The top Google searches of 2015 – ‘Rugby World Cup 2015’, ‘Karen Buckley’ and ‘Conor McGregor’

16 Dec 2015

Rugby World Cup 2015 dominated Ireland's top searches this year

Google’s Zeitgeist for 2015 is out and the top search terms of the year in Ireland were “Rugby World Cup 2015”, “Karen Buckley” and “Conor McGregor”.

While sports typically dominated the Irish search world in 2015 with Rugby World Cup 2015 and Conor McGregor topping the lists, the tragic murder of Karen Buckley in Scotland added a poignant aspect to this year’s lists.

The growing conflict in the Middle East and the rise of terror attacks also dominated people’s search choices, with a lot of people searching for information on issues such as the Paris attacks and Charlie Hebdo.

UFC mixed martial artist Conor McGregor had a knockout, year culminating in his 13-second knockout victory over Jose Aldo at the weekend, and his rise in popularity is evident as he came in at number three in the top trending list of searches 2015.

McGregor also topped the sports people list and the Irish public were also searching ‘How to watch McGregor fight in Ireland’.

Google revealed that Irish searchers also wanted to know more about RTE’s Operation Transformation and Eurovision 2015. Lady Colin Campbell, who starred in this year’s I’m a Celebrity…Get me out of Here! made the top 10 list followed by Jurassic World, the fastest movie to hit the $1bn mark at the box office.

Former Taoiseach Charles Haughey tops the list of top trending politicians, helped by the RTE mini-series which documented his life and was broadcast during the summer.

Minister for Health Leo Varadkar was second on the list followed by controversial US presidential candidate Donald Trump. UK politicians Ed Miliband, David Cameron and the late Charles Kennedy also feature and, possibly following his mental blank on radio, Renua Ireland’s Terence Flanagan also makes the list.

A questioning lot, “Who is Lucy the Australopithecus?” topped the list of “Who is…?” questions, following the 41st anniversary of its discovery.

The Irish also mostly wanted to know “How to use Snapchat”, which topped the How to? List, and we clearly love our pancakes, with “When is Pancake Tuesday?” topping the When is? list, and “How to make pancake mix” coming second on the How to? list.

In the world of sport, the rise of MMA stars is evident with Conor McGregor topping the Sports People list, which also features MMA star Ronda Rousey. The world of football and boxing is also well represented with Pedro and Tyson Fury appearing on the list while Rugby World Cup topped the Sporting Events list followed by Cheltenham 2015 and Wimbledon 2015.

“Our annual Year In Search survey provides a fascinating snapshot of our interests and obsessions throughout the year,” said Matt Cooke, head of Google’s News Lab in Europe.

“Homegrown celebrities have generated a lot of interest, in particular, while the passing of well-known figures made people want to learn more about them.”

Google searches: Top trending lists for Ireland in 2015

Top Ten Trending

  1. Rugby World Cup 2015
  2. Karen Buckley
  3. Conor McGregor
  4. Paris
  5. Lamar Odom
  6. Lady Colin Campbell
  7. Jurassic World
  8. Eurovision 2015
  9. Charlie Hebdo
  10. Operation Transformation 2015

Top Trending People

  1. Karen Buckley
  2. Conor McGregor
  3. Lamar Odom
  4. Lady Colin Campbell
  5. Ed Sheeran
  6. Jeremy Clarkson
  7. Cilla Black
  8. Tony Fenton
  9. Jonah Lomu
  10. Ruby Rose

Top Trending Sportspeople

  1. Conor McGregor
  2. Jonah Lomu
  3. Ronda Rousey
  4. Tyson Fury
  5. Stephanie Roche
  6. Jurgen Klopp
  7. Manny Pacquiao
  8. Pedro
  9. Ian Madigan
  10. Shane Long

Top Trending Sport Events

  1. Rugby World Cup 2015
  2. Cheltenham 2015
  3. Wimbledon 2015
  4. Cricket World Cup
  5. Ploughing Championships 2015
  6. Six Nations 2015
  7. Mayweather vs Pacquiao
  8. Copa America
  9. Grand National 2015
  10. Champions League Final

Top Trending Politicians

  1. Charlie Haughey
  2. Leo Varadkar
  3. Donald Trump
  4. Jeremy Corbyn
  5. David Cameron
  6. PJ Mara
  7. Charles Kennedy
  8. Terence Flanagan
  9. Ed Miliband
  10. Hillary Clinton

Top Trending TV Shows

  1. Eurovision 2015
  2. Operation transformation 21
  3. Big Brother 2015
  4. Oscars 2015
  5. Celebrity Big Brother
  6. Narcos
  7. Better Call Saul
  8. Game of Thrones Season 5
  9. Strictly Come Dancing 2015
  10. Daredevil

Top Trending News

  1. Rugby World Cup
  2. Karen Buckley
  3. Lamar Odom
  4. Paris
  5. Eurovision 2015
  6. Charlie Hebdo
  7. Budget 2016
  8. Caitlyn Jenner
  9. Greece
  10. Wimbledon 2015

Top Trending Music Acts

  1. Ed Sheeran
  2. Adele
  3. Eagles of Death Metal
  4. Lil’ Chris
  5. Meghan Trainor
  6. Albert Hammond
  7. Florence and the Machine
  8. Justin Bieber
  9. Dr Dre
  10. Kelly Clarkson

Top Trending What is?

  1. What is ISIS
  2. What is Je suis Charlie
  3. What is lupus
  4. What is processed meat
  5. What is a frappé
  6. What is ebola
  7. What is 0 divided by 0
  8. What is Charlie Charlie
  9. What is happening in Syria
  10. What is a solar eclipse

Top Trending Who is?

  1. Who is Lucy the Australopithecus
  2. Who is lady C
  3. Who is A in Pretty Little Liars
  4. Who is Nick Grimshaw
  5. Who is ISIS
  6. Who is the father of Charity Dingle’s son in Emmerdale
  7. Who is Kitty McGeever
  8. Who is Ronnie Pickering
  9. Who is Charlie Hebdo
  10. Who is the Arkham Knight

Top Trending When is?

  1. When is Easter 2015
  2. When is Pancake Tuesday 2015
  3. When is Halloween 2015
  4. When is the Late Late Toy show 2015
  5. When is Thanksgiving 2015
  6. When is Fathers’ Day in ireland 2015
  7. When is Chinese New Year 2015
  8. When is Ash Wednesday 2015
  9. When is FIFA 16 out
  10. When is Black Friday 2015 in ireland

Top Trending How to?

  1. How to use new Snapchat
  2. How to make pancake mix
  3. How to eat pomelo
  4. How to draw a minion
  5. How to bleed radiators
  6. How to make loom bands
  7. How to watch McGregor fight in Ireland
  8. How to get rid of hickeys fast
  9. How to get rid of brain freeze
  10. How to view a solar eclipse

Top Trending Gadgets

  1. iPhone 6s
  2. Samsung Galaxy s6
  3. Apple Watch
  4. iPhone 7
  5. Hoverboard
  6. Swegway
  7. iPad Pro
  8. HTCOone m9
  9. Selfie stick
  10. Nexus 6P

Rugby World Cup image via Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com