I had a lot of good Crack in Ireland! No mom, not crack cocaine, but craic! Craic is the Irish Gaelic word for "fun". If something is "good crack" it's "good fun".
You can breathe again, I'm not a drug addict.
I never realised how much I didn't know about Ireland until I actually arrived. Here are some examples of stuff I didn't know, but I'm sure you worldly folk will adjust your bowties and chuckle at my ignorance.
First off, English isn't Ireland's first official language, Irish Gaelic - or simply "Irish" - takes the first place there. All the official government signs, road signs, stuff in airports, it's all in Irish and English. Children going through the Irish school system start learning Irish in elementary school, though most never use what they've learned after leaving high school. The Irish constitution is written in the Irish language, and it's a big plus if you speak fluent Irish when working in a government job.
I think this is fricken awesome. Most Irish folk find it more annoying than anything, but I think it's amazing to hold on to your history and culture like that, it really shows character and adds so much to the country.
I only learned a couple words whilst in Ireland:
I listened to a lot of Canadian folk music growing up, and a lot of the stuff coming from the East Coast is strongly influenced by Ireland - it's essentially Ireland part two. Although we do tend to lean more towards the Scottish side on the West Coast, I've listened to my fair share of Maritime and Irish bands. In these songs, they always mention the "lovely land of green" and such the like. I don't know why, but I always just assumed that had something to do with leprechauns and their flag? I honestly never thought about it. I knew it rained a lot in Ireland, but I never once thought "hmmm, lots of rain, I bet they have a lot of grass and plants!"
"Lovely land of green" does not even begin to describe this breathtaking country.
You can see photos from my trip to the Cliffs of Moher here, along with other various photos that my crappy phone does not do justice. You can get the idea, though.
I will quickly talk about the Giant's Causeway before I move on in my ignorance about Ireland.
Alright so I've wanted to see the Giant's Causeway for as long as I knew it existed. Once I found out there were tours that went up to Belfast and the Cliffs I actually danced in a circle. So, I paid 65€ and I did a 13 hour tour to get to this crazy rock formation. The Giant's Causeway was the last part of the tour, we got in around 14:00. I tried to control my excitement, but I was literally vibrating in my seat. I shit you not, I ran the 2km to get to the Cliffs, giggling like a schoolgirl. I get to the bottom of this giant hill, come around the corner and...
You know how they say "never meet your heroes"? It was sort of like that. It would be like meeting Steve Irwin and finding out he's a total prick and doesn't really like animals, he just does it for the publicity.
What I'm trying to say is: the Giant's Causeway sucks. Okay, maybe that's a little harsh. Lemme try again: the Giant's Causeway is built up a lot and made to look like a large wonder by clever photography tricks and angels. Where I thought it was a giant field that stretched on a little while, it was actually two mini little hills.
I am a grown woman - cough cough - but I almost cried when I rounded the hill. I did climb the hills, look around, take a few pictures, but I was pissed. My anger came from disappointment. I'd built the Cliffs up too much in my mind and I was slapped in the face with reality by a freezing cold, wet towel.
Thankfully, in my anger, I stomped off up a hiking path that ended up giving me a spectacular view.
The tour ended up being worth it, I'd say, but the Giant's Causeway gets a 5/10 from me.
Moving on, the third thing I didn't know was how truly friendly Irish people are. I'd heard from other travellers about Ireland and it's friendliness, but I was not prepared.
I jumped on a bus immediately after I got of my plane in Dublin to get to Galway. After a four hour drive, the bus driver called me to the front and chatted with me a bit, found out where I was staying, and dropped me off directly in front of my hostel. I was greeted by the hostel worker who said I looked very tired and carried my 20kg bag up a flight of stairs to my room. Those are the most notable examples, but I was constantly greeted by lovely people on hiking trails chatting with me and giving me directions. I had a man walk 2 kilometers with me to my hostel because he didn't want me to be lonely on my last night in Dublin.
I hope to one day to be as kind as an Irishman.
The fourth thing I did not know about Ireland isn't really about Ireland, but Northern Ireland. As part of the Giant's Causeway tour, we spent time in Belfast and did what is called a "Black Taxi Tour". 3-5 people climb into an old English taxi and get a tour of Belfast. It's not a city tour by any means: in fact, you leave the city almost immediately and head over to the residential area of Belfast that is separated by a wall that is five metres high in some places. Why is there a wall separating the residents of Belfast? I didn't know until the tour.
I won't go to much into detail, you have Wikipedia, you can Google the current and pat turmoil that exists in Belfast and most of Northern Ireland, but I'll give you a brief summary of what I learned from my amazing driver Patrick: Ireland was occupied by Britain for a long time and eventually they wanted independence. The British knew they couldn't win against the Irish, but they kept 6 of the 36 province-like areas of Ireland for themselves and renamed it Northern Ireland ("NI" from now on). Although some may think what is happening in NI is a religious war, Patrick explained that it is nothing at all like that: it's a war between Loyalists - those wanting to stay apart of Britain - and Republicans - those wanting to separate and join the Republic of Ireland.
You may have scoffed earlier when I said "war", thinking "this is a first world country, there are no more wars in first world countries!" but you would be mistaken. Patrick, my driver, is a Republican and the only reason he can drive into the Loyalist areas without getting shot is because he is in a Black Taxi doing an informative tour. Even in the taxi, you could tell he was on edge whilst on the Loyalist side of the wall.
To make make matters more intense, during our tour many roads and even an entire section of the residential area was shut down; cops had their cars blocking the road and patrolled the area with very stern and unforgiving faces. I still have no idea why the area was shut down.
I don't want any of this to deter you from visiting Belfast: I want to encourage you to visit. Do one of these tours. They're phenomenal.
Please, understand that I didn't get this information from a book, but from a man driving a taxi. I'm just relaying what I remember; it's not 100% accurate. If you are interested, please read up about it. I'm not trying to mislead anyone, I just want you to understand the experience I had in Belfast.
On a happier note to end the blog, I spent my last night in Dublin with the biggest grin on my face as I spun in circles dancing traditional Irish stepdance to a live band. It was the most fun I've had in a very long time. Normally the average tourist doesn't get to dance with this group, but I met one of the men before they began dancing and he volunteered me to dance when one of the other dancers was without a partner. Thank god I have some background in traditional stepdancing or I would have been nervous of all these tourists and visitors taking photos and videos of us. We had an absolute blast and I seriously had an ear-to-ear grin on my face the whole two sets I danced. It was a fantastic night and I hope one day I can return to O'Shea's Merchant's on a Monday and join in the festivities again!
Slán mo Éire!
~Claire
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