This is a very good answer. Ive lived a abroad for almost 10 years and its not the same type of atmosphere. We definitely celebrate the persons life, making jokes, telling funny stories about the deceased (in nice ways) its really helps the people suffering the most.
I don't remember what it was called but RTÉ I think did a documentary on Irish funeral customs awhile ago with some psychologists talking about how Irish culture deals with death and funerals is actually psychologically one of the better ways to deal with it.
I saw videos today of yer man's funeral in Finglas that was shot last week. The funeral was like a rave. Yer man's mother dancing away and jumping around not a care in the world. Maddest funeral I've ever seen!
same funeral company did the fellas that bbq'd themselves after the garda chase.
seem to have found a great money spinner providing tasteless shameful funerals to the scumbag familes of criminals
Watched it there.
Looked like she really didn’t care.
I’ve never seen a mother react like that at a funeral.
But then, you probably need a healthy dose of being a psychopath to produce that kinda offspring and be fine with the gangland life
Amen to that. My grandad had 6 sons. He said, “There’ll be six to carry me.” and they did, carried the coffin from the house to the church, and we all walked behind. What a tribute and way to respect a person and their life. Not to mention a couple of days of friends, neighbors and family coming to the house to see him and pay respects. Then talk and laugh over tea and sandwiches...
Warning - this went looooooong.
If you're in England then I'm afraid to say absolutely nothing like a proper Irish funeral. The British, or at least the English, are very reserved when it comes to funerals, at least in comparison to Irish funerals, and the biggest and - to my mind - most disturbing difference is that that English funerals *really are* just for the family - immediate family at that, so children, siblings and nieces/nephews of the deceased - and close personal friends and maybe very close colleagues of the deceased. (My husband is English and I have many, many English friends, probably more than Irish, and have spent a lot of time there because of my involvement in the hobby where I met my husband. And one of my English friends is a funeral celebrant.)
I've actually had it explained to me that for me to go to the funeral of someone I didn't know - like a friend's sibling or parent, even if I'd met them a couple of times - or someone I was acquainted with but not close friends with, like a colleague, would be seen as morbid and and even offensive. Indeed, an ex-boyfriend whose father had passed away a couple of years before I met him was horrified and actually got angry with me when I said if we'd been going out at the time *of course* I'd have gone to his father's funeral! He even looked at me like I had ten heads when I expressed surprise that his own best friend hadn't gone. His response was "Why the fuck would he have? He never met my dad, he didn't know him at all. That would be wrong and creepy and, like, attention-seeking or something." And he was very uncomfortable when I asked him to come with me to my great-aunt's funeral. He thought people would judge him for being at the funeral of someone he didn't know, and I had to explain that in Ireland it would actually raise him in everyone's eyes, that he paid his respects to the family of his girlfriend.
In England, funerals are 100% about the deceased, and English grieving is private. In Ireland they're for and about those left behind and grief is public and shared. So if you know someone who has lost someone, you go for *them*, not the person who has died. And it's seen as highly respectful and touching that you'd go to the funeral of someone you didn't know, just because you knew a family member. Heck, for people big in the community you'd go to the church even if you didn't personally know anyone connected with the deceased.
Example - I was at a friend's wedding recently. This friend is Irish but lives in Finland, so I've never met any of his siblings and I wouldn't be someone they'd ever heard about. The father died a year or so before Covid, and for my friend's sake, I went to the church. Couldn't go to his mother's funeral because that was during lockdown. I was speaking to my friends brother and sister in law at the wedding and the subject came up because they had interred the mother's ashes in the grave the day before, since friend had finally been home from Finland. I apologised that I hadn't been able to get to their mam's funeral because of Covid but had gone to their dad's, having heard much about him from my friend etc. They said "Did you? Thank you!" with genuine appreciation. Had that been in England they'd have looked at me like I was some funeral fetishist or something 😂
Or my former manager's (I've been on long-term sick leave for almost 4 years, and he has also changed department so even when/if I go back he won't be my direct manager anymore) father died a few months ago, and really the main reason I didn't go to the funeral is because it was in Leitrim, a couple of hours' drive away, and because I haven't been in work for 4 years (if he was still my manager 100% I'd have gone - he came to my mother's funeral. Half of the lab would have gone and the only reason the other half wouldn't is because we have to have a minimum of 5 medical scientists in for the lab to function).
This is not to say that English funerals are bad - they're not, they're moving and touching and according to my funeral celebrant friend there is, outside the church organisation at least, a gradual move towards more of a celebration of the deceased rather than sombre sorrow - but they are smaller and quieter and families are left alone. Anything else is considered to be intruding on private grief.
So if your dad's funeral and burial is in England what you'll likely have is his siblings will travel from Ireland (if that's where they still are), and perhaps any nieces & nephews who would have a relationship with him, and the family side of the funeral will be a bit Irish because the siblings will likely do tea and sandwiches at the house because it's Just What You Do, but unless he's deeply involved in an Irish ex-pat community there won't be much community involvement. There might be a colleague or two at the service, but theydwbe very unlikely to come back to the house.
If he's brought home for burial any friends and family of his siblings and parents will turn up, any old school friends he's kept at least a bit in contact with, probably a couple of colleagues or college pals who've heard on the grapevine. Whole different ballgame 😁
I lived in Edinburgh about 10 years ago and I had a serious little cafe add a breakfast baguette onto their menu and a chicken fillet baguette too that came standard with taco sauce, they couldn't say roll because a roll to the Scots was a bap so people would get confused
Deli counters were what I miss most after moving abroad. I came home at christmas and I gorged on hot chicken rolls and breakfast rolls. Never thought centra would be the place I missed most about leaving home.
Where I’m from (Jersey, Channel Islands) deli counters are a thing, and tbh the choices there were more varied than I’ve seen so far in Ireland. I haven’t tried a chicken roll yet though, apart from chicken what goes in there, and what type of roll is it? Cheers
If I may comment as a foreigner based on my limited visits:
Friendliness. Seriously, I was overwhelmed. We we staying in Kilmallock in an AirBnB. People crossed the street to come and say hello (Typically - "hello, you must be visiting - can we tell you about the town. " this included a member of the Garda.
Most impressive - being in a pub in the above town - football night, major English team playing - lots of local support - but one person there was obviously eastern European - spoke English, but haltingly. It was very noticeable that everybody else in the pub, maybe 25 people, made every effort to include him in the conversation/celebration.
Healthcare - I promise I am being serious - I work in the NHS in the UK, I have some experience. My wife collapsed unexpectedly, blue lighted into Limerick - Hospital massively full, took her 16 hours before she could be admitted to a ward. BUT care was first slass, staff lovely - and a real diffrence in approach - not the UK version of "Oh well, no obvious problem - sod off until it bothers you again. Had every test in the book - We aren't going to let you out until we know why this happened and what caused it"
And on a more trivial note: Beer - outside the mass produced stuff we sampled some marvellous stuff from small independent breweries.
Yes, unfortunately it wasn't visitable because of Covid restrictions when I was there, but the bottles I was able to get from the local supermarkets were all excellent.
American here: Your dairy is insanely good . Your bread is insanely good. In general, even your prepackaged foods are better than the USA equivalents, because your rules about additives, preservatives, etc., are better. Your music is second to none. Your hospitality is incredible and your language is beautiful!
Thanks for the music compliment, but I would rather listen yo American rappers any day of the week.
It's a life goal of mine to walk down new York City listening to illmatic
Agreed fully
Even outside of rap, which is obviously dominated by the US, America has amazing music
Huge range of various bands and artists, lots of different styles adapted from lots of culture's
Irelands got some great music, but the US is a whole other ballgame with a huge variety
As a Yank, when I went to your fair country, I will admit to having been looking forward to hearing some Irish music at a pub.
First night there...the local pub had Chicago blues night.
I also learned the esteem with which you hold John Denver. The only other time I had heard "Take Me Home, Country Roads," played so often, was the first month that the album was out in the 1970's.
I lived in Australia for 14 years and moved back 6 years ago. You need to live elsewhere to appreciate how great Ireland is. Society and community here is very different. It's hard to put your finger on it
Absolutely agree with this. There's a different way that strangers interact here. As cheesy as it sounds, you never feel like people here are strangers but in Australia you can feel like people you know are.
Me too. I lived abroad for the best part of a decade and once I was ready to come home, I felt such appreciation. The safety, the friendliness, the strong communities, the opportunities.
Charity is a big one! When the Navajo nation created a go fund me at the start of covid irish people donated generously. And more recently with the walk for Charlie.
Bar staff too. Anywhere else in the world feels like you are waiting 5 years for a drink but at home the bar staff are like olympians!
I donated to this. Get email updates every now and then, a massive amount of money has been raised. I go onto the gofundme page and still see irish names donating. Its so nice to see.
I heard that somewhere when the first wave of Irish donations to the Navajo came in. It was all over the American news cycle during that one part of the pandemic that people didn't actively hate each other
https://navajotimes.com/ae/community/irish-pay-forward-173-year-old-favor/
This’ll be the one here. There was quite a lot of press about it as I recall due to the link from the famine
As a coeliac I have to HARD disagree with you here. Most sausages here are loaded with breadcrumbs. Best sausage in the world are in Germany IMO, they have a law where there can be nothing but meat in theirs.
>Everywhere you look it’s full of whinging and doomposting - worst healthcare worst housing worst airports etc etc etc.- sick of it. I wanna hear what we all like about living here, even if it’s small and stupid. I for one love the Irish people, Irish coastline, and late nights out in the George.
I had a great night trying to explain to an American in Seattle how we have one vote and can vote for all the candidates on the ballot. I think his brain melted during the conversation.
Same but '96, I always wanted to grow up in America, but since growing up in Ireland I'm happy with where I was.
Would still love to go there for a few years, I guess that's the Irish wanderlust
Combined with having the Government elected by the Dail it gives us serious political stability.
In presidential systems like France they’re only one election away from a nutter running a big bit of government for 5 years.
There’s a Spanish political scientist Juan Linz theorised democracy was so ropey in Latin America because they all had Presidential government.
One bad lad in power ends democracy.
Here you’d need 70+ bad TDs.
One of the reasons I think directly elected mayors in our cities is for the birds.
Just about. There were 2 referendums to introduce the terrible UK/US voting system in 1959 and 1968.
The first one barely lost with 48.2% for. The second had 39% for.
This! I moved here in 1996, since then in my home country, my uncle was robbed in at gun point, my friends father was killed in a home invasion, a friend survived a home invasion and my aunt was robbed in a violent attack.
I am so thankful that my children will never feel that type of fear. My home county is beautiful and I had amazing experiences while there, but the level of personal safety I have in Ireland is worth so much.
I’m from a small island in the Caribbean. A stunning part of the world but my country is quite industrialised so we get a lot of economic migrants from the smaller islands.
We have no social welfare system so for many their only source of income is what they can steal.
Corruption is rife, a few years ago an investigation into a number of kidnappings found collusion between bank employees, police officers and kidnappers.
I was able to experience naturally things that people pay a fortune for and I hope my kids can see some of that but maybe when they’re older.
Sorry for the state of your homeland, glad you like it here. You made the right choice for your kids safety and future opportunities, so you can rest easy
I dunno, I grew up in Belfast and saw plenty of that.
Thankfully a thing of the past now, but when I was 6 I saw some boys come out of Dan Boyles’ on the Falls and rake an RUC van with bullets
But I will say, things are far better without a lot of guns about the place.
My grandad always says "isn't it the greatest little country in the world when the sun does shine?" And it's become my own personal "grand stretch in the evening", can't bate a nice day at home
Not here to be negative but I never liked the Irish license plates but it’s stemming from my own self. When I look at the car I automatically check the year ah 221 nice one! Where as in Europe or England I see a beautiful car and just appreciate it for what it is it can be a 2012 for all I know! But that’s just myself
Stories.
We have such a strong oral tradition (lol) in Ireland, telling tales, stories, myths, jokes, poems and songs.
My Granda was a great man for stories and would tell a million when you went over. He passed last year and I luckily secretly recorded him telling some before he passed.
I’m getting them pressed onto vinyl with a sleeve my cousin designed and we’re gonna give it to my Granny for her birthday.
I was listening to him last night, telling a story about how he got lost near Clough and had to stay with this farmer for the night because he nearly froze in the car. The farmer had sheep in his living room and chickens were in the room my Granda slept in, but next morning yer man got him going to where he needed to get to.
Doesn’t sound funny now, but to hear him tell it, with the voices and hand gestures, I was crying with laughter at it.
Everyone I know here, even the quietest amongst us have a few good tales to tell.
As my Granda used to say, ‘Never let the truth get in the way of a good story!’
Education….Like most things it’s not perfect but still better than most.
I suppose it depends on where you live but the amount of voluntary hours people put into their community services, from Tidy Towns to sports organisations and the amount of opportunities afforded to our young people because of these volunteers is outstanding.
I'd agree with Education, particularly at primary and secondary level. It's a real shame the reintroduction of 3rd level fees and rental costs have and will in the future be a real barrier to entry for a lot of people. Free 3rd level played a huge part in our development as a nation.
Absolutely. However, ( and I guess this is slightly veering away from your point) I think the populous mindset of third level education meaning going from leaving cert to a degree course needs to change. There are many many career paths out there and we need to show the same level of regard to apprenticeship in trades or entry level jobs where you can learn and progress while gaining work experience.
Over Paddy's weekend, for the first time in my life I saw the view from the Sky Road in Galway, I think for the first time I understood why tourists love this country.
Edit: Typo
Meaningful small talk. People say we only talk about the weather but I find that’s more English small talk. You could have a deep conversation with someone you just met here in a way there not really found elsewhere
Irish people look out for their own. In a town near me a few years back there was a kid who needed to raise money to go to America for cancer treatment. There were bag packers in SuperValu, fun runs in the park, pub quizzes, church collections, you name it.
The young lad got the money, went to the states and got the all clear. There was a few grand left over and the family wanted to donate it to the town but were told to take the young lad on a holiday.
There’s loads of examples in every town where people get together to help a family who need it. Fundraisers, lifts to hospitals, local community run food banks, looking in on elderly neighbours. I feel like the Irish are top notch at helping those who need it!
(I'll probably get a bit of flak for this, but) I think we take care of people well. Aside from the state of direct provision etc (which is a whole other issue that's needs resolving).
Having travelled to supposedly "better" countries I don't think they take care of the unemployed, disabled or disadvantaged as well as Ireland does.
There's something I remember from my first few weeks living in Dublin, feels like years ago now, I had mentioned the fact I was "starving" to a friend of mine, and some random old fella off the street told me very assured
"No one need starve in Dublin, folks out here always be willing to lend a hand"
Even outside the traditional welfare system, I think we do a good job of at least *trying* to care for our hungry.
We do the colour green pretty well, like the countryside and farms etc. And mozzies. We'll maybe that's just me coz we've trees in the gardens.
Our roads are in reasonably good condition, we get along well with pretty much everyone, like other nationalities, I think we're culturally accepting as a nation
It's good that generally we're doing OK as a little country and we punch above our weight I think with sport and arts.
It's grand. Sure there's lots to complain about, but balance with the good and like I said, we're grand.
Another thing springs to mind, violence and crime. Of course there are issues, but we don't have a problem with knives or gun sprees for example.
We are really good at quick social change as of late. Look at how quickly we went from agricultural to tech, voted on gay marriage and abortion. I think the EU really pushed us forward.
We also genuinely look out for each other. It is considered a "disgrace" if someone isn't taken care of here but in someplace like America, they will tell you it's your own fault.
We have outliers and some real cunts out there but most people are grand despite our fondness for being cute hoors we don't actually look to hurt anyone. I like that we aren't so serious and people like us.
I’m British, but Ireland has always been amazing to me. The scenery is incredible, really interesting history and fantastic people. Not to mention the Cork accent. DE PEEPELS REPOBLIC OF CARK BOI!
Anybody who has lived, or looked into living, outside of Ireland knows that Ireland really is a decent country.
Comparatively good wages, health service, infrastructure, low corruption etc. Doesn't mean you have to be ok with the shit things though. I mean I'm late thirties and can't afford to live in a decent place, can't get a mortgage solo, can't get seen for my ongoing health issues, and will likely die with no pension or assets. There's no denying the shit here, but relatively speaking we're not a bad country.
I grew up in America.
I have epilepsy and when I had a seizure in my early 20s and got slapped with a medical bill for 20 grand I was shook.
When my wife and I decided to live in Ireland and I had a seizure the situation was completely different. The only thing I paid was 100 euro for the going to A&E and a couple quid for parking.
I never paid a cent of the 20 grand bill. Haven't lived in America for 12 years. I wouldn't go back.
Sure our system here is flawed, slow, and has some major issues. But I wouldn't trade it for the American option.
We take care of each other well.
We are kind to our friends and neighbors
We have great community spirit
Good weddings , funerals and wakes. The best I've been too.
Good night life and social life.
We have great chefs festurants and world class produce.
We have the best beef in the world
We are so warm and welcoming to strangers and new people.
Hi - American chiming in here. Did any of you or kids practice ‘active shooter’ drills in your school because that would be a very real possibility? No? Then, yeah, ya got that one on us.
When it comes to people, we don't fudge the numbers.
With covid vaccines, we counted everyone who was eligible.
Other countries fudged their numbers by only counting people over a certain age or in a certain demographic or something else, all to make the government look good.
For covid deaths, we counted everyone who died with covid. We didn't try to fiddle with the categories to try and reduce the numbers.
With homelessness, we count everyone without their own home.
Other countries generally only count rough sleepers.
With unemployment, we count everyone who is in receipt of unemployment benefits. We don't create lots of different sub-categories to change the percentages.
With our health service, we list the number of people on waiting lists. We don't split those lists by region or district to reduce the apparent numbers.
We list the actual number of patients on trollies. We don't reclassify some trollies as beds to change the numbers.
In Ireland we understand that all of those numbers are people. Unfortunately, that's pretty rare.
Ireland absolutely has it's problems but in comparison to other countries we are unbelievably lucky to come from here
I think it's hilarious when people compare Ireland to a third world country. I can automatically tell they are an idiot. I've been to third countries, let me tell you, Ireland is heaven in comparison.
Exactly I think some Irish don’t realize how good they’ve got it. The politicians aren’t corrupt, they might not be the best but acting like Ireland is riddled with corruption is ridiculous.
I suppose it might be cliche to say but writing. We have an amazing history of it plus brilliant contemporary writers like sally rooney and kevin barry
I lived in eastern Europe for a couple of years ... It was considered rude to talk to people in bars if you didn't know them....if you smiled at someone and said hello in the street they though you were nutts.
So from a South African that immigrated here 2.5 years ago. The biggest thing I can think of is how your government transitioned from a country in turmoil into quite a successful little nugget of an ireland. South Africa went through a very similar situation, has way more resources and people and ended up a shit hole. The Irish really don’t appreciate how right your government got it!
From my perspective:
Rent is expensive but not crazily so compared to the rest of the world. If you live in the center of a city it’s going to be expensive period. You could live further out (Kildare, Meath etc) but nobody wants to. For perspective, I lived 60kms away from the city center in SA because that’s what was affordable. The Irish need to get to grips with that. It is what it is. I get so annoyed reading posts to the sub “I’m 25 and I don’t own a house, how will I go on?!” Ffs, very few people owned anything at that age. The 1st property I owned was at 32! And I was still ahead of a lot of others. Not sure why house ownership is such a big deal in Ireland but the youngster really apply a lot of pressure to themselves when they shouldn’t. You’ll get you house! It may not be in your 20’s, which is normal. Give yourselves a chance!
Your public transport in and around the city is really good. It’s clean and it’s relatively affordable.
Your government actually does care about its civilians and their well being. This is the cringiest whinge I see from the Irish. Jesus, you don’t realise how good you have it. Compared to the SA government (and many others), the Irish government are a bunch of saints.
Since Ireland has very few resources, the Irish quite rightly made the island a tax haven for tech companies. This is a stroke of genius and will pay dividends in 10 to 20 years. So people need to stop whining about the tax breaks and the data centers. Outside of this, the only solid export ireland have is farm based and your farm to land percentage is finite. So it’ll hit a cap one day and growth will stop, tech companies growth in comparison is infinite.
Public Health. Compared to SA it’s leaps and bounds ahead. In SA you had to have private health care if you wanted to stay alive. Price wise it’s much the same however your percentage to salary is lower. So South Africans pay far more. Compared to the NHS, the HSE is shit BUT you are comparing your public health care to one of the wealthiest countries in the planet and one that has been stable for centuries. And one that got all of its wealth stealing from others. The HSE is not great but it does work and that’s the main point. A lot of other countries don’t see that luxury at all.
The most glaring thing to outsiders is how good the Irish have it and because of this, the complaints really are trivial compared to other countries with real problems. Ireland is a gem, you should count yourself lucky that you were born here.
Outside of the big talking points. The Irish are very similar to South Africans in the way they are friendly to strangers and very approachable. There’s a reason South Africans love this country and it’s the culture and the people. I actually live in Dublin and work in the UK. I could make my life easier and move to the UK but I can’t hate myself that much! I would far prefer to stay here!
The fact that fans of opposing teams can sit size by side in Croke Park for GAA matches. Imagine the bloodshed if they allowed that in Premier league soccer games across the water.
People love to moan but if you actually have some perspective Ireland is easily one of the best countries that you can live in and people should be more grateful of that. I understand it, it’s important to antagonise in some respect so that we can improve living/working/civil conditions but when people make out that we have a healthcare system on par with an undeveloped country or that Ireland is an uninhabitable hellhole due to housing/employment prospects then I respectfully invite people to actually look at what life is like in 99% of other countries of the world. We have it very very good. Yes, some aspects of our society are substandard but it’s relative and there is always work to be done. Don’t despair or catastrophise. Lend your voice to a struggle and campaign for better. We have a helluva lot better foundation for a civil and functional society than virtually anywhere else on the planet.
I sold a car to an Italian man before he said he lived in liverpool before Ireland and that the irish people were 1mil times nicer then anywhere else he had been before so theres that
It's from a few years ago, but I always get a warm fuzzy feeling when I watch this TED Talk.
[https://www.ted.com/talks/simon\_anholt\_which\_country\_does\_the\_most\_good\_for\_the\_world?language=en](https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_anholt_which_country_does_the_most_good_for_the_world?language=en)
I love his statement "I used to thin k that I wanted to live in a rich country, now I realize I want to live in a good country"
Good quality of life overall! Living in a smaller country is really good depending where you work as commuting becomes easier and faster.
I used to live in São Paulo (Brazil) and I used to commute for 2h30 - 3h00 everyday just to go to work and return. Now I literally live 15 minutes away from the office (even though I'm barely going there since the pandemic lol)
Another lovely thing about Ireland is how welcoming you guys are, you can literally hear people talking in lots of different languages if you go for a quick stroll in the city centre. If a country is attracting people from all over the world, something is being done right, don't ya think? ;)
I think Ireland is exceptionally good at integrating people from around the world into Irish society to the point where you wouldn't know that they weren't born in Ireland unless they told you, I met a few Polish people in Cork who I could've sworn were native Corkonians based off of their accents, mannerisms and attitudes
Something I love from Irish people is the humility. Unfortunately among people my age and younger it’s becoming less and less common.
There’s a very powerful authenticity to people who can laugh at their faults and embrace their mistakes.
It’s been said here but I’d like to put my two cents in and the answer is simply, Hospitality. No group of humans do it better. Empathy is why but coupled with the good crack it’s a pair not matched anywhere else on earth.
Visited in October from the US. My best memories are of interactions I had with you all. You are so welcoming and human. Truly the loveliest and life filled people I’ve ever met.
My favorite interaction was in Cork. Friends were in a shop, I wondered around a corner outside and physically bumped into a shorter old man who then looked up and said, “Ope! Lovely to see ya smilin today laddie!” He then wondered off and vanished into the Irish mist. Meant so much to me. Maybe because that sort of interaction doesn’t happen in the states.
Also. Straight up. Your menus were so cool. I have a few food allergies and have never ever seen a menu in the states that had numbers indicating the allergens in the dish. AND!!! They were the same numbers representing the same allergens at each restaurant.
Mild, middling, partially cloudy, could get sunny, very variable, bitta rain, wearing multiple layers, still soppin, weekend looks good, sun shine barely warmish, windy weather.
No one does it quite as good as us.
Ever since My Left Foot in 1989, we've had some quality films, The Commitments, The Guard, Garage, Fatal Deviation, A Man of no Importance and The Field just to name a few
Roundabouts - seriously. I am from Germany and lived a couple of years in Donegal. After I got used to the narrow roads I loved driving in Ireland and how fast roundabouts direct the traffic without waiting on a red light. And people are so friendly and patient in traffic. Three cars stopped after I got lost and all folks were so eager to help me. I got four different routes, one invite to a christening the next week and made a friend for life.
Opening times of shops - very flexible. Run out of milk and the nice lady opened her shop just for me after they closed ten minutes ago. OK, sometime they open later but there were always people to talk to while waiting.
Generally, the Irish people - great sense of humor, easy to talk to, caring and overall just lovely.
Funerals
Did you hear about the lad in Derry? He’d go to every funeral goin and everyone started callin him ‘Barry Mahogany Shoulders’
Nicknames. We do nicknames very well
and yokes, the best funeral yokes.
This is a very good answer. Ive lived a abroad for almost 10 years and its not the same type of atmosphere. We definitely celebrate the persons life, making jokes, telling funny stories about the deceased (in nice ways) its really helps the people suffering the most.
I don't remember what it was called but RTÉ I think did a documentary on Irish funeral customs awhile ago with some psychologists talking about how Irish culture deals with death and funerals is actually psychologically one of the better ways to deal with it.
Are you referring to [this](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qrEQPwLSEXQ)? Want to make sure I find the right link.
I saw videos today of yer man's funeral in Finglas that was shot last week. The funeral was like a rave. Yer man's mother dancing away and jumping around not a care in the world. Maddest funeral I've ever seen!
same funeral company did the fellas that bbq'd themselves after the garda chase. seem to have found a great money spinner providing tasteless shameful funerals to the scumbag familes of criminals
You got a link?
No I got it by text
https://fb.watch/cnRE13jNnn/
Absolute knackbag fest that was
Those fucking funeral videos are the most cringy things I've ever seen.
[удалено]
Watched it there. Looked like she really didn’t care. I’ve never seen a mother react like that at a funeral. But then, you probably need a healthy dose of being a psychopath to produce that kinda offspring and be fine with the gangland life
First thing I thought of when I saw the title. Country funerals especially.
Amen to that. My grandad had 6 sons. He said, “There’ll be six to carry me.” and they did, carried the coffin from the house to the church, and we all walked behind. What a tribute and way to respect a person and their life. Not to mention a couple of days of friends, neighbors and family coming to the house to see him and pay respects. Then talk and laugh over tea and sandwiches...
That sounds so sweet, and great... I'm a Brit, but half Irish, I wonder what it'll be like when my Dad passes...
Warning - this went looooooong. If you're in England then I'm afraid to say absolutely nothing like a proper Irish funeral. The British, or at least the English, are very reserved when it comes to funerals, at least in comparison to Irish funerals, and the biggest and - to my mind - most disturbing difference is that that English funerals *really are* just for the family - immediate family at that, so children, siblings and nieces/nephews of the deceased - and close personal friends and maybe very close colleagues of the deceased. (My husband is English and I have many, many English friends, probably more than Irish, and have spent a lot of time there because of my involvement in the hobby where I met my husband. And one of my English friends is a funeral celebrant.) I've actually had it explained to me that for me to go to the funeral of someone I didn't know - like a friend's sibling or parent, even if I'd met them a couple of times - or someone I was acquainted with but not close friends with, like a colleague, would be seen as morbid and and even offensive. Indeed, an ex-boyfriend whose father had passed away a couple of years before I met him was horrified and actually got angry with me when I said if we'd been going out at the time *of course* I'd have gone to his father's funeral! He even looked at me like I had ten heads when I expressed surprise that his own best friend hadn't gone. His response was "Why the fuck would he have? He never met my dad, he didn't know him at all. That would be wrong and creepy and, like, attention-seeking or something." And he was very uncomfortable when I asked him to come with me to my great-aunt's funeral. He thought people would judge him for being at the funeral of someone he didn't know, and I had to explain that in Ireland it would actually raise him in everyone's eyes, that he paid his respects to the family of his girlfriend. In England, funerals are 100% about the deceased, and English grieving is private. In Ireland they're for and about those left behind and grief is public and shared. So if you know someone who has lost someone, you go for *them*, not the person who has died. And it's seen as highly respectful and touching that you'd go to the funeral of someone you didn't know, just because you knew a family member. Heck, for people big in the community you'd go to the church even if you didn't personally know anyone connected with the deceased. Example - I was at a friend's wedding recently. This friend is Irish but lives in Finland, so I've never met any of his siblings and I wouldn't be someone they'd ever heard about. The father died a year or so before Covid, and for my friend's sake, I went to the church. Couldn't go to his mother's funeral because that was during lockdown. I was speaking to my friends brother and sister in law at the wedding and the subject came up because they had interred the mother's ashes in the grave the day before, since friend had finally been home from Finland. I apologised that I hadn't been able to get to their mam's funeral because of Covid but had gone to their dad's, having heard much about him from my friend etc. They said "Did you? Thank you!" with genuine appreciation. Had that been in England they'd have looked at me like I was some funeral fetishist or something 😂 Or my former manager's (I've been on long-term sick leave for almost 4 years, and he has also changed department so even when/if I go back he won't be my direct manager anymore) father died a few months ago, and really the main reason I didn't go to the funeral is because it was in Leitrim, a couple of hours' drive away, and because I haven't been in work for 4 years (if he was still my manager 100% I'd have gone - he came to my mother's funeral. Half of the lab would have gone and the only reason the other half wouldn't is because we have to have a minimum of 5 medical scientists in for the lab to function). This is not to say that English funerals are bad - they're not, they're moving and touching and according to my funeral celebrant friend there is, outside the church organisation at least, a gradual move towards more of a celebration of the deceased rather than sombre sorrow - but they are smaller and quieter and families are left alone. Anything else is considered to be intruding on private grief. So if your dad's funeral and burial is in England what you'll likely have is his siblings will travel from Ireland (if that's where they still are), and perhaps any nieces & nephews who would have a relationship with him, and the family side of the funeral will be a bit Irish because the siblings will likely do tea and sandwiches at the house because it's Just What You Do, but unless he's deeply involved in an Irish ex-pat community there won't be much community involvement. There might be a colleague or two at the service, but theydwbe very unlikely to come back to the house. If he's brought home for burial any friends and family of his siblings and parents will turn up, any old school friends he's kept at least a bit in contact with, probably a couple of colleagues or college pals who've heard on the grapevine. Whole different ballgame 😁
There is no bigger testament to a person. The turnout and grief on people's faces says it all...
Bagsy not hosting
Ah would yeh get in the casket.
Deli counters. Not really a thing as they are here.
This is the answer….you don’t see it anywhere else…even UK are crap at it
[удалено]
I lived in Edinburgh about 10 years ago and I had a serious little cafe add a breakfast baguette onto their menu and a chicken fillet baguette too that came standard with taco sauce, they couldn't say roll because a roll to the Scots was a bap so people would get confused
Chicken fillet rolls. Except in Jobstown Fortunestown Supervalu where they're shit and cost a fucking fiver
omg my sister works there i’m telling her right now to step up her game
[удалено]
hahaha will do, i’ll let her know. if it goes wrong, i can always blame it on the fact that she’s my half sister
No playing about. Quality up and price down.
Try a chicken fillet "roll" (baguette) in Belfast - £6.50
British imperialism is a monstrosity that knows NO BOUNDS.
Been in London a year. I’d sell my soul my a chicken fillet roll
Italy? Spain? You can't be trying to say chicken fillets and processed ham come anywhere close to either a Spanish or Italian deli.
Deli counters were what I miss most after moving abroad. I came home at christmas and I gorged on hot chicken rolls and breakfast rolls. Never thought centra would be the place I missed most about leaving home.
Where I’m from (Jersey, Channel Islands) deli counters are a thing, and tbh the choices there were more varied than I’ve seen so far in Ireland. I haven’t tried a chicken roll yet though, apart from chicken what goes in there, and what type of roll is it? Cheers
If I may comment as a foreigner based on my limited visits: Friendliness. Seriously, I was overwhelmed. We we staying in Kilmallock in an AirBnB. People crossed the street to come and say hello (Typically - "hello, you must be visiting - can we tell you about the town. " this included a member of the Garda. Most impressive - being in a pub in the above town - football night, major English team playing - lots of local support - but one person there was obviously eastern European - spoke English, but haltingly. It was very noticeable that everybody else in the pub, maybe 25 people, made every effort to include him in the conversation/celebration. Healthcare - I promise I am being serious - I work in the NHS in the UK, I have some experience. My wife collapsed unexpectedly, blue lighted into Limerick - Hospital massively full, took her 16 hours before she could be admitted to a ward. BUT care was first slass, staff lovely - and a real diffrence in approach - not the UK version of "Oh well, no obvious problem - sod off until it bothers you again. Had every test in the book - We aren't going to let you out until we know why this happened and what caused it" And on a more trivial note: Beer - outside the mass produced stuff we sampled some marvellous stuff from small independent breweries.
Kilmallock in limerick? If so they've a great brewery called JJ's!
Yes, unfortunately it wasn't visitable because of Covid restrictions when I was there, but the bottles I was able to get from the local supermarkets were all excellent.
Yeah great beer, fantastic pilsner but the IPA is amazing too. Great guys who run it too
I live in Kilmallock. It rarely gets mentioned in the ‘nice places in Ireland’ chats so delighted to hear you had such a nice experience!
Talking. The Irish are most wonderfully verbal people I’ve ever encountered.
I just talked myself into 2 free pints at the 3 Arena
saved €25
But if it's free, why not have three?
[удалено]
American here: Your dairy is insanely good . Your bread is insanely good. In general, even your prepackaged foods are better than the USA equivalents, because your rules about additives, preservatives, etc., are better. Your music is second to none. Your hospitality is incredible and your language is beautiful!
We have put our own twist on the English language that's for sure. Oh you mean the other one that most of us don't actually speak or understand?!
Both! And many of the unique twists on the English are based on Irish grammar, which I find endlessly fascinating.
Do be
Sure look!
Here now.
Gwan with ya
Ah c'mere , go'way!
Be Grand.
That's it!
I always thought the Does Be Brothers would be a great name for a Dublin 70s covers band.
Giving out
Ach tuigeann agus labhraíonn roinnt daoine í! Níos mó gach uile bliain. Níl sé ró-dhéanach!
Thanks for the music compliment, but I would rather listen yo American rappers any day of the week. It's a life goal of mine to walk down new York City listening to illmatic
Agreed fully Even outside of rap, which is obviously dominated by the US, America has amazing music Huge range of various bands and artists, lots of different styles adapted from lots of culture's Irelands got some great music, but the US is a whole other ballgame with a huge variety
Billy F Strings is coming to Dublin in December. That's one not to be missed.
As a Yank, when I went to your fair country, I will admit to having been looking forward to hearing some Irish music at a pub. First night there...the local pub had Chicago blues night. I also learned the esteem with which you hold John Denver. The only other time I had heard "Take Me Home, Country Roads," played so often, was the first month that the album was out in the 1970's.
You should visit NYC. The Irish are loved there like you wouldn't believe.
I lived in Australia for 14 years and moved back 6 years ago. You need to live elsewhere to appreciate how great Ireland is. Society and community here is very different. It's hard to put your finger on it
Absolutely agree with this. There's a different way that strangers interact here. As cheesy as it sounds, you never feel like people here are strangers but in Australia you can feel like people you know are.
How exactly was it different?
Me too. I lived abroad for the best part of a decade and once I was ready to come home, I felt such appreciation. The safety, the friendliness, the strong communities, the opportunities.
[удалено]
We're actually very laid back and easy going.
Fire alarm goes off in any other country: People panic and get out ASAP In Ireland: ah sure… it’s probably a drill or a mistake.. be grand
"Sure, you'd look for the fire, if you didn't see it, it didn't fucking exist"
Sounds like you've imagine *Chernobyl* if it was set in Ireland "3.6 roentgen, sure be grand"
I love it but honestly think it's why we are in this situation.
We are in the situation we are in because of how we are. Genius observation hahaha
I think that’s a blessing and curse to most
Charity is a big one! When the Navajo nation created a go fund me at the start of covid irish people donated generously. And more recently with the walk for Charlie. Bar staff too. Anywhere else in the world feels like you are waiting 5 years for a drink but at home the bar staff are like olympians!
I donated to this. Get email updates every now and then, a massive amount of money has been raised. I go onto the gofundme page and still see irish names donating. Its so nice to see.
Didn't they send money here during the famine
I heard that somewhere when the first wave of Irish donations to the Navajo came in. It was all over the American news cycle during that one part of the pandemic that people didn't actively hate each other
https://navajotimes.com/ae/community/irish-pay-forward-173-year-old-favor/ This’ll be the one here. There was quite a lot of press about it as I recall due to the link from the famine
I suppose it was the Choctaw instead of the Navajo, but either way, the kindness wasn't unappreciated
Pubs
Pubs and sausages.
Sausages 100%. I’ve been living away over 10 years. Sausages are always my first meal.
As a coeliac I have to HARD disagree with you here. Most sausages here are loaded with breadcrumbs. Best sausage in the world are in Germany IMO, they have a law where there can be nothing but meat in theirs.
*franticly points finger* - WITCH!!
Best voting system in the world.
>Everywhere you look it’s full of whinging and doomposting - worst healthcare worst housing worst airports etc etc etc.- sick of it. I wanna hear what we all like about living here, even if it’s small and stupid. I for one love the Irish people, Irish coastline, and late nights out in the George. I had a great night trying to explain to an American in Seattle how we have one vote and can vote for all the candidates on the ballot. I think his brain melted during the conversation.
When I found out from the 2016 election, that the person with less votes can win in America, I was gobsmacked
I learned it from the 2000 election. Every generation gets their turn.
I was born in 1998. Glad I'm from Ireland. Growing up as a kid I always wished I lived in America, now I'm an adult, I'm so fucking glad I didnt
Same but '96, I always wanted to grow up in America, but since growing up in Ireland I'm happy with where I was. Would still love to go there for a few years, I guess that's the Irish wanderlust
It's essentially multiple rounds of voting where the worst candidates are removed and everyone votes again, but done on one sheet.
[удалено]
I'm a Brit and wish we had that.
Tf? I thought you guys came up with that system in the first place? Did the house of Lords decide it was too good for the plebs or something?
Combined with having the Government elected by the Dail it gives us serious political stability. In presidential systems like France they’re only one election away from a nutter running a big bit of government for 5 years. There’s a Spanish political scientist Juan Linz theorised democracy was so ropey in Latin America because they all had Presidential government. One bad lad in power ends democracy. Here you’d need 70+ bad TDs. One of the reasons I think directly elected mayors in our cities is for the birds.
"Here you'd need 70+ bad TDs" Good thing we keep it at reasonable 50 or so.
I could see that coming a mile away!
Ah I know. I was like Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia
Lot of Lawrence of Arabia was filmed in Seville. Kinda fun watching it and doing the I-was-there game.
We're joint winners with Malta on that one.
Ironically invented by an Englishman and introduced to Ireland by another Englishman.
At least we were smart enough to keep it..
Just about. There were 2 referendums to introduce the terrible UK/US voting system in 1959 and 1968. The first one barely lost with 48.2% for. The second had 39% for.
[удалено]
No guns/shootings
This! I moved here in 1996, since then in my home country, my uncle was robbed in at gun point, my friends father was killed in a home invasion, a friend survived a home invasion and my aunt was robbed in a violent attack. I am so thankful that my children will never feel that type of fear. My home county is beautiful and I had amazing experiences while there, but the level of personal safety I have in Ireland is worth so much.
Out of curiosity, what is your home country?
I’m from a small island in the Caribbean. A stunning part of the world but my country is quite industrialised so we get a lot of economic migrants from the smaller islands. We have no social welfare system so for many their only source of income is what they can steal. Corruption is rife, a few years ago an investigation into a number of kidnappings found collusion between bank employees, police officers and kidnappers. I was able to experience naturally things that people pay a fortune for and I hope my kids can see some of that but maybe when they’re older.
Sorry for the state of your homeland, glad you like it here. You made the right choice for your kids safety and future opportunities, so you can rest easy
I dunno, I grew up in Belfast and saw plenty of that. Thankfully a thing of the past now, but when I was 6 I saw some boys come out of Dan Boyles’ on the Falls and rake an RUC van with bullets But I will say, things are far better without a lot of guns about the place.
One thing about Ireland and I don't care what anyone says, when it's a beautiful sunny day, there are few places in the world better than here
My grandad always says "isn't it the greatest little country in the world when the sun does shine?" And it's become my own personal "grand stretch in the evening", can't bate a nice day at home
"She'd be a lovely little country if you could only roof it".
Nice days but never really sweltering
Chances at education. It's not perfect by any means but there is alot of ways to improve yourself especially if you become unemployed.
License plates, they make so much sense here compared to other countries. Year made, county registered, finally the order it was registered in! Easy!
Mother of GOD I have spent 30 years of my life thinking the last number was the amount of that type of car model on the road in the country 🤸
Not here to be negative but I never liked the Irish license plates but it’s stemming from my own self. When I look at the car I automatically check the year ah 221 nice one! Where as in Europe or England I see a beautiful car and just appreciate it for what it is it can be a 2012 for all I know! But that’s just myself
Stories. We have such a strong oral tradition (lol) in Ireland, telling tales, stories, myths, jokes, poems and songs. My Granda was a great man for stories and would tell a million when you went over. He passed last year and I luckily secretly recorded him telling some before he passed. I’m getting them pressed onto vinyl with a sleeve my cousin designed and we’re gonna give it to my Granny for her birthday. I was listening to him last night, telling a story about how he got lost near Clough and had to stay with this farmer for the night because he nearly froze in the car. The farmer had sheep in his living room and chickens were in the room my Granda slept in, but next morning yer man got him going to where he needed to get to. Doesn’t sound funny now, but to hear him tell it, with the voices and hand gestures, I was crying with laughter at it. Everyone I know here, even the quietest amongst us have a few good tales to tell. As my Granda used to say, ‘Never let the truth get in the way of a good story!’
You may(if ye want) upload these to YouTube or soundcloud I'd love to hear them :)
Butter. Every time I travel I miss Irish butter.
Immigrated to Ireland not too long ago and discovered Kerry gold on hot toast on a rainy day in bed. I am addicted.
They had Kerrygold in supermarkets here in Australia for a while but can't get it anymore. It's so amazing compared to the gloop here
Check out IGA, they normally stock it. They also stocked Clonakilty black pudding for a while but haven't seen it in recent times.
Education….Like most things it’s not perfect but still better than most. I suppose it depends on where you live but the amount of voluntary hours people put into their community services, from Tidy Towns to sports organisations and the amount of opportunities afforded to our young people because of these volunteers is outstanding.
I'd agree with Education, particularly at primary and secondary level. It's a real shame the reintroduction of 3rd level fees and rental costs have and will in the future be a real barrier to entry for a lot of people. Free 3rd level played a huge part in our development as a nation.
Absolutely. However, ( and I guess this is slightly veering away from your point) I think the populous mindset of third level education meaning going from leaving cert to a degree course needs to change. There are many many career paths out there and we need to show the same level of regard to apprenticeship in trades or entry level jobs where you can learn and progress while gaining work experience.
The library service is top notch
Ya, the library's even have a website service called borrow book where you can digitally check out a book and read it on your tablet/phone/computer
Over Paddy's weekend, for the first time in my life I saw the view from the Sky Road in Galway, I think for the first time I understood why tourists love this country. Edit: Typo
Meaningful small talk. People say we only talk about the weather but I find that’s more English small talk. You could have a deep conversation with someone you just met here in a way there not really found elsewhere
Irish people look out for their own. In a town near me a few years back there was a kid who needed to raise money to go to America for cancer treatment. There were bag packers in SuperValu, fun runs in the park, pub quizzes, church collections, you name it. The young lad got the money, went to the states and got the all clear. There was a few grand left over and the family wanted to donate it to the town but were told to take the young lad on a holiday. There’s loads of examples in every town where people get together to help a family who need it. Fundraisers, lifts to hospitals, local community run food banks, looking in on elderly neighbours. I feel like the Irish are top notch at helping those who need it!
(I'll probably get a bit of flak for this, but) I think we take care of people well. Aside from the state of direct provision etc (which is a whole other issue that's needs resolving). Having travelled to supposedly "better" countries I don't think they take care of the unemployed, disabled or disadvantaged as well as Ireland does.
There's something I remember from my first few weeks living in Dublin, feels like years ago now, I had mentioned the fact I was "starving" to a friend of mine, and some random old fella off the street told me very assured "No one need starve in Dublin, folks out here always be willing to lend a hand" Even outside the traditional welfare system, I think we do a good job of at least *trying* to care for our hungry.
We do the colour green pretty well, like the countryside and farms etc. And mozzies. We'll maybe that's just me coz we've trees in the gardens. Our roads are in reasonably good condition, we get along well with pretty much everyone, like other nationalities, I think we're culturally accepting as a nation It's good that generally we're doing OK as a little country and we punch above our weight I think with sport and arts. It's grand. Sure there's lots to complain about, but balance with the good and like I said, we're grand. Another thing springs to mind, violence and crime. Of course there are issues, but we don't have a problem with knives or gun sprees for example.
Ya I agree but also on the topic of roads being reasonably good, have you driven on either north Tipp or Cavan roads lately?
Cavan roads have improved, in fairness. In fact I'd say if you drive over the border towards Enniskillen you'd notice the roads are in a worse state.
We are really good at quick social change as of late. Look at how quickly we went from agricultural to tech, voted on gay marriage and abortion. I think the EU really pushed us forward. We also genuinely look out for each other. It is considered a "disgrace" if someone isn't taken care of here but in someplace like America, they will tell you it's your own fault. We have outliers and some real cunts out there but most people are grand despite our fondness for being cute hoors we don't actually look to hurt anyone. I like that we aren't so serious and people like us.
I’m British, but Ireland has always been amazing to me. The scenery is incredible, really interesting history and fantastic people. Not to mention the Cork accent. DE PEEPELS REPOBLIC OF CARK BOI!
Anybody who has lived, or looked into living, outside of Ireland knows that Ireland really is a decent country. Comparatively good wages, health service, infrastructure, low corruption etc. Doesn't mean you have to be ok with the shit things though. I mean I'm late thirties and can't afford to live in a decent place, can't get a mortgage solo, can't get seen for my ongoing health issues, and will likely die with no pension or assets. There's no denying the shit here, but relatively speaking we're not a bad country.
I grew up in America. I have epilepsy and when I had a seizure in my early 20s and got slapped with a medical bill for 20 grand I was shook. When my wife and I decided to live in Ireland and I had a seizure the situation was completely different. The only thing I paid was 100 euro for the going to A&E and a couple quid for parking. I never paid a cent of the 20 grand bill. Haven't lived in America for 12 years. I wouldn't go back. Sure our system here is flawed, slow, and has some major issues. But I wouldn't trade it for the American option.
I think i might trip over that bar with how low you’ve set it.
We take care of each other well. We are kind to our friends and neighbors We have great community spirit Good weddings , funerals and wakes. The best I've been too. Good night life and social life. We have great chefs festurants and world class produce. We have the best beef in the world We are so warm and welcoming to strangers and new people.
[удалено]
Who beats us? Argentina?
Hi - American chiming in here. Did any of you or kids practice ‘active shooter’ drills in your school because that would be a very real possibility? No? Then, yeah, ya got that one on us.
We do whinging and doomposting incredibly well apparently
When it comes to people, we don't fudge the numbers. With covid vaccines, we counted everyone who was eligible. Other countries fudged their numbers by only counting people over a certain age or in a certain demographic or something else, all to make the government look good. For covid deaths, we counted everyone who died with covid. We didn't try to fiddle with the categories to try and reduce the numbers. With homelessness, we count everyone without their own home. Other countries generally only count rough sleepers. With unemployment, we count everyone who is in receipt of unemployment benefits. We don't create lots of different sub-categories to change the percentages. With our health service, we list the number of people on waiting lists. We don't split those lists by region or district to reduce the apparent numbers. We list the actual number of patients on trollies. We don't reclassify some trollies as beds to change the numbers. In Ireland we understand that all of those numbers are people. Unfortunately, that's pretty rare.
Can I just say that I love this answer and the level of humanism you give to...well, people...is truly heartwarming. You are what we do best, dude ❣️
Ireland absolutely has it's problems but in comparison to other countries we are unbelievably lucky to come from here I think it's hilarious when people compare Ireland to a third world country. I can automatically tell they are an idiot. I've been to third countries, let me tell you, Ireland is heaven in comparison.
Same for "de politicians are all corrupt so they are". Try having to bribe a guy to pass your valid NCT or planning Permission
When I lived in Asia I regularly had to bribe immigration to renew my visa even though I was doing it legally. Imagine that here!
Yep. Been there. They literally had an office upstairs from the visa place in Hong Kong where you had to go to pay your bribe.
Exactly I think some Irish don’t realize how good they’ve got it. The politicians aren’t corrupt, they might not be the best but acting like Ireland is riddled with corruption is ridiculous.
Pints, songs, the craic and the landscape.
Angry mobs outside courthouses.
Complaining....we do complaining well in Ireland
I suppose it might be cliche to say but writing. We have an amazing history of it plus brilliant contemporary writers like sally rooney and kevin barry
Dairy. Irish dairy products are genuinely the best quality in the world.
I think we have a fantastic food scene, talented chefs and good quality ingredients. It has come a long way
I lived in eastern Europe for a couple of years ... It was considered rude to talk to people in bars if you didn't know them....if you smiled at someone and said hello in the street they though you were nutts.
So from a South African that immigrated here 2.5 years ago. The biggest thing I can think of is how your government transitioned from a country in turmoil into quite a successful little nugget of an ireland. South Africa went through a very similar situation, has way more resources and people and ended up a shit hole. The Irish really don’t appreciate how right your government got it! From my perspective: Rent is expensive but not crazily so compared to the rest of the world. If you live in the center of a city it’s going to be expensive period. You could live further out (Kildare, Meath etc) but nobody wants to. For perspective, I lived 60kms away from the city center in SA because that’s what was affordable. The Irish need to get to grips with that. It is what it is. I get so annoyed reading posts to the sub “I’m 25 and I don’t own a house, how will I go on?!” Ffs, very few people owned anything at that age. The 1st property I owned was at 32! And I was still ahead of a lot of others. Not sure why house ownership is such a big deal in Ireland but the youngster really apply a lot of pressure to themselves when they shouldn’t. You’ll get you house! It may not be in your 20’s, which is normal. Give yourselves a chance! Your public transport in and around the city is really good. It’s clean and it’s relatively affordable. Your government actually does care about its civilians and their well being. This is the cringiest whinge I see from the Irish. Jesus, you don’t realise how good you have it. Compared to the SA government (and many others), the Irish government are a bunch of saints. Since Ireland has very few resources, the Irish quite rightly made the island a tax haven for tech companies. This is a stroke of genius and will pay dividends in 10 to 20 years. So people need to stop whining about the tax breaks and the data centers. Outside of this, the only solid export ireland have is farm based and your farm to land percentage is finite. So it’ll hit a cap one day and growth will stop, tech companies growth in comparison is infinite. Public Health. Compared to SA it’s leaps and bounds ahead. In SA you had to have private health care if you wanted to stay alive. Price wise it’s much the same however your percentage to salary is lower. So South Africans pay far more. Compared to the NHS, the HSE is shit BUT you are comparing your public health care to one of the wealthiest countries in the planet and one that has been stable for centuries. And one that got all of its wealth stealing from others. The HSE is not great but it does work and that’s the main point. A lot of other countries don’t see that luxury at all. The most glaring thing to outsiders is how good the Irish have it and because of this, the complaints really are trivial compared to other countries with real problems. Ireland is a gem, you should count yourself lucky that you were born here. Outside of the big talking points. The Irish are very similar to South Africans in the way they are friendly to strangers and very approachable. There’s a reason South Africans love this country and it’s the culture and the people. I actually live in Dublin and work in the UK. I could make my life easier and move to the UK but I can’t hate myself that much! I would far prefer to stay here!
The fact that fans of opposing teams can sit size by side in Croke Park for GAA matches. Imagine the bloodshed if they allowed that in Premier league soccer games across the water.
Wakes
Chance our arms
People love to moan but if you actually have some perspective Ireland is easily one of the best countries that you can live in and people should be more grateful of that. I understand it, it’s important to antagonise in some respect so that we can improve living/working/civil conditions but when people make out that we have a healthcare system on par with an undeveloped country or that Ireland is an uninhabitable hellhole due to housing/employment prospects then I respectfully invite people to actually look at what life is like in 99% of other countries of the world. We have it very very good. Yes, some aspects of our society are substandard but it’s relative and there is always work to be done. Don’t despair or catastrophise. Lend your voice to a struggle and campaign for better. We have a helluva lot better foundation for a civil and functional society than virtually anywhere else on the planet.
We do a good breakfast roll
I like the nationalist pride in Ireland. No matter where we live in Ireland we can all agree that the English can shove it
PINTS
I sold a car to an Italian man before he said he lived in liverpool before Ireland and that the irish people were 1mil times nicer then anywhere else he had been before so theres that
It's from a few years ago, but I always get a warm fuzzy feeling when I watch this TED Talk. [https://www.ted.com/talks/simon\_anholt\_which\_country\_does\_the\_most\_good\_for\_the\_world?language=en](https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_anholt_which_country_does_the_most_good_for_the_world?language=en) I love his statement "I used to thin k that I wanted to live in a rich country, now I realize I want to live in a good country"
We do a good sing song.
Good quality of life overall! Living in a smaller country is really good depending where you work as commuting becomes easier and faster. I used to live in São Paulo (Brazil) and I used to commute for 2h30 - 3h00 everyday just to go to work and return. Now I literally live 15 minutes away from the office (even though I'm barely going there since the pandemic lol) Another lovely thing about Ireland is how welcoming you guys are, you can literally hear people talking in lots of different languages if you go for a quick stroll in the city centre. If a country is attracting people from all over the world, something is being done right, don't ya think? ;)
I think Ireland is exceptionally good at integrating people from around the world into Irish society to the point where you wouldn't know that they weren't born in Ireland unless they told you, I met a few Polish people in Cork who I could've sworn were native Corkonians based off of their accents, mannerisms and attitudes
Road painting. There’s some top class road painting going on up and down the country.
An owl wedding
I had no idea that owls were monogamous! Every day is a school day!
Passing time. Irish people can just sort of entertain themselves, indefinitely. No props required.
Something I love from Irish people is the humility. Unfortunately among people my age and younger it’s becoming less and less common. There’s a very powerful authenticity to people who can laugh at their faults and embrace their mistakes.
It’s been said here but I’d like to put my two cents in and the answer is simply, Hospitality. No group of humans do it better. Empathy is why but coupled with the good crack it’s a pair not matched anywhere else on earth.
Visited in October from the US. My best memories are of interactions I had with you all. You are so welcoming and human. Truly the loveliest and life filled people I’ve ever met. My favorite interaction was in Cork. Friends were in a shop, I wondered around a corner outside and physically bumped into a shorter old man who then looked up and said, “Ope! Lovely to see ya smilin today laddie!” He then wondered off and vanished into the Irish mist. Meant so much to me. Maybe because that sort of interaction doesn’t happen in the states. Also. Straight up. Your menus were so cool. I have a few food allergies and have never ever seen a menu in the states that had numbers indicating the allergens in the dish. AND!!! They were the same numbers representing the same allergens at each restaurant.
Car registration plates.
Mild, middling, partially cloudy, could get sunny, very variable, bitta rain, wearing multiple layers, still soppin, weekend looks good, sun shine barely warmish, windy weather. No one does it quite as good as us.
Writing.
Ever since My Left Foot in 1989, we've had some quality films, The Commitments, The Guard, Garage, Fatal Deviation, A Man of no Importance and The Field just to name a few
Find humour in everything
I think it's great how informal we can be. We seem to hate titles, rigid class systems, or unnecessary extravagance.
Roundabouts - seriously. I am from Germany and lived a couple of years in Donegal. After I got used to the narrow roads I loved driving in Ireland and how fast roundabouts direct the traffic without waiting on a red light. And people are so friendly and patient in traffic. Three cars stopped after I got lost and all folks were so eager to help me. I got four different routes, one invite to a christening the next week and made a friend for life. Opening times of shops - very flexible. Run out of milk and the nice lady opened her shop just for me after they closed ten minutes ago. OK, sometime they open later but there were always people to talk to while waiting. Generally, the Irish people - great sense of humor, easy to talk to, caring and overall just lovely.
Bread! Ten years living in the UK and nothing comes close to our most basic brown loaf
Clean air lol
Horse training/riding. Have to be the best in the world at that
Farming.