BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Irish Culture Stylish to be Irish

YES it is! We've come a long way, kids. From the good old days when "No Irish Need Apply" and the cartoon Irish with a jug in one hand and nothing in the other (God forbid it be a woman), it's now a privilege to have an Irish accent and considered chic to holiday there---even better to actually own a piece of sod. (Imagine if the peace process had accelerated a bit...) Irish food products are showing up at the local grocer and of course Bailey's Irish Cream has been around forever. Three cheers for Irish Public Relations.
So what's your take on this? Has it changed your way of life at all? Do you feel empowered? Is there a little embarrassment at the back of it when you see Irish Americans making fools of themselves on 17 March? (Did I have to ask that?) When, how, will Ireland really settle down and take her place in the world---comfortably? I mean, I love that Ireland is stepping up to what she's entitled to, from the standpoint of smarts, and the contributions she's made to this poor old planet---and boys, they were plenty, from sweat equity in every city on the globe to the civilising power of the missions---but I sense a little residual from the bad old days, a feeling that the bubble could burst any second. How Irish is that? What do you think, my kin, is it possible for the Irish to settle comfortably into honorable comfort and prosperity, or will we always be waiting for the skeleton to pop out of the closet or the family disgrace to creep down the attic steps, ready to roar, "More beer or I'll appear?"
Love you and leave you,
Mary Ellen
P.S. Do write, it's been ages and I'd really like to know what you think. Am I just full of it, or do you have something to add?

Whilst reading your posting, I was reminded of a quote from Yeats I saw on a T-shirt....which is now one of my favorites: "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy which sustained him through temporary periods of joy."
I think it fits...what do you think?

I don't know; didn't see the T-shirt. Could it have been a little looser? Ow ow ow, ducking and running.

As to the quote, love it. Yeats was quite the lad. A mystic. I was so happy to find that about him a couple of years ago. I was so afraid that the Church had smothered the mystics in Ireland with obedience. I hope you understand the sense in which I say this. You would know I'm not being "anti." I've just heard so much lately of the bad old days when it was more of a cultural and social dictatorship rather than a spiritual body. But that wasn't what we were talking about, was it? Hmmm. Please send your address in a private e-mail and I'll send you "Rosie Dunne," a marvelous, contemporary novel written by a young Irish woman. It shows such a different society and country than the one I've loved all my life. There really are huge changes going on there now, more than massive mortgages and a chicken in every pot...and the A3 motorway planned to run adjacent to the Hill of Tara.
Once, when I came back from a trip over, I groused to my ever-suffering spouse that I was _never_ going over there again. I was tired of being laughed at for being a Yank and did they think I was so thick I couldn't figure out the joke? I count that time as the beginning of the change. The country cousins had just started to get a sense of themselves and weren't taking any prisoners. They just didn't know that I came in peace. (My poor Aunt was mortified, as she listened and watched the antics of her clever, educated offspring.) Never mind. I recovered after a couple of years and knew that the high spirits weren't really the product of any sense of meaness, but some legitimate and necessary practice rounds that would be put to good use as they moved out into the world beyond the back of the beyond, from where we had all started off.
If we don't speak again before the big hoe-down next week, have a wonderful holiday and I wish you all the love and peace surrounding the season.
Ta,
Mary Ellen

I sent my son the info about the proposed motorway at the Tara site. He's sending it on to his friends too. We hope adding our protest will make a difference.
Happy New Year!

Hello Jeri:

Good for you. When it comes to protests, every vote counts. Even the suggestion that they should think of such a thing? Did you see the photos? Magnificent!

They already have roads.

Patooie!
Mary Ellen

---but I sense a little residual from the bad old days, a feeling that the bubble could burst any second. How Irish is that? What do you think, my kin, is it possible for the Irish to settle comfortably into honorable comfort and prosperity, or will we always be waiting for the skeleton to pop out of the closet or the family disgrace to creep down the attic steps, ready to roar, "More beer or I'll appear?"
Love you and leave you,
Mary Ellen
P.S. Do write, it's been ages and I'd really like to know what you think. Am I just full of it, or do you have something to add? [/quote]


For me personally, if things are going good, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. I can't really *be* happy because I know that something is going to come along and wreck it. The proverbial skeleton is always peeking around the corner at me making sure that I don't enjoy the moment.

When I was little, I always heard of the 'luck of the Irish'...but I never realized fully what it meant until I grew up.

Thanks for visiting, Suz, it's taking me back to posts I'd forgotten all about, and I'm getting a kick out of them second time around. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I come from a time when about all most of the Irish had was luck, so I know about that. Sheesh, we sure did grow up lucky! Then we learned to make our own and got even luckier.

It's very hard to let go of the "other shoe" mentality, but if we are to be fully actualized people, that's something to work on. One of the antidotes to the problem is faith. Maybe that was at the bottom of all the luck. <img src="/images/graemlins/angel.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for allowing me to be here. I was already getting the newsletter, so I thought I was able to access the forum, too. Wrong <g>. I couldn't sign in, so I registered. Hopefully that doesn't mean that I have two memberships now. One is all I need. I could think of worse problems to have, though <g>.

I have faith that we'll get through it somehow. He can get us through anything the world can dish out. It's just the 'during' that gives me such a problem. I know Who is in control ultimately, and He has His own plans...I just have to let go and let God, as they say. I'm working on it <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />