No,not dead....its capital has simply been changed to Brussels.It would be less sad if Ireland were actually dead.
I had a Marine O Buddy from New York who was stationed with the UN Irish Forces.
On a drinking night (TRUE the IRISH and the NY Irish were drinking) he had made note of the fact that he was happy to be serving with his Irish Buddies and they not so graciously pointed out that he was nothing but a Yank with an Irish name.
I figured if that was how ‘they’ felt, I may as well just call myself an American of Irish descent who happened to have an O’C as part of his surname.
Seems like back in the ‘80s I made the correct choice.