Thank You Ireland

[Graham]

Thanks for being such nice hosts. Lovely coastlines and friendly people. :)

[McCauley]

What parts did you visit?

[Graham]

What parts did you visit?

Was based in Gweedore area on the coast, about as North West Ireland as you can get. Family Friend gave his house for 2 weeks. Went to Arranmore. Down to Westport, County Mayo..

http://w0.fast-meteo.com/locationmaps/Gweedore.10.gif

[armenianbodyhair]

Yeah the Irish are the nicest people on Earth. I would love to visit again.

[Graham]

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5074/14492748436_ebd75ca079_b.jpghttps://farm6.staticflickr.com/5158/14535963983_1bc8ac94da_b.jpghttps://farm3.staticflickr.com/2899/14535959953_7eaa00fa13_b.jpghttps://farm4.staticflickr.com/3861/14492750336_ca0a0becf8_h.jpghttps://farm4.staticflickr.com/3880/14514756672_9da8ff224c_b.jpghttps://farm3.staticflickr.com/2907/14512468221_9cc1612d00_h.jpghttps://farm6.staticflickr.com/5569/14329272148_ab6f36d1e2_k.jpghttps://farm4.staticflickr.com/3884/14492744686_536b85c150_h.jpghttps://farm3.staticflickr.com/2899/14515852165_f4d161e8d6_h.jpghttps://farm6.staticflickr.com/5233/14492745986_bd8c3a192b_h.jpghttps://farm3.staticflickr.com/2899/14512464711_014ffd29dc_b.jpghttps://farm3.staticflickr.com/2906/14514454254_ed1bc99a8a_h.jpghttps://farm4.staticflickr.com/3857/14492745276_69fa990aa1_b.jpg

[Graham]

Would have to click to zoom.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5489/14329267298_2ed474fecd_k.jpg

[arcticwolf]

It's pretty, and picturesque, but not many trees.

[Catkin]

It looks beautiful, and very much an Atlantic coastline. I'm in Cornwall at the moment and can see similarities- even the seals :). I love the white houses randomly dotted about in the pictures. Did you find the area generally to be similar to Scotland? Did it feel somewhat like being at places at home?

[Graham]

It looks beautiful, and very much an Atlantic coastline. I'm in Cornwall at the moment and can see similarities- even the seals :). I love the white houses randomly dotted about in the pictures. Did you find the area generally to be similar to Scotland? Did it feel somewhat like being at places at home?

Donegal felt like the Western Isles, the peatland to the poor agricultural land and hills. The accent sounds familiar too. The more soft spoken Ulster accents sound similar to the soft spoken Scots accents. It still feels like Scotland to be honest. Pubs with Celtic flags. People buying Scottish newspapers. It feels like you enter Ireland at connaught. The accent becomes more Irish.

Differences though. Not Leinster, Munster etc.. never went.

Infrastructure -- We have better infrastructure in Britain. Very bumpy windy roads in Ireland, not much railway. a bit behind in the regard.
Land equality - The land isn't taken up by rich land lords like Scotland :(. They can progress in life and buy a plot of land to pass on to children etc.. we are stuck in a class bubble in Britain that Ireland got out of!
Property crash -- You can see the boom and bust. Never seen so many large houses, but you can't tell which ones are empty or not. No jobs going in the construction sector for sure. The building laws are extremely laid back here. In both a good way and bad.
Gaelic football -- You don't see many Tri-colour Irish flags. It's all county flags supporting the local football team, a big part of culture. Even the registration plates have the county codes on them.

[Graham]

It's pretty, and picturesque, but not many trees.

There's not much colourful plants either. You can see why it's called the Emerald Isles. Everything green.

[dado]

where are the potato fields

[Graham]

where are the potato fields

I saw mainly sheep. Don't know. Where I was based seemed more like peatland & bogs, like our Highlands. Shitty poor land for farming grows tatties.

[Catkin]

Donegal felt like the Western Isles, the peatland to the poor agricultural land and hills. The accent sounds familiar too. The more soft spoken Ulster accents sound similar to the soft spoken Scots accents. It still feels like Scotland to be honest. Pubs with Celtic flags. People buying Scottish newspapers. It feels like you enter Ireland at connaught. The accent becomes more Irish.

Differences though. Not Leinster, Munster etc.. never went.

Infrastructure -- We have better infrastructure in Britain. Very bumpy windy roads in Ireland, not much railway. a bit behind in the regard.
Land equality - The land isn't taken up by rich land lords like Scotland :(. They can progress in life and buy a plot of land to pass on to children etc.. we are stuck in a class bubble in Britain that Ireland got out of!
Property crash -- You can see the boom and bust. Never seen so many large houses, but you can't tell which ones are empty or not. No jobs going in the construction sector for sure. The building laws are extremely laid back here. In both a good way and bad.
Gaelic football -- You don't see many Tri-colour Irish flags. It's all county flags supporting the local football team, a big part of culture. Even the registration plates have the county codes on them.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Ireland for a day. I caught the train from Dublin down the coast to the town my grandad grew up in (that train route was good, and beautiful- all along the water). I was surprised it all seemed so familiar- I kept forgetting I wasn't somewhere at home. Within an hour of being there I was giving directions to tourists. Maybe genetic memory :P. That was in County Wicklow. I didn't think the accents there seemed very strong. A lovely seaside town though.

I've heard that about the roads, and that you can see the difference when you cross into N. Ireland. The land availability's good though- that's like in NZ; there are sections of land for sale everywhere and it's really common to buy a plot, build a house, and be in it within 3 months or so. A nice freedom. At least they won't be having a housing shortage like us anyway.

[Graham]

This is the place I was at on google street. We were giving for next to nowt. :) His cousin is the lord provist of Glasgow (http://www.donegaldemocrat.ie/news/donegal-news/donegal-woman-becomes-lord-provost-of-glasgow-1-3849537) btw, Sadie Docherty(Boyle). Her parents house is next door.


https://www.google.co.uk/maps/search/gweedore+bunbeg/@55.073042,-8.292861,3a,75y,328.28h,71.7t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1soCJIs0VNRvYZzJ1X9HuQiA!2e0

[Grace O'Malley]

A lovely thread Graham. Thanks for posting your thoughts on your holiday. My dad was from a couple of counties down in Boyle, Co Roscommon. Western Ireland is beautiful but poor compared to some other counties in Ireland. A lot of forest was cleared by the British. The Irish Government is slowly planting more trees.

http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/forestry/forestservicegeneralinformation/abouttheforestservice/IrishForestryAbriefhistory200810.pdf

[Graham]

Ireland would look lovely with Scots pine. That is happening here. Growing the ancient woodland back. Our favourite tree. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-24975451)

[Theron]

Great pics Graham! I went to touring through Donegal two years ago and it was a great experience. Seems they've kept their Gaelic roots intact which is great to see.