Season 1 - Week 7 Flashcards
Established in 1992, which Irish retailer operates a chain of petrol stations in Ireland, the UK and the US? As of 2021, this company runs 204 outlets in Ireland, the most notable being motorway service stations near Enfield on the M4 and Castlebellingham on the M1.
Applegreen
Born in 1960, which British media personality is best-known for co-hosting the UK TV game show Countdown for 26 years from 1982 until 2008? She got the job after her mother noticed a newspaper
advertisement asking for “a woman with good mathematical skills”.
Carol Vorderman
Coleopterology, a branch of entomology, is the scientific study of which type of insect?
Beetles
What was the name of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan’s household troops? Its numbers were filled by the devshirme system of child levy, under which Armenians, Bulgarians, Greeks and natives of the Balkan lands were taken and converted to Islam.
Janissaries
Which word, the formal name for the act of “dubbing” or conferring knighthood in the Middle Ages, is now used much more generally to mean an award, honour or praise?
Accolade
The son of two emigrants from Kiltimagh, County Mayo, name the American professional boxer who became world heavyweight champion after defeating Jack Dempsey in 1926 and retired undefeated as a heavyweight two years later?
Gene Tunney
Which song, written in 1953 by Johnny Cash and released two years later, begins with these lines? “I hear the train a-comin’ / It’s rollin’ ‘round the bend / And I ain’t seen the sunshine / Since I don’t know
when”
Folsom Prison Blues
The abrupt disappearance from public view in November 2021 of which Chinese tennis player has led to a campaign seeking proof of her safety, involving not just the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) but also Amnesty International and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights? She is the winner of two Grand
Slam doubles titles: Wimbledon 2013 and the French Open 2014.
Peng Shuai
Black Circle , Red Square , Black Square and Black Cross are all works by which Russian avant-garde artist and art theorist (1879-1935)? This man founded the Suprematism art movement in 1913.
Kazimir Malevich
In 1931, Eamon de Valera founded which Irish national daily newspaper? Although successful for many years, this newspaper ceased publication in 1995 due to long-running financial troubles, though the
immediate cause of the closure was an industrial dispute over the sacking of the group business editor, Colm Rapple. Irish historian Tim Pat Coogan served as editor of this paper from 1968 to 1987.
Irish Press (accept Evening Press)
In June 2021, the Legislative Assembly of which Central American country approved legislation to make the digital currency Bitcoin legal tender?
El Salvador
Which American musician, who since 2015 has served as bandleader and musical director on US TV’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, received the most nominations (11) for the upcoming 64th Grammy Awards? Along with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, he shared the Academy Award for Best Original Score in 2021, for the Pixar movie Soul .
Jon Batiste
American singer songwriter Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (1943-1997) performed under what stage name? His only number one single in Ireland was Annie’s Song (1974) and not, surprisingly, Take Me
Home Country Roads (1971).
John Denver
Which city, one of the smallest capital cities in Europe with a population of just over 4,000, is located on the slopes of its nation’s highest point Monte Titano (Mount Titan)?
City of San Marino
(accept Città)
Portrayed on screen by actors such as Christopher Lee, Richard E. Grant and Mark Gatiss, what is the first name of the elder brother of detective Sherlock Holmes, a British government official and a founding member of the fictional Diogenes Club?
Mycroft
The oratorio Solomon by George Frideric Handel was first performed in 1749. The most famous section from this oratorio is a short and lively instrumental passage for two oboes and strings in Act Three, which is named for the “arrival” of which Biblical character? Modern historians identify this person’s country of origin as being in present-day Yemen.
The Queen of Shiba
The members of which military unit, which existed from the tenth to the 14th centuries, served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine emperors? This unit was known for being primarily composed of
recruits from northern Europe, including mainly Norsemen from Scandinavia but also Anglo-Saxons from England.
Varangian Guard
Since 2018, the chain of Irish filling stations that over the years has variously been known as Statoil, Shell and Topaz, has traded under what branding, that of an international chain of convenience stores owned by the Canadian multinational Alimentation Couche-Tard?
Circle K
Which American singer-songwriter, born in Brooklyn in 1941, has only had one number one single in Ireland? This was the 1971 song I Am I Said and not, surprisingly, his 1969 signature song Sweet Caroline .
Neil Diamond
Melittology (also known as apicology) is a branch of entomology concerning the scientific study of which type of insect?
Bees (do not accept wasps)
In February 2021, the Canton of Zug started accepting digital currencies Bitcoin and Ethereum for personal and company taxes. Which European country contains the Canton of Zug?
Switzerland
Which American singer and songwriter is one of three acts (alongside Doja Cat and Justin Bieber) who have received eight nominations for the upcoming 64th Grammy Awards? Earlier this year she received the Academy Award for Best Original Song, for the song Fight For You , from Jesus and the Black Messiah .
H.E.R. / Gabriella Wilson
Which American professional boxer and World Heavyweight Champion, best known as the only man who ever defeated the great John L. Sullivan, was the son of two Irish emigrants: a father from Ballinrobe, County Mayo, and a mother from Dublin?
James J Corbett
The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (in Galway), a Celtic folk version of the Handel piece, was a Top 30 hit in the Irish singles chart in 1983. It was released by which Irish folk group, founded in 1975 by Frankie Gavin, Alec Finn, Johnny McDonagh and Charlie Piggott? Singers who have been members of this group
through the years include Dolores Keane and Mary Black.
De Dannan
Which song, written by Shel Silverstein but made famous by a 1969 Johnny Cash recording, begins with these lines? “Well, my daddy left home when I was three / Didn’t leave very much to my mom and me / Except this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze”
A Boy Named Sue
Born in 1982 in Wuhan, which Chinese tennis player achieved a career-high WTA ranking of world No. 2 in February 2014, after winning the Ladies Singles title at the Australian Open? That was her second
Grand Slam victory, following the 2011 French Open.
Li Na
In 1980, journalist John Mulcahy founded which Irish national weekly newspaper? This publication closed in 1982 but was subsequently bought by Vincent Browne, who relaunched it in 1983 and became its
editor. It finally closed for good in 2011 after entering receivership.
The Sunday Tribune
