Célnyelvi országok és az EU

Northern Ireland

The country’s capital is Belfast. It is a land of lakes, rivers and a varied sea coast. It is a great place for outdoor sports and for tourism – when times are peaceful. Above all, the Northern Irish people are friendly and generous.

The most well-known festivals in England

14^th February: It’s St Valentine’s Day; many people send a card to the one they love or someone whom they have fallen in love with. People usually do not sign these cards and a lot of time is spent trying to guess who has sent them.

31^st October: Hallowe’en means ‘holy evening’ and takes place on 31^st October. Although it is a much more important festival in the United States than Britain, it is celebrated by many people in the UK. It is particularly connected with witches and ghosts. At parties people dress up in strange costumes and pretend they are witches. They cut horrible faces in potatoes and other vegetables and put a candle inside, which shines through the eyes. People may play difficult games such as trying to eat an apple from a bucket of water without using their hands. In recent years children dressed in white sheets knock on doors at Hallowe’en and ask if you would like a ‘trick’ or ‘treat’ (csokit vagy csalunk). If you give them something nice, a ‘treat’, they go away. However, if you don’t they play a ‘trick’ on you, such as making a lot of noise or spilling flour on your front doorstep.

5^th November (Guy Fawkes Day): In 1605 King James I was on the throne. As a Protestant, he was very unpopular with Roman Catholics. Some of them planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament on 5^th November of that year, when the King was going to open Parliament. Under the House of Lords they had stored thirty six barrels of gun powder, which were to be exploded by a man called Guy Fawkes. However one of the plotters spoke about these plans and Fawkes was discovered, arrested and later hanged. Since that day the British traditionally celebrate 5^th November by burning a dummy, made of straw and old clothes, on a bonfire, whilst at the same time letting off fireworks. This dummy is called a ‘guy’ and children can often be seen on the pavements before 5^th November saying, ‘Penny for the guy’. If they collect enough money they can buy some fireworks.

(Blow up – explode; Carol – a Christmas hymn; Dummy – an object made to look like a real person; Hanged -killed by hanging from a rope tied round the neck; Public holiday – a day when nobody goes to work; Witch – a woman who uses magic)