Reflections on Ireland

Forming a view on Ireland is a bit more complex than I thought. The dominance of the English language means that a huge cultural barrier compared to most of our other trips is reduced-even out here in the Gaelic West of Ireland. Massive Irish migration over the years means that most of us have a view on what being Irish means long before one arrives here. A land of pubs, pubs and pubs with people who sing a lot but can be aggressive at times and ready for a fight. A land of ancient mystic with friendly natives who cope by having a huge ability for self deprecation and desire to make you laugh. And weather not at all remarkable; just some wind with rain, rain and more rain.

So after a few weeks on the ground, what am I thinking?


With the GFC impacts, Dublin looked to be struggling. But everyone was very helpful and courteous, often going out of their way to assist and only too eager for a chat. Parts of the city were quite modern and we found an odd mixture of bits of England through similar buildings, houses, buses and pubs together with a emerging smattering of cafes, coffee culture and small restaurants.

On the other hand and in the North, Belfast and especially Derry were more aggressive places, perhaps heightened as we tended to focus on the racial/secular/economic problems there. It felt like the English community, especially those lower in the socio economic strata, are extremely defensive about most things. I will follow “marching season” this year with some interest but I would like to see one Republic in my lifetime, (as would most people we talked with) even if only to make driving in “border” areas easier for tom tom. It makes no sense to me to have two different countries in the one small island. The English need to go home.


Recognising that our contact with the natives is very limited and not much beyond those in the hospitality industry, I suspect that economically, Ireland will come out of the crisis ok. There is plenty of optimism out and about. Against this, real estate is a bit of mess and in the cities we have seen, there are plenty of vacant offices, shop spaces and many houses for sale or rent.

We are not big on the pub/music scene so we are not looking for evenings inspired by River Dance and/or traditional music. We have left that to other tourists and the younger ones.


We like the scenery in the remoter areas, so far especially in the Connemara area. We need to do more walking in the West but the rotten weather is deterring us at the moment. In planning this trip, we left a bit of room to account for a few bad days so perhaps I will have more to say about the West of Ireland later.

But the people are fascinating. Talkative, confident in their own skins and getting on with life regardless. Only too willing to stop for a chat. Only too willing to give advice and only too quick to suggest that their area is the most interesting in Ireland.

I will return to these themes in a couple of weeks when we have experienced a bit more of the country.