Very Irish Things

[RocketPanda]

A thread of appreciation of things that only seem to happen in Ireland.

I was away for two weeks and a couple of days after I returned the postman knocked on my door with a big bag of packages ( they were sent from work, only two were very delayed orders). He realised I was away so instead of leaving them and risking theft or damage he stored them for me.

Anyone else any good stories?

Kilkenny has an old Cathedral so it counts as a city , sort of. Anyway it is beautiful and they obviously have good councillors and county engineers who intend to keep it that way. No garish signage etc.

Anyone remember Irel coffee? With chicory essence. It came in a bottle like Yorkshire relish. Gloopy brown liquid. My nan used to occasionally make us coffee. Always milk boiled in a small pot. Loads of sugar. I was quite shocked when I tasted real coffee.

Kilkenny has a city charter which is why it's a city, A cathedral does not make the town or village it sits in a city.

I hate coffee, and quite like the Irel stuff - not sure is it still made.

Oh yeah you can still buy it in Dunnes

I use the Irel to flavour cakes and icing.

The Brits have a similar think called Camp Coffee

I used to stay with a friend who lived in a Rathmines bedsit in the late 80s. What I remember about it was that the hot water tank stood on a plank laid across the bath, and that to take a bath (no shower), you had to insert yourself in at one end and wash yourself with the tank essentially across your midriff, wobbling slightly.

And I wasn’t fussy! Another friend lived in a ‘converted’ garage where the garage door had been bricked over on the outside but not on the inside. You should pulled back a dingy curtain on one wall and saw the inside of the garage door…

You know the little parade at the top of Rathmines Road? I lived behind the old iron mongers (everything from a needle to an anchor) for a year.
Now those shops are hipster delis and artisan butchers…

Blast their hipster delis........

The only thing miss about London - Joe Bloggs Cafes. Where toast with marmalade is actually that- not its constituent parts , with a cube of frozen butter. Same with tea. A nice big mug hot and strong. Maybe some hipster prat can open a greasy spoon caff? Though it will only work if it is ' ironic' ....