What maybe nobody will tell you about everyday life in Ireland
Everyday Life
Kilkenny
Once upon a time, two cats fought to mark their territory. The battle was so fierce that in the end only their tails were left. And that was the beginning of Kilkenny. The expression ‘fight like kilkenny cats’ has…
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Magic Ireland 3/3: magic in the air
When you come to Ireland, you think you’ll find an English copycat. But the visitor is faced with a kind of permanent cognitive dissonance that can’t be found anywhere else in Europe. Indeed, the country is both very accessible:…
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Trinity College
Trinity College is a unique place in the world, both an excellent university and a major tourist attraction, probably the most visited place in Ireland. People will tell you it’s the Guinness storehouse, but in fact absolutely all the…
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A week-end in the North
For those who know how to look, Ireland offers to visitors the chance to see overlapping layers of prehistory, history and scenic views. From Dublin, I head for the northern tip of the island, Malin Head, with my eldest…
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The Titanic, a Greek tragedy
The name we give to things always matters. Naming the vessel TITANIC, (or the TITAN for her infamous observer), was she then doomed to a tragic end? The Titans were the very first gods of the Greek mythology, but…
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A week-end in Connemara
For those who know both the lyrics of Sardou’s song and Ireland, which is the case for 99% of French people for the former, and a small minority of which I am a part for the latter, we have…
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SPECIAL IRISH WOMEN
Ireland is truly not known for being a particularly egalitarian country. Abortion has only been allowed since 2018, homosexuality has been decriminalized since 1993, divorce has been legalized in 1995 (!) . Until 1973, a married woman was not…
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Belfast in 2023
NI = Northern Ireland Mid-October 2023, it’s 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement. How does it stand ? In order to see the situation more clearly, I go to Belfast and book the group « political walking tour » in West…
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the Troubles
IRA = Irish Republican Army, an armed and underground organization created in 1919, whose aim is to liberate the entire island of Ireland from British occupation by violence RUC = Royal Ulster Constabulary, a Northern Irish state police force,…
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The best catholics in the world? (*)
You don’t have to spend a lot of time in Ireland to see that churches are never far away, there is always one somewhere, whether it’s beautiful and full of people like in Dublin, or half in ruins all…
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A week-end in Derry
I’m coming to Derry the Irish way with a coach (the railways are not very extended in Ireland) for the week end with an Irish friend who A ist always in a good mood (like most irish btw.) and…
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Irish generosity
The Christmas holidays are approaching, wallets are loosening all over the planet … now is the right time to tell you about Irish generosity. Ireland is a small country, has never been a colonizer nor a superpower. This has…
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A brief history of Ireland 2/2
Ireland and its saltire, full part of the UK: all is well that ends well? Ha, in fairy tales only. In Ireland, the equality on paper does not go hand in hand with equality in practice: the act of…
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A brief history of Ireland 1/2
Sex, religion, money, politics: the four taboo subjects of social dinners in France – all the ingredients are gathered to make the history of Ireland a bestseller with twists and turns! Ireland, formerly « Hibernia », has always been coveted despite…
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Trinity Foxes
You should know that the foxes have long been part of the Dublin population, in Trinity as elsewhere in the city. They are shy animals, at least to humans, and usually only visible at night. The first lockdown of…
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IRISH NETWORKING
As I have already told you, many phrases in Ireland begin with « I have a cousin who ». … For irish people in Ireland, I have a cousin who means that blood ties matter a lot… and this often includes…
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Shamrock and the luck of the Irish
Speaking of lucky charms, it is commonly accepted in Europe that the 4-leaf clover brings good luck to those lucky enough to find one. The Irish are more pragmatic: it is the classic three-leaf clover (called in Ireland shamrock…
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Magic Ireland Part II: magic in every corner
There’s no point in coming to Ireland if you don’t believe a little bit… in magic! Notwithstanding its tourist use, a certain idea of the supernatural floats in the Irish air. The birth of the leprechaun – this green…
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Magic Ireland Part one: Irish legends
It is always useful to approach a country by its myths. Ireland is teeming with its own legends, which are very interesting,. Here are some of them, judge for yourself.. Several stories focus on the same character, called FIONN.…
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Proud of the Irish products
Putting the word « Irish » in front of a company or product name adds value. Irish publications on Irish history and culture are also systematically on distinct shelves in the bookshops, under the name “Irish”. Irish grown, PS we’re irish,…
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Irish Food
First things first: food is way better in Ireland than in the UK Food IS important. Many people eat between 2 and 4 times a day; if you look at the aggregate time spent between shopping, cooking, eating and…
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Are the Irish Europeans? (Europeans, Anglo-Saxons or Celts 3/3)
If you take the use of the word « Europe », it has already become polysemous for Europeans, as it can refer to the European Union (the 27), or to geographical Europe from Iceland to the Urals (51 countries). Moreover, when…
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Are the irish Celts? (Are the irish europeans, anglo-saxons or celts? 2/3)
The symbol of Ireland is the Celtic harp, which comes straight from the bard era, since it was with a small harp that the bard accompanied his songs (you can admire an outstanding specimen of an old harp at…
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ARE THE IRISH EUROPEANS ANGLO-SAXONS OR CELTS? 1/3 Are the Irish Anglo-Saxons?
Ireland may be an island; however, the Celts began very early to forge links with Insular Brittany on one side (Great Britain that is) and continental Europe on the other. On the one hand the Gaels conquered part of…
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Get around in Dublin
Ahhhh find your way in Dublin quite a poem! For the motorist: if you have a GPS in your head, pass this article. For all the others and especially those like me who get lost as soon as a…
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DIASPORA (english)
“..and on the way back in Dublin port, don’t forget to pay attention to what is exported from Ireland: children and priests, nuns and biscuits, whiskey and horses, beer and dogs. » (Heinrich Böll, Irish Journal, Translation Pauline Chatelain) Yes…
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SPORTS / ALL IRELAND
The full awareness of being both an island apart and a small country integrated into Europe lastingly inhabits the Irish. Although the « Celtic Tiger » has given the country a due national pride, mathematically speaking, Ireland is still a dwarf…
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WEATHER AND GARDENS
It’s a country that knows the rain well. There is an old Irish saying that you may have all four seasons in one day in Ireland! But it is a country that also, paradoxically, is ill-equipped to deal with…
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« Ireland » a concept in itself
If there is an ambiguous word for the Irish, it is paradoxically the appellations « Ireland » and « Irish », which depending on the circumstances refer to the country or to the island as a whole. With Ireland’s very special history, the…
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That little country will grow big
10 April 2021: Historic day for Ireland! Ireland is and remains a small country and it will stay that way in terms of size and number of inhabitants (just 5 million for the republic). But we are talking here…
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Alcohol
The subject would be almost funny if he weren’t really hypocritical .. complete ban on drinking alcohol before you turn 18. But this is all the more hypocritical as one then expects a young « adult » not only to consume…
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AWARD WINNING
Ireland has its own way of promoting its products: displaying them as award-winning. As I find this phenomenon really fascinating, I have started a collection of pictures: in almost every supermarket, you will find products marked « award winning ». It…
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CIVILITIES
The Irish are nice. I would even say: they forgot how to be mean! In Ireland, Say farewell to daily incivilities, to this French aggressivity that we are regularly confronted with in France in public transportation or in stores.…
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ALARMS
Ahhh the alarms in Ireland, quite a poem !!As soon as you arrive in a somewhat residential area, without necessarily being very wealthy, all the houses have house alarms and it is posted. A word of advice: if your…
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HOUSING
Ici le propriétaire d’un logement s’appelle le « landlord » et le locataire le « tenant ». La terminologie qui renvoie à une notion contractuelle en France (propriétaire/locataire) nous renvoie en Irlande à un lien quasiment féodal.
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LOCKDOWN 3.0
Lockdown 3.0, Ireland is setting a world record: strictest rules in the whole world in this winter of 2021, (with the exception of perhaps Wales): all non-essential businesses are closed, schools closed, stay at home exercise 5 km/3 miles…
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Cahiers d'Irlande 