PHOTOS - handy tips to keep in mind before going to Ireland
Here are, courtesy of IrishCentral, the top ten 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 out of luck). You will be bitterly disappointed!
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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.
10. Irish people have their own concept of time. They don’t adhere to schedules too well and are never on time. Advice: if it’s in your schedule to meet someone for lunch at 1:00 p.m. suggest meeting at 12:30 p.m. and you should be okay.
PHOTOS - handy tips to keep in mind before going to Ireland
17 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Mairin67 | Oct 09, 2011, 03:07 PM EDT
...leave the white sneakers and Notre Dame gear at home....
sirpeter | Aug 24, 2011, 10:58 PM EDT
Tip 11.That's Georgie Boy Dillion in the picture.If you look like an immigrant stay away from him.
tombegs | Aug 24, 2011, 08:16 PM EDT
Two quick comments on #7 and #9. I am Irish and enjoy dual citizenship/passports with Eire the US. Before my first trip back in 1965 I was coached: Enter the bar. Wait until someone says QUE HAY SHIN (spelled phonetically, obviously)? In one place I was taught to say MAC MIKEXXXX and in another MAC BRIDAXXX. Don't want to be more specific. Those simple words opened the West of Kerry to a young man who was clearly family. No need to say more about being Irish. #9 Brida my sainted Irish mother went to a funeral with me. I was a pallbearer, so she drove with friends and their late teen-age children. Unfortunately for the internment, the young people emerged from the car in hysterics. Appartently, my 83 year old mother regaled them on the entire route with "graphic" quotes of the many variations of the f-bomb words used by her neighbors. Of course she, as a lady, would never resort to such language, except in a quote. As If. Thus my experience affirms at least 2 of these standards. Thnakfuly she entertained more than angered my friends.
jamieLM | Aug 24, 2011, 05:43 PM EDT
@antoman, sorry, but I never address adult men as "boy" whether I'm in the U.S. or in Ireland - just not gonna happen. @MotherIrish - you've given some practical tips for tourists. @ DrTrelawney, you're right that Americans are often guilty of saying they're Irish when what they really mean is that they have Irish ancestry. They're PROUD of the fact that their ancestors came from Ireland or they wouldn't mention it. When talking about ancestry with other Americans, they'll often say, "Yeah, I'm Irish," or "I'm German." It's a shorter way of speaking about ancestry. Unless you're Native American, all Americans are the descendants of ancestors who came from somewhere else. Americans really do think of themselves as Americans, not Irish. I understand how irritating this must be, but it's just a way of trying to identify with the country of one's ancestors and is not meant to be insulting.
Searlit | Aug 24, 2011, 12:48 PM EDT
@ Antoman, that's really not helpful, but it makes me laugh.
MotherIrish | Aug 24, 2011, 11:35 AM EDT
Now do you think that the town with the Leprechaun's clothes on display in the pub would be upset by your comment? We found that folks were very interested in the fact that my dad came from Ireland for one, two,that I had my Irish citizenship and passport and for three, wanted to know when I was going to come back or move to Ireland so who thinks up some of this gunk you print? Guinness is cheaper than a 200ml Coke & so why do you think it will upset the digestive system. I hate beer of any sort and thought it was ok for a one time drink. Do you think Obama was in the toilet for a long time - Oh yeah, he used AirForce One. Your toilets use a heck of a lot more water than ours do in the USA - we used to have one flushers that used lots of water years ago.Now our one flushers are water friendly and don't sound like a Boeing 777 flush. Found the English cursed a lot, did not hear one Irishman/woman do so in 2 weeks! WHERE OH WHERE DO YOU GET THESE CRAZY THINGS FROM??
MotherIrish | Aug 24, 2011, 11:23 AM EDT
Oh yeah, better tips would be tractors are on the roads everywhere and it is ok, they are licensed. One lane roads have way-bys, use them Parking on both side of the streets, either way is ok and you many just have enough room to get by. You don't get refills on soft drinks and ice tea is just about impossible to find. Order hot tea and a large glass of just ice. Bring your own Equal or Splenda, hard to find in Ireland Food is expensive, get over it the first day. When you order bottled water, ask for still water. Buy Irish made goods. They are of good quality and plentiful and you help the economy. The Irish are a cheerful people who walk all the time, weather is not a factor. Don't complain about the weather, they are most used to wind, rain, sun, rainbows, and cool weather.
DrTrelawney | Aug 24, 2011, 11:03 AM EDT
Some of this makes sense. It is certainly true that it drives the Irish mad when some American tells us they're "Irish too". Regrettably, the point about bad timing is also accurate. Many Irish people seem to regard it as "charming" that so many if us are incapable of turning up on time. It's not. It's plain rude. But the point about not hailing a taxi with your hand is sheer nonsense. That's how everybody hails taxis here (well, in Dublin at least). Where did this shred of gibberish cone from?
antoman | Aug 24, 2011, 10:58 AM EDT
@muirisobric- A yank approached the proverbial Kerryman who was cutting grass with his lawnmower and asked "Do she burn oil sir?" To which the Kerryman replied "She would if she got it".
ciaran1433 | Aug 24, 2011, 10:51 AM EDT
Another useful tip... Don't refer to the Irish language as Gaelic (and Irish Central should also heed this advice)!! The only Gaelic in Ireland is Gaelic football. Would you say to a person who speaks Spanish that its really Latin that they speak? No! They speak Spanish but the Spanish language is in the Latin family of languages.
carrickcourt | Aug 24, 2011, 10:46 AM EDT
Concerning hailing a taxi. At least in Dublin the best way to hail a taxi is to go to a taxi stand, where taxis wait to pick up customers. Taxi stands are near major hotels and like places in Dublin. Calling for a taxi from where you are staying is also a good method to get a taxi. If one is planning on spending a bit of time at a local pub in Ireland it is always better to get taxi to and from the pub. My cousins near Kingscourt, Co. Cavan did this when we went to Gartland's Pub in Kingscourt one night.
muirisobric | Aug 24, 2011, 10:26 AM EDT
A yank approached the proverbial Kerryman sitting against the ditch smoking his pipe in peace and said. "I'm afraid I'm lost!" to which the Kerryman responded : "Morally or geographically?"........
antoman | Aug 24, 2011, 10:12 AM EDT
To the yanks when asking for directions or something. Don't be going on with this 'sir' business. "Excuse me sir". We think you are taking the piss at our inferiority complex, that all us Irish have. Know what county you are in. For instance if a yank was here in Cork he would ask for directions by starting with "excuse me boy" before asking for how he would get there. In Kerry you would replace the word boy with gombeen. Little things like that will endear the tourist to the natives.
jamieLM | Aug 24, 2011, 10:11 AM EDT
As an American, I'm insulted by #4 (oh, pu-leese) & where I live, #6, certainly doesn't apply; one flush is sufficient, as we also have "ultra modern" toilets. Actually, there was nothing on this list that I didn't already know. Maybe #10 could be up for debate by the Irish posters.
muirisobric | Aug 24, 2011, 10:07 AM EDT
I agree with all except the Leprechauns bit....I've seen'em & talked to'em. I don't believe in the pot o'gold stuff tho. They have a great sense of humor. They're more prevalent when the pubs close & usually scatter when people approach so as not to be intimatating. Very profound. Very well educated & charming. But don't try to BS them. The're not into that atall...& contrary to popular lore they don't drink alcohol. their hiccups are caused by the strong odor of alcolol coming from the likes of us attempting to converse wit'em....So I wish ú'd retract #4 above and ease up on this politically correct stuff.
butlerreport | Aug 24, 2011, 09:59 AM EDT
We're a nation of drunks for the most part. Happy at night when filled with booze, grumpy the next morning. Keep that in mind!
JamesDempsey | Aug 24, 2011, 08:15 AM EDT
@AndrewDrew, Hailing a cab with by putting out you arm is absolutely fine I do it all the time a whistle would probably be ineffective though. Also I feel that your your being a bit unfair about our time keeping in Ireland. Nowadays all major scheduled services like intercity buses and rail run on schedule every time