Put a Little Irish on It Trivia Quiz

Answer: Basque

Scientists estimate that Ireland has been inhabited for over 10,000 years. By the early 2000s, geneticists began finding strong links between Irish men with Gaelic surnames and men from the Basque area of France and Spain. This is just one piece of a complex puzzle, though, because many ethnic groups contribute to what we understand about Irish people, including Airgialla, Fir Ol nEchmacht, Delbhna, and other prehistoric tribes.

Answer: The last High King of Ireland

Rory O'Conor was the last High King of Ireland before the Norman invasion, which began in 1169. Rory O'Conor is his Anglicized name; Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair was his Irish name, and in modern Irish he's referred to as Ruaidhrí Ó Conchobhair.

Answer: Grandchild

The O' in front of Irish surnames generally means "grandson of." In ancient Ireland, single names were enough to identify anyone in a specific region. But during the 11th century the population grew and they needed more specific ways to identify each other. One solution was the prefix of O' in front of the surname.

Answer: Romans

The Romans never conquered Ireland, so the ancient monuments from the Iron Age endured. There's evidence that Romans explored and traded in Ireland, but didn't leave the heavy architectural stamp there as they did in England. Ireland was one of the few areas of western Europe the Romans didn't conquer.

Answer: Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin in 1667 and died in his hometown 77 years later. He is perhaps most known for the satiric works "Gulliver's Travels" and "A Modest Proposal," but he was also an essayist, political pamphleteer, poet, and priest. Swift never married, and he left the majority of his estate to the creation of St. Patrick's, which today is Ireland's leading nonprofit mental health organization.

Answer: Black Irish

There's no real evidence that Black Irish even really exist as distinct from any other Irish people, and it's also a term that real Irish people have never really used -- instead, it's been used in other countries to describe an Irish person with dark hair and dark eyes. Contemporary actor Gabriel Byrne has been referred to as "Black Irish" with his darker hair and eyes.

Answer: James Joyce

James Joyce's novels, poems, and short stories are avant-garde in style and complex in meaning. His major works include "Finnegan's Wake," "Ulysses," and "Dubliners."

Answer: Bram Stoker

Bram Stoker credited the wild, weird imagination required to write "Dracula" to a childhood illness which kept him in bed for long periods of time. Later, he travelled around western Europe and the United States, rubbing elbows with fellow writers Oscar Wilde, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Walt Whitman, but he never made it to eastern Europe, the setting of his most infamous character.

Answer: Ryan Gosling

Ryan Gosling, who was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role in "La La Land" (2016), was born in Ontario, Canada. Dubliner Gabriel Byrne won a Golden Globe for his role in HBO's "In Treatment" (2008); dramatic actor Colin Farrell was born in a suburb of Dublin, Castleknock, in 1976; and Pierce Brosnan was born in Drogheda, an historic town on the west coast, in 1953.

Answer: U2

Some of U2's members were just 14 years old when the band first formed. Soon U2 was winning local talent contests and just four years later released their first album. They hit it big with their third album, "War," which explored social and political commentary.

In their first four decades of being a band, U2 won nine Billboard Music Awards and 22 Grammies, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.