to at least 1366 AD
Hurling
English ruler who added "King of Ireland" to his titles in 1542
Henry VIII
English ruler who brutally reconquered Ireland from 1649–1651, earning the
eternal hatred of many Irish people
Oliver Cromwell
Dublin brewery opened in 1759
Guinness
Group founded in 1795 that is a Masonic-style organization devoted
to the Protestant cause
Orange Order
19th century leader, nicknamed "The Liberator", who campaigned for Catholic rights
and Irish independence
Daniel O'Connell
Crop which failed in the 1840s, precipitating the Great Irish Famine
Potatoes
Country which received nearly 4 million Irish immigrants in the 1800s
United States
Famous ocean liner christened in Belfast in 1911
RMS Titanic
Irish novelist who published "Ulysses" in 1922 (censored in Ireland until the 1960s)
James Joyce
Term for the period of violence in Northern Ireland that started in the 1960s
The Troubles
Holiday on which the peace agreement which ended the above conflict was signed in 1998
Good Friday
What Ireland legalized in 2018 which was already legal in most European countries
Abortion
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30 Comments
+7
Level 82
Jan 24, 2019
PotatoEs
+12
Level ∞
Jan 25, 2019
Pulled a Quayle, lol
+2
Level 72
Mar 17, 2026
Potoooooooo
+1
Level 82
Mar 17, 2019
Didn't do very well on this quiz. 11/17
+1
Level 74
Jun 5, 2024
Me neither. Typed in Joyuice in the last second. T_T
+1
Level 82
Mar 17, 2026
I got all correct this time! 17/17 🍀
+14
Level 85
Mar 17, 2019
The last one made me sad
+1
Level 14
Mar 17, 2019
same. I am surprised so little people did not get hurling
+2
Level 73
Mar 17, 2019
Curling is the closest I came to it, but I knew that wasn't quite right.
+1
Level 72
Mar 17, 2019
I thought hurling was a Scottish thing. Learned something today!
+3
Level 58
Mar 22, 2019
The game played in Scotland is called shinty. Shinty and hurling are similar.
+1
Level 66
Aug 17, 2022
Some folk in Ireland still call it Hurley, after the stick. But why is Camogie not allowed?
+1
Level 84
Oct 10, 2023
I think hurley should be accepted, anecdotally I've mostly heard it referred to as that
+2
Level 65
Mar 9, 2024
yes, well leprechauns don't play hurling, so that's why so little people didn't get it
+2
Level 87
Jan 29, 2026
Hurling makes me think of my mother-in-law's cooking for some reason.
+3
Level 92
Mar 17, 2019
And, as is so often the case with these quizzes, I got sucked down a rabbit hole on Wikipedia, and learned that "beyond the pale" (outside of the bounds of what is considered acceptable/civilized) comes from the Pale--i.e., if you went beyond the boundary or fence that delineated the English-ruled area, you were going outside the rules and bounds of "proper civilization."
+4
Level 58
Mar 22, 2019
I always think allowing kings and queens without the regnal number makes it a little too easy, especially on country-specific quizzes. Plenty of Kings Henry have meddled in Ireland, so it's not really testing one's knowledge.
+2
Level 55
Oct 11, 2019
14/17. Couldn't think of the last one. Was kicking myself when I saw the answer
+6
Level 93
Jun 16, 2022
I got abortion eventually but I guessed same sex marriage and weed first.
+1
Level 83
Jun 16, 2022
So saying that something is beyond the pale is insulting the Irish??? :O
+2
Level 71
Jun 16, 2022
No, nowadays that's just said to convey if someone went a bit too far with something, maybe criticism for example
+2
Level 54
Mar 13, 2024
can you accept "St. James' Gate" for "Guinness"?
+1
Level ∞
Jan 27, 2026
Yes
+3
Level 46
Jun 23, 2025
I hate Oliver Cromwell
+8
Level 81
Jan 27, 2026
Do I have good news for you...
+2
Level 88
Jan 27, 2026
Does Guinness cause the hurling?
+5
Level 77
Feb 3, 2026
"Irish history for Americans".
+3
Level 68
Mar 17, 2026
What does this even mean? Do the Greeks and the Congolese have some advanced knowledge of Irish history that would make this remedial for them?

There's one question about the US, and the Irish immigration to the US is a well-known event in Irish history.

What's the problem? Or can you people just not help but assign every grievance you have to Americans?

+1
Level 61
Mar 17, 2026
You'd think that Belfast only ever built the one ship......
+2
Level 38
Mar 18, 2026
the UK created the potato famine not the dang potatoes