Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with some of Ireland's most famous exports: actors, musicians, and writers.
Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson is an Irish actor who sports an impressive filmography. Neeson has appeared in franchises like Star Wars and Batman, and also played the lead in Schindler's List and Taken.
Image courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
U2
U2 is one of the biggest rock bands in the world, and certainly the biggest ever to emerge from Ireland. Singer Bono is active in many social causes, including efforts to combat world poverty and the African AIDS pandemic.
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan was the first - and, thus far, only - Irish actor to play the role of British secret agent James Bond. Brosnan first rocketed to stardom in the television series Remington Steele, and went on to appear in such blockbusters as Mrs. Doubtfire, Mars Attacks! and Dante's Peak.
Image courtesy MGM Studios
Colin Farrell
Colin Farrell, most recently seen as Detective Sonny Crockett in Miami Vice, is one of the film world's hottest and most bankable stars. Farrell is also notorious for his offscreen antics, which have included torrid flings with female celebrities and a stint in rehab.
Image courtesy Universal Pictures
Kenneth Branagh
Irishman Kenneth Branagh is a film "auteur" who has directed and starred in several Shakespearean film adaptations, including Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, and Hamlet. More recently, Branagh appeared as Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Image courtesy MGM Studios
Van Morrison
Singer Van Morrison hails from Belfast. Now in the fifth decade of his career, Morrison is responsible for such hits as "Brown-Eyed Girl," "Wild Night," and "Have I Told You Lately." He was also named the 42nd greatest artist of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.
Snow Patrol
One of the more popular Irish rock bands today is Snow Patrol, which first achieved breakthrough success in America with the 2004 album Final Straw. The band's most recent album, Eyes Open, peaked at number 27 on the U.S. album charts.
James Joyce
Irish author James Joyce is considered one of the most brilliant, if maddening, writers in the literary canon. Joyce's major works -- Ulysses, Finnegans Wake, and Dubliners -- are subjected to intense academic scrutiny to this day.
