Home thoughts on Ireland
Before I begin these few notes, I am sure that they will read like an assortment of clichés as much that has been said about Ireland seems true. Much of the rain really is soft and gentle. The people are warm, helpful and friendly. They seemed to be genuinely pleased to see you.
There are down sides and to me one of the worse is the laxity of the planning system. Isolated bungalows are being erected almost anywhere and new ribbon development is being created. Much of the new building is either pretentiously mock-Georgian or very drab. This is not helped by the often gray colouring including the roofs although the latter is traditional. But would I welcome the almost garish use of colours on frontages in the main streets of little towns? The bungalow and plastic window is ubiquitous as elegantly pointed out by Pete McCarthy ( McCarthy ‘s Bar; A Journey of Discovery in Ireland (2000), 116 passim)
However there is much to rejoice about in the towns. So many of the shops are still family owned and often have old Victorian shop fronts and lettering. What a contrast in central Cork with the branches of Body Shop, Monsoon, Marks and Spencers etc. Advertisement hoardings often seem to be unchallenged and there is some very ugly development marring the waterside around Cork Harbour and more is planned. More of a dilemma must be how to meet the pressures for growth associated with the economic boom. Some settings of the ‘big houses’ has been intruded into by new houses and retail sheds. Aesthetically this is unacceptable but one can imagine a debate as to why the views of the Protestant remnants of the Ascendancy should have their views preserved at the cost of affordable housing for ‘real’ Irish people. The gentry’s case was not helped when one chatelaine explained that she had moved her baths so that they could get a better view and then moaned over the encroachment of new development into that view.
The gentry do seem to live in a world of their own keeping close links with each other. Most have very pronounced English accents although the Earl of Rosse affects an Irish one. After his family’s 800 years in the country, you might expect the Marquess of Waterford to sound Irish!!! They often seem to care more about horses and fishing than anything else and we certainly saw some beautiful horses. At the other end of the spectrum, tinkers still are in evidence and can, and do, take over towns from time to time causing great disruption.
I was impressed that the road signs are in kilometres and are often very c;lear. New motorways and road improvements are being added with the partial help of EU money. The number plates are very sensible beginning with a clear identification of the year in which the car was licensed; 05, 06 and 07 etc.
The food was excellent. Lovely butter and often great bread although I found some soda bread too dry for my taste. Raspberries were wonderful and the fish seemed magnificent (I did not eat any but those who did, raved about it). Cashel Blue cheeses tasted even better in its natural home. As someone pointed out, Ireland seems to be only place where you get potatoes with potatoes and this seemed to be true. Mash would be accompanied with boiled potatoes.
Railways were in evidence but not many trains. I wondered whether one could have a holiday by train. I remember reading of Stephen Dedalus’ journey to Cork from Dublin via Mallow. I would like to try it.
Before I begin these few notes, I am sure that they will read like an assortment of clichés as much that has been said about Ireland seems true. Much of the rain really is soft and gentle. The people are warm, helpful and friendly. They seemed to be genuinely pleased to see you.
There are down sides and to me one of the worse is the laxity of the planning system. Isolated bungalows are being erected almost anywhere and new ribbon development is being created. Much of the new building is either pretentiously mock-Georgian or very drab. This is not helped by the often gray colouring including the roofs although the latter is traditional. But would I welcome the almost garish use of colours on frontages in the main streets of little towns? The bungalow and plastic window is ubiquitous as elegantly pointed out by Pete McCarthy ( McCarthy ‘s Bar; A Journey of Discovery in Ireland (2000), 116 passim)
However there is much to rejoice about in the towns. So many of the shops are still family owned and often have old Victorian shop fronts and lettering. What a contrast in central Cork with the branches of Body Shop, Monsoon, Marks and Spencers etc. Advertisement hoardings often seem to be unchallenged and there is some very ugly development marring the waterside around Cork Harbour and more is planned. More of a dilemma must be how to meet the pressures for growth associated with the economic boom. Some settings of the ‘big houses’ has been intruded into by new houses and retail sheds. Aesthetically this is unacceptable but one can imagine a debate as to why the views of the Protestant remnants of the Ascendancy should have their views preserved at the cost of affordable housing for ‘real’ Irish people. The gentry’s case was not helped when one chatelaine explained that she had moved her baths so that they could get a better view and then moaned over the encroachment of new development into that view.
The gentry do seem to live in a world of their own keeping close links with each other. Most have very pronounced English accents although the Earl of Rosse affects an Irish one. After his family’s 800 years in the country, you might expect the Marquess of Waterford to sound Irish!!! They often seem to care more about horses and fishing than anything else and we certainly saw some beautiful horses. At the other end of the spectrum, tinkers still are in evidence and can, and do, take over towns from time to time causing great disruption.
I was impressed that the road signs are in kilometres and are often very c;lear. New motorways and road improvements are being added with the partial help of EU money. The number plates are very sensible beginning with a clear identification of the year in which the car was licensed; 05, 06 and 07 etc.
The food was excellent. Lovely butter and often great bread although I found some soda bread too dry for my taste. Raspberries were wonderful and the fish seemed magnificent (I did not eat any but those who did, raved about it). Cashel Blue cheeses tasted even better in its natural home. As someone pointed out, Ireland seems to be only place where you get potatoes with potatoes and this seemed to be true. Mash would be accompanied with boiled potatoes.
Railways were in evidence but not many trains. I wondered whether one could have a holiday by train. I remember reading of Stephen Dedalus’ journey to Cork from Dublin via Mallow. I would like to try it.
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