Sheep, Cows, Pigs and Provinces

I have a calendar that I bought in Long Grove, IL at the Irish shop there.  It has lovely pictures of Ireland, taken by Irish native Liam Blake.  Some of the photos are of places we have now seen in person, and it also has some information about the country.

It tells me that Ireland is a country of about 4.3 million people.  It also tells me that there are an estimated 5.5 million sheep!  It does not tell me the cow or pig population.  I have been here for almost 3 full months now, and yesterday was the first day I saw a pig in a field!  I have seen lots of sheep and lots of cows, but so far only one pig!  I know they have them here because they sell bacon (rashers) ham and other fabulous pig products, but I never see any on our drives.  Bonus, I never smell them either!

The sheep are often spotted with color, like they will have a big patch of bright blue, pink, orange or green or other bright colors which I assume identifies who owns the sheep.  The cows are not so marked.

The country is divided into four provinces.  Ulster (which includes Norther Ireland) Munster, Connaught, and Leinster.  We currently reside in the province of Leinster.  There are four professional rugby teams and they are called by their province.  Steve bought Leinster rugby sweatshirts for the kids last Christmas, which they wore in our Christmas picture.