Well what can I say – wet, windy and bloody cold. Lived up to all expectations unfortunately. But…through all of that I can still see that it is a very grand country.
Bear with me, the next bit of verbiage is important. The history of Ireland as far as I can make out is as follows. The Celts were here for, like, forever. Christianity came quite early (around 400AD) with St Patrick there at the start of it and in the process granting the Irish people with a humdinger of a party holiday. The Vikings come in and pester them from the late 700’s and keep pestering for another 400 years with Dublin being founded in that time. To get rid of them the Irish foolishly sought the support of the English king Henry II. Well that simply resulted in the English laying claim to Ireland and hanging around like a bad smell for the next 700-800 years. Fast forward to the early 1900’s the Irish, under the banner of the IRA, decided to ruffle feathers and push for independence. From 1912-1921 the War of Independence raged until finally a treaty was signed which included the establishment of the Irish Free State or better know to me and you as Northern Ireland. This was viewed by the leaders of the IRA as the best deal they would get and will bring the bloodshed to an end. But others in the IRA did not agree and it was all or nothing resulting in a decade of Civil War. (Those of a certain age will, like me, be all too aware that this desire to unite all of Ireland led to decades of bloodshed. And the existence of Northern Ireland was also the monumental headache of Brexit but I won’t go into that.)
So as you can see, a very chequered history and a history of not having self rule until this last 100 years. But, in my unlearned opinion, it has produced a very strong proud people with a love of music and a wicked sense of humour. But it is not an ugly type of strength but instead they are fun, very polite and would do anything for you. And their national phrase is “thanks a million” as well as variations of “no worries” (I do wonder if that is where the Australians get that attitude).
The buildings are interesting. Some very nice old ones but nothing of the grandeur of England or Europe which alludes to the fact that the English didn’t think much of this land.
The countryside, whilst I did not see it at its best, definitely looked incredible. A carpet of green inland, river after river, beautiful bays and harbours and their crazy Atlantic coast. That coastline sat in tropical waters millions of years ago but now sits in a ferocious raging ocean battering the Cliffs of Moher (the Cliffs of Insanity in the Princess Bride).
But music is what really stands out. The Irish punch above their weight with music. They’ve produced some pretty big names and influential names at that. But it is not so much that but the music in the bars and on the streets. It is everywhere and more often that not is damn good. Along with the music is the sense of humour. They are a dry, quick witted bunch and always keen for a laugh. But can you blame them. Look at their history. You would either go nuts or, you would have a great laugh and sing some great music. Or as they say, have a craic. I’m really sorry we did not see Irelands land and sea scape at it’s best. But we definitely saw their people at their best and that was very warming. If you could guarantee good weather I would love to see the countryside at its finest.
Altamira Sound & Vision Productions 