Irish People in Mainland Europe - Northern Europe

Northern Europe

15,000 Irish live in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania - North Europe . More than 1/2 Million enjoy Northern Europe's Irish Music, Irish Cultural and Irish Sport scene. These countries host the Nordic Feis Annually with Irish Dancing Schools from across the region and some of the world’s biggest Irish Festivals. Irish Societies and Associations in Northern Europe are actively arranging Irish Literature, Theatre, Sport, Music and dancing events across Scandinavia. The region hosts Irish & Celtic Studies Centres in Sweden and Denmark. Many of the 230+ Irish Pubs have regular live Irish Music, as well as live Irish Sports coverage - GAA, Soccer and Rugby. Norway has a Celtic Irish Soccer Club, Finland has a hurling club, Sweden and Denmark played each other in Gaelic football and in Hurling this past summer. Latvia hosts one of Europe’s hotspots to watch live GAA coverage, Lithuania’s Airija are a young hugely popular Folk-Rock band with strong with Irish Art & Culture influence.

Legend has it that many Irish women captured and ended up in Iceland, which is one explanation given why the country’s population has closer blood type to the Irish than to populations in Denmark, Norway, Finland or Sweden. Because it was Irish women, the Irish surnames did not pass on to their descendents.