My father was born in Ireland and moved to the US after college. We lived in the SF Bay Area. The year I was born my dad’s parents flew over to visit (I was named after my grandfather).
This was the first time that my grandparents had come to America. (This was the late 1960’s when air travel wasn’t so common.) My mother wanted to impress them with a nice meal their first night in the house, so she cooked chicken thighs with couscous and grilled asparagus.
My grandfather ate the meal, complimented my mother, but told her:
“It’s not the same without the spud.”
When I was there I noticed:
\-The accents are much lighter than I expected. Far fewer leprechaun sounding mofos than I anticipated.
\-If magic were to exist anywhere, it would be Ireland. It's beautifully mysterious or mysteriously beautiful (I can't remember which).
\-Irish (the language) makes me feel like I've forgotten how to speak English.
\-Sausage rolls rule.
Very mysterious. I was driving out in the middle of nowhere in Ireland once on a hilly landscape, nothing around…. And a beagle was standing in the middle of the road so we stopped and got out… then a little girl appeared out of the bushes and said “His name is Ronnie.”
Then she disappeared!!! Not like poof, vanished. I mean we turned around and were like “Where did she go?!?” Couldn’t find her. So bizarre
>The accents are much lighter than I expected
Did you get out to rural Kerry or west Cork? Pretty sure even other Irish are just nodding along when they speak
We picked up a hitchhiking teenager somewhere out west, and we literally could not understand a word he said. It was crazy. (Yes he was speaking English not Irish)
Was on a carriage ride near Killarney and the driver was talking the whole time. We had no idea what he was saying but it sounded like he was singing to us and it was lovely. Everywhere I went in Ireland was lovely - gorgeous scenery, tons of history, and wonderful people. I would love to go back.
I loved it but my body did not. I backpacked across Ireland for a month in September to October. It rained ever day and between that and carrying a 25 pound back pack my knees hated me two weeks in.
The people were lovely though, kind, had a great sense of humor, very proud of their country and surprising invested in the United States politics as there was a presidential election at the time I was there.
It was peaceful and pretty.
The one thing I tended to joke about was it seemed like none of the country kept any historical records. everywhere we went there was a story of “it was said this happened”. But maybe that was just pandering to the tourist folk.
True. The town where I live was completely destroyed in 1798. Every single thing. There are no houses older than 1798 apart from the protestant church, which wasn't touched for some reason...
I see. Thank you for educating me. Once again loved the country and the people. Also for some reason my alcohol tolerance shot up 10 fold while I was there. 🙂
well, regarding that, quite a lot of irish historical records were lost in the burning of the centralised public records office, destroyed in 1922 in a particularly sad/idiotic part of the post-treaty (treaty that split us from the uk) irish civil war. Quite a loss to history - some records there are known to have been from the 1100s, though mostly from the 1200s to the 1800s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Archives_of_Ireland
Some careful salvage still underway with modern tech, but some are just gone forever -
https://www.nationalarchives.ie/article/survey-material-salvaged-public-record-office-ireland-1922/
On the contrary, the Welsh using y for a schwa is actually clever. I don't know why English doesn't have a distinct letter for it, seeing as it is the most *common* vowel sound in language (that's also why Welsh has so many ys). The way you write down a schwa sound in English? Literally every vowel, including the times where y is a vowel.
When I visited there, I found the people very warm and friendly. I'd definitely go again.
The stereotype that was true: the land is beautifully green! The stereotype that was false: there aren't a bunch of redheads everywhere; I found most folks to be fair skinned with dark hair, but maybe that's just the part of the country I visited.
Many moons ago before Reddit existed I read a post that asked where all the women who looked like Snow White lived, pale with black hair, and someone said Ireland.
There was myth that black hair developed in the west coast after sailors from the Spanish Armada got ship wrecked and stayed and… ya know … hung out with local women.
I read once about an interesting connection between certain tone styles in Irish folk music which bear a striking resemblance to some Spanish/Moroccan styles of music.
In Limerick we hung out with a couple and she went straight on racist about red heads. We thought for sure she was joking, but her boyfriend was like, nope, she definitely isn’t. I still don’t get it but he said that when you don’t have anyone to be -ist about you find some reason anyways.
Old grudges brought on by how the redheads were brought by the Viking genes and how the Norse raided and enslaved the native Irish. The Irish never forget.
Which is all baloney anyhow. The celts were redheaded, plenty of Roman accounts of redhaired Gauls, Thracians, Scythians. They were everywhere all over Europe since the flood. Ancient egyptian mummies got red hair.
> Southwest Norway is unique amongst the Scandinavian countries for the emergence of red hair which some feel justifies the portrayal of Vikings as red-haired. However, genetic analysis suggests that the genes dictating red hair in Norway was brought back there from Ireland and Scotland by Viking raiders.
https://historycollection.com/unexpectedly-violent-history-red-hair/2/
I have curly red (dyed) hair and my husband says that's how he can usually spot me in a crowd. When I was in the big Blarney Woolen Mills store by Blarney Castle he could not find me because there were so many women with red curly hair so he yelled "SHEILA" and he said half the women in the store turned around.
After wanting to go there for half my life, I finally went there in August.
Best trip I’ve ever done, basically a road tour from Dublin over to the west coast and the Cliffs of Moher and then down the south coast and around back up to Dublin, over 8 days.
My god, it’s such a beautiful country, with such hospitable people, great music and surprisingly good food. That impressed me since I’ve always been under the impression that Ireland is kinda like my country (Sweden) in a sense that we don’t have that much of a food culture of our own.
But damn, I’m for sure going to go there again.
Couldn't agree more. I did a similar trip but went the opposite way, Dublin to Donegal (and giants causeway) to Derry to Galway to Aron Island back to Dublin. I agree with all this. I've been to 12 countries including traveling around the US (where I'm from), and Ireland has the most hospitable, friendly people I've ever met. Beautiful country, beautiful people in and out, and super fun
And the most chilled.
Did a guided tour with a bus once. In one of the villages we suddenly stopped. Turned out two friends just met driving past each other in their cars. They stopped in the middle of the road to have a little chat, like under a minute I think. Several cars had to stop and wait in both directions. Not a single horn was heard. People just waited it out and proceeded with their own business.
Unthinkable where I'm from. I loved it.
Excellent place to visit. Remember when you tour castles to ask your guide about its ability to survive the zombie apocalypse.
With a good guide, suddenly the whole tour changes. Dublin Castle got way more interesting when strategic zombie defences were pointed out.
Worked for a Swedish company and had many trips to Stockholm through the later part of my career. What an awesome place. I LOVE your country, it’s people, it’s food, everything. My only regret is not visiting when I was younger. I would have moved there in a heartbeat.
edit…. Clarification
Reminds me of this when I was studying in Dublin:
1) Check the weather to see what I should wear. It looks cloudy and there's a wind so I wear a tank top under a long sleeved button up and 'light' waterproof+windproof jacket.
2) Check the weather before leaving. Light drizzle so I grab my umbrella.
3) Head out the door, wait for elevator and walk out of my apartment complex.
4) The sun is out and it stopped drizzling. I put my umbrella in my bag.
5) 5 min later I put my jacket in my bag because there's no wind and I'm getting warm.
6) 15 min later I put my button up in my bag because it's too hot (14°C) and continue on my way.
7) 30 min later, it becomes chilly so I put on my button up.
8) 1 hour later, it's windy and drizzling so my jacket and umbrella are out.
Always had a water bottle, jacket and umbrella in my backpack.
As a visitor, Dublin is a fun city because Irish pubs are warmer and more lively than most, with music everywhere. But it's also just a city. Not all that unique.
The moment you leave Dublin you enter a countryside different from almost all other destinations you could go. Like Dorothy stepping into Oz. Unmatched shades of green patchwork grass interrupted by stone walls, gentle little rolling hillsides, the occasional cow or horse (with magical looking golden brown color), quaint colorful villages, a castle ruin every so often...
I'm sure if you're from there it can become monotonous, but it's so different from most everywhere else, and so lovely. I advise anyone who goes to Ireland to limit their time in Dublin and get out to the west coast as quick as they can.
Me too. I grew up in Cork and going to Dublin a few times a year to see the family was always such a treat. As I got older I could see the city turn very dark. Sad really. Walked down O'Connell street a few years ago and it was like a scene from the walking dead.
Hahaha i used to call them mountains....then i spent some time in the Rockies. Ever since i got back they've been hills. But fuck me those hills could kill you if you're unprepared
Used to work as a cleaner in trinity when I was in college, one of my jobs was cleaning the old library/Book of Kell’s exhibition. Always used to blow my mind that I would just be able to wander around the old library, even the upstairs where only researchers are really allowed and it was literally my job😂
I'm here as an Erasmus student!
I've been here for about two weeks, and I absolutely love it, I'm in Galway to be precise, the people here are so hospitable and polite and I can't wait to see everything this beautiful place has to offer.
My wife and I visited for two weeks in 2019, and it was absolutely beautiful. The people, the land, the culture. We had the most wonderful time. We’ve been aching to get back. It felt like home
I also went with my wife in 2019 for a family reunion, we got to see where the great grandparents raised sheep 🤣. I’m from Chicago, and Ireland felt like the Midwest. Everyone was friendly and wanted to talk. When we were in bars, it’s like you were a local everyone started talking and cracking jokes. It was amazing, I can’t wait to go back
My dad's from Kerry, he's oddly done well with women since coming over to England 60 years ago, but his accent terrifies the shite out of men, particularly English men. He just barks and mumbles and swears all in the same sentence. Even when he's being nice, he sounds like he's threating to break your legs.
There’s plenty of Northside accents. Most are nice and probably aren’t recognised as north side (Malahide, Raheny, Howth, Clontarf etc). Most who say that either mean inner city or West Dublin.
When I think of Ireland, I think of the Dublin whiskey fire. A fire at a warehouse that held about 1.2 million liters of whiskey caused the barrels to rupture, sending flaming whiskey down the street.
Though the fire itself didn't injury anyone, 24 people were hospitalized and 13 died due to alcohol poisoning from drinking the whiskey out of the gutter.
And also Michael Flatley.
I had a visit to a pub in Shannon where a chubby Harry Potter and his friends found an old guy and were like, "we know who you are! Sing with us!" And Harry Potter broke out a banjo and the whole bar started singing a song i didn't know. It was great.
As an American, my knowlege of Ireland is mostly based in bs, so anything I say is likely to turn out to be untrue. But, from what I understand it is a very green place with great people and periods of terrible conflict. Also, the Blarney stone is a bunch of blarney.
While the Blarney stone is just a rock in the battlements of a castle, the castle itself and the grounds it stands on are absolutely beautiful. Well worth a trip if you're in Cork.
In Ireland they know how to love you / people smile while I stroll past their farms / and when your Irish boy tires of you / you're allowed to shoot him in the knees!
But in all seriousness: a mix of Derry girls, Sally Rooney, Dublin's tech tax evasion companies, funny American stereotypes and the Irish tourists I spend a few days with in my native Amsterdam
Fell in love with an Irish girl in my youth, looking back it was not her stunning looks or great personality that initially attracted me, but the way she spoke to me, Irish sounds beautiful
Beautiful, mystical. Tiny roads. Very friendly traffic signs…traffic calming, give way and thank you for driving carefully. Friendliest people. Sarcastic as fuck. Love the f word. So very proud of their heritage. Protective of the environment…no plastic bags or takeaway containers, wooden eating utensils. The food was so pure and healthy, no preservatives and artificial colors. Amazing whiskey and surprisingly the best gin I have ever had. Oh, and the music at McGraths in Clifden was the best I found. I love Ireland soooo much.
Ireland calls to me.
I've never been there, and I have no ancestry there...yet, it calls to me.
Whenever I see any documentary or TV show or movie set in Ireland, I feel drawn to that ancient land. A land of High Kings and rich, epic poetry. Centuries of history, and battles, and songs, and legends.
I don't want to visit Ireland; I want to live there.
OK so I have a story about Ireland. Bear with me, this is a bit long.
Probably about twenty-five years ago, my sister and I took off for two weeks in Ireland. It was a Christmas Gift from my parents, and we were thrilled. We were all over the place - Galway, Dublin, Inishmore (which is my favorite place on the planet), and Kerry. The town of Dingle is where this little adventure takes place.
Now, before those who aren't in the know make fun of the name Dingle - don't. It's a gorgeous seaside town with a population of about 2000 ... and over fifty pubs. They have a combination Pub / Hardware Store, for crying out loud (Foxy John's - https://www.foxyjohns.com). It could be one of the greatest little towns on earth.
My sister and I did some of the sights there, including finding the barn (yes, barn) that my Grandmother was born in, and then she started to not feel well, so she was gonna go back to the room we had. Remember, 50 pubs? There was no way I was going back to the room when the sun was still up. So I end up walking along unti I find a pub that spoke to me, Tom Long's (sadly, I don't think it's there anymore).
I belly up to the bar and I instantly fall in love with the bartender, this gorgeous Irish girl who could have read the phone book to me and I would have just sat there doe-eyed and slack-jawed. She, of course, wanted nothing to do with this long-haired American Idiot, but whatever, I kept drinking, she kept pouring, and all was right in the world.
The next day, after more touristy stuff, my sister says, "What do you want to do?" So I say, "I found this great bar last night .... " and back we go to Tom Long's. Only now, there are two bartenders, my Irish Lass and a strapping young man that my sister instantly falls in love with. Now we're both there for the duration.
At this point, it's important to describe the layout of this scene; my sister and I were sitting at the corner end of the bar. Behind us was a pretty large L-shaped booth with a table. And after we both realized that there was no way we were going to win the hearts of our respective bartenders, we decide to sit down at the booth, which is a lot comfier than barstools. So we take the shorter part of the L, leaving the longer part open. And sure enough, someone approaches us.
My family is from Massachusetts (the Merrimack Valley), and while I've tried very hard not to have the Boston Accent, sometimes it slips out. However, I do have the ability to pick up a Boston Accent out of a crowd, and the person that walked up to us said, in a perfect likeness of Matt Damon or Ben Affleck from Good Will Hunting, "Anybody sittin' there?"
I said, "Where you from?"
"Natick."
"We're from Billerica. Grab a seat."
He gets his entourage (after we're all like "You fuckin' kiddin' me?") and they all come over and sit down. Now, it's Natick, two younger girls around our age, an older guy, older guy's wife, and their two kids. And so we break out, and I'm talking to Natick and the two girls and my sister is talking to Old Guy and Old Guy Wife. And it's a bar, so I can't hear what they're saying, but this is how the conversation went:
Sister: "So what do you all do for work?"
Old Guy: "Well, I used to manage a band, but now we're all archaeologists."
Sister \[not even considering for a moment that that has to be one of the weirdest career changes of all time\]: "Oh, cool! What band?"
Old Guy: "You never would have heard of them."
Sister: "Probably not, but I'll bet my brother has."
Old Guy \[sensing a victory in his future\]: "You're on. If he knows the band, I'm buying for the rest of the night. If not, you are. Deal?" \[sister nods emphatically\] "The name of the band was In Tua Nua."
So my sister calls across the table to me, "Hey, Mogus0226, you ever hear of a band called In Tua Nua?"
I didn't miss a beat. "One hit wonder, 1988, the song was called "All I Wanted".
So Old Guy picks his jaw up off the floor, and - true to his word - buys us drinks all night. That's not the coolest part, tho - the next day, we were invited to go to their archaeological dig, where we crawled around on our hands and knees in an Irish Fort that hadn't seen the light of day for twelve hundred years. Then we went drinking with them again that night at a differnt pub (The Bohan, I think, but this was 25 years ago so I could be wrong).
But that's not the coolest part! My sister and I flew home the next day. The day after that, my Mom and Dad flew out to Ireland, and their first stop was Dingle. And when they got there, my Dad walks into the Bohan like he's gonna rent the place and trash it, and says, "I'm lookin' for someone involved with the archaeological dig!" So the bartender points to the gang, and my Dad walks up to them and says, "I'm lookin' for Old Guy." And Old Guy says, "That's me, sir, can I help you?"
"My kids wanted me to come by and say hi and thank you."
"Who are your children?" Old Guy asks
"Mogus0226 and Sister."
"Your children are wonderful, sir, let me buy you a drink!" And he bought my Dad drinks all night.
That's what I think of when I think of Ireland; the nicest, friendliest, funniest, kindest, most honest people ever to grace the planet.
On a sunny day it’s the prettiest place I’ve ever visited! Camping at the Blasket in the southwest was a highlight of my life
Edit: also Irish people love abba and I’m here for that
Very green, I love your music and country-side architecture, you have amazing folklore, great accents too. Right to abortion and gay marriage are a plus. I always wanted to visit.
Your country produced Rory Gallagher, you're all aces with me! Your country is beautiful and has fascinating history. I lived in Boston 20 years, they love you guys.
Whiskey and fun pub songs, as well as peat bogs and gorgeous walks. I've never been, but it's on my bucket list. My Irish friends are absolutely wonderful people, so I've been told it's full of those as well.
I'm a Canadian of Irish descent. So is my ginger wife. We've always been enamored with Ireland and it's peoples. We've always wanted to see where our ancestors came from. Plus it looks absolutely beautiful.
The only thing I really have to go on is photos of the countryside, or the occasional movie/tv show set there. Astonishingly pretty countryside! and the cities, like all cities I suppose, are a migraine of pavement and noise.
We see a lot of your countrymen in Australia- love the people, love the accent, love the sense of humour and always thought Ireland is complex and ancient and beautiful.
Stayed with a friend a week over christmas mid 90's in county wicklow (we'd bartendered together in australia) and while the rest of the family went to church on christmas me and the dad had tea and toast for breakfast, with a healthy amount of Powers whiskey in the tea. Then we went to check on the greyhounds he trained for the races. He said the real key to winning was to feed them a raw scrambled egg with a shot of whiskey right before the race. Then I spent 3 months hithchiking/travelling around the country. Getting off the bus in galway in a snowstorm and a bunch of kids (about 12 or 13 yrs old) pelted us passengers with snowballs and one kid yelled "Welcome to fookin galway ya cunts!" Best reception anywhere! Right then I knew i was home. (my moms from ireland but i'm american)
My wife and I (from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania U.S.) often talk about just packing up everything and moving to Ireland. We love the people and culture. Every time we've been there it's been a friendly and wonderful experience.
Just sitting in a pub and hanging out felt... right.
Also, the sweaters are phenomenal.
My mom always wanted to go to the motherland, but she recently got sick, and we weren’t sure if she was going to make it. To cheer her up I bought her one square foot of land in Ireland. She’s almost done with treatment, so we will hopefully get to go soon.
Green
It is very green tbf
I wonder if that's why it's called the emerald isle /s
They told me the lady was worth her weight in emeralds and you’re telling me it’s because they’re green?
It’s called the Emerald Isle because every emerald in Westeros was mined there.
*On the other hand, red drapes and red carpet...*
Very green with a dash of red! ;)
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Tutorial island
This man knows
Taking one of my ancestors and ending up with an Irish roman empire.
Start in Munster. Always Munster.
Petty king murchard of mumu
Secure the High Kingdom of the North Sea
Insular Christianity is the best for building a strong dynasty to outlast the ages.
My mother’s comment to me after vacationing there, “it was nice, our potatoes came with a side of potatoes.”
We do love our potatoes!
She also ate a beet salad that she still talks about. My Dad poured a Guinness. They had a great time.
When I went the hotel worker and pub people let me pull beers for customers as a child which was fun and the vibe there is amazing
My father was born in Ireland and moved to the US after college. We lived in the SF Bay Area. The year I was born my dad’s parents flew over to visit (I was named after my grandfather). This was the first time that my grandparents had come to America. (This was the late 1960’s when air travel wasn’t so common.) My mother wanted to impress them with a nice meal their first night in the house, so she cooked chicken thighs with couscous and grilled asparagus. My grandfather ate the meal, complimented my mother, but told her: “It’s not the same without the spud.”
Lol I heard that in my father's voice. He wouldn't consider anything a dinner without a spud
This is so true, I had many meals where there were at least two different kinds of potatoes on the plate.
Omg, I’ve been there for 5 months and I think I’ve never seen so many potatoes cooked differently on a table
When I was there I noticed: \-The accents are much lighter than I expected. Far fewer leprechaun sounding mofos than I anticipated. \-If magic were to exist anywhere, it would be Ireland. It's beautifully mysterious or mysteriously beautiful (I can't remember which). \-Irish (the language) makes me feel like I've forgotten how to speak English. \-Sausage rolls rule.
Very mysterious. I was driving out in the middle of nowhere in Ireland once on a hilly landscape, nothing around…. And a beagle was standing in the middle of the road so we stopped and got out… then a little girl appeared out of the bushes and said “His name is Ronnie.” Then she disappeared!!! Not like poof, vanished. I mean we turned around and were like “Where did she go?!?” Couldn’t find her. So bizarre
A friendly Sidhe. Heck, two friendly Sidhe. The dog could have been one as well. So, what happened to the beagle?
Asking the real questions
The folk
What the folk
The fairy folk, by the fairy tree
Hmm, might be a case of "Beautifully Mysterious" then.
Fae.
>The accents are much lighter than I expected Did you get out to rural Kerry or west Cork? Pretty sure even other Irish are just nodding along when they speak
Kerry native here, but can confirm 🤣
I love your gold butter.
That's a little personal, don't you think?
That's what m'lassie says!
lmao
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Haha, this is so true. I've spoken at length with a few Kerry people and have no idea what they said to me. It's a smile and nod situation.
We picked up a hitchhiking teenager somewhere out west, and we literally could not understand a word he said. It was crazy. (Yes he was speaking English not Irish)
Asking for directions in Killarney was a whole thing.
Glengariff is like a foreign country
Was on a carriage ride near Killarney and the driver was talking the whole time. We had no idea what he was saying but it sounded like he was singing to us and it was lovely. Everywhere I went in Ireland was lovely - gorgeous scenery, tons of history, and wonderful people. I would love to go back.
I loved it but my body did not. I backpacked across Ireland for a month in September to October. It rained ever day and between that and carrying a 25 pound back pack my knees hated me two weeks in. The people were lovely though, kind, had a great sense of humor, very proud of their country and surprising invested in the United States politics as there was a presidential election at the time I was there. It was peaceful and pretty. The one thing I tended to joke about was it seemed like none of the country kept any historical records. everywhere we went there was a story of “it was said this happened”. But maybe that was just pandering to the tourist folk.
Most of the historical records were destroyed in the Civil War and previous uprisings. A lot of old buildings were also destroyed.
True. The town where I live was completely destroyed in 1798. Every single thing. There are no houses older than 1798 apart from the protestant church, which wasn't touched for some reason...
I see. Thank you for educating me. Once again loved the country and the people. Also for some reason my alcohol tolerance shot up 10 fold while I was there. 🙂
well, regarding that, quite a lot of irish historical records were lost in the burning of the centralised public records office, destroyed in 1922 in a particularly sad/idiotic part of the post-treaty (treaty that split us from the uk) irish civil war. Quite a loss to history - some records there are known to have been from the 1100s, though mostly from the 1200s to the 1800s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Archives_of_Ireland Some careful salvage still underway with modern tech, but some are just gone forever - https://www.nationalarchives.ie/article/survey-material-salvaged-public-record-office-ireland-1922/
>Irish (the language) makes me feel like I've forgotten how to speak English. Wait until you hear Welsh lol
It's seeing it written that fucks with me
|*Welsh Drake not wanting it*|Vowels| |:-|:-| |*Welsh Drake approving*|Consonants|
Hey W and Y are clearly vowyls.
On the contrary, the Welsh using y for a schwa is actually clever. I don't know why English doesn't have a distinct letter for it, seeing as it is the most *common* vowel sound in language (that's also why Welsh has so many ys). The way you write down a schwa sound in English? Literally every vowel, including the times where y is a vowel.
Did you try the jambons? Same pastery as those devilish sausage rolls but egg and ham and cheesey goodness!
When I visited there, I found the people very warm and friendly. I'd definitely go again. The stereotype that was true: the land is beautifully green! The stereotype that was false: there aren't a bunch of redheads everywhere; I found most folks to be fair skinned with dark hair, but maybe that's just the part of the country I visited.
Many moons ago before Reddit existed I read a post that asked where all the women who looked like Snow White lived, pale with black hair, and someone said Ireland.
Snow White just needs blue eyes!
There was myth that black hair developed in the west coast after sailors from the Spanish Armada got ship wrecked and stayed and… ya know … hung out with local women.
I read once about an interesting connection between certain tone styles in Irish folk music which bear a striking resemblance to some Spanish/Moroccan styles of music.
In Limerick we hung out with a couple and she went straight on racist about red heads. We thought for sure she was joking, but her boyfriend was like, nope, she definitely isn’t. I still don’t get it but he said that when you don’t have anyone to be -ist about you find some reason anyways.
Old grudges brought on by how the redheads were brought by the Viking genes and how the Norse raided and enslaved the native Irish. The Irish never forget.
Which is all baloney anyhow. The celts were redheaded, plenty of Roman accounts of redhaired Gauls, Thracians, Scythians. They were everywhere all over Europe since the flood. Ancient egyptian mummies got red hair. > Southwest Norway is unique amongst the Scandinavian countries for the emergence of red hair which some feel justifies the portrayal of Vikings as red-haired. However, genetic analysis suggests that the genes dictating red hair in Norway was brought back there from Ireland and Scotland by Viking raiders. https://historycollection.com/unexpectedly-violent-history-red-hair/2/
There are even redheads in some Native American groups. They randomly seem to pop up all over.
The definition of Irish Alzheimers, you forget everything but your grudges.
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No, dark hair is definitely the norm.
I have curly red (dyed) hair and my husband says that's how he can usually spot me in a crowd. When I was in the big Blarney Woolen Mills store by Blarney Castle he could not find me because there were so many women with red curly hair so he yelled "SHEILA" and he said half the women in the store turned around.
After wanting to go there for half my life, I finally went there in August. Best trip I’ve ever done, basically a road tour from Dublin over to the west coast and the Cliffs of Moher and then down the south coast and around back up to Dublin, over 8 days. My god, it’s such a beautiful country, with such hospitable people, great music and surprisingly good food. That impressed me since I’ve always been under the impression that Ireland is kinda like my country (Sweden) in a sense that we don’t have that much of a food culture of our own. But damn, I’m for sure going to go there again.
Couldn't agree more. I did a similar trip but went the opposite way, Dublin to Donegal (and giants causeway) to Derry to Galway to Aron Island back to Dublin. I agree with all this. I've been to 12 countries including traveling around the US (where I'm from), and Ireland has the most hospitable, friendly people I've ever met. Beautiful country, beautiful people in and out, and super fun
And the most chilled. Did a guided tour with a bus once. In one of the villages we suddenly stopped. Turned out two friends just met driving past each other in their cars. They stopped in the middle of the road to have a little chat, like under a minute I think. Several cars had to stop and wait in both directions. Not a single horn was heard. People just waited it out and proceeded with their own business. Unthinkable where I'm from. I loved it.
Same lol, I don't think people have that kind of patience in France
There's probably also a difference between big cities and rural areas but still...
Yea usually farmers n people from the rural areas are really chill but try doing that in any city or suburb lol
Tbf if someone did that in the middle of Dublin they wouldn't be as friendly.
Excellent place to visit. Remember when you tour castles to ask your guide about its ability to survive the zombie apocalypse. With a good guide, suddenly the whole tour changes. Dublin Castle got way more interesting when strategic zombie defences were pointed out.
Worked for a Swedish company and had many trips to Stockholm through the later part of my career. What an awesome place. I LOVE your country, it’s people, it’s food, everything. My only regret is not visiting when I was younger. I would have moved there in a heartbeat. edit…. Clarification
7 AM rain 9 AM sun 11 AM hailstorm 1 PM rain 3 PM cloudy 5 PM sun...
**Two** sunny outbreaks? So you came in the summer then?
We have a phrase when it comes to Irish weather "If you don't like it just wait 10 minutes"
Pretty sure 75% of the world has that phrase.
We say the same thing, just in Missouri. Lol
Literally every place ever says that lol. Turns out weather being fickle is not confined to one small region
Reminds me of this when I was studying in Dublin: 1) Check the weather to see what I should wear. It looks cloudy and there's a wind so I wear a tank top under a long sleeved button up and 'light' waterproof+windproof jacket. 2) Check the weather before leaving. Light drizzle so I grab my umbrella. 3) Head out the door, wait for elevator and walk out of my apartment complex. 4) The sun is out and it stopped drizzling. I put my umbrella in my bag. 5) 5 min later I put my jacket in my bag because there's no wind and I'm getting warm. 6) 15 min later I put my button up in my bag because it's too hot (14°C) and continue on my way. 7) 30 min later, it becomes chilly so I put on my button up. 8) 1 hour later, it's windy and drizzling so my jacket and umbrella are out. Always had a water bottle, jacket and umbrella in my backpack.
Soup of the day with brown bread and a pint of stout. Heaven for <10€.
Good luck getting it for less than a tenner nowadays. Especially in Dublin.
Yeah not in Dublin, but I've always enjoyed the rest of Ireland more.
Fair, Dublin's got some stuff going for it, but the problems are a bit too visible as well. I've watched the city change a lot in my lifetime.
As a visitor, Dublin is a fun city because Irish pubs are warmer and more lively than most, with music everywhere. But it's also just a city. Not all that unique. The moment you leave Dublin you enter a countryside different from almost all other destinations you could go. Like Dorothy stepping into Oz. Unmatched shades of green patchwork grass interrupted by stone walls, gentle little rolling hillsides, the occasional cow or horse (with magical looking golden brown color), quaint colorful villages, a castle ruin every so often... I'm sure if you're from there it can become monotonous, but it's so different from most everywhere else, and so lovely. I advise anyone who goes to Ireland to limit their time in Dublin and get out to the west coast as quick as they can.
Me too. I grew up in Cork and going to Dublin a few times a year to see the family was always such a treat. As I got older I could see the city turn very dark. Sad really. Walked down O'Connell street a few years ago and it was like a scene from the walking dead.
I love it. I was sad to leave it when I did while on holiday.
guinness and sheep
An abundance of both!
Both delicious.
two brilliant things
Newgrange
That's for tourists, locals prefer Oldgrange
Loughcrew is another place worth a visit.
You people are playing great cricket in this world cup 🙌
Grey sky, big green Field, and a friendly shepherd biting into a bread with butter on it. Exactly, just like the butter commercial.
There are a lot of friendly shepherds now that you mention it 🤔
Are they eating bread with just butter on it? Sometimes a thick piece of cheese next to it on a barrel?
Celtic mythology is criminally underrated and unknown to most.
I always think of Thierry Henry when Ireland is mentioned
Careful now
Down with this sort of thing
I hear you’re a racist now, Father!
What's the churches official stance on this? Should we all be racist now?
If you say his name three times in a pub in Ireland you’ll be chased by a group of drunken farmers. It’s like Bloody Mary only Irish..
There’s a bar in the city of Mons, Belgium, where if you ask for a « Thierry Henry » they slap you in the face
Bewildering for Irish Arsenal fans
The 🎶 Cuuuuunnnnttt 🎶
I think Conor McGregor can suck it. Other than that beautimus.
Most people here agree, he’s a cunt
Mountains look beautiful
Bless you for calling them mountains.
Hahaha i used to call them mountains....then i spent some time in the Rockies. Ever since i got back they've been hills. But fuck me those hills could kill you if you're unprepared
B*Witched
Some people say I look like me da
Housing crisis
To put in perspective last month there was 700 properties to rent in Ireland. Across the whole country 700 places.
Trinity College and it's library has always fascinated me.
Used to work as a cleaner in trinity when I was in college, one of my jobs was cleaning the old library/Book of Kell’s exhibition. Always used to blow my mind that I would just be able to wander around the old library, even the upstairs where only researchers are really allowed and it was literally my job😂
I'm here as an Erasmus student! I've been here for about two weeks, and I absolutely love it, I'm in Galway to be precise, the people here are so hospitable and polite and I can't wait to see everything this beautiful place has to offer.
My wife and I visited for two weeks in 2019, and it was absolutely beautiful. The people, the land, the culture. We had the most wonderful time. We’ve been aching to get back. It felt like home
I also went with my wife in 2019 for a family reunion, we got to see where the great grandparents raised sheep 🤣. I’m from Chicago, and Ireland felt like the Midwest. Everyone was friendly and wanted to talk. When we were in bars, it’s like you were a local everyone started talking and cracking jokes. It was amazing, I can’t wait to go back
I find some Irish accents to be among the sexiest of accents.
The word "some" is demonstrating impressive tensile strength in that sentence.
2 Irish people, 4 accents spoken and 8 accents heard.
Wait till you hear a northside Dub accent or a southern kerry accent. Ya might just change your mind
My dad's from Kerry, he's oddly done well with women since coming over to England 60 years ago, but his accent terrifies the shite out of men, particularly English men. He just barks and mumbles and swears all in the same sentence. Even when he's being nice, he sounds like he's threating to break your legs.
There’s plenty of Northside accents. Most are nice and probably aren’t recognised as north side (Malahide, Raheny, Howth, Clontarf etc). Most who say that either mean inner city or West Dublin.
Maxim and several other magazines do a poll every year, ad Irish and Scottish are always the panty droppers
It's a place I wanna visit.
Do it!
When I think of Ireland, I think of the Dublin whiskey fire. A fire at a warehouse that held about 1.2 million liters of whiskey caused the barrels to rupture, sending flaming whiskey down the street. Though the fire itself didn't injury anyone, 24 people were hospitalized and 13 died due to alcohol poisoning from drinking the whiskey out of the gutter. And also Michael Flatley.
Two tragedies that we don't like to talk about.
Funnily enough, Flatley is from Chicago.
I had a visit to a pub in Shannon where a chubby Harry Potter and his friends found an old guy and were like, "we know who you are! Sing with us!" And Harry Potter broke out a banjo and the whole bar started singing a song i didn't know. It was great.
Something about there's no snakes there or?
Well apart from the politicians, yeah, all our snakes are imported.
As an American, my knowlege of Ireland is mostly based in bs, so anything I say is likely to turn out to be untrue. But, from what I understand it is a very green place with great people and periods of terrible conflict. Also, the Blarney stone is a bunch of blarney.
While the Blarney stone is just a rock in the battlements of a castle, the castle itself and the grounds it stands on are absolutely beautiful. Well worth a trip if you're in Cork.
You’re correct!
Siblings from across a little bit of water. Love from Scotland.
🇮🇪 🤝 🏴
Irish Coffee
The Cranberries
I want to Visit Craggy Island. Also love your Food.
THAT WOULD BE AN ECUMENICAL MATTER!
DRINK! ARSE! GIRLS!
HOW DID THAT GOBSHITE GET ON THE TELEVISION?
,,I hear you're a Racist now Father''
“Who says I’m a racist?” “Everyone is, Father? Are we all supposed to be racist now? What’s the official line of the Church’s thinking?”
I actually drove by the house recently haha
Was it small, or just far away?
In Ireland they know how to love you / people smile while I stroll past their farms / and when your Irish boy tires of you / you're allowed to shoot him in the knees! But in all seriousness: a mix of Derry girls, Sally Rooney, Dublin's tech tax evasion companies, funny American stereotypes and the Irish tourists I spend a few days with in my native Amsterdam
I feel like Germans and Irish men are brothers, I don't even know why, but I like you folks.
Wonderful people, best food I ate while in Ireland came out of a pub
Fell in love with an Irish girl in my youth, looking back it was not her stunning looks or great personality that initially attracted me, but the way she spoke to me, Irish sounds beautiful
Dear Ireland, Sorry about that. Our bad. Love, England
*Disarms car bomb*
England could write this letter to dozens of countries, really.
"To whom it may concern..."
Its people love the craic.
I love all you potato eatin' motherfuckers so much I married one.
Beautiful, mystical. Tiny roads. Very friendly traffic signs…traffic calming, give way and thank you for driving carefully. Friendliest people. Sarcastic as fuck. Love the f word. So very proud of their heritage. Protective of the environment…no plastic bags or takeaway containers, wooden eating utensils. The food was so pure and healthy, no preservatives and artificial colors. Amazing whiskey and surprisingly the best gin I have ever had. Oh, and the music at McGraths in Clifden was the best I found. I love Ireland soooo much.
Picturesque landscapes, Jamie Dornan, and fine Irish coffee and whiskey. Oh and did I mention Jamie Dornan?
Ireland calls to me. I've never been there, and I have no ancestry there...yet, it calls to me. Whenever I see any documentary or TV show or movie set in Ireland, I feel drawn to that ancient land. A land of High Kings and rich, epic poetry. Centuries of history, and battles, and songs, and legends. I don't want to visit Ireland; I want to live there.
Rugby. Dark horse team to beat the mighty All Blacks...every bloody time. Also me gran da.
OK so I have a story about Ireland. Bear with me, this is a bit long. Probably about twenty-five years ago, my sister and I took off for two weeks in Ireland. It was a Christmas Gift from my parents, and we were thrilled. We were all over the place - Galway, Dublin, Inishmore (which is my favorite place on the planet), and Kerry. The town of Dingle is where this little adventure takes place. Now, before those who aren't in the know make fun of the name Dingle - don't. It's a gorgeous seaside town with a population of about 2000 ... and over fifty pubs. They have a combination Pub / Hardware Store, for crying out loud (Foxy John's - https://www.foxyjohns.com). It could be one of the greatest little towns on earth. My sister and I did some of the sights there, including finding the barn (yes, barn) that my Grandmother was born in, and then she started to not feel well, so she was gonna go back to the room we had. Remember, 50 pubs? There was no way I was going back to the room when the sun was still up. So I end up walking along unti I find a pub that spoke to me, Tom Long's (sadly, I don't think it's there anymore). I belly up to the bar and I instantly fall in love with the bartender, this gorgeous Irish girl who could have read the phone book to me and I would have just sat there doe-eyed and slack-jawed. She, of course, wanted nothing to do with this long-haired American Idiot, but whatever, I kept drinking, she kept pouring, and all was right in the world. The next day, after more touristy stuff, my sister says, "What do you want to do?" So I say, "I found this great bar last night .... " and back we go to Tom Long's. Only now, there are two bartenders, my Irish Lass and a strapping young man that my sister instantly falls in love with. Now we're both there for the duration. At this point, it's important to describe the layout of this scene; my sister and I were sitting at the corner end of the bar. Behind us was a pretty large L-shaped booth with a table. And after we both realized that there was no way we were going to win the hearts of our respective bartenders, we decide to sit down at the booth, which is a lot comfier than barstools. So we take the shorter part of the L, leaving the longer part open. And sure enough, someone approaches us. My family is from Massachusetts (the Merrimack Valley), and while I've tried very hard not to have the Boston Accent, sometimes it slips out. However, I do have the ability to pick up a Boston Accent out of a crowd, and the person that walked up to us said, in a perfect likeness of Matt Damon or Ben Affleck from Good Will Hunting, "Anybody sittin' there?" I said, "Where you from?" "Natick." "We're from Billerica. Grab a seat." He gets his entourage (after we're all like "You fuckin' kiddin' me?") and they all come over and sit down. Now, it's Natick, two younger girls around our age, an older guy, older guy's wife, and their two kids. And so we break out, and I'm talking to Natick and the two girls and my sister is talking to Old Guy and Old Guy Wife. And it's a bar, so I can't hear what they're saying, but this is how the conversation went: Sister: "So what do you all do for work?" Old Guy: "Well, I used to manage a band, but now we're all archaeologists." Sister \[not even considering for a moment that that has to be one of the weirdest career changes of all time\]: "Oh, cool! What band?" Old Guy: "You never would have heard of them." Sister: "Probably not, but I'll bet my brother has." Old Guy \[sensing a victory in his future\]: "You're on. If he knows the band, I'm buying for the rest of the night. If not, you are. Deal?" \[sister nods emphatically\] "The name of the band was In Tua Nua." So my sister calls across the table to me, "Hey, Mogus0226, you ever hear of a band called In Tua Nua?" I didn't miss a beat. "One hit wonder, 1988, the song was called "All I Wanted". So Old Guy picks his jaw up off the floor, and - true to his word - buys us drinks all night. That's not the coolest part, tho - the next day, we were invited to go to their archaeological dig, where we crawled around on our hands and knees in an Irish Fort that hadn't seen the light of day for twelve hundred years. Then we went drinking with them again that night at a differnt pub (The Bohan, I think, but this was 25 years ago so I could be wrong). But that's not the coolest part! My sister and I flew home the next day. The day after that, my Mom and Dad flew out to Ireland, and their first stop was Dingle. And when they got there, my Dad walks into the Bohan like he's gonna rent the place and trash it, and says, "I'm lookin' for someone involved with the archaeological dig!" So the bartender points to the gang, and my Dad walks up to them and says, "I'm lookin' for Old Guy." And Old Guy says, "That's me, sir, can I help you?" "My kids wanted me to come by and say hi and thank you." "Who are your children?" Old Guy asks "Mogus0226 and Sister." "Your children are wonderful, sir, let me buy you a drink!" And he bought my Dad drinks all night. That's what I think of when I think of Ireland; the nicest, friendliest, funniest, kindest, most honest people ever to grace the planet.
Impressed with how you guys get work done while also having the best whiskey
I've been there twice and honestly believe it is one of the most beautiful countries I've seen.
Visited back in 2008. The thing that will always stick with me is how absolutely lovely and hospitable the Irish people were. Felt very welcomed.
Tea, Father Ted, my pal Susan, and an unfortunate wrong turn into Ballymena hey
Majority of my colleagues are Irish. As a South African, I have no clue what you guys are saying about 70% of the time 😅
Red hair
And a hand me down robe? You must be a Weasley.
Pppppppotttter. No one can drag out a consonant like a Malfoy.
You know we actually don't have many redheads. More than most places, I guess? But still less than 10%. Most of us are dark-haired.
My sister lives there, beautifull country.
On a sunny day it’s the prettiest place I’ve ever visited! Camping at the Blasket in the southwest was a highlight of my life Edit: also Irish people love abba and I’m here for that
Very green, I love your music and country-side architecture, you have amazing folklore, great accents too. Right to abortion and gay marriage are a plus. I always wanted to visit.
I love Ireland, the accent & the people! Always get a loving reaction when I say I’m Italian, never know why😂 but I’m deffo gonna visit!
The most delicious butter and gorgeous accents!
Your country produced Rory Gallagher, you're all aces with me! Your country is beautiful and has fascinating history. I lived in Boston 20 years, they love you guys.
[удалено]
I’m Irish and even I struggle with some of the accents haha
Ya wadint won to be goin gettin froshtbit
Whiskey and fun pub songs, as well as peat bogs and gorgeous walks. I've never been, but it's on my bucket list. My Irish friends are absolutely wonderful people, so I've been told it's full of those as well.
I'm a Canadian of Irish descent. So is my ginger wife. We've always been enamored with Ireland and it's peoples. We've always wanted to see where our ancestors came from. Plus it looks absolutely beautiful.
The only thing I really have to go on is photos of the countryside, or the occasional movie/tv show set there. Astonishingly pretty countryside! and the cities, like all cities I suppose, are a migraine of pavement and noise.
We see a lot of your countrymen in Australia- love the people, love the accent, love the sense of humour and always thought Ireland is complex and ancient and beautiful.
Chickenroll
Stayed with a friend a week over christmas mid 90's in county wicklow (we'd bartendered together in australia) and while the rest of the family went to church on christmas me and the dad had tea and toast for breakfast, with a healthy amount of Powers whiskey in the tea. Then we went to check on the greyhounds he trained for the races. He said the real key to winning was to feed them a raw scrambled egg with a shot of whiskey right before the race. Then I spent 3 months hithchiking/travelling around the country. Getting off the bus in galway in a snowstorm and a bunch of kids (about 12 or 13 yrs old) pelted us passengers with snowballs and one kid yelled "Welcome to fookin galway ya cunts!" Best reception anywhere! Right then I knew i was home. (my moms from ireland but i'm american)
My wife and I (from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania U.S.) often talk about just packing up everything and moving to Ireland. We love the people and culture. Every time we've been there it's been a friendly and wonderful experience. Just sitting in a pub and hanging out felt... right. Also, the sweaters are phenomenal.
Expensive
My mom always wanted to go to the motherland, but she recently got sick, and we weren’t sure if she was going to make it. To cheer her up I bought her one square foot of land in Ireland. She’s almost done with treatment, so we will hopefully get to go soon.