To seriously recommend Ireland

[Ionablue]

Before I start I completely get that it can be expensive, the weather is bad and many Irish residents are emigrating for accommodation & opportunities. But....
A very very large proportion of the Irish people seem put on earth specifically to restore visitors faith in human nature. Genuine and warm, great sense of humour
Many women in particular supposedly find Ireland blissfully relaxing, not just because it is a laidback culture but because the general male culture seems to revolve less around making women feel uncomfortable than in other countries.

Some of the countryside and heritage is literally heavenly. Co. Waterford, especially its western extremities eg Dungarvan. Ardmore, Lismore, is an undiscovered gem.

Yes its not cheap but the food can be exceptional.

Most ordinary people seem exceptionally well disposed to foreign visitors and many have relatives abroad.

In rural Ireland you can drive for miles without seeing a car.

The music is brilliant and the people seem enormously invested in live music.

Well, that's my tuppence.

Why do you say it is women friendly? I actually think a lot of Irish attitudes to women are quite regressive.

Yeah Dublin isn’t great. I mean you might have a fun night in Temple Bar on a hen or something but that’s about it. I hope no one bases all of Ireland on Dublin City!
Galway, Kerry, Waterford, Donegal etc are on a different level.
My daughter lives in DunLaoghaire though which is lovely to be fair.

But they are both Korean. As here, you re irish.

my sister in law (married jn the family like me) is from the north and she is irish first and foremost, and yes she also happen to have a UK passport.
but she defines herself as irish and isnt a nationalist.

I agree.
villages pockets outside of dublin north and south alike are amazing. Food fun relax etc. But the city centre is grim and i wish the council would invest money to bring people back in and to clean it and make it more attarctive. As my teens say rhere is nothing to do in dublin and prefer london or paris

In what way?

I agree, and I loathe Paris! Still like it more than Dublin, though. Don't get me wrong, many Irish people are absolutely lovely, that is one stereotype I can kind of get behind. The town of Dublin, though, not so much. Expensive and dreary.

In many ways! It's still a very patriarchal society as far as I can tell. Obviously, a lot of that is historical, but these attitudes take a very long time to die out.

Day to day anything to do with politics, laws, schools, health etc…it’s always just the state that’s relevant you see.

I don't know if you meant it to come across this way, but I find this comment to be extremely condescending: 'its always just the state that's relevant you see' sounds like you are teaching me facts based on your perspective. I live abroad so don't have a group of Irish people at my current disposal to ask, but I just heard my Northern Irish husband telling someone on the phone that 'We'll be in Ireland at the start of March" and I know that our destination isn't in the Republic and I am pretty sure the recipient on the phone understood too. If someone told me they toured Ireland, I would assume they visited the North too.

I grew up in a Nationalist town with an Irish speaking community, with strong links to Irish traditional music, song and poetry and my ancestors were most definitely Irish. The state is an artificial imposition that a huge amount of the Irish in the North resent and do not identify with-and I say that as someone who isn't particularly politically minded.

This is not a case of a second generation descendent of Irish people arguing that they are from Ireland due to descent. I am someone from Ireland reading comments from someone telling me that when someone refers to Ireland, most people will assume its the state of Ireland because thats what's important.

Ireland is Ireland and it goes far beyond the NHS or currency. Northern Ireland is the occuppied part of Ireland and is no less part of Ireland for it. When I hear 'Ireland', I think island. I am sure I am not alone.

Can you give some examples because I would find it's a very matriarchal society.

Ok, the Magdalen laundries, for one. Maybe 'patriarchal' would be the wrong term to use. I've long believed that women can oppress other women as well or better than any man can, so you could well be correct.

I agree. Ireland is so much more than a piece of land with a forgotten bit removed.

The Magdalen Laundries are part of a shameful history (they existed in England and Scotland also) but I would not call them representative of womens lives in 2025.

Day to day I cannot think of ways in which women are repressed by men or other women any more or less than any other countries. But do you have any more examples from your daily life in Ireland ?

Oh my god. You re being very confused. It s a very dark park of Irish History because the catholic were ruling.

after the civil war, ireland needed to find itself and they went from one ruler to the next. It was such a young country.

true the last one closed in 1983 but since rhere has been lots done, maybe more should be done though from the state to spologise but a big step has been reached.

however, when ireland joined the european union it was the poorest country and is now one of the richest. In like 50/60 yrs they ve built their country i see and I know very strong women, empowered and vocal, and I see no glass ceiling unlike old european countries (take mine for instance France and the UK).

they can still do more, and I wouldnt live in rural ireland, but I also wouldnt live in rural France and England.

it s not patriarchal anymore at all.

Do you work for the Irish tourism board OP? There's huge debt, housing crisis, cities like Dublin and Cork are rife with drugs and violence. Lack of childcare and hospitals. If you can work from home in a rural area near the ocean than perhaps you can have that easy going life but it'll definitely cost you a LOT! Most expensive country in the EU and in my opinion not worth it, just my opinion though

I am someone from Ireland reading comments from someone telling me that when someone refers to Ireland, most people will assume its the state of Ireland because thats what's important.

I did not say the state is what’s important!!!!
Again you’re misunderstanding and twisting what I said.

I said the laws and government and health and schooling system of ROI are what’s relevant to me personally. They’re all different in NI as it’s part of the UK. The health system in NI is not relevant to my life, for example. When I speak of (complain about!) the health services in Ireland I mean HSE services, not the NHS. That does not mean I think Northern Ireland unimportant!

Also, I never for one minute said people in Northern Ireland aren’t Irish.

I’m just explaining how I see things. I’m not trying to preach or to be condescending in any way. And I’m sorry you don’t like it but that’s the way I feel about NI at the moment. When people say Ireland I do not think of the island for the most part. I think ROI. I thought this thread was about ROI, which I always refer to as Ireland.

I would vote for a united Ireland if it could be achieved peacefully which I don’t think it could at the moment, if that makes any difference to how you view what I say 🤷‍♀️

Irish women are tough, not really the type to be bossed around or talked down to. Irish mammy is the matriarch of the family and very much raises her children to respect her, including her son.
I don’t find the attitude regressive overall, there are some disrespectful men, men who are violent, but the majority are respectful and progressive.

If you are French, why is your opinion relevant? I have Irish relatives, and I do not find it a progressive country. I don't live there, it is true, but I do have some insight into the country. I think that your view is coloured by also having come from a highly Catholic country. The issues are far more complex than you make out.

Kettles and pots are springing to mind 😂
Presumably pp has ‘some insight’ too. She sounds well informed.

That is so rude. If I am not mistaken @Bubblesgun lives in Ireland so their opinion is more than relevant. They certainly understand more about its history than most.
Especially compared to someone who has made these grand statements with nothing concrete to back them up. Having Irish relatives does not make you an expert either, especially considering you seem to have views of an Ireland that does not exist any more.

Ireland is an extremely progressive modern country that has (like all others) parts of their history that are shameful.

Because I live in Ireland, in Dublin actually. And i ce been there 9yrs.

but thanks, last time i checked we have freedom of speech so whether I am a british or irish national, i am allowed an opinion and you are allowed an opinion on other countries too.
if you re not careful, you sound very racist

@Martymcfly24

thank you very much. I agree with you. I find your country very progressive and I am grateful that they have welcomed me and my girls, and my husband returning, with opened arms.

Well you are more than welcome here.

And I do admire your knowledge of history!

Living in a country no matter where you were born gives more of an insight than any casual visitor.

Being the 'matriarch' still presupposes that being a mother is the most important thing a woman can be. I don't see what is progressive about that, if I'm honest. I think that 'matriarchy' and 'patriarchy' are just two slightly different ways of framing the same set of values.

I agree. I love history and would never dare living in a country without knowing their history.
i havent lived in France for over 20yrs (US, UK and now Ireland) and I have spend 3yrs in my childhood in Africa for dad’s job. So I feel I am allowed an opinion 😉🙂

What are the particular attitudes to women that you find regressive @Gahr?