Differences (rep Ireland) Irish V UK

Agree with that. As Yorkshire born and bred I have much more in common with rural Irish people than Southern elite English people. Everyone says how friendly people are in Ireland, which they generally are, but coming from Yorkshire I didn't notice it that much because I was used to people being friendly.😁

British (English) history is definitely diluted/censored in terms of what is taught in schools here. Not surprising considering how shameful it is!

I'm I rish living in Ireland(born in the UK and have siblings in the UK) and agree with most of what you've said(disagree re divorce, know alot of people who are). Definitely agree with minimum €100 a head for weddings.

I think the majority of Irish people have a fair idea of what's going on in the UK, would know who the UK prime minister is etc, but I think a significant proportion of English people have no idea what's going on in Ireland.

I’m British, born & raised in England, and of Irish heritage. All four of my grandparents were Irish & my mum was born in Co Fermanagh. I have lived & worked all over the U.K. & Ireland (except Wales) and in my experience the similarities between most of us who inhabit these islands vastly outweigh the differences. Whether we are Irish (NI or ROI), Scottish, or from the English North & Midlands, we are all pretty similar.

Except for one group.

Middle class people from the South of England are the odd ones out. They are very different from the rest of us. More reserved, more formal, more likely to hide behind manners, social codes & elaborate politeness. More likely to use language & dress as class signifiers to judge & categorise others. Where did you go to school? How do you hold your cutlery? Where do you go on holiday? What books do you read? Etc etc.

Having lived in Ireland for 30 years as an English person, married to an Irish person and children born in both England and Ireland and a mixed religious marriage, the biggest cultural difference is definitely funerals. But there are huge cultural differences between rural and urban areas here. How our community works in Co. Clare would be a world away from how Dublin functions. There is also quite a significant difference between coastal counties on the west coast and midland counties. Coastal counties generally being more progressive around social policies. Clare elected first Catholic to houses of parliament prior to independence, first women TD, first POC representative and first goat to the final of the nose of Tralee. North Clare has the highest proportion of Syrian and Ukrainian refugees in the Country at around 20 percent of our population without a single incidence of xenophobic violence reported.
The history thing in schools is because nearly all Irish history involves Britain whereas British just isn't as focused on one Country. No excuse for not knowing the basics, but that's how it is.
There is an undercurrent of respect for getting away with things like not paying taxes at local levels with 2nd jobs or claiming some benefit not entitled to. This harks back to being governed from London and sticking it to the foreign tax collectors was seen as a good thing.

Can confirm the going rate for weddings in NI seems a bit less. I was invited to one a couple of years ago that didn't have a registry and asked colleagues for advice and the consensus was £100 between me and DP was very generous which I found hard to believe. It's still something I majorly struggle with 😂 we give 200 eur for a friend and 250 for close friend when we attend a wedding down south.

minumum of €100 is most definitely a thing :-D

Irishs weddings are very different. Usually no kids and if the sesh doesnt go until at least 5am in the residence bar it was a shite wedding

You must under the rule of death place bets on how long the wedding speech lasts or pass the glass everything someone says beautiful

My english SIL is mad for sending thank you cards and annvisary cards if there is an occasion there is a card sent

the whole history part/ 800 years she was unaware of - but doesnt really get the jokes. Especially jokes about the differences between catholics and protestants (protestants but their toaster away and dont live their clothes pegs on the line) IYKUK

We tend to buy gifts (from a list) or donate (whatever amount we want) to a Honeymoon fund/charity/whatever.

typo

I would also agree with the €100 ppl as a wedding present at the minimum

Yabu but because half of what people wrote on here is not typical British. The main difference is the money in a wedding card because in most circles that is pretty rude, either it’s a younger couple and they have a list/bring a gift of your choice which could be a gift card or you do not bring a gift at all, I’ve recently married and like every other wedding I’ve been to where the couple is over 30 we stayed do not brings gifts on our invitation and collected food for the food bank if people really wanted to bring something (we collected 14 large bags!)

Do. It’s €100 per person (adult), just so you know. It does seem to be quite different to many weddings in the UK in that sense, just judging from MN threads. (I’m not sure of the situation re weddings in NI.)

I'm pretty sure the OP is talking about contemporary Ireland, so not relevant to your parents' or grandmother's generation.
I think we're all aware of the impact of the Catholic Church.
I am Irish and have lived in the UK, and I agree with a lot of your points.
I hate the money given at weddings thing and certainly never said anything unkind about the gifts we were given, although I have been married for 23 years and I think it has changed a bit in that time.
Posters mentioning Irish people they know who are divorced are missing the point, the stats are very clear that we have a much lower divorce rate.
None of my close friends or family are divorced and I am in my fifties. I think it is due to people getting married later and not until they have been together for quite a few years.
At least I hope that people are not staying in miserable marriages.

Could at least some of these differences be perhaps due to the majority of people in the Irish Republic being Catholic (69.1% as of the 2022 census), whereas the majority of the UK population isn't?

There is also, of course, the not insignificant fact that although for the most part we speak the same language and are geographically close, we are actually two different countries, with different laws, traditions and customs. The same probably goes for USA/Canada, Australia/NZ and Germany/Austria.

Fair enough! I've been in Derry for 15ish years and once you really get to know people you realise that most outlooks can be shaped by Nationalist/Irish or Unionist/British backgrounds and also by age. People are just very superficial when you don't really know them for obvious reasons.

I'm a little confused on what you mean by the comment on abortion, from the women I know who've had abortions both North and South the reasons ranged from, don't want kids/feel too young/can't afford them/family complete/wrong partner - I would broadly assume the reasons for British women to be similar.

Yes I'm Irish and agree with a lot you have said especially about money !

It's a good point - Irish people don't talk about money. Everyone is supposed to just magically know 'the way to do things', and you're in for some harsh judgement if you get it wrong - all behind your back of course!

100euro minimum is definitely a thing , and has been for years

No, I’m curious now if this is a ‘thing’, or if it’s just a ‘your experience’.
I promise to come back and tell you what they say. Won’t ask the bride and groom, obviously!

That one I can definitely confirm is true!

I am Irish, living in Ireland and had friends over recently for the weekend. They both live in London and have done for 10 years or so. Both men in high paid professional jobs.

For them the biggest difference between the countries is the obsession with class in Britain. It doesn't really exist as a topic here but apparently it's a major thing across the water.

'we are indirect about money'

THAT'S an understatement! So many unspoken expectations about money. Massive difficulties accepting someone else's hospitality or generosity - my dad and uncle used to practically wrestle the restaurant bill off each other in a fight to be the one who paid 🙄Agree about the (to my mind) OTT minimum wedding cash gift. Also agree that people in Ireland more likely to stay married, but I don't think that's always a good thing

I'm Irish, been living in the UK for 25 years

You must know some rum Irish people, as well as some very odd Brits.

Both my parents were Irish born and bred. I guess they never got the memo but that doesn't sound remotely like them. I'll admit Irish people stayed married in the past but that was because there was no provision for divorce under Irish law even if your spouse turned out to be an axe murderer. But looking back through my family tree I only see one person getting married in their thirties and that was my grandmother and she was marrying my mid twenties grandfather. A lot of these cultural differences you talk of are a result of the stranglehold the Catholic Church had on Ireland in the past but the Catholic Church no longer has the power it once held.

Good to know! I’ll ask them about it, as we’re going to a Dublin wedding in 2027!