Boys in green's wooden spoon more of a Google draw than Katie Taylor's gold

The Republic of Ireland’s miserable Euro 2012 proved to be more popular than Katie Taylor’s Olympic gold while Craig Doyle was the most sought after celebrity in Ireland in 2012.

Data on Google searches, showing the fastest growing search terms of 2012, reveal the red-faced boys in green’s summer misadventures generated more interest this year while the two Katies, Taylor and Middleton, came second and third.

The ubiquitous television presenter finished top of the celebrity pile ahead of Michael Fassbender and Liam Neeson with Europe’s Ryder Cup heroes, who fashioned a most unlikely victory against the US on the last day of the bi-annual event in September, proving to be the biggest draw in the team search category.

Google also shines a light on what we would like to be able to do better and this year most Irish people were interested in learning how to draw. How to kiss came second, ahead of the less romantic “how to crochet”.

Chris O’Dowd’s funny and charming Moone Boy topped the television search category but the high placings of Homeland and Love/Hate reflected our less cuddly side.

Benidorm was the most searched for destination ahead of Paris and Berlin. Fine Gael dominated political searches.

Google also revealed the most frequently asked “what is” question. Many wanted to know what scientology, the iCloud or Tumblr were, but most of us wanted to know – what is love.