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 submitted	January 24, 2019
Times taken	31,047
Average score	64.7%
Rating	4.39

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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

Level 82

Jan 24, 2019

PotatoEs

+12

Level ∞

Jan 25, 2019

Pulled a Quayle, lol

Level 72

Mar 17, 2026

Potoooooooo

Level 82

Mar 17, 2019

Didn't do very well on this quiz. 11/17

Level 74

Jun 5, 2024

Me neither. Typed in Joyuice in the last second. T_T

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

Level 14

Mar 17, 2019

same. I am surprised so little people did not get hurling

Level 73

Mar 17, 2019

Curling is the closest I came to it, but I knew that wasn't quite right.

Level 72

Mar 17, 2019

I thought hurling was a Scottish thing. Learned something today!

Level 58

Mar 22, 2019

The game played in Scotland is called shinty. Shinty and hurling are similar.

Level 66

Aug 17, 2022

Some folk in Ireland still call it Hurley, after the stick. But why is Camogie not allowed?

Level 84

Oct 10, 2023

I think hurley should be accepted, anecdotally I've mostly heard it referred to as that

Level 65

Mar 9, 2024

yes, well leprechauns don't play hurling, so that's why so little people didn't get it

Level 87

Jan 29, 2026

Hurling makes me think of my mother-in-law's cooking for some reason.

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."

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.

Level 55

Oct 11, 2019

14/17. Couldn't think of the last one. Was kicking myself when I saw the answer

Level 93

Jun 16, 2022

I got abortion eventually but I guessed same sex marriage and weed first.

Level 83

Jun 16, 2022

So saying that something is beyond the pale is insulting the Irish??? :O

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

Level 54

Mar 13, 2024

can you accept "St. James' Gate" for "Guinness"?

Level ∞

Jan 27, 2026

Yes

Level 46

Jun 23, 2025

I hate Oliver Cromwell

Level 81

Jan 27, 2026

Do I have good news for you...

Level 88

Jan 27, 2026

Does Guinness cause the hurling?

Level 77

Feb 3, 2026

"Irish history for Americans".

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?

Level 61

Mar 17, 2026

You'd think that Belfast only ever built the one ship......

Level 38

Mar 18, 2026

the UK created the potato famine not the dang potatoes