Like the Church, the farmers exerted an unquestionable influence for the first 50 years of the State's existence. ... Just as to be truly Irish you had to be Catholic, you also had to be racy of the soil.

Canute had his portion from the rest, The which he cald Canutium, for his hyre, Now Cantium, which Kent we commenly inquire.

In any given performance, their tosses and spins and leaps elicit oohs and ahhs from children and adults.

We needn't either of us, she continued, be concerned for the other's reasons, though I'm perfectly ready, I assure you, to put my cards on the table.