The culture of Northern Ireland relates to the traditions of

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Elements of the

Culture of Ulster Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland. Due to large-scale plantations of people from Scotland and England during the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as decades of conflict in the 20th, Ulster has a unique culture, quite different from t ...

and the Culture of the United Kingdom are to be found.

Heritage

Since 1998, the

Ulster Museum The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasure ...

, Armagh Museum,

Ulster Folk and Transport Museum The Ulster Folk Museum and the Ulster Transport Museum are situated in Cultra, Northern Ireland, about east of the city of Belfast. The Folk Museum endeavours to illustrate the way of life and traditions of the people in Northern Ireland, past ...

and the Ulster American Folk Park have been administered by the National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland. The

Linen Hall Library The Linen Hall Library is located at 17 Donegall Square North, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the oldest library in Belfast and the last subscribing library in Northern Ireland. The Library is physically in the centre of Belfast, and more g ...

, the oldest library in Belfast, has endured many changes of fortune since its foundation in 1788, but has maintained a vision of providing access to literature and local studies to the population at large. * Abbeys and priories in Northern Ireland * Gardens in Northern Ireland *

Giant's Causeway The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles (5 km) northeast of ...

List of country houses in the United Kingdom This is intended to be as full a list as possible of country houses, castles, palaces, other stately homes, and manor houses in the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands; any architecturally notable building which has served as a residence for ...

* Museums in Northern Ireland * National parks of Northern Ireland

Cuisine

Northern Ireland's best known chefs include

Paul Rankin Paul Rankin (born 1 October 1959 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a celebrity chef from Ballywalter, County Down, Northern Ireland. Rankin's parents moved back to Ballywalter, where he grew up, some time after he was born. This was stated when he was t ...

and Michael Deane. The best known traditional dish in

is the Ulster fry. Two other popular meals are fish and chips or 'Bangers and Mash' (Sausages and Creamed Potatoes) A unique speciality to Northern Ireland is

Yellowman Winston Foster , better known by the stage name Yellowman, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay, also known as King Yellowman. He first became popular in Jamaica in the 1980s, rising to prominence with a series of singles that established ...

. Yellowman is a chewy toffee-textured honeycomb and is sold in non-standard blocks and chips and is associated with the Ould Lammas Fair in Ballycastle, County Antrim, where it is sold along with other confectionery and often

dulse ''Palmaria palmata'', also called dulse, dillisk or dilsk (from Irish/Scottish Gaelic '/'), red dulse, sea lettuce flakes, or creathnach, is a red alga ( Rhodophyta) previously referred to as ''Rhodymenia palmata''. It grows on the northern coas ...

. Dulse is commonly used in Ireland, where it can be used to make white soda bread. It can be found in many health food stores or fish markets and can be ordered directly from local distributors. it is also traditionally sold at the Ould Lammas Fair. It is particularly popular along the Causeway Coast. Although a fast-dying tradition, many gather their own dulse. Along the Ulster coastline from County Down to

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

, it is eaten dried and uncooked as a snack.

Language

Multilingual sign Department Culture Leisure Arts Northern Ireland

English is the most spoken language in Northern Ireland. There are also two recognised

regional language * A regional language is a language spoken in a region of a sovereign state, whether it be a small area, a federated state or province or some wider area. Internationally, for the purposes of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Lan ...

s in Northern Ireland: the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

(''see

Irish language in Northern Ireland The Irish language ( ga, Gaeilge) is an official language in Northern Ireland. The Irish language is the second most spoken language in Northern Ireland. The dialect spoken there is known as Ulster Irish (''Gaeilge Uladh''). Protection for th ...

'') and the local variety of Scots known as Ulster Scots.

Northern Ireland Sign Language Northern Ireland Sign language (NISL) is a sign language used mainly by deaf people in Northern Ireland. NISL is described as being related to Irish Sign Language (ISL) at the syntactic level while the lexicon is based on British Sign Language ...

and

Irish Sign Language Irish Sign Language (ISL, ga, Teanga Chomharthaíochta na hÉireann) is the sign language of Ireland, used primarily in the Republic of Ireland. It is also used in Northern Ireland, alongside British Sign Language (BSL). Irish Sign Language is ...

have been recognised since 29 March 2004. A third,

British Sign Language British Sign Language (BSL) is a sign language used in the United Kingdom (UK), and is the first or preferred language among the Deaf community in the UK. Based on the percentage of people who reported 'using British Sign Language at home' on ...

is also used. At the 2001 census, Chinese was the most widely spoken

minority language A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a territory. Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities. With a total number of 196 sovereign states recognized internationally (as of 2019) a ...

in Northern Ireland, with

Shelta Shelta (; Irish: ''Seiltis'') is a language spoken by Rilantu Mincéirí (Irish Travellers), particularly in Ireland and the United Kingdom.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press It i ...

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

also spoken by a significant number of people. Since the census, however, an influx of people from recent EU accession states is likely to have significantly increased numbers of speakers of languages from these countries. Detailed figures on these changes are not yet available.

Sports

Some team sports are played on an All-Ireland basis, while in others Northern Ireland fields its own team. *

Belfast Giants The Belfast Giants (known officially as the Stena Line Belfast Giants due to sponsorship) are a professional ice hockey team based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They compete in the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and are the current cha ...

* Gaelic football * Hurling * Gaelic handball *

Milk Cup SuperCupNI, formerly called the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament and the Dale Farm Milk Cup, is an international youth football tournament held annually in Northern Ireland. The cup matches are mainly played in the North Coast area o ...

, an international youth association football competition held in Northern Ireland * Northern Ireland national football team *

Royal Portrush Golf Club Royal Portrush Golf Club is a private golf club in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The 36-hole club has two links courses, the Dunluce Links (the championship course) and the Valley Links. The former is one of the courses on the rota of the Ope ...

Ulster GAA The Ulster Council ( ga, Comhairle Uladh) is a provincial council of the Gaelic Athletic Association sports of hurling, Gaelic football, camogie, and handball in the province of Ulster. The headquarters of the Ulster GAA is based in the city o ...

Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Ulster Branch, which is one of ...

Rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

Internationally well-known sports people include: *

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest p ...

– footballer, born in Belfast * Sir Danny Blanchflower – footballer *

Darren Clarke Darren Christopher Clarke, (born 14 August 1968) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions and has previously played on the European Tour and PGA Tour. He has won 21 tournaments worldwide on a ...

– golfer, born in Dungannon *

Joey Dunlop William Joseph "Joey" Dunlop (25 February 1952 – 2 July 2000) was a Northern Irish motorcyclist from Ballymoney. Career He won his third hat trick at the Isle of Man TT in 2000 and set his fastest lap on the course of 123.87 mph in th ...

Jack Kyle John Wilson Kyle, (10 February 1926 – 27 November 2014), commonly referred to as Jack Kyle or Jackie Kyle, was a rugby union player who played for Ireland, the British and Irish Lions and the Barbarians during the 1940s and 1950s. Kyle is bes ...

Dave Finlay David Finlay Jr. (born 31 January 1958) is an Irish retired professional wrestler currently signed to WWE as a trainer/assistant coach. He is known for his work with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name Fit Finlay from 1995 to ...

Paddy Hopkirk Patrick Barron Hopkirk (14 April 1933 – 21 July 2022) was a rally driver from Northern Ireland. Hopkirk was appointed MBE in the 2016 New Year Honours list. In early 2016, Hopkirk became the IAM RoadSmart Mature Drivers Ambassador. Early ...

John Watson (racing driver) John Marshall Watson, (born 4 May 1946) is a British former racing driver and current commentator from Northern Ireland. He competed in Formula One, winning five Grands Prix and was third in the 1982 championship. He also competed in the World ...

Mike Gibson (rugby union) Cameron Michael Henderson Gibson MBE (born 3 December 1942) is a former rugby union player who represented Ireland and the British and Irish Lions at international level. Gibson is regarded as one of the greatest rugby union players; upon his i ...

Mike Bull Michael Bull (born 11 September 1946, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a retired male pole vaulter and decathlete from Northern Ireland. He set his personal best in the pole vault (5.25 metres) on 22 September 1973 at a meet in London. Career Bull f ...

* Peter Chambers *

Alex Higgins Alexander Gordon Higgins (18 March 1949 – 24 July 2010) was a Northern Irish professional snooker player who is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in the game. Nicknamed "Hurricane Higgins" because of his fast play, he was Worl ...

* David Humphreys *

Eddie Irvine Edmund Irvine Jr. (; born 10 November 1965) is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He competed in Formula One between 1993 and 2002, and finished runner-up in the 1999 World Drivers' Championship, driving for Scuderia Ferrari. He b ...

Dave McAuley David Anthony McAuley, MBE (born 15 June 1961, Larne) is a former professional boxer from Northern Ireland who competed from 1983 to 1992. He held the IBF flyweight title from 1989 to 1992 and challenged twice for the WBA flyweight title, i ...

Willie John McBride William James McBride, CBE, better known as Willie John McBride (born 6 June 1940) is a former rugby union footballer who played as a lock for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. He played 63 Tests for Ireland including eleven as captain, ...

Tony McCoy Sir Anthony Peter McCoy (born 4 May 1974), commonly known as AP McCoy or Tony McCoy, is a Northern Irish former National Hunt horse racing jockey. Based in Ireland and the UK, McCoy rode a record 4,358 winners, and was Champion Jockey a reco ...

Wayne McCullough Wayne Pocket Rocket McCullough (born Wayne William McCullough; 7 July 1970) is a former professional boxer from Northern Ireland who competed from 1993 to 2008. He held the WBC bantamweight title from 1995 to 1997, becoming the first boxer fr ...

* Dame Mary Peters *

Ronan Rafferty Ronan Patrick Rafferty (born 13 January 1964) is a Northern Irish professional golfer who formerly played on the European Tour. He was the leading European player of 1989. Early life Rafferty was born in Newry, Northern Ireland. He won the B ...

Dennis Taylor Dennis Taylor (born 19 January 1949) is a Northern Irish retired professional snooker player and current commentator. He is best known for winning the 1985 World Snooker Championship, where he defeated the defending champion Steve Davis in a ...

Andrew Trimble Andrew Trimble (born 20 October 1984) is a former Irish rugby union player who played for Ulster and represented Ireland at international level. Club career He attended Coleraine Academical Institution, where he competed in the Ulster Schoo ...

Norman Whiteside Norman Whiteside (born 7 May 1965) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and striker. Whiteside began his career at Manchester United, signing professional forms in 1982 at the age of 17 and quickly be ...

Cormac McAnallen Cormac McAnallen ( ga, Cormac Mac An Ailín; 11 February 1980 – 2 March 2004) was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played for the Eglish St Patrick's club and the Tyrone county team. With Tyrone, McAnallen won the All-Ireland Senior Footbal ...

* Rory McIlroy *

Daryl Gurney Daryl Gurney (born 22 March 1986) is a Northern Irish professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Gurney is a winner of two majors, having won the World Grand Prix in 2017 in his native Ireland, and the P ...

Arts

Literature

Plaque poetry Writers Square Belfast Robert McAdam

Despite its small geographical size, Northern Ireland prolifically produces internationally renowned writers and poets from a wide variety of disciplines.

literature was the predominant literature in the pre-Plantation period. The

Ulster Cycle The Ulster Cycle ( ga, an Rúraíocht), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly coun ...

is pertinent to the history of literature in the territory of present-day Northern Ireland. Ulster Scots literature first followed models from Scotland, with the ''rhyming weavers'', such as James Orr, developing an indigenous tradition of

vernacular literature Vernacular literature is literature written in the vernacular—the speech of the "common people". In the European tradition, this effectively means literature not written in Latin nor Koine Greek. In this context, vernacular literature appeared ...

. Writers in the counties which now form Northern Ireland participated in the Gaelic Revival. * Ciarán Carson *

Brian Friel Brian Patrick Friel (c. 9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015) was an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company. He had been considered one of the greatest living English-language dramatists. (subscription req ...

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

* John Hewitt *

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

Bernard MacLaverty Bernard MacLaverty (born 14 September 1942) is an Irish fiction writer and novelist. His novels include ''Cal'' and ''Grace Notes''. He has written five books of short stories. Biography ''MacLaverty'' was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, a ...

* Louis MacNeice * Ian McDonald *

Medbh McGuckian Medbh McGuckian (born as Maeve McCaughan on 12 August 1950) is a poet from Northern Ireland. Biography She was born the third of six children as Maeve McCaughan to Hugh and Margaret McCaughan in North Belfast. Her father was a school headmaster ...

Paul Muldoon Paul Muldoon (born 20 June 1951) is an Irish poet. He has published more than thirty collections and won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T. S. Eliot Prize. At Princeton University he is currently both the Howard G. B. Clark '21 University P ...

* Flann O'Brien *

Frank Ormsby Francis Arthur Ormsby (born 1947) is a Northern Irish author and poet. Life Frank Ormsby was born in Irvinestown, County Fermanagh. He was educated at St Michael's College, Enniskillen and then Queen's University Belfast. From 1976 until his r ...

Tom Paulin Thomas Neilson Paulin (born 25 January 1949 in Leeds, England) is a Northern Irish poet and critic of film, music and literature. He lives in England, where he was the G. M. Young Lecturer in English Literature at Hertford College, Oxford. Earl ...

* Richard Rowley *

Bob Shaw Robert Shaw (31 December 1931 – 11 February 1996) was a science fiction writer and fan from Northern Ireland, noted for his originality and wit. He won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 1979 and 1980. His short story "Light of Other Days" ...

Irish Pages
- Ireland's Premier Literary Journal, Edited in Belfast

Visual arts

: Noted visual artists from Northern Ireland include: *

Bogside Artists The Bogside Artists are a trio of mural painters from Derry, Northern Ireland, consisting of brothers Tom and William Kelly, and Kevin Hasson (b. 8 January 1958). Their most famous work, a series of outdoor murals called the People's Gallery, is ...

* Basil Blackshaw, born in Glengormley, Painter * Max Clendinning, post-modernist architect and interior designer * Willie Doherty, Photographer & video artist twice nominated for the Turner Prize *

Garth Ennis Garth Ennis (born January 16, 1970) is a Northern Irish–American comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series ''Preacher'' with artist Steve Dillon, his nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise, and '' The Boys'' with artist Dar ...

, born in Holywood Co. Down, is creator of popular

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

series

Preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as ...

* Terry George, born in Co. Down, director of Hotel Rwanda * John Kindness, Painter and Sculptor * Sir John Lavery, born in Belfast, was a representative of the group known as the ''Irish Impressionists''. * Neil Shawcross, painter *

Paul Seawright Paul Seawright (born 1965) is a Northern Irish artist. He is the professor of photography and the Deputy Vice Chancellor (previously Executive Dean of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Belfast School of Art) at Ulster University in Belf ...

, Photographer & Professor at the University of Ulster * Victor Sloan, MBE, Photographer *

Sir Hans Sloane Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector, with a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British Mu ...

, Born in

Killyleagh Killyleagh (; ) is a village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the A22 road between Belfast and Downpatrick, on the western side of Strangford Lough. It had a population of 2,483 people in the 2001 Census. It is b ...

, Co. Down, in 1660, his famous collection was opened to the public as the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

in 1759 *

John Butler Yeats John Butler Yeats (16 March 1839 – 3 February 1922) was an Irish people, Irish artist and the father of W. B. Yeats, Lily Yeats, Elizabeth Yeats, Elizabeth Corbett "Lolly" Yeats and Jack Butler Yeats. The National Gallery of Ireland holds a nu ...

, Painter

Performing arts

Noted actors from Northern Ireland include: *

Stephen Boyd Stephen Boyd (born William Millar; 4 July 1931 – 2 June 1977) was a Northern Irish actor. He appeared in some 60 films, most notably as the villainous Messala in '' Ben-Hur'' (1959), a role that earned him the Golden Globe Award for Bes ...

Anthony Boyle Anthony Boyle (born 8 June 1994) is a Northern Irish actor. A graduate of Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, Boyle began his acting career on London stage and rose to prominence for originating the role of Scorpius Malfoy in ...

Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has served as its president since 2015. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs (plus ...

Ciarán Hinds Ciarán Hinds (; born 9 February 1953) is an Irish actor. Born in Belfast, Hinds is known for a range of screen and stage roles. He has starred in feature films including '' The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover'' (1989), '' Persuasion'' (1 ...

Siobhán McKenna Siobhán McKenna (; 24 May 1922 – 16 November 1986) was an Irish stage and screen actress. Background She was born Siobhán Giollamhuire Nic Cionnaith in Belfast in the newly-created Northern Ireland into a Catholic and nationalist family. ...

Colin Morgan Colin Morgan (born 1 January 1986) is a Northern Irish actor. He is best known for playing the title character in the BBC fantasy series ''Merlin'' (2008–2012), Leo Elster in ''Humans'' (2015–2018), and Billy Clanton in Kenneth Branagh’s ...

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...

Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...

James Nesbitt William James Nesbitt (born 15 January 1965) is an actor from Northern Ireland. From 1987, Nesbitt spent seven years performing in plays that varied from the musical '' Up on the Roof'' (1987, 1989) to the political drama ''Paddywack'' (1994) ...

* Stephen Rea *

Ray Stevenson George Raymond Stevenson (born 25 May 1964) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He is known for playing Dagonet in the film ''King Arthur'' (2004) and Titus Pullo in the BBC/ HBO television series ''Rome'' (2005–2007). He has portrayed two M ...

Richard Dormer Richard Dormer (born 11 November 1969) is an actor, playwright and screenwriter from Northern Ireland. He is best known for his roles as Beric Dondarrion in the HBO television series ''Game of Thrones'' and Dan Anderssen in Sky Atlantic's ...

Conleth Hill Conleth Seamus Eoin Croiston Hill (born 24 November 1964) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has performed on stage in productions in the UK, Ireland, Canada and the United States. He has won two Laurence Olivier Awards and received two Ton ...

Film and television

''See also Cinema of Northern Ireland'' Northern Ireland Screen, a government agency financed by

Invest NI Invest Northern Ireland (Invest NI) is Northern Ireland's regional economic development agency. It is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) of the Department for the Economy (DfE). According to DETI's website it; "supports business growth and ...

and the

European Regional Development Fund The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is one of the European Structural and Investment Funds allocated by the European Union. Its purpose is to transfer money from richer regions (not countries), and invest it in the infrastructure and s ...

, provides financial support to film and television productions in Northern Ireland. Among the works it has supported is the 2011 HBO television series '' Game of Thrones'', which is filmed principally in Belfast's Paint Hall studios and on location elsewhere in Northern Ireland. Belfast hosts the

Belfast Film Festival The Belfast Film Festival is Northern Ireland's largest film festival, attracting over 25,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1995, the festival has grown to include the Docs Ireland international documentary festival, as well as an Audi ...

and the ''CineMagic'' film festival, as well as several independent cinemas including

Queen's Film Theatre The Queen's Film Theatre or QFT is an independent cinema at Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland founded in 1968. When first opened, the Queen’s Film Theatre focused mainly on art house, indie and world cinema, playing an important ro ...

and Strand Cinema.

Music

Noted musicians from Northern Ireland include: * Ash * *

Agnelli & Nelson Agnelli & Nelson were the collective name of Northern Irish music producers Christoper James Agnew and Robert Frederick Nelson, writers and producers of electronic dance music who have worked in the genre of trance from 1997 to 2014. They also ...

* Bearface *

Bicep (duo) Bicep are an electronic music production and DJ duo from Belfast, Northern Ireland, consisting of Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar. History Bicep was formed in 2009 as a production and DJing pair in London. The duo, childhood friends, creat ...

* Brian Kennedy *

Vivian Campbell Vivian Patrick Campbell (born 25 August 1962) is a Northern Irish guitarist. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as a member of Dio, and has been a member of Def Leppard since 1992 (replacing Steve Clark after his death). Campbell has al ...

* Derek Bell * D Ream * Duke Special * Candida Doyle * The Freshmen * Gary Moore * Sir James Galway *

General Fiasco General Fiasco are an indie rock group from Bellaghy, Northern Ireland. Since their formation in 2006, they have toured with Little Comets, Fighting With Wire, The Wombats, One Night Only, The Pigeon Detectives, The Enemy, Jet and Kids in ...

Tony McAuley Tony McAuley (24 October 1939 – 7 June 2003) was a Northern Irish broadcaster, producer and musician. Biography Early life and education McAuley was born Anthony on 24 October 1939 to a chemist from Cookstown, County Tyrone. Tony was the nep ...

Neil Hannon Edward Neil Anthony Hannon (born 7 November 1970) is a Northern Irish singer and songwriter. He is the creator and front man of the chamber pop group The Divine Comedy, and is the band's sole constant member. Hannon wrote the theme tunes for ...

Nadine Coyle Nadine Elizabeth Louise Coyle (born 15 June 1985) is an Irish singer, actress and model. In 2002, Coyle was selected as a member of the girl group Girls Aloud, with whom she has been successful in achieving a string of 20 consecutive UK top te ...

(of

Girls Aloud Girls Aloud were an pop girl group that was created through the ITV talent show '' Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The group comprised singers Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. The group achieved a str ...

) * Phil Kieran * Ruby Murray * Snow Patrol *

Stiff Little Fingers Stiff Little Fingers are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. They formed in 1977 at the height of the Troubles, which informed much of their songwriting. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star (named after the De ...

Two Door Cinema Club Two Door Cinema Club are a band from Bangor, Northern Ireland. The band formed in 2007 and is composed of three members: Alex Trimble (vocals, rhythm guitar, beats, synths), Sam Halliday (lead guitar, backing vocals), and Kevin Baird (bass, syn ...

The Undertones The Undertones are a rock band formed in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. From 1975 to 1983, the Undertones consisted of Feargal Sharkey (vocals), John O'Neill (rhythm guitar, vocals), Damian O'Neill (lead guitar, vocals), Michael Bradle ...

Therapy? Therapy? are a Northern Irish rock band from Larne, formed in 1989 by guitarist-vocalist Andy Cairns and drummer-vocalist Fyfe Ewing. Therapy? recorded their first demo with Cairns filling in on bass guitar. To complete the lineup, the band r ...

Ulster Orchestra The Ulster Orchestra, based in Belfast, is the only full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. The orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall. It also gives concerts across the United K ...

Hamilton Harty Sir Herbert Hamilton Harty (4 December 1879 – 19 February 1941) was an Irish composer, conductor, pianist and organist. After an early career as a church organist in his native Ireland, Harty moved to London at about age 20, soon becoming a w ...

Michael Alcorn Michael Alcorn (born 22 January 1962) is a full-time academic and current Director of the School of Music and Sonic Arts at Queen's University, Belfast and a partite composer. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Michael Alcorn studied at ...

* The Answer *

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

and Them * David McWilliams *

Foy Vance Foy Vance (born 1974) is a musician and singer-songwriter from Northern Ireland signed to Ed Sheeran's Gingerbread Man label. Vance has toured as a support act to British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran and his music has been featured on numerous ...

* VerseChorusVerse * In Case of Fire * De Grote Boze Wolf

Crafts

August Craft Month is an annual coordinated programme of events that showcase the work of craft makers in Northern Ireland and from across the United Kingdom, Ireland and Europe. It is organised by Craft Northern Ireland.

Songs

A traditional song of the Unionist and Loyalist communities is The Sash, which may be considered offensive or at least distasteful by the

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

communities, particularly when it is used to threaten or incite violence.

Symbolism and traditions

Unionists tend to use the

Union Flag The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

and sometimes the Ulster Banner, while

nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

usually use the Flag of Ireland, or sometimes the

Flag of Ulster The flag of Ulster is a historic banner based on the coat of arms of Ulster, used to represent Ulster, one of the four provinces of Ireland. It consists of a red cross on a gold background with a red hand on a white shield in the centre. Histo ...

. Both sides also occasionally use the flags of secular and religious organisations they belong to. Some groups, including the Irish Rugby Football Union and the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...

use the Flag of St. Patrick as a symbol of Ireland which lacks the same nationalist or unionist connotations. The flax flower, representing the linen industry, has been used as a neutral symbol – as for the Northern Ireland Assembly. St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by both nationalists and unionists, while "

The Twelfth The Twelfth (also called Orangemen's Day) is an Ulster Protestant celebration held on 12 July. It began in the late 18th century in Ulster. It celebrates the Glorious Revolution (1688) and victory of Protestant King William of Orange over ...

" is celebrated only by unionists. Apprentice Boys Marching Accordions

Celebrations to mark the anniversary of the

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ga, Cath na Bóinne ) was a battle in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II of England and Ireland, VII of Scotland, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and J ...

are held every Twelfth of July and draw huge crowds. The

Apprentice Boys of Derry The Apprentice Boys of Derry is a Protestant fraternal society with a worldwide membership of over 10,000, founded in 1814 and based in the city of Derry, Northern Ireland. There are branches in Ulster and elsewhere in Ireland, Scotland, Engla ...

also organise commemorative events. The

bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been worn ...

is a symbol of

Orangeism The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage. It also ...

References

External links

Culture Northern Ireland website

National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland

Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL)

Arts Council of Northern Ireland

Poetry Forum for Northern Ireland

Scoil Cheoil na Botha
music festival in the border region of Scotstown, Co. Monaghan {{Culture of Europe