Irish Culture & Customs from Ireland
Since life in Ireland first began events have been plentiful with many having influences on Irish people today.
Irish Culture & Customs from Ireland
Since life in Ireland first began events have been plentiful with many having influences on Irish people today.
In Ireland the people are very cultural orientated no matter what their interests might be. Here are some of things we’ve seen throughout Ireland.
The Irish Language
Irish (Gaeilge) is an Indo-European language of the Celtic family. It is very similar to Scottish Gaelic (Gaidhlig) and Manx (Gaelg) and like them is descended from Primitive Irish through Old Irish.
Together these three languages are known as Goidelic Celtic or Q-Celtic. Other languages bearing a much more distant relationship are Welsh (Cymraeg), Cornish (Kernowek) and Breton (Brezhoneg). These latter languages are known collectively as P-Celtic.
As the English strengthened their hold on Ireland in the 17th century, the Irish language started to decline. The status of the language was further weakened immensely in the 1800′s when over 2 million people were lost to famine, emigration or disease. Most of these souls would have been Irish speakers. The language was in dire straights with many people believing as Daniel O Connell did, that Irish was a backward language.
They ignored its rich literary tradition. Then the Gaelic League (Conradh na Gaeilge) came into being. It was founded by Douglas Hyde and Eoin Mac Neill in1893 with the express purpose of trying to revive the language and preserve the music, culture and literature of In Ireland the people are very cultural orientated no matter what their interests might be. Here are some of things we’ve seen throughout Ireland.
The Irish Drinking Culture
Irish (Gaeilge) is an Indo-European language of the Celtic family. It is very similar to Scottish Gaelic (Gaidhlig) and Manx (Gaelg) and like them is descended from Primitive Irish through Old Irish.
Together these three languages are known as Goidelic Celtic or Q-Celtic. Other languages bearing a much more distant relationship are Welsh (Cymraeg), Cornish (Kernowek) and Breton (Brezhoneg). These latter languages are known collectively as P-Celtic.
As the English strengthened their hold on Ireland in the 17th century, the Irish language started to decline. The status of the language was further weakened immensely in the 1800′s when over 2 million people were lost to famine, emigration or disease. Most of these souls would have been Irish speakers. The language was in dire straights with many people believing as Daniel O Connell did, that Irish was a backward language.
They ignored its rich literary tradition. Then the Gaelic League (Conradh na Gaeilge) came into being. It was founded by Douglas Hyde and Eoin Mac Neill in1893 with the express purpose of trying to revive the language and preserve the music, culture and literature of Ireland. They produced a weekly newspaper, An Claidheamh Soluis, organised Irish classes and organised dances throughout the country.
By 1905 there were over 500 Gaelic League Branches in Ireland. They also were successful in having Irish included in Primary and Secondary School curriculum. It was also compulsory for matriculation at the National University of Ireland.
After the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922, Irish went into a new phase, albeit a negative one. The new government started to force the language upon the people. They used poor teaching methods and made the language compulsory in schools and for all civil servants. Many people took an active dislike to the language due to the heavy handed manner that was used in trying to promote it. In the 1950’s and 1960’s a new standardised version of the language An Caighdeán Oifigiul was introduced in order to simplify the spelling of Irish making it easier for English speakers to learn Irish. The Caighdeán was also looked on as a bridge between the dialects.
Irish has three main dialects. In the south there is Munster Irish which is found in Kerry, Cork and Waterford. In the west there is Connacht Irish which is found in Galway and the Aran Islands. In Mayo there are many similarities with Ulster Irish caused by the influence of the Irish spoken by the displaced Ulster families at the time of the plantations. There is a small Gaeltacht in Meath which was formed by the relocating of Connacht families during the 1930’s and they retain their original dialect though their accent is now that of Meath. In the north there is the Ulster Irish. This is found mostly in Donegal and is also used by many Irish speakers from Northern Ireland who learned their Irish in the summer colleges of Donegal.
Gaeltacht is the name given to those areas where Irish is the vernacular language. The most populous Gaeltacht is that of South Connemara. Another large Gaeltacht is that of Chorca Dhuibhne on the Dingle peninsula in Kerry. The Donegal Gaeltacht stretches from Teelin in the south of the county up to Gweedore in the north of the county. Staying in Donegal there are also smaller areas on the Rosguil Peninsula and on the Fanad peninsular. Elsewhere in the country there are two small Gaeltachtaί in Meath and others in Waterford and West Cork.
Today, according to Census figure for the Republic of Ireland 1,656,790 people can speak competently in Irish whilst 538,574 use it on a daily basis. In Northern Ireland the 2001 census returns showed 167,487 people have some knowledge of Irish. For the population of the whole of Ireland this indicates that 1 in 3 of the population have some degree of fluency in Irish.
The Irish Drinking Culture
Many people like to think of Irish people as the drunken Irish and have a stereotypical view that they simply drink a lot.
There are various reasons why people tend to link Irish to drinking but they like to think it’s down to the fact that Irish produces some of the finest stouts or whiskeys in the world. So let’s look at why Ireland is famous for its drinking but also its pub culture.
So what are the best drinks made in Ireland?
So what are the best drinks made in Ireland?
Ireland produces various drinks, some famous and some not so famous.
Guinness Irish stout is good for you
Guinness is probably the most popular stout in the world and even when it’s mentioned a connection to Ireland is automatically assumed by anyone. Although Guinness is so popular its really does take an acquired taste for anyone to drink a full pint of the black stuff. Its a heavy drink with its thick head and dark liquid.
For those who drink several pints in one sitting only knows too well what the day after will bring and we are not just referring to the hangover.
In March 2010 Guinness announced they will no longer promote “good for you”and stated “We no longer want to promote alcohol as a medicine, or to imply it can be used as a treatment or a cure.”
Irish whiskey at its best
Irish whiskey is probably the best and finest whiskey one can find anywhere on earth due to the time it takes to create the spirit, its price and its overall taste. Some of the best Irish whiskeys that are more popular would be Bushmills whiskey, Jameson whiskey and Tullamore Dew (personal favorite) which is found in every bar in Ireland. Learn how to make the popular Irish Whiskey Punch (Hot Toddy) that’s great for curing a common cold or flu! You can get very creative using various whiskeys such as making Chocolate Whiskey Truffles.
Irish Poteen – grow hairs on your chest!
Also a more popular drink in Ireland and almost unknown anywhere else is the spirit called poteen that was once deemed illegal. Irish poteen is like a moonshine that would be home brewed and sold from peoples homes.
Its a very strong Irish drink that only the most hardened drinker in Ireland dares to try. Its been said that it could cause blindness and even sometimes kill people who end up suffering from alcohol poisoning. It is also common from elder people to rub poteen on their skin to help with arthritis or at least that’s the excuse our grans would make.
What’s so special about an Irish Pub?
There is a lot more to an Irish pub than just drink and traditional food. Pubs in Ireland are often welcoming to any stranger with many of the locals more than happy to spin a yarn on local folklore stories. You may also find Irish music enthusiasts having a pub session, this is when they play traditional Irish music and do so free of charge. Many pub owners will return the favour by providing free drinks for the musicians.
Pubs In Ireland
Renowned across the world for their friendly atmosphere and as a place where the craic is 90 (figure of speech for having a laugh), great Irish pub grub and a place to meet someone from Ireland.
You can be sure that if there is an Irish pub there is an Irish person sitting in there enjoying a good drink, if its good enough for an Irish person to drink there then its good enough for you as well.
Ireland is full of pubs with so many to choose from you are really spoilt for choice and with each one being as good as the other deciding on where to drink can really leave one confused, sometime an Irish pub crawl comes into play when this happens.
Many pubs in Ireland have live Irish music at the weekends and it’s a common occurrence that musicians gather for a live session in the pub even if they are not getting paid to do so, most times landlords provide free drink to musicians as a way to say thanks for such great entertainment.
Whenever there is an Irish Sports event on such as Gaelic or Hurling being televised you can be sure that most pubs in Ireland are filled to the doors and the atmosphere is electric if there is an important game being played, such as the matches during the World Cup for the Republic of Ireland football team.
It is not unusual for an Irish person to have a favorite pub and call it their local and within no time that person is well known to all staff and those who drink there, some people may even have more than one local Irish pub they visit on a regular basis.
You may even find an Irish pub that’s actually someone’s front living room of their house with one or two pumps, a couple of bottles of spirits and maybe some chairs. You will find these kinds of Irish pubs to be very community orientated and a great way to meet the locals, learn some history and really experience the Irish Culture. These kind of pubs are usually found in remote villages dotted around Ireland, just because it’s not constructed with a full mahogany bar and decked with Guinness signs doesn’t mean its not an Irish pub.
The bar staff play a major role in creating an Irish Pub that is good to drink and socialize in. The staff needs to have the ability of being able to pour a proper pint of Guinness which takes some skill but also be able to chat about some of the local heritage which most can and will do.
You may end up being the luckiest person alive if you ever manage to catch a Leprechaun but there again it could bring more than enough trouble for what its worth.
A Leprechaun is a smart, devious little thing and who’ll do anything to escape capture even if it means turning you into a frog. They are the exception in the Faerie realm as they are the only Faerie that has a trade other than cattle trading. They are shoe-makers.
Who Are The Leprechauns of Ireland?
As part of Irish mythology and folklore the Leprechauns are part of our faerie folk, called by some as the “wee folk”. As a cousin of the clurichaun they are known to inhabited Ireland well before the arrival of the Celts.
Small enough for one to sit comfortable on your shoulder they are very smartly dressed in small suites with waist coats, hats and buckled shoes.
As mischievous and intelligent folk they are general harmless to the general population in Ireland, although they are known to play the odd trick on farmers and local population of villages and towns.
It is said that every Leprechaun has a pot of gold, hidden deep in the Irish countryside. To protect the leprechaun’s pot of gold the Irish fairies gave them magical powers to use if ever captured by a human or an animal. Such magic an Irish leprechaun would perform to escape capture would be to grant three wishes or to vanish into thin air!
Leprechauns are also very keen musicians who play tin whistles, the fiddle and even the Irish Harp and various other Irish traditional instruments. They are known to have wild music sessions at night which in Ireland are known as Ceili’s with hundreds of Irish leprechauns gathering to dance, sing and drink.
The leprechaun is fond of drinking Poteen, moonshine, but must not be mistaken by their Irish cousins the cluricauns who are drunken creatures who love to cause chaos around Ireland at night time, a headache for us humans.
William Butler Yeats once said,
because of their love of dancing they (the Fae) will constantly need shoes
He goes on to tell the story of a woman who had been spirited away by the Faeries and had been returned seven years later minus her toes. She had danced them off!!!
The famous 1959 movie Darby O’Gill and the little people show us a great example of who the Leprechauns are and how we vision them. We’ve found a great clip of this movie that you can watch below, click on the play button to start watching.
What sports are played in Ireland?
Although most common sports around the world can also be found in Ireland they do have some that are more unique traditional sports. Once only found in Ireland today they too are being played all over the world, most of all in the UK, USA & Canada due to the large Irish communities in these countries. Here are some of the more common sports played in Ireland.
The traditional game of Irish Hurling
Irish Hurling is the best Irish cultured game next to Gaelic Football and is heavily promoted by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It’s a fast and ferrous game that will have you either on the edge of your seat or jumping in the air like a crazy. It’s a game that has lots of history and is played nationally in every county.
Traditional sport of Gaelic Football
Gaelic Football is also extremely popular in Ireland and is played by many people and again it’s a sport with much history and is usually played with plenty of Irish pride. It’s very similar and sometime compared to Aussie Rules football. Just like hurling it’s a fast game with plenty of edge, it too is heavily promoted by the GAA.
Play some of the best golf In Ireland
Golfing in Ireland has grown at an enormous rate with players from all round the world boarding ships and planes just to play a few holes in some of the best courses in the world, even champion players can’t resist the chance to play. Again with the amazing scenery in almost every course it isn’t difficult to have a great game.
Salmon & trout fishing in Ireland
Fishing in Ireland is an amazing experience for it is said that Ireland has the best Salmon and Trout fishing in Europe but also for the breath taking scenery of the countryside, which is enough to keep any keen fisherman at the edge of a river no matter what the weather or game, is like.
The Fighting Irish – Boxing
Irish people are known as the Fighting Irish and many of men became world champion boxers and became a house hold name. Boxing clubs in Ireland have always been popular for many years and still is producing some great talented boxers who go onto compete around the globe.
