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IRELAND

938

IRKUTSK

ARCHBISHOP  IRELAND

period, sensibly declined. The Irish language is Gaelic, a branch of the Celtic. The capital, Dublin, had in 1911 a population of 309,272. Belfast had 385, 492. Cork, Limerick, Londonderry and Wakefield were the next largest cities in population. See English in Ireland in the Eighteenth Century by Froude and Outlines of Irish History by McCarthy.

Ire'land, John, an American Catholic prelate, was born in Kilkenny Co., Ireland,

Sept. n, 1838, and came to the United States when quite young. He was ordained a priest at St. Paul, Minn., in 1861, and served a s chaplain of a regiment during. the Civil War. *He was afterward in charge of the cathedral of St. Paul, and


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made coadjutor-bishop. He was a member of the Vatican Council of 1870, and in 1888 was made archbishop of St. Paul. Bishop Ireland has taken a deep interest in the cause of temperance and other public and social questions, and has risen to a position of commanding influence as a wise prelate and a patriotic citizen.

Ire'ne, a Byzantine empress, once a poor orphan girl of Athens in Greece (born about 752), whose beauty and talents drew the attention and love of Emperor Leo IV. He married her in 769, and after his death she ruled as regent during the minority of her son, Const antine VI. She was banished to Lesbos in 802, where she died in the following year. The Greek church counts her among its saints.

Irid'ium, a metal of the platinum group and found in ores containing platinum, takes its name from its iridescent appearance. It was identified as an element in 1803—4 by Smith son Tennant. Technically, its symbol is Ir., and its atomic weight 193.5. Iridium is used to make hard tips for gold pens, for the vents of cannon and even for surgical instruments. It resists the attacks of the atmosphere and even of the mineral acids; but this useful property makes its separation a difficult process. It makes a valuable alloy with platinum, giving an unrivalled elasticity and durability to this metal, as in the case of the rod deposited in Paris as the standard meter, which is one tenth iridium and nine tenths platinum.

I'ris, a genus of plants which gives name to the iris family, and containing about 170

YELLOW IRIS (a) Capsule with Seeds.

species, which are natives chiefly of the north temper-a t e regions. About 20 spe-c i e s are native to North America, and over 100 species, with in-numerable garden forms are to be found in the trade cata-llogues in 'America. The irises have a general lily-like appearance, but are readily distinguished from true lilies by their inferior ovary and by their more or less irregular and more complex flowers. Prominent groups in cultivation are (i) the German iris or fleur-de-lis, consisting of varieties and hybrids of several species and exhibiting great diversity of color, ranging from pure white through all shades of blue to dark purple, and also with numerous handsome yellow-flowered varieties; (2) the Japan iris, including various forms derived from /. kaempferi; (3) the dwarf iris, containing several low species that spread rapidly and form large patches, making them useful as border plants. The fleur-de-lis is the national emblem of France; as early as the days of Charles I it appeared on the banners of France. Our common native forms are better known as "flags," most common among which are the large blue flag (/. versicolor} and the slender blue flag (J. pris-maticd].

I'rish Sea. The body of water which lies north of Wales, west of England, south of Scotland, east of Ireland. In it are the islands of Man and Anglesea.

Irkutsk (tr-ko°btskr), the capital of a province of eastern Siberia of the same name and the residence of the governor-general of eastern Siberia. It is the best built town in Siberia, with straight, wide streets and handsome public buildings, a cathedral, public library and museum. It is the commercial center of Siberia, especially for the tea trade, as it is on the great Siberian highway from Russia to China. It was founded by a Cossack chief in 1652, Population 51,473. See Century Magazine for February. 1889. The province has an area of 280,429 square miles and a population of only 674,900.