Differences (rep Ireland) Irish V UK

As an Irish person who has lived in England many years, one cultural difference is that in Ireland there is a tendency to tell people what they think they would like to hear and not to be willing to be too direct or too imposing.

So you can say yes to tea, but only if they are making one anyway, you say not to a a drink so as not to appear greedy, but actually mean yes etc.

It is a peculiar set of cultural norms. When my DD was getting her A Level results, my dad phoned my sister to hear how my DD did, in case it didn't go well, rather than just call me!!

And more recent history too, despite the rather belated apology from the British government, I've met a scary number of British people who think 'The IRA started Bloody Sunday and were carrying weapons and those poor soldiers had no choice but to shoot to kill'. It's a very deliberate thing by British media and education to paint the Troubles as if they had almost no part in it, I wouldn't necessarily blame said people for having no understanding of it.

Yes there are differences especially in small day to day things. I have one parent from each country and they both found they needed to adapt when living in the other country

People actually dress up for a wedding in Ireland vs here 😆

I have a gigantic Irish family (Dublin) and don't recognise anything in your post.

This! One person didn't give a gift at my wedding and I never told a soul let alone talked about her behind her back.

My mums family is in Mayo, dads family is English and I grew up in London.

What I learnt is that there is an enormous gulf between what Irish people say and do! They might not explicitly talk about class but the snobbery is unbelievable.

There is clearly a middle/upper class that exists they just don’t call it that.

It is disturbing how limited the average British person's understanding of Irish history can be. It wasn't just a famine; it was genocide.

It was just not taught & the press reports here obviously have a strong bias.

Of course there is cultural difference, but I don’t recognise much of what you have said.

some British people know loads about the historical
tension in Ireland, and some British people know nothing about British political history.
It’s a ridiculous set of generalisations.

I think the money for weddings is being somewhat misrepresented! While it is true that €100 per person would be standard as a gift for a wedding (more for relative or close friends) and people are so generous, most people getting married would never comment on someone giving less and would be grateful for any present and for the guests making an effort to come to the wedding.

I was obviously raised Catholic & had a Catholic education.

I'm grew up in London to Irish immigrant parents. Culturally I think there is quite a divide and the vast majority of my friends are 2nd gen immigrants because we just clicked better.

I am a Scot living in England. I think I must be Irish as your comments reflect my views!

Getting a taxi after stepping off the plane in Dublin, I could not believe the open racism of the taxi driver.
I know other Europeans (Greek) and yes I think 100 euros per person in an envelope would be a minimum for them. We (British) would probably give more than this but we can afford it. My children didn’t expect or want gifts at their wedding from anyone who couldn’t afford it.

There is an urban/rural divide maybe, as there is most places.

OP I certainly know about the sad history between Ireland and the UK. I feel very sympathetic to the suffering of Irish people under British rule.

i know many Irish people and I find them warm and lively, sociable and with a great sense of humour.

I wish our countries could be better friends in the future. I know the Celtic nations feel anger towards the English and with good cause. But I don’t think that’s a reason to make this resentment personal in 2025.

Here’s to happy Irish/English relationships!

To me it means I was brought up Catholic (I’m in my 50s), but only go to mass these days for weddings and funerals and at Christmas. It’s still important to me, first communions and especially funerals are important events, but I’m not strict about it at all. Others practise even less, but they might still baptize their kids.
Most primary schools here are Catholic but they’re run by laypeople these days so Catholic-lite.

I think I’m explaining this very badly, sorry.

I just think sometimes people outside Ireland think we’re all very devoutly religious still and that’s not the case.

Property tax is not the same as council tax. It’s much less.
we don’t have water bills…

Maybe things have changed since my parents generation (and they were from the north) but class is odd. The professions were something to aspire to and teachers, doctors etc got huge kudos and the universities people went to were of great one-upmanship.

My grandparents were farmers with pots of money but I got the impression they were considered a bit declasse!

@Franpie no, the culturally Catholic would just consider themselves Catholic. In Ireland if you're Catholic the assumption would be you don't actually practice. But as it turns out the Catholic Church in Ireland didn't really practice a lot of Christianity as it turns out, so we're well used to the hypocrisy.

I agree with some of your points, but I believe many generalisations are being made.

In my experience, the Irish tend to be more tolerant of differences and generally more open-minded.

It is disturbing how limited the average British person's understanding of Irish history can be. It wasn't just a famine; it was genocide.

I love both countries and take great pride in my heritage, but I prefer to live in the UK.

We pay a property tax, we pay (but urban areas do not) for water and for waste water disposal and we pay for private waste collection.

The term “culturally catholic” has been used a few times on this thread. Is that a commonly used term in Ireland? As opposed to here we would probably say “non-practicing catholic”.