Irish Trivia
For 2025 St. Patrick's Day
Posted March 8, 2025

Let's see how you do with these Irish Trivia questions. Some are easy, some not so much. Answers at the bottom of the page. No peeking!

1. Can you name the 3 Counties of Ireland that start with the letter M
2. What is the national symbol of Ireland?
3. What Irish festival makes a wild goat king for 3 days?
4. What is the longest coastal driving route in the world?
5. What is the smallest county in Ireland?
6. What is the biggest county in Ireland?
7. Where was the first St. Patrick's Day parade held?
8. What is the longest river in Ireland?
9. Traditionally served on St. Brigid's Day, what food is an Irish potato pancake comprising finely grated raw potatoes?
10. What sixth-largest city in Ireland, located on the West Coast, is sometimes known as the "Bilingual Capital of Ireland" due to many Gaelic speakers and has a namesake seven-day horse race that is one of the largest in Ireland?
11. With a title that refers to the author's mother, what 1996 memoir by Irish American Frank McCourt chronicles the author's early life in Brooklyn, New York and Limerick, Ireland?
12. What is the old Latin name for Ireland, whose etymology is an old Celtic name altered to sound more like "land of winter" in Latin?
13. Kissing the limestone block known as the "Blarney Stone" will, according to legend, give one what gift?
14. In which county is the Cliffs of Moher located?
15. What makes the Purple Mountains of Kerry purple?
16. Which road do the Saw Doctors sing about in their song about homesickness and emigration?
17. In what town and county was the John Wayne film The Quiet Man filmed?
18. Why is County Cork so named?
19. What Irish boxer was featherweight champion and has a statue in Cleveland?
20. Where is the Irish Famine Memorial in Cleveland?
21. Name at least 3 of the Irish cultural figures honored in the Irish Cultural Garden?

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Answers

1. Mayo, Meath and Monaghan
2. Ireland is the only country in the world to have a musical instrument as its national symbol. As a testament to the country's love for music, Ireland boasts a harp as its national emblem. It dates back to the 13th century.
3. 'Puck Fair' is said to be the longest-running of the many festivals in Ireland. In August every year, a goat is caught from the Kerry mountains and placed in a cage in the village of Killorglin. It's crowned king and for three days a number of festivities are held throughout the town.
4. Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way is 2,500 km (1600 miles) in length. The Wild Atlantic Way driving route is the longest in Ireland and the longest on earth! The route passes through nine counties and stretches from the Inishowen Peninsula in Donegal right the way around the coast to Kinsale in Cork.
5. Known as 'the wee county', Louth is the smallest of Ireland's 32 counties.
6. The largest county in Ireland is County Cork. The second-largest County is Galway.
7. On March 17, 1601, in what is now St. Augustine, Florida, Spanish settlers and Irish clergy organized the first known St. Patrick's Day celebration. Boston hosted its first parade in 1737, followed by New York City in 1762, when Irish soldiers serving in the British army marched through the streets to honor their homeland.
8. The River Shannon (224 miles)
9. Boxty
10. Galway
11. Angela's Ashes
12. Hibernia
13. The Gift of Gab
14. Clare
15. Heather
16. The N17
17. Cong, County Mayo
18. Cork means marshes and Cork is surrounded by marshes
19. Johnny Kilbane
20. East bank of the Cuyahoga River in the Flats across from the Flat Iron Café
21. Thomas More, Padraic Pearse, Seamus Heaney, Sean O'Casey, Samuel Beckett, John Millington Synge, James Joyce, Frank O'Connor, Brendan Behan, Edna O'Brien, George Bernard Shaw.