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10 things you need to know before you go to Ireland

By
APRIL DREW
,
Irish Voice Reporter
Published Tuesday, October 27, 2009, 3:01 PM
Updated Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 12:13 PM
Read more: Ireland


Ireland, beautiful Ireland.

Here are, courtesy of IrishCentral, the top 10 most important things you should know before traveling to Ireland:

1. Hailing a cab (taxi) with your hand or a whistle is not acceptable. It will be considered rude and you will have no chance of getting a spin to your destination. Ask the locals for a taxi company suggestion and call ahead.

2. When someone says “Do you want a bit of craic tonight,” they don’t mean they can hook you up with some drugs and get you high. They mean they can find you somewhere to go to have some real Irish fun (no drugs involved).

3. Irish people don’t appreciate non-natives trying to take off their Irish accent. You may come off sounding like fools,  Leprechauns and the pretense irritates natives.

4. On the subject of Leprechauns, they really don’t exist! No really, they don’t. Please don’t arrive in Ireland expecting to follow the rainbow (of which there are plenty) to find your pot of gold (of which there are none – you may have had a chance before but now with the recession your pot our of luck). You will be bitterly disappointed!

5. Drinking Guinness is a nice tradition but make sure your stomach is up for the challenge. It’s not very nice to go to the local country pub and spend an hour occupying the one and only toilet because you have a dose of the scutters (as we say back home).

6. You only need to flush the toilet once. Unlike the U.S. the toilets in Ireland are ultra modern and just need a tiny push of the handle to carry all your waste away.

7. Telling locals you are Irish irritates the s**t out of them. Try a different approach if you want a more welcoming family hails from such and such. Then they will be more willing to help you trace your roots or offer you a cup of tea.

8. Speaking of tea, tea is the coffee of Ireland. If you enter someone’s house it’s very offensive to turn down a cup of good Irish tea. Say yes and if you are offered a sandwich (pronounced in Kerry as sangwhich) then gladly accept or you won’t be asked back again.

9. Do not be shocked or offended at the use of colorful language. Irish people are great storytellers and often use foul words to be descriptive. Hint: if they are smiling while using profanities it’s all in good jest. If their eyebrows are frowned and their lips curled, it may be a good time to get out of there.

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10 things you need to know before you go to Ireland | Irish Culture and Advice | IrishCentral


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Posted by gaillimh on Dec 05, 2009, 05:50 PM EST
to haasny007, having an Irish passport through your granny or whoever, doesn't make you Irish. it only shows that you are afraid to travel on a us passport because of your government's foreign policy of interference etc. Irish passports are precious and should not be given to 2nd generation irish americans who couldn't tell you the Irish presidents name, among other facts on Ireland, if you paid them.
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Posted by Jamilu Habu on Dec 03, 2009, 08:17 AM EST
It is quite interesting and educative. Ireally loved to visit Ireland.Ireland is my dream country to visit.
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Posted by haasny007 on Dec 02, 2009, 09:25 AM EST
ad 7. don't tell locals that you are Irish unless you have a passport to prove it (granny passport counts).
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Posted by jimmy12003 on Dec 01, 2009, 04:42 PM EST
be ready to get ripped off when doing anything like shopping, eating out, drinking infact doing just about anything! our country is being run by complete co-cksu-ckers and they have taxes its people right up the a-ss! so it follows on down to you the customer! great country but!
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Posted by Mayosligo on Nov 30, 2009, 11:22 AM EST
Quite interesting. We did not have any trouble traveling in ireland because everyone was so nice and we were on our best manners. A smile can help in any situation.
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Posted by DLW12183 on Nov 30, 2009, 09:42 AM EST
The most important thing to do is to let your credit card companies know when you will be in Ireland, otherwise the fraud unit will be shutting down the use of your credit cards. The next important thing is not to take $100.00 US bill to convert. Even the Bank of Ireland would not take mine.






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