Guide to Ireland

The objective of this section of our website is to provide you with some background information to our beloved, beautiful, idyllic Irish Motherland. Some of you may not have time to read thoroughly on Ireland before coming on our tours, the following 3 sections may help you in understanding the historical, cultural, social and political aspects of our country.

The sections are only intended as a guide, certain sections may be classed as opinionated. Thankfully, Ireland is a democracy, people’s thoughts are cherished, rational opinions are cool!

Section 1: Irish History
Section 2: Irish Myths and Legends
Section 3: Practical information on Ireland

Section 1: Irish History

The History of Ireland is one of immense tragedy and poignancy of epic proportions. The fascinating and complex nature of our rich history continues to attracts millions of students and readers on an annual basis.

During our tours our guides will impart to you their knowledge of Ireland that has been earned through both academic pursuits in our fine education system and also a knowledge passed from generation to generation. They will do it in a way that reflects their passion for the subject and enables you to understand the issues and events which have shaped the Irish people into what they are today.

By taking a North and South tour with our company you are certain to encounter the following basic tenets of Irish History.

The Pre-Christian era: You'll hear of the great cycles of Irish legends. A time when our green land was ruled by Warrior Poets, seductive Queens and fiery Giants. The pagan people of Ireland who have influenced us most were the Celts. We proudly see ourselves as being the only Celtic Nation State in the world. But on your journeys you’ll pass dolmens, burial chambers, stone circles. Remnants of a time when ancient advanced races like the Tuatha de Danaan or the Formorians built masterpieces like Newgrange in the plains of Royal Meath, whilst the Celts were still only a tinkle in someone’s eye in central Europe.

The Viking era: Arriving in Dublin you'll straight away experience Viking Ireland. The Vikings invaded us from Norway and Denmark in the eighth and ninth centuries. They changed Ireland forever by building towns and introducing currency. On our sound systems or microphones you may hear the Ballad ‘Irish Ways and Irish Laws’, the chorus of which laments ‘then the Vikings came around, they turned us up, they turned us down, started building boats and towns, they tried to change our living’. But the Vikings were beaten by the Irish Celtic armies of the High King Brian Boru, Lion of Ireland at the Battle of Clontarf outside Dublin in 1014. They soon became immersed into the Irish nation.

The Normans: Two centuries later more capable military men of Scandanavian origin came to our shores in search of conquest. The Normans had been in England since 1066. They reached Ireland, invited by warring rival Irish Kings, in 1169. With their longbows, large swords and chain mail, the mounted Norman cavalary were the Panzer battle tanks of the medieval field, cutting Irish Celtic armies to shreds left right and centre.

The Irish as always began to fight back and through diplomacy and intermarriage, the Normans became ‘more Irish than the Irish’. Fitzgerald and Fitzpatrick are examples of Norman names. Youll see their fine castles everywhere, none finer than Kilkenney Castle on our southern tours.

The English: In the 1500's the Gaelic-Norman aristocrats and powerful barons were worrying the centralised monarchy in England. So began the conquest. Henry 8th began the task, his daughter Elizabeth finished it in 1601 with the Battle of Kinsale. The full on period of this conquest was 1592-1601, when the Gaelic Catholic chieftains of the North fought valiantly and often brilliantly against the invading Elizabethan armies in the 9 years war. When the war was over the proud distraught Chieftains fled to their ally in Imperial Spain most never to return.

This is event is know as the flight of the Earls and is an event you'll often encounter in song, poem and conversation in modern Ireland. With the war in the north over and Ulster conquered, the English crown set about a process of colonisation know as the plantation of Ulster, whereby thousands of tough, hard working lowland scots protestants were brought to Northern Ireland and given the confiscated Catholic land. These people are the ancestors of the protestant loyalist/British community youll be introduced tastefully on our Northern Tours.

Oliver Cromwell arrived in 1649 to finish off any resistance that was still simmering, and our country was decimated. A large percentage of Irishmen were sent as slaves with Africans and Highland Scots to the plantations of Jamaica and other Islands In the Carribbean giving birth to the phrase ‘the Black Irish’.

Another phrase you’ll hear is ‘the fighting Irish’ after the American Football team. In 1688 Catholic and Jacobite Ireland showed where the inspiration for this term came from by joining with deposed King James II of England in his struggle with Protestant King William III of Orange. William was Dutch and had just assumed the crown of England. After a fascinating campaign the superior protestant armies of William routed the Jacobites at the Battle of the Boyne on the 12th July 1690. The Orangemen of the North still commemorate this event during the summer marching season.

To the present: William’s victory paved the way for total English domination over Ireland. After the failure of the Republican rising of 1798 the Act of Union in 1801 brought England, Scotland and Ireland together as one country. The Union Jack was born.

No mater which tour you go on youll be sure to hear our guides talk about and visit sites relevant to our biggest national disaster the Great Famine of 1845-49. Our population was cut by over 4 million, an estimated one million starved to death, due to a potato blight and the prevalent government policies of the day.

Section 2: Irish Myths and Legends

Paddywagon Web-Editor note: I recently discovered the following masterpiece text in the annals of our good friends at Independent Holiday Hostels Ireland. I believe even the Paddywagon intellect cannot surpass it, therefore I have gained their kind permission to place it on our site for your enjoyment as well as ours.

There are many, many myths about Ireland, some of them wholly untrue, others based on actual people, events and situations, but all of them entertaining. Use this handy guide as a quick introduction.

Leprechauns
For many (except people who actually live in Ireland) the Leprechaun is the quintessential Irish icon. They are said to have magical powers, the ability to uncover secrets, and to hoard great treasure. Pots of gold, ends of rainbows, "to be sure," and all that. At all, at all.

Faeries
Conflicting legends have the Faery-folk as mildly mischevious little people with cute wings (pretty much like Tinkerbell from Disney's Peter Pan), and as terrifying demons who inhabit a sort of alternative dimension.

Saint Patrick
Legend has it that Saint Patrick is responsible for banishing all the snakes from Ireland. He must also have banished all the newts and other similar amphibians, because such things do not feature (and probably never did feature) in the Irish ecology.
It was also believed that Saint Patrick also banished all the spiders from Ireland, until contradictory evidence was published in 1834 by Dr. R. T. Templeton. What people thought those scary eight-legged creatures were before then is probably another myth in itself. Another myth about Saint Patrick is that he once changed King Veretius of Wales into a wolf.

Banshee
Supposedly, a female spirit whose appearance heralds the death of someone close to the observer. The Bean Siedh (literally, Female Spirit) is traditionally dressed in white, wailing constantly, and generally appears at twilight as a young woman with long, unkempt black hair and green eyes, dressed in a white shift.
The Banshee is one of the most persistent Irish myths, and it's pretty safe to say that every Irish person knows someone who knows someone who claims to have seen or heard one.

Adh Seidh
Similiar to the Banshee, the Adh Seidh are spirits that are only seen by people who have an unclear conscience. They appear as either beautiful women who lure the evil to their destruction, or as sleek, terrifying black horses with red glowing eyes.

Finn MacCool
Said to be one of Ireland's greatest warriors. Finn studied under an old man who spent many years attempting to catch The Salmon of Truth, which according to legend would bestow ultimate knowledge on the first person to consume its flesh.
The old man finally did catch the salmon, and set it cooking over a fire. Finn was told to watch the fish, but not to eat any of it.
As Finn watched, a large blister appeared on the salmon. Finn reached out and burst the blister with his finger, but the fish was hotter than he'd expected, and burned his finger. Finn instinctively put his finger in his mouth, thus gaining the ultimate knowledge.

The Children of Lir
A girl and three boys, who were turned into swans by their jealous stepmother. They were cursed to spend nine hundred years on various lakes in Ireland. When the spell was finally broken, time caught up with them, and they became three old men and one old woman. They requested to be baptised before they died, and were buried together.

Cú Chulainn
Acording to legend, Cú Chulainn was raised by four wise men who named him Setanta, and taught him warfare, magic, poetry and wisdom. He was offered the choice of a long life or fame, and he chose the latter. The wise men predicted that Setanta's first and last feats would involve killing a dog.

At the age of seven he was playing with a ball and stick when he was attacked by a large dog. Setanta threw the ball into the dog's open mouth, choking it, then beat it to death with his stick. At the end of his life, he was badly wounded, and washing himself in a stream when he saw an otter drinking the blood-stained water. He killed the otter, fulfilling the second part of the prophecy, for an otter was also known as a 'water dog'.

The Giant's Causeway
This unique formation of hexagonal pillars was long believed to be an entrance from the land of the humans into Tír na Nog, the land under the sea.

Morholt
A giant who fought Tristram (of Tristram and Isolde fame) with a poisoned spear. Tristram suffered badly in the battle, but managed to win by cutting off the giant's head.

The Fomorians
A race of evil demons who according to legend were the original inhabitants of Ireland. The Formorians were undefeated until the arrival of the Fir Bolga, who were in turn conquered by the Tuatha dé Danann. Scottish myths have the Fomorians as a race of relatively peaceful giants.

Myths about the Irish People
All Irish people are called Paddy, have red hair and freckles, a fiery temper, a terrible thirst and seventeen siblings. Our surnames are all "Mac" something or "O" something. We're also expert dancers and know all the words to all the Irish songs. The movie "The Quiet Man" brilliantly captures the character of the Irish people. Or maybe not ... Let's tackle those preconceptions one by one.

Drink
It's not true that all Irish people are terminal drunks. There are some Irish people who do not drink, and who say that they never will. And I can vouch for the veracity of this statement, because I personally know both of these people. No, but seriously, in a recent study of alcohol consumption Ireland came nineteenth out of all the countries in Europe.

Of course, the quality of Irish whiskey (or "whisky" as some people spell it for no known reason) is legendary among connoisseurs, particularly in Ireland. There are also beers that seem to export rather well. The most well-known is probably Guinness, a very black drink that has a white foamy bit on top. Legend has it that anyone who can drink eighteen pints of Guinness in one sitting will be badly in need of the toilet. Other popular exports are Smithwicks and Murphy's (and if the latter's ads are to be believed, Murphy's was a favorite tipple of twelfth-century Samurai).

Irish wines are not well known in other parts of the world, but they are beginning to gain a reputation, especially those of the world-class winos Ernest and Julie O' Gallow.

Ireland boasts a large number of public houses (or "pubs", as people call them for convenience, and occasionally due to inebriation), in which alcoholic beverages are served. Most pubs have two sections: The Bar and The Lounge. Tradition has it that drinks are a little cheaper in The Bar, because the sawdust is easier to replace than the carpets in The Lounge. Older tradition had it that women were not allowed to drink in The Bar, but this all changed about thirty years ago when some canny publican spotted that women had money too.

Red Hair and Freckles
Okay, so many Irish people do have red hair, mainly due to the copper in the water, a leading scientist recently said. However, there are a lot of Irish people with black, brown, blonde, gray or missing hair. There are even a few who claim to have hair coloured "auburn" or "strawberry" or "silver", but they're only fooling themselves.

As for the freckles ... Many people may not be familiar with freckles, so here's the opinion of a well-known dictionary:
freckle, n.
1. a small brownish spot on the skin: a localized deposit of the pigment melanin, developed by exposure to sunlight and cabbage. Freckles generally disappear as one gets older (or maybe they all just grow into each other... It's pretty much the same thing). You can tell how old an Irish person is by counting the freckles. The formula is quite simple: (Number of freckles / height in millimetres) x (number of teeth2 / Pi). The difficult part is the counting, because even those freckles below the neckline must be included, and if you know someone well enough to count all their freckles then it's probably easier to just ask them how old they are.

Paddy
A friendly abbreviation of Patrick, or, more rarely, Patricia or, rarer still, Brian. The general conception is that all Irish men are called Paddy. Of course, this is not so. Well, maybe in some parts of the world Irish men are called Paddy, but that's not necessarily their name. Other common Irish names are Mick (often pronounced Michael or Mike) and Seamus (pronounced "Shay-mus"- it's Irish for James). Unlike in the movies, Irish women are rarely called Colleen, which is an anglicised spelling of the Irish word for "girl", cailín.

As with any country, names are subject to fashion: after the 1990 World Cup a lot of newborns were named Jack, after the Irish soccer team's manager Jack Charlton. There are also a lot of Irish people in their early teens called Bono or Enya. In fact, there's even a ten-year-old boy called Van Morrison O'Reilly who goes to school with my cousin, The Edge.

The Fiery Temper
Not true. Irish people are very laid-back, and can put up with a lot of grief before losing their temper. However, we do tend to be quite excitable, which is not always the same thing.

There's an old joke about a linguist who visits Ireland on a holiday, and while he's here he notices how calm and placid everyone is. So he strikes up a conversation with an old man in the local pub, and says, "Tell me, is there an Irish equivalent of the Spanish word Mañana?" Well, the old man sits back, sups at his pint, thinks for a bit, and replies, "Yes, there is, but it doesn't have the same sense of terrible urgency."

Seventeen Siblings
Okay, so this sort of thing was true at one point. The large families came about hundreds of years ago when Ireland was a tremendously poor nation with a very high child mortality rate: having a lot of children meant a greater chance of the family surviving. Plus, of course, contraception was (and still is) forbidden by the Catholic Church. Back in those days, when times were bad and people were poor, a son was regarded rather more highly than a daughter, on the grounds that a son would be more likely to find work, and that a daughter meant a dowry. Upon the event of the arrival of a new-born, a typical conversation between two neighbours might go something like this:

"Did you hear? Mrs Murphy had her baby!"
"Jaysus, that's grand altogether! Is it a boy or a child?"
"It's a little girl."
"Ah, sure they're young still, they can always try again."

Mac, Mc and O'
The prefixes originate from the time before surnames, when a boy would be given a first name, and known as "first name, son of father's name." Mac or Mc is abbreviated from the Irish word for son. For example, Eamonn McKenna means "Eamonn, son of Kenna." Similarly, the "O'" prefix means "of". The Irish translations of everybody's name puts an "O" at the beginning if male, a "Ní" if they're female and not yet married, and "Uú" if they are or have been married. This rule can be applied to everybody on Earth, with the exceptions of Madonna (no last name) and The Artist Formally Known as Prince (too complicated).
Traditionally, the first-born son in an Irish family was named after his father, so in early times there were probably a lot of Padraig O'Padraigs around. Subsequent sons would be named after uncles, grandfathers or famous people. Daughters were always called Mary, after Jesus's mother, or after one of the female saints. Actually, they probably weren't called "Mary", but the Irish version, Maura (or some other variation on the spelling).

Irish Music and Dancing
Studies have shown that there is often a direct link between a country's national style of dance and the common sexual techniques of that country's people. Bad news for Ireland if that's true then, because our national dance style involves a bunch of men and women in skirts keeping perfectly still as their legs flail about all over the place.

Executed well, Irish dancing can be spectacular: observe the impact Riverdance has had throughout the world. Local dancing tournaments and such, tend to be a little more subdued, but no less skilful when perpetrated by experts.

Irish music has also come a long way in recent years, again popularised by shows such as Riverdance. The "Trad" sessions that take place in pubs and clubs around Ireland are much less formal affairs, often offering the amateur a chance to perform with some very gifted musicians and singers.

Unlike in the movies, Irish people are not terribly prone to spontaneously belting out a couple of verses of "Oh Danny Boy" or "The Fields of Athenry" when the mood takes them. Of course, that all depends on which pubs you visit, how drunk everyone is and whether there's a wake on at the time.

The Quiet Man
An entertaining fantasy film set in an imaginary country called "Stage Ireland", so it is, yer honour, to be sure.
Begorrah.

Section 3: Practical information on Ireland

• Useful Contacts
• What to do
• Miscellaneous