Taboos in Ireland

scopper · 16-08-2017 11:26am

Not saying thanks for the bus driver

HairyCabbage · 16-08-2017 11:48am

I think a lot of taboos still exist in Ireland when talking to anyone over the age of about 50!

Mr. teddywinkles · 16-08-2017 11:50am

pone2012 wrote: »

Totally agree to this... I love reading, hate drinking..did the obligatory bit of drinking from 18/22 but it got old fast... Started reading, training and studying

I barely see my friends anymore as a side effect...

I think there's a problem with people been seen drunk in public now as well. Where when I started out drinking back when I was younger it was more acceptable and common place.

tony 2 tone · 16-08-2017 11:51am

Abortion.
Contributing the cause of the Troubles to any one else other than IRA.

KaiserLu · 16-08-2017 12:09pm

Vita nova wrote: »

Smoking in houses that are shared with non-smokers.
In general, smoking in shared spaces seems to be a lot more frowned upon in Ireland than most countries

The oul lung cancer thing and other related illnesses probably to blame for that one.

Fourier · 16-08-2017 12:12pm

Vita nova wrote: »

Building roads through or near fairy forts:)

To me this is the only serious answer that actually fits the OP. It's fairly unique to Ireland (although there are other countries like this)and genuinely taboo for those who follow it. Every other taboo mentioned is just "something 2% of the population might internally frown at you for".

RobbieTheRobber · 16-08-2017 12:13pm

Resist ZOG wrote: »

Expressing admiration for Israel or Jews in general.

Criticizing the lgbt movement.

Ah sure the Jews are a great bunch of lads altogether.

Ulysses Gaze · 16-08-2017 12:32pm

Speaking ill of the dead.

Even if the deceased was an insufferable prick/arsehole/bitch.

HairyCabbage · 16-08-2017 12:37pm

Talking about people with disabilities in general

16-08-2017 12:59pm

Asking Gals for Anal....

Squeeonline · 16-08-2017 1:00pm

Public nudity.

The idea of going swimming or into a sauna naked is so normal in most countries. Our hangover from catholism being rammed down our throats means that we are generally quite ashamed of our own naked bodies.

Resist ZOG · 16-08-2017 1:03pm

Squeeonline wrote: »

Public nudity.

The idea of going swimming or into a sauna naked is so normal in most countries. Our hangover from catholism being rammed down our throats means that we are generally quite ashamed of our own naked bodies.

No it's not.

mikhail · 16-08-2017 2:28pm

Expressing admiration for any facet of English history or culture, however limited, except their football clubs.

whisky_galore · 16-08-2017 2:37pm

Pension Plans.

Death.

whisky_galore · 16-08-2017 2:50pm

KungPao wrote: »

A German (true story) once mentioned to me that Ireland seems a little anti-Jewish as 'we' are staunch supporters of Palestine and didn't give a fook during WW2 about the Jews seeking refuge. Also our president sending his condolences for the passing of Herr Hitler also raises eyebrows!

We weren't alone in that regard.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_St._Louis

The MS St. Louis was a German ocean liner. In 1939, it set off on a voyage in which its captain, Gustav Schröder, tried to find homes for over 900 Jewish refugees from Germany. After they were denied entry to Cuba, the United States, and Canada, the refugees were finally accepted in various European countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, and France. Historians have estimated that approximately a quarter of them died in death camps during World War II.

Apart from a hiccup in Limerick in 1904, the Limerick Pogrom (more correctly a boycott) and head cases like Oliver J Flanagan and Charles Bewley, the Irish were tolerant of the Jewish community although indifferent to the Holocaust.

Irish Guitarist · 16-08-2017 3:29pm

Saying Father Ted was a shitty comedy full of shitty catchphrases. People will go on about how your man in The Big Bang Theory says 'bazinga' or how Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances uses the same catchphrases like "the lady of the house speaking" but they think twenty odd minutes of "DRINK FECK ARSE GIRLS", "Will you have a cup of tea? Go on go on go on go on...", and "the money was just resting in my account" is comedy genius.

fatknacker · 16-08-2017 3:32pm

Calling someone with mental health issues a 'cray-cray' while tapping the side of your head. Or whirring your finger around the side of your head.

Zulu · 16-08-2017 3:34pm

Round dodging

flaneur · 16-08-2017 3:39pm

Suggesting that that 70s/80s children TV show, Bosco, was a load of manure.

Whispered · 16-08-2017 3:40pm

Malari wrote: »

What IS it about? I've never heard anything about that. It must REALLY be taboo. :P

This is one always observed in our family, carry over from the previous generation. As it was explained to me; money was tight and the dead were buried in their "good clothes". Often a new pair of shoes would be bought for them to be buried in. As the body is laid out on a table, including the shoes, new/unworn shoes on a table signifies death. It's so silly but the panic has been bred into me

Squeeonline · 16-08-2017 3:46pm

Resist ZOG wrote: »

No it's not.

Germany, most of Scandinavia, Austria...They wouldnt think twice about sunbathing naked or going into the sauna. Just my experience.

RhubarbCrumble · 16-08-2017 3:49pm

Couple of posts here saying 'death'. Have to say Ireland is probably one of the few places where death ISN'T a bit taboo.

Faith+1 · 16-08-2017 3:50pm

Chatting up the opposite sex in a non-drinking environment. So much more acceptable in other Countries.

16-08-2017 4:02pm

These thread always produce posters who are projecting their own issues on the nation usually( but not confined) to sexual repression, either they are genuinely not aware that they are doing it or else its a coping mechanism of some sort.

Own your repression.

Your Face · 16-08-2017 4:17pm

mariaalice wrote: »

These thread always produce posters who are projecting their own issues on the nation usually( but not confined) to sexual repression, either they are genuinely not aware that they are doing it or else its a coping mechanism of some sort.

Own your repression.

Right back at you

pickarooney · 16-08-2017 5:02pm

Whispered wrote: »

This is one always observed in our family, carry over from the previous generation. As it was explained to me; money was tight and the dead were buried in their "good clothes". Often a new pair of shoes would be bought for them to be buried in. As the body is laid out on a table, including the shoes, new/unworn shoes on a table signifies death. It's so silly but the panic has been bred into me

Money's so tight you waste it on shoes for someone who'll never walk in them. There's a word for that but it's not 'taboo'!

Whispered · 16-08-2017 5:23pm

pickarooney wrote: »

Money's so tight you waste it on shoes for someone who'll never walk in them. There's a word for that but it's not 'taboo'!

I wasn't talking about taboos. I was answering a question about where the superstition came from. You'll find that a lot of superstitions are a bit silly really.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer · 17-08-2017 12:56am

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

Ireland is very weird about this. I find, at least in the rural west where I grew up, taking religion too seriously is viewed negatively but so is being completely irreligious.

scoey · 17-08-2017 2:14am

(This is just my shot at thinking of an Irish taboo, not which side I agree with..)

Questioning whether having a child with Down Syndrome is actually a blessing and saying anything against the whole "special" culture that plays up a rosey image and trivialises the reality of taking care of a child/adult with Down Syndrome.

9 out of 10 cases in the UK where screening detects down syndrome end in abortion.
In Iceland it's close to 100 percent.

Thespoofer · 17-08-2017 2:54am

Phone boxes on mountain tops.

RayM · 17-08-2017 3:18am

Irish Guitarist wrote: »

Saying Father Ted was a shitty comedy full of shitty catchphrases. People will go on about how your man in The Big Bang Theory says 'bazinga' or how Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances uses the same catchphrases like "the lady of the house speaking" but they think twenty odd minutes of "DRINK FECK ARSE GIRLS", "Will you have a cup of tea? Go on go on go on go on...", and "the money was just resting in my account" is comedy genius.

If you ever say that again...

scoey · 17-08-2017 3:25am

Irish Guitarist wrote: »

Saying Father Ted was a shitty comedy full of shitty catchphrases. People will go on about how your man in The Big Bang Theory says 'bazinga' or how Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances uses the same catchphrases like "the lady of the house speaking" but they think twenty odd minutes of "DRINK FECK ARSE GIRLS", "Will you have a cup of tea? Go on go on go on go on...", and "the money was just resting in my account" is comedy genius.

Father Ted was funny despite the catchphrases, not because of them.

HairyCabbage · 17-08-2017 8:57am

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

Ireland is very weird about this. I find, at least in the rural west where I grew up, taking religion too seriously is viewed negatively but so is being completely irreligious.

I agree, you absolutely can't say that you just don't believe in God at all, people look at you weird and try to persuade you but you also don't want to actively practice religion!

flaneur · 21-08-2017 8:57pm

HairyCabbage wrote: »

I agree, you absolutely can't say that you just don't believe in God at all, people look at you weird and try to persuade you but you also don't want to actively practice religion!

It’s the old Irish problem of most of the population being raised by a school system that is largely based on religious “faith formation” (brainwashing) from about age 5. Then you’ve got to couple that with the fact that, despite all the recent social progress and liberalism, it is only a decade and a bit over being Europe’s Bible Belt a a still has attitudes to abortion that are more in line with the US Deep South.

steddyeddy · 21-08-2017 9:09pm

murpho999 wrote: »

I don't think people understand the word taboo.

Taboo means something that people don't talk about not peculiarities that people find odd.

Well it means things that go against social norms too Murph.

Spider Web · 21-08-2017 10:11pm

Squeeonline wrote: »

Public nudity.

The idea of going swimming or into a sauna naked is so normal in most countries. Our hangover from catholism being rammed down our throats means that we are generally quite ashamed of our own naked bodies.

I dunno. Not really one to buy this Catholic shame thing. It's more just wishing to keep one's nudity private. It's not restricted to Catholic countries at all.

RobbingBandit · 21-08-2017 10:23pm

Liking cats, but sure if you died one of those would eat your face while a dog would guard your corpse.

On the public nudity thing 59% of Irish are ugly buggers and we don't tan well neither.

cbreeze · 21-08-2017 10:45pm

Eating swans

bananabread12 · 21-08-2017 10:45pm

Success.

Can't have ****ing anything in this country.

whisky_galore · 23-08-2017 9:13am

Eating horsemeat, knowingly.

Consuming horse meat would solve our loose and straying equines problem straight away.

Your Face · 23-08-2017 9:19am

Being any way eccentric in public.

23-08-2017 10:44am

whisky_galore wrote: »

Eating horsemeat, knowingly.

Consuming horse meat would solve our loose and straying equines problem straight away.

never knew we had a horse problem

whisky_galore · 23-08-2017 10:46am

6541 wrote: »

never knew we had a horse problem

http://www.nationalist.ie/news/home/218825/collecting-stray-horses-costs-tipp-council-40-000.html

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/rise-in-number-of-stray-horses-euthanised-304857.html

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/slaughter-of-stray-horses-costs-125m-in-five-years-29358519.html

bluedex · 23-08-2017 1:40pm

murpho999 wrote: »

I don't think people understand the word taboo.

Taboo means something that people don't talk about not peculiarities that people find odd.

Not liking GAA is certainly something that cannot be talked about in Ireland! It's one of the most taboo things ever.

kunst nugget · 23-08-2017 1:47pm

castletownman wrote: »

Suicide.

Mental health

Wouldn't have considered them taboo at all. In fact, it's probably gotten to the stage that it's taboo in Ireland for minor celebrities or bloggers not to have mental health issues…

flaneur · 23-08-2017 1:54pm

A lot or stuff used to be a taboo in Ireland. That isn't the case so much now. It's a far more open and honest society about most issues.

I suspect that's why you're also seeing a lot more discussion of transparency and corruption etc

Alf Veedersane · 23-08-2017 1:59pm

Eating disorders. Especially men with an ED.

kunst nugget · 23-08-2017 2:00pm

Fairy forts!!! They're still a taboo unique to Ireland, especially amongst politicians that look like extras from a Deliverance sequel.

kunst nugget · 23-08-2017 2:01pm

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Eating disorders. Especially men with an ED.

Wouldn't have thought that was necessarily unique to Ireland…

Alf Veedersane · 23-08-2017 2:03pm

kunst nugget wrote: »

Wouldn't have thought that was necessarily unique to Ireland…

Maybe you're right.

Maybe I skimmed the OP and didn't spot the taboos in Ireland not taboos elsewhere.....

As you were.

Taboos in Ireland

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