To want to shout at people who write Southern Ireland

[ParadiseCity]

THERE IS NO SUCH FUCKING COUNTRY! And if you really were as clever as you pretend to be, you might just fucking know that. Arrrgghhh.

I feel a bit better for that. Please feel free to add your own

Just seen this bonkers article. 'Eire' all over it like a rash, a dead giveaway.

There is so much wrong with that article there is no point even starting. And yes it says "southern irish"!

No, they don't, unless it is very very clear what they mean in context.

I live in NI and everyone I know says "the South" unless they're talking about Donegal when they'd just say "Donegal"! (Apart from my neighbour who just calls it "Ireland" but then if you ask him where he lives he says "the UK", so...)

I'm English so I have to be more careful, so I'd say "the Republic" or "ROI" depending on context, I think.

Have never heard anyone saying "Southern Ireland" but I'd know what they meant if they did, I guess.

Eh? But you do live in the south of Ireland - i.e. Southern Ireland.

I live in south England ie southern England....

I know there is a lot of history but you are being pedantic.

*Eh? But you do live in the south of Ireland - i.e. Southern Ireland.

I live in south England ie southern England....*

How can you say that without knowing where the OP lives? If she lives anywhere north of the midlands then how can she live in Southern Ireland? If she lives in Donegal then by no stretch of anyone's imagination could she possibly live in Southern Ireland.

You'd hardly say that someone in Newcastle lives in Southern England, just because they're further south than Scotland...

Yeah, Roscommon isn't 'Southern Ireland' anymore than Manchester is 'Southern England'!

Give Ireland back to the Irish.

Eh? But you do live in the south of Ireland - i.e. Southern Ireland

No. Didn't you read ANY of the thread?

I know there is a lot of history but you are being pedantic

You don't know the history, you don't even know the name of the country. No-one is being pedantic, it is you that is being ignorant.

My dm is from the north west of the island of Ireland. Hardly southern is it? It's more southern than some areas granted, but the where I live is more Northern than Cornwall so therefore I must be a northerner.

Team GB is officially Team GB and NI. Athletes from NI are able to compete for Team GB (and NI) or ROI. Team UK sounds a bit too team America world police and should be avoided. I live on the island of Ireland. I am northern Irish and have a British passport (and since ukexit an Irish passport). I have always identified as first northern Irish, then European, then British/ukish and Irish.

I was never taught Irish history as my shit hot grammar didn't teach it until a level.

I can understand why so many people in the rest of the world don't get our history as tbh it's pretty involved and has no impact on their lives.

The Irish don't want us back. We would bankrupt them. Again.

And on the whole geographical/nomenclature ting some parts of North Korea are further south than parts of South Korea. It's a border thing as they don't tend to be drawn with a ruler (although they have been in parts of Africa and the Middle East, it's not a good idea).

Also let us be clear there was never a famine in Ireland just a potato blight that caused a Hunger or maybe genocide?

In Irish it's not called the Famine, thats just in English, its their way of looking at it. In Irish it's called An Gorta Mor...the Great Hunger. There was food enough to feed all the starving of Ireland, it was just almost al shipped to England instead.
So no, there was no famine in the real sense of the word. There was a blight that ruined the only food available to the natives, there was plenty of other food that was not available to them.

I can understand why so many people in the rest of the world don't get our history as tbh it's pretty involved and has no impact on their lives.

I can understand why 'outsiders' don't know our history. But I can't understand how such a huge number of people in the UK don't know what countries make up the UK. And I'm not sure what's more shocking - thinking that N Ireland isn't part of it, or thinking that the rest of Ireland is. I think those both blow my mind even more than not knowing the name of Ireland.

I agree treacle

I had to explain to a younger work colleague here in the U.K that Ireland is separate country with our own government, passport, language etc. She just couldn't get her head around it and thought that all of Ireland 'belonged to' the UK and that her and I would have the same passport. This is someone that I would otherwise consider pretty intelligent. Do they teach anything about this at school?

Did anyone hear Tony Blair on Radio 4 yesterday? He was talking about the Good Friday Agreement and he referred to the republic as Southern Ireland. I don't know what that was about.

My boys got a bit of Irish history and I'm in Scotland. I know it's slightly different for them as their dads Irish (well technically NI but says he's Irish!) and so they know from family discussions a bit about Ireland but even they were shocked that Brits on this thread didn't know about ROI/NI differences Now they're 21 and 17 so there's really no excuse for ignorance.

I don't live in Ireland at all although my grandad was from the south and my grandmother from the most northern part, ie NOT Northern Ireland.

I would not disagree that 'Cork is in southern Ireland'. But making it Southern with a capital S and writing on linked in that you are "travelling to Southern Ireland" just makes you look stupid at best.

And there is so much more to Ireland than Cork/Donegal/Dublin anyway...

OP you've strayed into Alan Partridge territory - dere's more to Oireland dan dis

I work with an English girl who thought when I say "grand" that that's me speaking Irish. She had no idea that we have our own language and thought I was making it up when I spoke the cúpla focail.

In fairness to many of the English people I work with, when they say something inaccurate ("it's not our fault you only ate potatoes") they take additional information with interest and good graces. I try to have a sense of humour about what they get wrong or what they don't know as for the most part I don't feel they are actually trying to offend me. They just don't know what they don't know IYKWIM.

Grainfail - I completely agree, I don't think people (in the main) are trying to be offensive, and we don't need a PhD in our neighbouring countries' history by law, BUT, it's interesting, I'm interested in other people's cultures, languages etc. FAR, FAR more interesting than slavishly garnering minutiae on slebs. Switch your effing tellies off people and engage!

Grainfail I am surrounded by Partridge types and crying with laughter now.