2. C.S. Lewis wrote of 'planting boiled potatoes to save cooking them when they were dug up' in his novel, Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

3. J.P. Donleavy wrote a play entitled Fairy Tales of New York, while The Pogues had a hit song called Fairy Tale of New York

4. A 'turlough' is a seasonal lough (from tuar loch, 'a dried-up lake' - sometimes filled by rainfall)

5. Brian Boru was 72 years of age when he died after the battle of Clontarf

6. The ancient Puck Fair of Killorglin, County Kerry, lasts for three days

7. Terence O'Neill was Prime Minister of Northern Ireland from 1963 to 1969?

8. Lisdoonvarna in County Clare is the host of a world-famous Matchmaking Festival