I will build on this list over the next few days.
One of our frequent remarks early in the trip, when observing people being kind and helpful to us and to each others was "You don't see that in London." Late in the trip, an Irishman allowed that you might not see it much in Dublin either, and what we were seeing was an urban/nonurban divide.
Relatedly, I recalled how a friend who recently visited Northern Ireland felt uncomfortable with the tension she felt in Belfast and Derry. I did get a whiff of politicised tension in those places
...but my stronger impression was that it was the ubiquitous graffiti, the density of tattoos, piercings, and the shops that provided them, and the general disrepair of down-on-their-luck neighborhoods that gave that impression. I don't think The Troubles are the majority portion. Lots of "disaffected youth," as we used to say.
I wondered if there were something slightly maddened about Donegal County, as it had a far greater concentration of people flying county flags and displaying the colors from balconies. We asked about this when we were in County Galway and were assured that this only meant that they had some sort of Gaelic Athletics Association match on, and the whole county was mobilised for it. When Galway or Mayo counties had a team in that weekend, they did much the same. I expressed surprise, as my experience attending a hurling match in Dublin 20+ years ago was poorly attended. About ten fans, including the four of us and a dog. They were amazed in turn, but quickly found the explanation. Some counties are mad for hurling, some for Gaelic football, with some overlap. A hurling match in a football county is not important. This explained my initial puzzlement.
GAA games are very political in terms of Irish identity. "Foreign" sports like rugby, cricket, and soccer are looked down upon, and not so long ago boycotted entirely. TV has changed that a fair bit.
The Irish have a separate second-person plural, yuz, or perhaps yahs or yaz. There is not a proper one in English, but the number of dialects which have a you guys, y'all, a you'ns, or a youse is fair evidence that we want one and feel we need it.
3 comments:
“…were assured that this only meant that they had some sort of Gaelic Athletics Association match on, and the whole county was mobilised for it.”
Ok, with the proviso that the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded for the same purpose: to foster a sense of Irishness, to revive the ideal of Celtic heroism, and to serve as a recruiting ground for the revolutionary organs.
Yes, agree strongly. It is culturally important to them for historical reasons. I meant only to contrast it to the idea that by initial appearance, it looked like they were more deeply moved by being from Donegal than being Irish in general, as happens in many places of the world. But in this case it is that the two are intertwined that is the point.
Every other county hates Dublin, from what I can see, but that is often the case worldwide as well. They will root for whoever is playing against Dublin. People hate the capital city where people put on airs and tell the rest of them what to do.
It's usually true.
"Every other county hates Dublin."
Like how here in the States, the New York Yankees have historically been reviled by fans of every other ballclub (and there was even, back in the Fifties, a novel that got made into an operetta about a frustrated Washington Senators fan who makes a pact with the Devil).
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