Tip of the Morning to You! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Anna Livia monument

The Anna Livia monument is a bronze sculpture of a reclining woman with water flowing by her. The woman is supposed to be the representation of the River Liffey, which is the river which bisects Dublin city centre.

Dubliners have a fondness for irreverent nicknames for landmarks. The Molly Malone statue is known locally as 'the tart with the cart', a reference to the wheelbarrow that forms part of the statue. A clock installed into the Liffey to countdown to the millennium was quickly christened 'the time in the slime'.

The Ha'penny Bridge is one of Dublin's oldest landmarks and the Spire one of the newest. There are many other nicknames for landmarks; most use simple rhyme and are usually slightly rude. This can be seen as strange by some visitors but it is all in good fun - it is often joked that you can be sure an Irish person is your friend when they insult you.

Answer: Orson Welles

Both Orson Welles and Michael Gambon (famous for playing Professor Dumbledore in the later "Harry Potter" movies) essentially bluffed their way into making their professional theatrical debuts at The Gate Theatre. Where Gambon told a few fibs on his CV, Welles arrived in person and told the manager, Hilton Edwards, that he was an established star of Broadway.

Despite Edwards' disbelief, Welles was hired! James Mason appeared at The Gate in the role of Brutus, a role he would later reprise on screen in "Julius Caesar" (1953) to great acclaim.

Answer: No

Many Irish people have a relaxed attitude to time, particularly when it comes to social occasions and it is quite common to hear something like 'around eight' or 'half seven for eight' when making plans. This generally means that any time within half an hour of a particular time is acceptable. For events requiring strict punctuality it is not unusual to be gently reminded that you 'have to' be there on time!

Answer: Handel's Messiah was first performed there

Handel's "Messiah" was performed to an audience of seven hundred on April 13th 1742. This performance was raising money for charity and it followed a series of concerts which had taken place in the previous four months.

The name is related to fish but not a walking one! The origins lie in the word 'shambles' related to meat markets and areas where animal slaughtering takes place; Fishamble Street was the location of the Dublin fish-market for many years.

James Joyce was born in suburban Dublin rather than the city centre and the Irish parliament, better known as Dáil Éireann, sits in Leinster House on Kildare Street.

Answer: True

This is something of an unwritten rule. A common exchange can be the following: "Would you like a cup of tea?"
"No, thank you."
"Ah go on, you will"
"Ok, thanks"

An unconfirmed story regarding this habit is that it developed during rationing in World War II. It was polite, as a guest, to refuse a cup of tea as accepting might cut into a family's ration. The second offer essentially assured the guest that there was tea to spare!
The fabulous character of Mrs Doyle in the television show "Fr. Ted" had the catch-phrase of 'go on, go on', which was something of a takeoff of this peculiar habit.

Answer: St. Valentine

Whitefriar Church is one of Dublin city's largest churches. In 1835, Pope Gregory XVI gave the remains of St Valentine to the Irish Carmelite, John Spratt, as a gift after hearing him preach in Rome. The current shrine was built in the 1960s and every February 14th, on St Valentine's feast day, there is a 'Blessing of the Rings' for engaged couples.

Dublin is a fantastic city to walk through - it is small enough to make any walk manageable and the rich history stretching back to the Viking invasion ensures that virtually every street has a story to tell.

Answer: He's a gas man

The tendency to understatement is what has led to World War II being referred to as 'the emergency' and the violence in Northern Ireland as 'the troubles'. In this case, 'a gas man' refers to a very funny or entertaining man.

In general 'a bit of a character' is a polite way of referring to someone you don't like whose behaviour is often over the top. 'Fond of the drink' usually suggests that the person has issues with alcohol and 'known to the gardai' suggests a criminal record a mile long! 'Gardai' is the plural of 'garda', and refers to the Irish police force.

Answer: Pygmalion

Shaw first wrote "Pygmalion" as a stage play in 1912. He adapted the play for the screen in 1938 for which he won the Oscar. Telling the story of Eliza Doolittle's 'transformation' from flower seller to duchess, "Pygmalion" is a sharp social commentary which spawned the musical "My Fair Lady".

"The Playboy of the Western World" (1907) was written by J.M. Synge, "The Tower" (1928) is a collection of poetry by W.B. Yeats and "Ulysses" (1922) is one of James Joyce's most famous novels.

Answer: A hurley

Used in the game of hurling, the hurley (stick) is traditionally made of ash with a band of metal around the flat end for reinforcement. Hurling is an incredibly fast paced game which has been played in Ireland for over three thousand years.

The hurley ('camán' in Irish) was inscribed with the following: "Presented to Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, on the occasion of his first visit to Ireland, May 2011 by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD.".

Taoiseach, literally chieftain, is an Irish word referring to the position of Prime Minister in Ireland. Enda Kenny's father Henry played Gaelic Football for his native county of Mayo.

The harp is a national symbol of Ireland, appearing on the Irish coat of arms. Guinness and shamrock are other symbols informally associated with Ireland.

Answer: Gaeltacht

The gaeltacht refers to small Irish-speaking communities which are spread throughout Ireland and most Irish adults will have a 'cupla focail', meaning a couple of words. Irish is compulsory subject at both primary and secondary education stages and you will often hear teenage students refer to 'going to the gaeltacht', which are residential summer camps where Irish is exclusively spoken.

An often heard phrase at these camps is the following: 'Is fearr Gaeilge bhriste, ná Béarla cliste'. The rough pronunciation being 'iss far gale-gah brish-tah naw bear-lah clish-tah', suggesting that broken Irish is better than cleverly spoken English. This might sound controversial but students are being encouraged to use the Irish language, even if it isn't perfect.

Inis, ciarog and madra are all Irish words meaning island, beetle and dog respectively.