After spending just over nine months here, we feel like we have had a pretty good insight into Irish culture and their way of life. When we first arrived, despite their history of unrest and invasions, the only difference between the New Zealand and Ireland appeared to be that Ireland had been lived in for a whole lot longer than New Zealand. How the past nine months have shown us that this is not the case.
Despite both countries having stunning scenery, with rolling green hills (like the North Island), similar popultations, and speaking English there are many differences.
Irish people are the most friendly people we have met, and I am sure that this will be the case even after our travels through Europe. Ray, one of my workmates told me the other day the main reason people come to Ireland is for the people. It sure wouldn't be the weather anyway. They are so curteous and friendly generally. They are extremely generous. When we went out last Friday night Reiltin, a work mate of mine, told us a story about how a couple had knocked on their door and asked if they knew of anywhere to camp. Reiltin didn't but said they could camp in their backyard if they wanted to. Well the tourists were very happy when they heard this. Later that evening Reiltin invited them in for a drink, then they had dinner, and then they ended up staying the night in the house with them as well. Coming from New Zealand, which has a reputation of having friendly people, even I find this story entertaining but it is not uncommon. At home, it is 'the done thing' to bring food or drink to share when you visit someone – if you turn up with food or drink at someone's house in Ireland, they are horrified – they want to provide all the hospitality.
The weather is a huge talking point over here, and I think that we have probably talked about it more than we would normally. Even when we were in the middle of the nice sunny weather we had in June we were never certain enough of the weather to make any plans just in case it did end up raining. It just seems to be one of those things really. Lots and lots of rain, and particularly in the west of Ireland. It is no secret why the grass in Ireland is so green.
Living in Ireland has taught us that the Irish jokes really do have some fact behind them. Here are a couple of stories we have heard over the past couple of months:
Exhibit 1: “In Limerick a man went to the Garda last week to report that he had been conned. He was approached by a man in the street selling laptops. It was a fantastic deal, top of the line laptop for a very good price. The man agreed but wanted to pay by cheque. The seller said it was cash sales only, and drove him to the ATM. Once the man paid his money he received his new laptop in a nice carry bag. When the man got home he opened the bag to find it filled with paper.”
Exhibit 2: “In a show of incredible stupidity, a gunman tried to rob a taxi-driver who'd taken him home! When Colm Bowen (24), of Killingley, Ballygarvan, Co. Cork, arrived home in March 2007 he told cabbie Joseph Griffin he had to go inside to get the fare. Bowen returned wearing a balaclava and put an imitation gun to Mr Griffin's head and demanded cash. The brave driver disarmed him and called gardai. At Cork Circuit Court yesterday, Bowen got a suspended one-year sentence for possessing the gun due to the “stupidity” of the act.
Another interesting, but very frustrating thing is the way a number of things run. During the 'Celtic Tiger' in which Ireland had one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and Ireland completely changed, becoming a financial hub for many companies. Being in such a business minded economy you would have thought processes would become more efficient, and things would be easier to do. This sure is not the case, they kept up with their traditional way of doing things. The banks still only opens at 10am, and closes at 4:00pm or 4:30pm. Some even close for an hour over lunch. Another example of this is trying to get motor tax, which is like vehicle registration in New Zealand. Firstly I tried to purchase the tax in Nenagh, where I work, which is County Tipperary. I was told this could only be done in County Limerick, where we live, so Em went in to Limerick the next day to try and get the tax. This was at the start of July and our van tax expires in August. Sorry she was told, you can only do that in the August. Crazy, and frustrating. Despite processes often being difficult we still managed to get things done in the end – we just had to get used to a lack of rushing. Irish time-frames are different. No-one is ever phased if you're late (“Sure, it's grand! Don't bother yourself”). 9:00am meetings usually get underway by half-past nine.
For us, the biggest difference between New Zealand and Irish Culture is religion. Everything in Ireland built around the church, and in particular the Catholic Church. Schools, sports clubs, and hospitals are all centred around the church. To go to school you have to have been Christened, and then once you are at school you have your Confirmation, and your First Communion. It has only changed in the past couple of years that you are allowed to get married outside the church, and this is a very rare thing to happen. When people are getting married there are a number of things they have to go through including completing a marriage preparation course with the Priest of the parish that you will get married at. If you do not get married at a church you have to get married in a registry office, and this is often not even on the day of the wedding itself!
Of course in addition to a church no Irish town would be complete without their local pub. A shop doesn't seem to be a requirement. It is just like in the TV show 'Ballykissangel'. The pubs really are an experience. At the Curragower, a small pub in Limerick we went to a few times they had live traditional music several nights a week. Local musicians meet, and just get into it. It is fantastic and I think a live trad session would be one of the highlights of our stay. Of course they usually do not start until after 11pm, which is often what time people will start to head down to their local pub. The crazy thing is this is the case one weeknights as well. The pub is where you seem to hear the best conversations and stories. It is not their accents that make Irish people difficult to understand, it is the turns of phrase. Here are a few translations:
Bold – Naughty e.g. “That child is very bold”.
Giving out – Complaining, which can include children crying when hungry etc.
Gas – funny e.g “He's gas” = “He's a hard case.”
Desprit – Awful e.g. “The weathers desprit.”
Please so thank you – When you go into a shop and buy something the shop keeper will say “That will be 9.50 now please so thank you.”
Lads – A group of people. e.g “Hi guys” = “Hi lads”.
Yer man – Used when talking about some person, e.g. “yer man was standing there laughing”.
Yolk – Thing, used for the name of anything e.g. “turn that yolk to get the water going.”
Grand – “It's fine”.
No bother – No bother.
Work away – off you go / carry on / go ahead.
Of course you cannot talk about Irish expressions and slang without talking about Irish or Gaelic. The spelling, compared to English is ridiculous (and English is bad enough!). The funny thing is now we seem to be able to work out how to pronounce and even spell kids names.
Try pronouncing these:
Aoife
Caiomhe
Ailbhe
Eoghan
Niamh
Rudraighe
Oisin
Cathal
Graine
Sadhbh
Irish people in generally seem to have their body clocks set about 2-3 hours later than ours. We were at work at about 8am, most of them were turning up between 9 and 10. We would go to bed at about 10. It was not uncommon for them to be more around 12.
These things may not seem like much, and when we first arrived, despite the history I thought both countries were quite similar. It has taken more time to see the differences. Despite the 'Irishness' of things, which is often frustrating, the people, their stories, expressions and friendliness has made our 9 months very enjoyable.
Oh yeah, here is how to pronounce those names:
Aoife Ee-fah
Caiomhe Quee-vah
Ailbhe El-va
Eoghan Owen
Niamh Neeve
Rudraighe Rory
Oisin O-sheen
Cathal Cahill
Graine Gronya
Sadhbh Sive (as in five)
