Perceptions about Ireland that people just assume but aren't true

blinding

Buck_rodgers wrote: »

Hate to break it to you , but you must be ugly, English girls love the Irish accent, in like Flynn

Women like Sex. They will like many things to get Sex ;);)

maninasia

1 sheep2 wrote: »

My experience of English people is the exact opposite. And when I've asked someone in uniform, there, for directions, I've got a much friendlier response.

Agreed but London is terrible.

topper75

maninasia wrote: »

Agreed but London is terrible.

If you chat to somebody in London - what is the % chance of them being English at all?

fortwilliam

A slightly different slant on this, The idea that Irish people have that we are famous all over the world, everyone loves the Irish...

Through my profession and my passion for travel, I have been all over the world.
With the exception of the obvious, UK/Large cities in Aus/Us, Most populations know nothing (And couldn't care less) about Ireland/Irish people.
Very evident in America, where outside of NY/Chicago etc, people know Guinness & Leprechauns come from that little English island near France somewhere... oh, and their Grand-daddy was from Ireland, or maybe Poland.

Literally, that is the common knowledge of us & our land.

chrissb8

fortwilliam wrote: »

A slightly different slant on this, The idea that Irish people have that we are famous all over the world, everyone loves the Irish...

Through my profession and my passion for travel, I have been all over the world.
With the exception of the obvious, UK/Large cities in Aus/Us, Most populations know nothing (And couldn't care less) about Ireland/Irish people.
Very evident in America, where outside of NY/Chicago etc, people know Guinness & Leprechauns come from that little English island near France somewhere... oh, and their Grand-daddy was from Ireland, or maybe Poland.

Literally, that is the common knowledge of us & our land.

This is so true. When I was away even in Europe for a couple of months most people knew nothing or cared fairly little for Ireland.

Same thing again, Guinness & Leprachauns and our ability to drink preceding us. Got asked at least once a week if Ireland was in the Uk as well.

Ireland really is not world famous. Just famous in some countries, mostly where Irish Immigrants had some form of impact.

whisky_galore

chrissb8 wrote: »

Ireland really is not world famous. Just famous in some countries, mostly where Irish Immigrants had some form of impact.

Usually Anglophone countries, the immigrants that went to non English speaking countries, albeit in smaller numbers, tend to be forgotten about.

FVP3

fortwilliam wrote: »

A slightly different slant on this, The idea that Irish people have that we are famous all over the world, everyone loves the Irish...

Through my profession and my passion for travel, I have been all over the world.
With the exception of the obvious, UK/Large cities in Aus/Us, Most populations know nothing (And couldn't care less) about Ireland/Irish people.
Very evident in America, where outside of NY/Chicago etc, people know Guinness & Leprechauns come from that little English island near France somewhere... oh, and their Grand-daddy was from Ireland, or maybe Poland.

Literally, that is the common knowledge of us & our land.

Very few people think that we are famous over the world. Except perhaps you once did, and got disabused by asking people about Ireland or something. That said it's fairly easy to find on a map, right beside Britain.

chrissb8 wrote: »

This is so true. When I was away even in Europe for a couple of months most people knew nothing or cared fairly little for Ireland.

Same thing again, Guinness & Leprachauns and our ability to drink preceding us. Got asked at least once a week if Ireland was in the Uk as well.

Ireland really is not world famous. Just famous in some countries, mostly where Irish Immigrants had some form of impact.

How do you even get into these conversations? Do you really ask people on holiday whether they know much about Ireland? Why would you think it?

completedit

I lived abroad. People do find it fascinating though. Like we speak English but not the English they grew up learning and it blows their mind.

blinding

Sure Paddy and Biddy think they are mighty important ! !

The rest of the world = Meh !

dfx-

Why are 95% of the perceptions in the thread about shooting down/criticising a usually positive or harmless view of Ireland/Irish...

Are we uniquely able to beat ourselves up?

Mad_maxx

Hamachi wrote: »

Spot on. Ireland has incredibly diverse scenery for a relatively small country. The northern coastline and the wild Atlantic way are up there with any of the most renowned coastal drives globally.

You also have lesser known attractions like the copper coast in Waterford that is absolutely stunning, even on a bleak day in the middle of winter.

Some of the malcontents posting here wouldn’t be happy if you dropped them in utopia.

its indeed a beautiful country but im not sure id agree that its especially diverse

new zealand is incredibly diverse , spectacular landscapes , ireland has more gentle scenery

1 sheep2

fortwilliam wrote: »

A slightly different slant on this, The idea that Irish people have that we are famous all over the world, everyone loves the Irish...

Through my profession and my passion for travel, I have been all over the world.
With the exception of the obvious, UK/Large cities in Aus/Us, Most populations know nothing (And couldn't care less) about Ireland/Irish people.

It was a few years ago, now, but I think it might have been in the Irish Times that I read the account of some young person who'd spent a year in India. She expressed amazement that many people she met there had never heard of Ireland and couldn't locate it on a map. :rolleyes:

FVP3 wrote: »

Very few people think that we are famous over the world. Except perhaps you once did, and got disabused by asking people about Ireland or something. That said it's fairly easy to find on a map, right beside Britain.

How do you even get into these conversations? Do you really ask people on holiday whether they know much about Ireland? Why would you think it?

I've no knock-out fact to support this, but my sense of Ireland is that we very much do believe that we are well-known around the world - understandable given the dominance of American popular culture and success of St Patrick's Day. And, yes, many people do proudly bring up their Irish nationality when abroad.

dfx- wrote: »

Why are 95% of the perceptions in the thread about shooting down/criticising a usually positive or harmless view of Ireland/Irish...

Are we uniquely able to beat ourselves up?

I think it's fairly healthy to examine national exceptionalism and tone it down. Only very few people have identified a positive perception that they claim is wholly misconceived. And I don't think it's always harmless that a country thinks the world of itself.

Rothko

fortwilliam wrote: »

A slightly different slant on this, The idea that Irish people have that we are famous all over the world, everyone loves the Irish...

The majority of people don't think like that at all.

Mad_maxx

1 sheep2 wrote: »

It was a few years ago, now, but I think it might have been in the Irish Times that I read the account of some young person who'd spent a year in India. She expressed amazement that many people she met there had never heard of Ireland and couldn't locate it on a map. :rolleyes:



I've no knock-out fact to support this, but my sense of Ireland is that we very much do believe that we are well-known around the world - understandable given the dominance of American popular culture and success of St Patrick's Day. And, yes, many people do proudly bring up their Irish nationality when abroad.



I think it's fairly healthy to examine national exceptionalism and tone it down. Only very few people have identified a positive perception that they claim is wholly misconceived. And I don't think it's always harmless that a country thinks the world of itself.

we have a pretty gentle nationalism in this country , very different to the kind of flag waving the brits and americans engage in

mdudy

Mad_maxx wrote: »

we have a pretty gentle nationalism in this country , very different to the kind of flag waving the brits and americans engage in

Have you set foot in the North?

ILoveYourVibes

mdudy wrote: »

Have you set foot in the North?

Someparts of here too...INSANE

I feel sorry for them.

1 sheep2

Mad_maxx wrote: »

we have a pretty gentle nationalism in this country

It is insane to me that anyone could think that.

FVP3

1 sheep2 wrote: »

It was a few years ago, now, but I think it might have been in the Irish Times that I read the account of some young person who'd spent a year in India. She expressed amazement that many people she met there had never heard of Ireland and couldn't locate it on a map. :rolleyes:

Well to be fair knowing the island that invaded them, and therefore assuming people also know the one beside that one isn't that much a stretch, at least for educated people. This isn't the same as expecting them to know anything about the politics.

And I don't think it's always harmless that a country thinks the world of itself.

The idea that we have a exaggerated view of our own importance is the exact opposite of the truth, in fact we are the most self critical country in the West. As is fairly clear by this thread. The term "great little country" is only ever said as satire, while our friends in Great Britain and MAGA land use "great" unironically, albeit mostly in terms of getting their countries back to that condition again, these days.

FVP3

1 sheep2 wrote: »

It is insane to me that anyone could think that.

Its insane that anybody would think differently. You just have to look at the national days of other countries, the pomp and ceremony to see that.

Generally the people who do think that we are nationalistic tend to transfer their nationalism to some other entity, generally the UK or the US.

steddyeddy

completedit wrote: »

Idea that we are all somehow educated and worldly because we go to Vancouver, London, New York and Sydney. Irish people do this strange thing whereby we seem to compare our national intelligence to British Yobs on tour and use that to pat ourselves on the back. Like most things in Ireland it's a low bar to set.

That begrudgerly on exists in Ireland. As if around the world rich people and successful people are idolised. This seems to come from Bono's quote when comparing Ireland to America. I got his point but misses the point

Ireland is corrupt or a kip.

I come from one of the roughest parts of Dublin, received a PhD,ended up working in academia on some famous projects and spoke about my research on TV. When I visited Dublin again I never once encountered begrudgery from people I grew up with. It's massively overblown. I think it's a case that some people might be guilty about success and project that onto others.

maninasia

Mad_maxx wrote: »

its indeed a beautiful country but im not sure id agree that its especially diverse

new zealand is incredibly diverse , spectacular landscapes , ireland has more gentle scenery

It does..But then it doesn't have the castles and the ancient ruins and prehistoric monuments. So it's all swings and roundabouts.

ShatterAlan

Blaze420 wrote: »

This - the fact they think we drink drink drink and they still have the neck to think they’d take any of us Irish pint for pint. American bravado is a big player but put any yank in front of me and they’ll be passed out with a pants full of **** and piss before I even contemplate calling it a night....

Probably even before you take your first trip to the jacks :pac:

FVP3

mdudy wrote: »

Have you set foot in the North?

He was talking about the republic though, clearly. The North being a different country. Nobody would deny the union jack gets a lot of love there.

joe40

fortwilliam wrote: »

A slightly different slant on this, The idea that Irish people have that we are famous all over the world, everyone loves the Irish...

Through my profession and my passion for travel, I have been all over the world.
With the exception of the obvious, UK/Large cities in Aus/Us, Most populations know nothing (And couldn't care less) about Ireland/Irish people.
Very evident in America, where outside of NY/Chicago etc, people know Guinness & Leprechauns come from that little English island near France somewhere... oh, and their Grand-daddy was from Ireland, or maybe Poland.

Literally, that is the common knowledge of us & our land.

I can easily imagine that to be true, we probably think we are better known than we are.
At the same time for our size, a small country on the fringes of Europe, I think the our global reach is quite high. Obviously that comes down to immigration to English speaking countries, but a I think general sense of Irishness even if it is the sterotypes, would be better known on a global stage than for example Belgium.
I haven't travelled extensively so could be wrong here.

ILoveYourVibes

FVP3 wrote: »

Its insane that anybody would think differently. You just have to look at the national days of other countries, the pomp and ceremony to see that.

Generally the people who do think that we are nationalistic tend to transfer their nationalism to some other entity, generally the UK or the US.

Our reaction to the deep rigid nationalism is apathy.

whisky_galore

maninasia wrote: »

It does..But then it doesn't have the castles and the ancient ruins and prehistoric monuments. So it's all swings and roundabouts.

Does a country have to have those things, does it matter?
NZ had culture and civilisation before a bunch of guys from Europe 'discovered' them.

ILoveYourVibes

That there is no class system.

FVP3

whisky_galore wrote: »

Does a country have to have those things, does it matter?

You were talking about tourism though, and therefore it is relevant to some of the tourist market.

NZ had culture and civilisation before a bunch of guys from Europe 'discovered' them.

Not selling New Zealand there.

1 sheep2

FVP3 wrote: »

Well to be fair knowing the island that invaded them, and therefore assuming people also know the one beside that one isn't that much a stretch, at least for educated people. This isn't the same as expecting them to know anything about the politics.

The idea that we have a exaggerated view of our own importance is the exact opposite of the truth, in fact we are the most self critical country in the West. As is fairly clear by this thread. The term "great little country" is only ever said as satire, while our friends in Great Britain and MAGA land use "great" unironically, albeit mostly in terms of getting their countries back to that condition again, these days.

I have such contempt for your views that I'm not even going to bother engaging.

FVP3

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

That there is no class system.

Wow. A proper answer. Yes, we often think we have no class system and of course we do. Maybe it is less overt than the british or the US, for different reasons, but definitely there.