As markets become more globalized and economies become more entwined, it's impossible to ignore the importance of investing in international stocks. Mutual funds, index funds, and ETFs have all combined to make your international choices simpler, quicker, and in many cases, more efficient.

But for many of you, investing in a passive index fund just isn't enough. You're interested in country-specific stocks. You want to invest in companies on the ground -- not in a basket of companies in a mutual fund. Maybe you want direct exposure to Chinese agriculture, Spanish communications, or German banking. You'll find it here.

In a country-by-country rundown, we're traveling the globe to find out which foreign stocks are traded on major U.S. indices. Hopefully, our whirlwind tour will get your engine going.

Today, we'll look at a few companies headquartered in Ireland.

Company

Industry

Market Cap

Recent Price

Accenture (NYSE:ACN)

Management Services

$26.92 billion

$42.87

Allied Irish Banks (NYSE:AIB)

Financial

$1.85 billion

$4.21

Babcock & Brown Air (NYSE:FLY)

Airlines – rental and leasing

$275.54 million

$9.10

Covidien (NYSE:COV)

Health care-medical instruments and supplies

$23.54 billion

$47.15

Elan (NYSE:ELN)

Health care – drug delivery

$3.14 billion

$6.39

Genesis Lease Limited

Airlines – rental and leasing

$306.71 million

$8.93

ICON (NASDAQ:ICLR)

Research services

$1.26 billion

$21.44

Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE:IR)

Industrial Goods

$11.19 billion

$34.97

*Does not include stocks with a market cap less than $100 million.

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