The Difference Between English & Irish Today
- While most English people are Protestant, many are Roman Catholic. The most widely practiced and declared religion in England is Christianity, and most Christians belong to the Church of England or the Church of Scotland. Interestingly, the only religion created in the country is the neo-pagan religion Wicca. The Irish population consists largely of Catholics. Due to immigration in recent years, both England and Ireland have seen an increase in both Hindus and Muslims. In both religion and politics, the Irish have a clear history of being the oppressed, while the English have had a history of being oppressors.
- England and Ireland have two different currencies. The Irish spend and save the euro, while the English use the pound. England is highly industrialized and is an importer of textile and chemical products. Agriculture produces 60 percent of England's food source. The main food sources grown are oats, wheat, potatoes and barley. Tourism is the sixth largest industry in the United Kingdom, bringing 6 million pounds to the economy. Ireland had been ranked as one of the wealthiest of countries before its economic problems began in 2008. Exports play an essential part in Ireland's growth economically. Agriculture is important to this nation, but unlike England, Ireland's agricultural focus is dairy products, beef and cattle.
- Irish is a member of the Celtic language-speaking counties. Also referred to as Q-Celtic, the language is distantly related to Breton, Cornish and Welsh, which form another branch of the Celtic languages known as P-Celtic. Though the Celtic languages have a similar grammatical structure, they have little vocabulary in common. There are also varying dialects in the Celtic language, which makes learning the language difficult for most. The English language is derived from the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and is known as a West Germanic language. It spread into what was to become southeast Scotland, which was under the control of an Anglican medieval kingdom.
- In recent years, geneticists have sampled DNA throughout the British Isles and are leaning toward an intriguing theory. Many of them are fascinated by general genetic similarities, which have led them to conclude that both Britain and Ireland have been inhabited for thousands of years by a single people who have remained in the majority, with only minor additions from later invaders such as the Romans, Celts and Vikings. However, one geneticist, Christopher Tyler-Smith, has said the genetic story may very well change since there is no current consensus of the findings.