Ireland – Enjoy the Differences

One of the best things about travelling to different countries is that you get to see what things are like in other parts of the world.  As you travel to new places, you will usually find something that is done differently there, compared to the way it is done in your home town.  I’m always on the lookout for these differences and enjoy them when I find them.  It’s kind of like a cultural treasure hunt.   Here are some of the differences I discovered in Ireland, compared to the way things are in Australia. 

Brian Boru Harp

This harp is the oldest surviving Irish harp and is the model for the insignia of Ireland.  Legend held that the harp belonged to the high king of Ireland, Brian Boru, however, the existence of this harp does not date back quite that far. It probably dates from the later middle ages, but is still called the Brian Boru Harp though!

Made from Willow and Oak, with 29 strings.  The elaborate designs, silver neck mount and embedded crystal suggest that it belonged to a master musician, such as would have played for the Noble households of Gaelic Ireland.

Interestingly, the Brian Boru Harp is also the official trademarked insignia for the Guinness brand.  Guinness trademarked their emblem first, in 1876.  The Guinness harp is always shown with the straight edge on the left.  When the harp was made the national emblem of the Republic of Ireland, the government had to turn the harp around the other way, so as not to infringe on the Guinness copyright.  So the national emblem is always shown with the straight edge showing on the right. 

The Irish Euro has the Harp on the back of the coins

We had been in Ireland for one day when I realised that the Brian Boru harp also features on the back of the Irish Euro.  We were trying to find out some information about the harp and we read that the harp featured on the back of the Irish Euro.  And you can laugh now, but until I read that sentence, I didn’t even realise that the Euro was different between the countries in the EU.  I thought that because it was one currency, it was a generic currency used everywhere.  Too funny.  Of course, then all the Euro we had got tipped out on the table, to see which country our coins came from!  

“Door Chains”  –  ??

We don’t have these in Australia.  I don’t even know what the technical term is, and google search didn’t help me either.  (I guess I will have to wait for some nice Irish builder to tell me the real name for them in the comments…). 

Whatever they are called, there are chains inside the doors that pull them shut while you are not looking.  And in the middle of the night when you try to sneak around quietly and not wake up your travelling companions, they make the door shut with a very loud noise!

Pull chain shower switches

Again, probably not the technical term, but I am at a loss here.

So first time in Ireland, and we arrive in the countryside to our first Air BnB house.  We unpack all our gear and then someone wanted to have a shower.  The bathroom was beautiful, except, we couldn’t make the shower work.  Tried pushing all the buttons, turning the dials, nothing worked.  Took photos of it all and sent it to the host, asking for help.  She was very kind, and then she asked if we had pulled the string.  No?  What string?  Go back to the bathroom for another look.  Oh! Ok, there is a string hanging from the roof which we didn’t notice before.  ( She’s probably thinking “dumb Australians” as this point )

Well now we know that you pull the string to turn on the circuit for the hot water system, and then it all works perfectly.  (In Australia, you just turn on the tap and hot water comes out)

Mini Supermarkets at fuel stations

Little local chain supermarkets are often found with the fuel stations.  Not the 5-item convenience shop that we have in Australia, but actual useful supermarkets, where you can really go to do your weekly shopping if you wanted to.

Newgrange

This is a prehistoric monument found in County Meath.  Archaeologists date this passage tomb as being built around 3200 BC, which makes the structure older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian Pyramids.  From the entry, you can walk along a narrow stone passage that ends in a round chamber with a corbeled roof.  At dawn during the Winter Solstice, a small window above the entry passage allows the rising sun to illuminate both the passage and the round chamber for approximately 17 minutes each morning on the shortest days of the year.

This site is a UNESCO world heritage site.   

Celtic High Crosses

High Crosses, decorated with figure sculpture depicting stories from the bible.  It is thought that the early monks crafted these crosses from sandstone in the middle ages to help tell the biblical stories to their congregations. 

Lanes and roads are only named with numbers

National Primary Roads are numbered N1 to N50

National Secondary Roads numbered N51 to N99

Regional Roads are numbered R100 to R999

Local Primary Roads are numbered from L1000 to L4999

All the roundabouts have names though.

The difference?  All the roads in Australia have a name.  Roundabouts are just like an intersection and are not given any special designation.

Narrow country roads that are two way

Not all the roads are scary.  The National Primary and Secondary roads are fairly normal.  The Regional Roads start to get a little more challenging, while the Local Primary roads are “hang on to your hat” material.  If the road doesn’t even have a number, just say “no”.

Some of the country roads in Ireland have to be seen to be believed.  They are literally one lane wide, but traffic goes in both directions.  To compensate for the lack of passing space, there are little cut-outs at various places where a car can try to duck off the road and suck its stomach in, while the car coming the other way passes by with millimetres to spare.  When you meet head-on and there is no passing room, then one of the cars has to reverse up the road until they find a little cut-out to try and squeeze into. 

There are no breakdown lanes or sides of the road.  Just the road and then nothing.  Sometimes there is grass on the side, and sometimes there is a stone wall or a hedge that is literally right next to the road.  Not to mention that the speed limit is often very high. 

Take this road for example.  Admittedly, this one actually has yellow lines marking the side of the road – but the speed limit is 80 kph ! 

This is what the road looks like with a car on it. 

Now would you like to be doing 80 kph on that road around a blind corner and find yourself in the path of another car??

I actually don’t have any photos of the hair-raising roads, because I was either hanging on to the steering wheel for dear life, or navigating while leaning into the centre of the car. (Too busy surviving to take photos!)

Absence of road indicator signs

There are hardly any road signs to indicate what is coming next.  You are on your own out there! When you do see a yellow sign, you had better pay attention, because it can only end badly if you don’t.

Distance marker signs have the furthest away town listed at the top, and the closest town listed at the bottom of the sign.

Here’s a fluke photo of one of these signs.  We were actually more interested in the sheep on the road than the actual sign at the time.

So many Pubs

Pubs are everywhere, sometimes they are very small, only 3 or 4 tables and the bar.  Many of them are decorated in themes such as horseracing, golf, whiskey.  All of them tend to look at you strangely if you ask for a glass of wine.

The bank pub in Dublin

Dan Murphy’s Bar – was funny to see this, because we have a liquor supermarket chain in Australia called Dan Murphys.

The Sandtrap golf-themed bar in Killarney, and the famous Temple Bar in Dublin

There’s Irish beer, Irish whiskey, & Irish gin but there’s no Irish wine

I am a wine drinker.  Since I don’t drink beer, whiskey or gin, and wine is like a special import that strange people ask for, I started to ask for lemonade when we were at the pubs.  But I don’t like artificial sweetener either ( fussy, I know) so I was trying to find a lemonade that just had the sugar in it.   

Lemonade is a sugar-free substance in Ireland.

I was trying to find a lemonade that just had the sugar in it, but it was not to be.   Any form of clear lemonade has artificial sweetener in it.

The cafes all have fresh flowers and a jug of milk on the tables.  

The flowers were beautiful  The first time we saw the milk jug on the table, we thought that the waitress had forgotten to clear the table after the last customer.  But then we realised that there were little jugs of milk on every table, just waiting for people to come in and use. 

Flat white coffee only comes in one size, and it is smaller than a cappuccino

This one took a while to come to terms with.  Just, why?

Green Letterboxes

Anyone can leave the country

When you leave the country, you don’t go through any customs department.  You just get on the plane and don’t let the door hit you on the way out!

Ireland – Enjoy the Differences

I hope you enjoyed the differences I discovered as much as I did. Thanks for reading.

Where will you stay when you visit Ireland?

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