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Why do the British know so little about us?

FrDougal

I just read the below RTE article about how little the British know about Ireland.

https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2020/0224/1117330-why-do-british-people-know-so-little-about-ireland/

It reminds me of the time that Beth Webster, a member of BBCs Eggheads quiz team, thought that the population of the Republic of Ireland was 24.8 million (when given multiple choice options of 4.8m, 14.8m or 24.8m). She is one of the best quizzers in the UK and she probably never got such a basic question so wrong in her entire quizzing career.

Are we the dark side of the moon to the British or something?

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Rodin

Badly Drunk Boy wrote: »

Five minutes before the News goes out, somebody says "There's a story about Ireland and it mentions their Prime Minister which they call the Taoiseach. It's pronounced 'tee-shock'. Can you remember that?"

How hard is that? It's not as if they're trying to pronounce 'Muireann' correctly!

Lots of Irish can't pronounce Taoiseach.
Many add a 'h' after the T

Cal4567

Sunny Disposition wrote: »

Britain has other close neighbours, such as France and Belgium, Ireland doesn't have any other country so close. British media is very widely consumed here, Irish media is irrelevant in the UK. The Brits are not stupid or illiterate or uneducated, they just have other things to think about. The real question is why are Irish people offended that people in other countries don't think about Ireland very often.

Agree 100%. Again, if you have never left Ireland to live somewhere else such as the UK, Australia or the US, you only think about here. We are the whole world. There really is something to be had about immigrating for a year or 2 and seeing the rest of the world.

Yes, I have many examples of UK nationals not really having a clue about us, but why should they? Am I offended? Not in the slightest. Some of us though do want to be offended. Usually it is someone with extra republican tendencies I have noticed. It usually starts of with a deep distrust with all things UK based and just goes on from there.

Funny enough. I 've noticed it gets easier, the older you get. So, it's not a life long affliction!!

[Deleted User]

TheBoyConor wrote: »

or the way they refer to the country as Eire.

Everything about them is just looking down their big protestant noses at us here in Ireland. They always have.

Hey, I know your reply to this is going to be something like "What do you mean a stamp ?, I don't use backwards things like stamp" but .....

Did you ever see a stamp ?

Irish-Coast-Guard-Stamps?width=300&height=430

Irish-Coast-Guard-Stamps?width=300&height=430

Cal4567

Rodin wrote: »

Éire is the official name of the state as per Article 4 of the constituion.

Actually, I think that is down to the UK education system. The few times we are mentioned, it is around the split in the early 1920s and how Eire came into being I think, in the 30s? Correct me if I am wrong on that second date.

Was told that once by an English teacher friend of mine. No reason to not believe him.

Thelonious Monk

Of course we know loads about Britain, our big brother across the sea, and nearly all of our culture is based on theirs. Tea, Coronation st, football, rugby, fry ups...
How much would the average Irish person know about Wales? Probably feck all.

Hamsterchops

bubblypop wrote: »

How much do the Irish know about Britain? Or the British?

Good question, it definitely goes both ways, although the balance is topped in our favour due to UK TV and media domination of the Irish airwaves, hence we have wall to wall coverage of what's happening with our nearest neighbour, while they do not have wall to wall RTE or TV3 News coverage of what's happening here.

4 Million Vs 67 Million.

WesternZulu

thelad95 wrote: »

That Channel 4 video has been doing the rounds for many years. I'll put my hands up, I would probably make a poor enough effort at partioning Wales and Scotland from England too

Fair enough, but the difference is that we don't share an international border with Wales, Scotland, or England.

Sheep_shear

WesternZulu wrote: »

I lived there and it's not an exaggeration to say they don't know anything about Ireland even the university educated ones. Most think we're part of the UK!

Nah, that's not true.

I think it's fair to say that Irish people know so much about Britain because of cultural impact (tv, soccer etc). It's very rare for your average Brit to hear about Ireland in passing on a day to day basis like we do, because well why would they?

The ignorance used to really annoy me when I first moved here but not at all now really.

The again some of the close bonds our countries have don't make things easier. Like at work I was asked a lot by colleagues about how I got on with my application to stay on after leaving the EU. Each time I had to explain Irish nationals were exempt, I think I pushed the confusion deeper into their minds! :pac:

[Deleted User]

Its do with the education system and how they study history.

Hisory was my favorite subject in school and we had

Europe Since 1870
Book by James Joll

And

Ireland Since The Famine
by F.S.L. Lyons

Therefore we had a very good all-round view of modern history.

Hamsterchops

Gerry T wrote: »

For starters you know where wales and scotland is in relation to ingurland. Only for NI has northern in its title most UK people dont know, where it is or where belfast / dublin are.

Most UK people :cool:

Talking of starters....

buried

The vast majority don't know anything about their history, the real history of their island, including the most darkest aspects of it. The vast majority of the people who worship the royal family aren't even aware of what they are and what they always were, an interbred clan of continental European caravan families that were constantly either marrying or at war with each other, and when the wars kicked off, it was the ordinary person from their own roads and streets that were sent to the slaughter

Church on Tuesday

chrissb8 wrote: »

Because then you don't understand things like why a border in Ireland is such a contentious thing. Y'know, relevant important things informed by the modern preceding history which is still felt to this day.

Or you end up making a comedy set in and around the famine.

Just off the top of my head.

I'm a Irish History grad, I have studied in detail all of those issues. I also lived in England for a time, so have encountered plenty harmless ignorance about Ireland. Most of it pretty funny.

It's just I don't have a chip on my shoulder or an inferiority complex that most Irish people born after 1985 don't have also.

I couldn't give a toss what the English know or don't know about Ireland or what they think of us.

Sheep_shear

buried wrote: »

The vast majority don't know anything about their history, the real history of their island, including the most darkest aspects of it. The vast majority of the people who worship the royal family aren't even aware of what they are and what they always were, an interbred clan of continental European caravan families that were constantly either marrying or at war with each other, and when the wars kicked off, it was the ordinary person from their own roads and streets that were sent to the slaughter

I think most British school children could tell you that the British monarch hasn't had the powers you describe since the time of Cromwell. Basic stuff really.

buried

Sheep_shear wrote: »

I think most British school children could tell you that the British monarch hasn't had the powers you describe since the time of Cromwell. Basic stuff really.

Most British school children wouldn't have a clue who either Thomas or Oliver Cromwell were. I'm talking about their history. The situation I have described happened as recently as World War 1, a thing they glorify to the hilt every November

Roger the cabin boy

TheBoyConor wrote: »

or the way they refer to the country as Eire.

Everything about them is just looking down their big protestant noses at us here in Ireland. They always have.

Absolutely and utterly untrue.

whisky_galore

TheBoyConor wrote: »

or the way they refer to the country as Eire.

Everything about them is just looking down their big protestant noses at us here in Ireland. They always have.

The way Irish people refer to Britain as 'England', the 'English' queen, etc.
The last 'Queen of England' was Elizabeth I.

ThewhiteJesus

i know i don't like them, England more so than Scotland or Wales.

whisky_galore

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

Of course we know loads about Britain, our big brother across the sea, and nearly all of our culture is based on theirs. Tea, Coronation st, football, rugby, fry ups...
How much would the average Irish person know about Wales? Probably feck all.

Something, something rugby, male voice choirs and maybe Tom Jones. That'd be about it.

Muscles Schultz

TheBoyConor wrote: »

or the way they refer to the country as Eire.

Everything about them is just looking down their big protestant noses at us here in Ireland. They always have.

Eire is actually on the Eire soccer shirt you know.

mick087

I lived in Birmingham and London and have to say they had as much interest in Irish History as they did in Scotlands history.

The English seem more interested in French/English history.
Every single English person knows about 1066 and the battle of Agincourt. ww1 ww11
Very few if any have any idea who Michael Collins or Eamon DeValera were. If you say 1916 they think its something to do with World War 1.
Im not saying all but 90% who i talked to on such subjects would be like this.

Sheep_shear

buried wrote: »

Most British school children wouldn't have a clue who either Thomas or Oliver Cromwell were. I'm talking about their history. The situation I have described happened as recently as World War 1, a thing they glorify to the hilt every November

WW1 was started by the King? News to me.

You seem to have a real chip on your shoulder... I've lived here years and think you're talking through your arse tbh.

Zaph

I think this tweet says a lot about the education system in the UK. And if that's not improving continuously then you can hardly expect the population to be much better informed now than they were 30 or 40 years ago.

https://twitter.com/krishgm/status/1269919507675525132

ThewhiteJesus

Muscles Schultz wrote: »

Eire is actually on the Eire soccer shirt you know.

I just found this on the history of the name Eire and it's new to me,

Search Results

The modern Irish Éire evolved from the Old Irish word Ériu, which was the name of a Gaelic goddess. Ériu is generally believed to have been the matron goddess of Ireland, a goddess of sovereignty, or simply a goddess of the land.

Hamsterchops

TheBoyConor wrote: »

Everything about them is just looking down their big protestant noses at us here in Ireland. They always have.

You sound like country yokel who lives in a shed.

partyguinness

Regrettably Britain is a huge part of Irish history which we cannot escape.

The same cannot be said for the British- Ireland is not a large part of their history. They pissed over pretty much the entire world at some stage.

flazio

In answer to the OP, probably the same reason the average Irish person wouldn't know much about the history of, let's say, Iceland for example.

markjbloggs

Working class heroes wrote: »

In fairness if it wasn't for the Genocide(Famine) it probably would have been around 24.8m.

So exactly what would those 24.8 million people be doing here? If the population was ever going to get back to pre-famine levels, it has had plenty of chances to do so. Maybe the message is that this island is incapable of supporting a population of greater than 6-7 million????

Seamai

Rodin wrote: »

Lots of Irish can't pronounce Taoiseach.
Many add a 'h' after the T

Well it's a broad "T" so you use the tip of your tongue against your front teeth, at least in Munster.

chrissb8

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

I'm a Irish History grad, I have studied in detail all of those issues. I also lived in England for a time, so have encountered plenty harmless ignorance about Ireland. Most of it pretty funny.

It's just I don't have a chip on my shoulder or an inferiority complex that most Irish people born after 1985 don't have also.

I couldn't give a toss what the English know or don't know about Ireland or what they think of us.

I was born and lived in the UK the first 9 years of my life. I currently live in the Uk. Have done so the last few years, and at a time when Ireland was being discussed in terms of Brexit it was alarming how many British people didn't understand the implications of a hard border.

History, literally within most people's lifetimes.

This ignorance has fed into the sense of British exceptionalism which props its head up. Be it the war, Churchill etc.

There is a sense of Britain is still great and that is down to what they're spoon-fed in school and constantly being told of their noble achievements. That what they did was good and what they did was right.

This has created the mindset in England you see today. For things like....

Brexit, wherein the voters who voted leave have deluded themselves somehow cutting nearly 500 million people as a market place is fine because they believe they still have enough eminence in the world to be a world power. Which, they are, in some areas, but are absolutely nowhere near to where they were 100 years ago.

Anti-immigration: NHS non national workers being turfed out or having to pay to work for the NHS is an example. The lack of understanding that their nation/empire has always been propped up by those of other nations. Because British people will get Britain back to its "former glory".

It's a pervading sense of blind jingoistic behaviour that is strong here in the UK. The basic level of historical understanding among the average British person is alarming. They have a world history and they barely know any of it. I could tell you the basic history of Ireland from the famine upwards and most could tell you important aspects of Irish history.

Being sensitive to your shared history as a nation means you can understand, grown and learn. As pointed out above that has not been the case and as an Irish person, bothers me in the extreme that they were so unbothered about the border and what it means to Ireland and what it could do. If they thought better of us and knew better of us, even just that issue I wouldn't be bothered. But they don't and other nations/people suffer because of it.

WesternZulu

Muscles Schultz wrote: »

Eire is actually on the Eire soccer shirt you know.

Éire is on the shirt. Eire on the other hand means burden.

I get a sense sometimes that a lot Irish have an inferiority complex in relation to the UK. You see it here in the thread in statements like "but why would anyone abroad care about little old Ireland" as an excuse for ignorance.

British people are lovely, I lived in Wales and have nothing but good things to say about them. However, their ignorance about Ireland is inexcusable in my book.

You'll very commonly get the UK media claim someone Irish as British or include Ireland in the UK whether its through a graphic or its implied. I find it hard to believe that the same media would call someone from Latvia a Soviet or include Lithuania in a map of Russia.

A basis understanding of Ireland would be nice. You see it in the commentary on Brexit how this lack of insight comes to a head. Ireland, and Leo in particular, was viewed nearly as treacherous for not going along with what the UK wanted. It was if some people could not comprehend that Ireland was doing what was best for them rather than what was best for the UK.