#West Donegal

[stairnaheireann]

An Gorta Mór | Diaspóra na Gael

The potato is a tuberous vegetable that is native to the Andes of South America. Following the Spanish exploration and exploitation of the South American Indians, the potato was introduced to Europe where it had a profound, beneficial effect on diets of Europeans from Ireland well into Russia. It grew well all over Western Europe and Eurasia. A population explosion followed and continued well…

[cogumellow]

moody donegal seascapes // bundoran, ireland // 2009 // ©

[mysterious-mr-crow]

my Irish Morella agenda!!! she literally drinks Guinness as part of her last meal at the banquet, AND shepherd's pie???? quintissential Irish meal. literally every household here has made it at least once (might also be a British thing too?? not sure but the Guinness is steering straight into Irish territory for me). Also the CELTIC KNOT MOTIFS IN HER SPECTRE DESIGN!!! I love her sm it's so rare to find well rounded Irish characters in media let alone the very specific niche that nevermore fills of being a queer gothic romance thriller (?) so she makes me incredibly happy!!

[tavoit]

Donegal tweed, washed in the river Eske

Today it has to be green! Sláinte!

[spikemuths-pride]

// ooc but ive had a few people now say that they really like the way I write piers and ough,, im actually soso happy

// i decided that i wanted my piers to be based on manga piers specifically so i was a little worried hed seem out of character for people used to game piers but!! people really like him!!! :D

// i was also nervous about having him use scottish/irish slang instead of stereotypical british (english) slang but im glad its not too jarring because! hes so scottish and or irish to me! maybe even welsh! hes just not english in my head sorry </3

[vintageisbest]

In the Land of Saints and Sinners

[r4c0ons]

A part of ne becomes very patriotic and annoyed when I see RDR art or fics where Irish characters speak Irish.

Lets go on a little history journey shall we

RDR2 is set in 1899 all the Irish characters in the game would have emigrated from Ireland because they wanted to get a better life.

Kieran was born in America. His father emigrated from Ireland possibly after or during the Great Famine.

He cannot speak Irish

His name is not spelt the Irish way

Because he is American.

Seán was born and raised in Ireland. His parents are from Ireland. He is from Donegal. Which was a heavily British county at the time.

He has been to Connemara in Galway with his father as he says it in the game. Connemara is a Gaeltacht. This does not mean he can speak Irish.

He had to have lived in Ireland for at least 15 years to keep the accent but he still would not be able to speak Irish.

As it was dying out.

He maybe could speak a few words or phrases but he would not be fluent.

Molly O'Shea.

Whenever I see art or stories about her when she's talking about being Irish oh I hate it.

She is from Dublin. Which is in the Pale. The area where most British people lived. The richest parts of Ireland. She would not be able to speak Irish.

She hates being irish. She says it multiple times in the game. She moved to America to get a better life because of how bad irish people were treated (which was not much better in America but we will get to that).

She cannot speak Irish her name is not an riish version.

She would also most likely be protestant and get with fights with Seán.

Colm O'Driscoll.

Now we know that Colm is an old man but how old?

He was born in 1845. What year was that? The year the Great Famine begun.

He is (most likely) from Cork. Which is on the west side of Ireland. Not the side you would want to be on during the Famine.

If you don't know what the Famine was here's a little lesson.

The Great Famine begun in 1845 when a potato blight spread across the potato crop causing them to rot and be inedible.

Because the potato was cheap and easy to grow the Irish relied heavily on it.

The average adult male would eat about 12-14 potatoes a day.

Because of thsi over reliance people begun to starve and die.

They had to travel to ports to go on ships -that were often known as coffin boats because of how many people died on them- to escape.

Most people who died were on the west side.

it ended around 1850 but that date is debatable.

He is not going to be able to speak Irish either. He would not be sent to school in these conditions or have time learn it as it is not the main language.

Now. Colm would have been a malnourished child. And because we know he has a brother who moved to America with him when they were both young we can assume that their parents died or sent them off to have a better life and not die in Ireland.

America was not a nice place to be irish at this time.

This sign here. Because of the hundreds of thousands of Irish people emigrating to America during these years the Irish were discriminated againt.

This means that Colm and his brother would have been left on the streets with no job or shelter.

This is why they create the gang. Every irish person that moves ot is born in America cannot get a job so they are invited into the gang. This would provide them with friends shelter and food.

A better option than dying.

Colm also as kieran says is American and dosent want his name to be pronounced in irish is because he hates being irish.

Now onto why irish is not spoken and these characters have some fo the lowest chances of speaking irish in any media.

Modern characters could possibly. Ancient characters could. But not during these times.

When the English first invaded Ireland they put their religion and language onto the Irish.

If you spoke Irish around an English soldier guess what.

You would be killed.

Even when you see irish city names they were all originally in irish. The English solider would come uo to the Irish person, ask where they were, get a reply in irish, write it down as they heard it, and kill the irish.

As a result of this the Irish language died out.

It is only now being slowly reintroduced.

Ive been learning Irish my entire life and I'm not fluent in it.

No Red Dead Redemption character would be able to speak Irish.

Yes Connemara is a Gaeltacht (a place that only speaks irish) and Seán has been there. But it would only be slowly being rebuilt into a Gaeltacht at the time.

NOBODY CAN SPEAK IRISH AND NOBODYS NAME IS SPELT THE IRISH WAY (except sean) THANK YOU.

No hate to anyone who does this btw it's just something that annoys me.

[flo-zoinks]

I hc that Sean knows a bit of Irish galeic or even fluent in it, ik now a days it's considered dying language (cough cough result colonization) if iirc it started "dying" around the 17th century

That's a good head canon!

Now forgive me if I make any mistakes on my weak knowledge of Irish history, and correct me if I do!!!

Sean says he comes from Donegal, a county north west of Ireland. However, he has a very strong Dublin accent according to some Irish natives, which is vastly different from a Donegal accent. (highlighted in words like the pronunciation of brother like "brudda" etc) Some could speculate that could mean his Da was from Dublin, but moved to Donegal before ultimately going the USA. Often children can develop the accents of their parents despite outward influences, especially if he'd moved to be with other family from Dublin in Donegal. (My brother used to have a Mexican accent in school lmfao).

We can assume for this he was born around circa 1876, and seeing as he moved young, but still old enough to have good memory of his time in Ireland he probably left circa 1892, aprx -7 or +2.

This is a map showing the concentration of Irish speakers by 1871. In Dublin, the accent is almost non-existent. However in Donegal, it's clearly very widely spoken (I've highlighted the two places). If Sean was to have a Dublin accent from his Da, you can assume his main influence, the main person he spoke to was his Father, perhaps not much to other people in comparison as his accent isn't that influenced.

(For example I'm quite widely social and when I moved to the south when I was about 6 in two weeks I lost my HEAVY northern accent for a very southern one, whilst my brother who was quite private in his words kept a mexican accent from our Mother)

So I think Sean's Da probably didn't speak Irish Gaelic in it's full fluency or maybe even at all past 2 or 3 words, so he probably couldn't of taught him. Yet I still think he learnt a lot from Donegal, being a majority spoken Irish county, and being talkative himself must've learnt quite a bit. Perhaps fluently by the time he'd left for the USA.

Thanks for talking to me I love to hear this!!! ❤what do you think? I apologise I'm not very educated on Irish Gaelic, as much as I know I should be atleast, so forgive me if I made any mistakes and please correct me!!

[an-spideog]

haigh a chara tá siúl agam go bhfuil tú ceart go leor! i was wondering do you know any resources for learning Gaelainn? despite being from munster, in school we just learnt standard irish, but id really love to learn more munster irish. is breá liom do bhlag btw tá sé an-cabhrach <3

Míle baochas :) I do indeed know several resources, I made use of a lot of them lol, there's kind of two categories - Stuff about the dialect and stuff in the dialect. I'll start with 'about'.

Info about West Munster Irish

There's only 1 modern textbook I know of which teaches munster Irish, and it's kind of a rough read lol. This is Teach Yourself Irish (1961) (audio). The book is really really dense, one paragraph will contain a lot of information, and that can make it pretty easy to miss things, but it's still a very useful book - and much easier to use if you already have some Irish. It teaches Cork Irish but Cork and Kerry are quite similar (Kerry has a stronger Gaeltacht though so you're more likely to hear Kerry Irish). This book also has a weird transcription system for how to pronounce words, ignore it, learn the sounds of the language separately, and listen to the recordings that come with the book. Their system is buckwild and nobody else uses it.

You should also skip the sections labeled "rules for aspiration" and "rules for eclipsis", rather than reading them right at the start and use them as a reference if you ever need to.

An Teanga Bheo - Corca Dhuibhne is a great book to get some knowledge on Kerry Irish as long as you can read Irish pretty well, since it describes lots of the important features. But it's a reference text and an overview, not a textbook. If you don't feel that comfortable reading in Irish or want to be able to search, you can use this online translation

Shameless plug, I talk about Munster Irish on my youtube channel, and I try and share info which people wouldn't find easily otherwise, new video maybe out this weekend maybe. An Loingseach on youtube - He sometimes gets bogged down in the linguistic weeds and doesn't edit his videos at all lol, but he knows his stuff.

There's a blog called corkirish.com and it has some useful info on it but the guy who used to run it is an awful shitter, I'm hoping that with more other people sharing resources we can make that blog irrelevant.

If you're at all interested in linguistics, there's more technical books describing the dialect which can be useful as references.

The Irish of West Muskerry - This is a book talking about the pronunciation of Cork Irish, in English, but using a lot of phonetic terms and symbols. Quite useful if you know how to read them.

Gaeilge Chorca Dhuibhne - This is a book talking about the pronunciation and structure of Kerry Irish, in Irish, again using a lot of linguistic terminology. This one will be getting an updated English version at some point soon, hopefully.

The Linguistic Atlas and Survey of Irish Dialects (LASID) is a series of books showing the results of surveys where they went around to different Irish speaking regions and asked them what words they'd use for specific things, it gives you really cool maps like this: (Showing you how "Gaeilic" is used in donegal, "Gaeilge" is used in Galway, and "Gaelainn" is used in Kerry)

This map is actually from a web version of the first book which is quite handy. The second book isn't available as a site but there are pdfs and it only focuses on munster so you can see some differences with in munster.

Stuff in the Dialect

Things to Read

We're probably the luckiest in terms of things to read when studying the Munster Dialect because there have been so many authors, and so many authors who write very dialectally. So a lot of munster features you see very prominently in writing.

Books by Maidhc Dainín Ó Sé (a lot of fiction as well as one autobiography)

Books by Peig Sayers (There's school editions of at least her main book (Peig), try to avoid those and find the dialectal version in a library (Peig - a scéal féin), and she has written other books)

Books by Pádraig Ó Cíobháin (I haven't read any of these yet personally and I've heard they can be quite hard by nature of being very poetic and sometimes abstract)

Fiche Blian ag Fás by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin (similar to Peig, this is autobiographical)

Books by Tomás Ó Criomhthain (similar to Peig and MÓS these are autobiographical)

Books by Peadar Ua Laoghaire (Fiction, these are quite old - 100 years - and that can make them more difficult, but they can be pretty good)

Béaloideas and Dúchas.ie - these ones are harder to read than the others for various reasons but can often be a lot more interesting. Béaloideas is a journal of Irish folklore which you can find on JSTOR for free, and dúchas.ie has typed and handwritten stories collected in ireland, overlapping with Béaloideas to some extent. They can be harder to understand since sometimes the writing is intentionally over-dialectal to preserve the traits, but it's often more interesting since you can find fun little stories about different things. Stories from these collections are also sometimes put into smaller books or collections. (Béaloideas ó Chléire, an Seanchaidhe Muimhneach) you can usually find those books on Archive.org

Things to Listen To

Beo ar Éigean - Chatty podcast, one of the hosts has kerry Irish

Saol Ó Dheas - Munster Gaeltacht news show, not the most interesting if you don't live in the munster gaeltacht but there's a lot of it and the host has really good Irish, so you can focus on that even if the stories aren't gripping lol

Cartlann Bhóthar na Léinsí - Munster Archive show, they pull out older recordings of even more traditional speakers, and the host has very good Irish too, the older recordings are quite challenging to understand, but can be good.

Things to Watch

Seal le Dáithí - Talk show on TG4, host has Kerry Irish

Ros na Rún - Some of the characters have Munster Irish, it's a minority though

What did I do?

This isn't necessarily a guide, it's just what I did specifically.

After learning standardy Irish at school, I started talking to people on discord (Craic le Gaeilge and Celtic Languages), this was really helpful because I got to talk to a lot of knowledgeable people and get conversation practice even without being near to Irish speaking areas or events.

I also started listening to Beo Ar Éigean to practice my listening. I stuck to standard for a little while here and got to grips with basic grammar stuff because I was focusing on exams and stuff, but eventually I was taken with Munster Irish because some of the people I talked to a lot used it and because I liked synthetic forms. So I started working through Teach Yourself Irish with the help of people on discord, and that gave me a good basis in munster specific grammar and forms. From there I asked lots of questions (v important) and read the Irish of West Muskerry because I'm a nerd, wouldn't really recommend this if you're not that interested but it is kind of fun if you are. That helped me get a better understanding of Irish pronunciation (and spelling as a result of that). (I also read Peig at some point here) After that I started listening to a lot of Irish, trying to do at least 2 hours a day over one summer. An Saol Ó Dheas every day on my commute to work, and other stuff too, just trying to get as much exposure as I could. I use the host, Helen Ní Shé as my "language parent" - that is, I try to model my speech after hers. And currently I'm still focusing on just getting more and more exposure, and I've been reading more books in Irish.

[theirishaesthete]

Ray of Light

The remains of a little church in Ray, County Donegal, said to have been founded by St Fionnán in the sixth century, although the present building is late mediaeval. It has four arched windows on the south wall and an entrance at the west end as well as what appears to be another, long-blocked entrance on the east gable wall. Inside stands what is thought to be the tallest High Cross in Ireland,…

[principiumindividuationis777]

Roots of Rock and Roll

You have probably seen this or that opinion on the "first" rock and roll record. The problem with most of those opinions is that they are describing the acknowledged era of rock and roll, the era in which Alan Freed and others were calling it by that name.

In reality, music that sounded little different goes back to the 1920's. The first song that might possibly be described as rock and roll comes from an unlikely source: A proto-country musician who goes back so far that his music is called "old time" rather than country, one "Uncle" Dave Macon.

While West African rhythms form the basis of most rock and roll, there were fast fiddle reels (County Donegal, Ireland comes to mind) that had similarly scorching rhythms, and in one song, "Sail Away Ladies" (1927), Macon, originally from Tennessee, released a song that not only had a rockabilly feel and tempo, but included the lyrics, "Don't she rock, daddio?"

"Minnie the Moocher" (1931) by Cab Calloway set the tone for Calloway's career, which, while generally placed in the jazz genre, had sharper syncopation and far edgier lyrics than any jazz in the mainstream, at least in his era.

Bob Wills was the chief innovator of Western swing, from which one Bill Haley later emerged. He grew up in Texas, and unlike most people in a tragically segregated era, was allowed to befriend other children regardless of race, and as such, heard boogie-woogie and similar "fast blues", which African-American musicians in Texas played at a faster tempo than their counterparts in the southeast.

Wills's most proto-rockabilly (or, arguably, rockabilly) song might be "Steel Guitar Rag" (1936). Wills famously said of rock and roll, "Why, man, that's the same kind of music we've been playin' since 1928!"

It may have been of Wills's music that Don Raye (not from Texas) was thinking in the song "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" (1940), with the lyrics, "In a little honky tonky village in Texas". It is often cited as the first rock and roll record, and a case could be made to that effect.

World War II interrupted musical innovation to some extent, that being the least of a generation's concerns, so the final piece of what was rock and roll in everything but name was provided by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup.

Crudup's "That's All Right (Mama)", released in his, the original 1946 version, was not only later covered by Elvis Presley, but contains the first recorded guitar "breaks", adding another, jolting layer of syncopation to the increasingly fast blues of the era. By this time, rock and roll was alive and well, by any name, and so was rockabilly, as a listen to "Freight Train Boogie" (1946) by The Delmore Brothers, demonstrates.

[stairnaheireann]

Inishowen, Co Donegal

Pushing out into the Atlantic, Inishowen is the largest peninsula on the island of Ireland. Shaped by the Ice Age and carved by the endless crash of the ocean, the landscape here is one of stony green hills and jagged coastal rocks. It is flanked by Lough Foyle on the east, Lough Swilly on the west and the Atlantic on the northside. In many places you pass extraordinary beaches and views that…

[paganplaces]

Eskaheen Portal Tomb

The west-east oriented Eskaheen portal tomb is the largest portal tomb on Inishowen. It is located approximately 3.0 km northwest of Muff in County Donegal, Ireland, near the border with Northern Ireland.

Read more at: https://paganplaces.com/places/eskaheen-portal-tomb/

[helmstone]

Crá — BBC releases pictures for new crime drama

Crá — BBC releases pictures for new crime drama

The BBC has released first look pictures for new crime drama Crá. Filmed on location in County Donegal, the Irish language series is coming to BBC iPlayer and BBC Northern Ireland. It stars Dónall Ó Héalai, Alex Murphy and newcomer Hannah Brady. In an isolated village in the north west of Ireland, a murder investigation begins when Garda Barry Roche (Alex Murphy) finds a body buried in the bog.…

[duffylin]

the chicago resident, doreen “duffy” lin, was heard blaring don’t delete the kisses / wolf alice this morning . the twenty six year old is a bartender / veterinary student in the city & has lived the west tower for nine months. since being here, they have been told to be stubborn, but also devoted, i guess we'll find out soon !

tw: parental death

BASICS.

name: doreen 'duffy' lin.

nickname: duffy. duff. dove. anything except doreen. whos that? don't know her.

gender: cis woman

pronouns: she / her.

age: 26.

date of birth: november 25th

place of birth: donegal, ireland.

spoken languages: english, cantonese, irish.

occupation: bartender / veterinary student.

education: zoology degree, currently a grad student

romantic orientation: bisexual.

sexual orientation: bisexual.

relationship status: single.

FAMILY.

parents: enya lin (50), flynn duffy (deceased).

siblings: daria lin (23), julian (half brother), some ex step-siblings.

maternal extended: sylvie lin (aunt), sebastian jelley (uncle-in-law), joy jelley (cousin), leo jelley (cousin), connor jelley (cousin).

paternal extended: ciaran duffy (uncle), maeve duffy (aunt) + cousins, doreen duffy (grandmother), keith duffy (grandmother).

pets: juzi + dubh (her two cats) - would love more.

PHYSICAL.

faceclaim: havana rose liu.

accent: mix between a donegal + dublin accent, softened since moving to the states

height: 5'5.

build: slim, muscular.

eye colour: jade green

hair: reddish - brown, wavy and cascading down to her back. very rarely puts it up outside of work.

tattoos: a couple scattered about.

piercings: ears.

distinctive features: freckles across her cheeks, more noticeable in the summer.

BACKGROUND.

star crossed lovers are often bound by tragedy. and, enya lin and flynn duffy were no exception. from the moment the lin family moved in across the duffy's, flynn was smitten. enya was utterly oblivious to his affection, but they quickly became inseparable friends. they always seemed to find their way back to each other, even after endless ups and downs. it wasn't until university that enya reciprocated his feelings, following a string of toxic relationships. but, once all their cards were on the table, that was it.  

marriage was never in their plans. it was one of the many things they always agreed on; money was better spent on their future. instead, they opened a small music venue in the heart of donegal. it was something they'd always talked about, but never imagined actually going.

a year after opening, enya discovered she was pregnant. her family were far more enthusiastic about the prospect than flynn's. his mother was still in hysterics over their decision not to marry, but mellowed after she found out the child was named after her. they welcomed doreen lin nine months later.

donegal is where she spent the three years of her life, surrounded by people who loved her. it's all a blur to her now, a distant memory, but they were some of the best days of her life. she was a tad spoilt, both sides of her family were to blame for that, and she adored being in nature. she was always bringing home little 'gifts' for the family, which typically included a newt or mouse or whatever little critter she stumbled on.

a trip to dublin is where disaster struck. since it's inception, the business had been thriving and they were even talking about expanding elsewhere in the country. flynn had gone down to meet an old university friend about potentially helming a new venue for them in the city. everything had been going smoothly until a wayward driver crashed into their car. a few hours later enya received the call that would change everything.

flynn's death broken enya - her mind, her soul, anything that held so tightly together by his presence shattered in an instance. he was her soulmate, a ribbon sewn into her very being that was slowly being undone and thrown into an abyss so dark it nearly consumed her. a darkness save one for one small light - doreen. so much of him was in her, so much that it almost pained her to look, and yet she couldn't look away. everything he had left, he'd left in her, from the locks he'd sworn weren't really ginger to the freckles that danced across her cheeks and impossibly emerald eyes.

to then discover she had a second child on the way, she would have burst into flames if it wasn't for her family. her younger sister was born, and the world became even heavier. she was named her daria, after the titular character, and she grew to be very much like her namesake as she got older.

for enya the business, as important as it had been to her, became background noise. it was now a painful reminder of everything she had accomplished with flynn, one she couldn't bare for much longer. she tried to keep afloat, for those around her and herself, but she was starting to drown. so, she sold up. she'd always hoped that the venue would stay as it was, but not long after she'd heard it'd been turned into some worker men's club.

duffy, as she now went by, was five years old when her mother packed up their stuff and moved them to dublin. her jobs frequently changed, so they often found themselves moving from town to city - it was a rather nomadic childhood from then. it was just the three of them, and it was perfect. until her mother had to ruin it by dating again. men that would steal all their money and leave them penniless, or would just treat them both like garbage. or worst of all, try and act like her dad. there was the rare instance of a good one slipping through the cracks, but they didn't last long.

she was fifteen when the promise of a job brought them to new york. her aunt, sylvia, had moved there to start up a magazine, and needed some help getting it off the ground. it was the change they needed. the three of them got a small apartment and settled into life there. the work paid enough to cover cost of the apartment, but to support themselves better, duffy ended up getting a job at the local zoo where she found her passion for animals grew.

duffy planned to go to university in new york, study zoology and stay home to save on accommodation (and because she'd miss them too much). after that, get a job working in animal rescue and get a place close by. the plan changed when her mother got married, which had come as an absolute shock. her mother had always been so anti--marriage and she just assumed dale was another failed relationship waiting to happen. when she'd been told of their engagement, she almost laughed. surely, he must have pushed her into it, she always thought - he always seemed like a walking pile of red flags to her. kids included. and, now she had a new baby brother. it was like a fever dream.

after graduating, she and her sister got a place together and she started working back at the zoo. finding rescue shelter jobs that weren't volunteer was extremely difficult, and as much as she wanted to take a step away from that area of the animal industry, she needed the money. so she decided to go to save up and go to veterinary school. chicago seemed like a viable option - it did help that her mother had just relocated there with her husband.

being near her mother again, it was like coming home. being near her step-dad, was not. they often clashed when she visited on weekends. and she always picked up on little things he did, and the way her mum changed around him. not a good change. and it wasn't just her noticing this, but her sister, and even enya herself - despite getting defensive when anyone said anything remotely close to the subject. but, she couldn't lie to herself. she was unhappy. she wasn't herself. his children hated her. her children weren't fond of him.

after one fateful chat (after one too many wines) with duffy and her sister, they all came to the conclusion that the reason she wasn't happy in many of her relationships was because she was gay. it was a truth accepted so easily, just like she had accepted duffy all those years ago. and, it explained so much, but it didn't change the love she had for a number of men in her life, including duffy's father - it was just not quite the love she thought.

both duffy and daria pushed their mother to tell dale. he may have been an absolute leech with terrible children, but surely he'd be understand. and in truth, duffy would never forgive her mother for not being true to herself. they had not expected dale to explode the way he had. he felt lied to, is something he kept repeating. the divorce, still ongoing, has been messy to say the least. mostly the custody of duffy's little brother.

nine months ago, duffy moved in with her enya at marina towers to support her through the divorce. it also happened to coincide with duffy's eviction notice after their partner destroyed their apartment during a party whilst she was away, not that she's going to let anyone know that. it's not something that she needs people worrying about. she recently got a job bartending to help out with extra cash on the weekends, whilst trying not to worry about what she's going to do after graduating in a couple years. she's doing too much, and it's starting to take a toll - she's trying not to let the cracks show.

PERONSALITY.

duffy, for as long as anyone can remember, has always been a devoted daughter and friend - to the point of perhaps being overbearing, especially in regards her family. she would drop anything for the people she cares about, even if it means sometimes neglecting her own needs. though, that can be a good excuse for ignoring problems in her own life, like breakups. why deal with your own problems, when you can deal with others? she's always fine even when she isn't basically. she's got a habit of putting way too much on her plate. working, studying, taking care of her family, trying to juggle a social life. she has a schedule and she likes to stick to it to manage it all, but lately it's becoming too much even for her. she's quite good at hiding her struggles but she's not been great - sleeping late, waking early. deep down, she doesn't know how much longer she can keep this up. she's outgoing but burns out after a while. she's always needed quite time, but she's been needing it more lately - just a place to escape, even if it means just sitting in silence with someone. her room is an organised mess which she prefers, so people touching her things is a no. if she believes she's right, it will take a lot of convincing to change her opinion.

MISC.

she wants to open her own veterinary clinic or go work as a nature reserve after graduating. she hasn't made her mind up yet.

has 2 cats, dubh and juzi.

she and her family travel to ireland twice a year. on her dad's birthday and the anniversary of his death. her mother had to skip his last birthday because of dale. boo. we hate dale.

lactose intolerant queen

hates to shop at lush in person - it's so utterly overwhelming in there for her so she just avoids it at all cost, which really sucks cause she loves their bath bombs.

barely ever sleeps and then wakes up super early - either from working late on weekends or studying late - it's starting to have a massive effect but she refuses to believe it and would rather people didn't worry. coffee / redbull fuels her at this point.

really wants to live on a houseboat like she did briefly as a kid.

became vegetarian after watching a documentary when she was eleven.

grows herbs and veg on the balcony of their apartment. she thought it'd be a good idea for her and her mother to do together when she's not working or studying.

pinterest (will add link soon)

WANTED CON.

mother dearest! - she and her mum are insanely close. and i'm going to be putting a wc out for her.

ex (really bad) - she's had two recent break ups. she got out of a relationship around the time she moved in with her mother. quite a bad breakup. the person they were dating had a party whilst they were away and pretty much destroyed their place and led to them getting evicted - she's avoided mentioning this to her mother for nine months.

ex (sorta bad) - this was in the last nine months, but quite short relationship. it ended because she wasn't investing enough into the relationship. they had a blast together, but they noticed she'd been putting to much on her plate with her family and school and work, and neglecting what they had as a result.

friends! i would love her to have some friends. whether that's surface level that she just sees around the building or something deeper. her mother is quite affable, so maybe people who she's met through her.

people who come into the bar she works at on weekends

friends to lovers - i'm a sucker for it. like, so much. her mother always taught her the basis for love should be friendship - not that she ever set a great example with that her dad.

if i think of anything else, i'll add it, but honestly, i'm down to listen to anyone else's ideas too!

[godfrey-the-chaos-duck]

In her answer to the "get to know your moots better" tag game, @justaboot mentioned she'd love to go backpacking in Ireland.

As someone who lives here, I am making this post for anyone who wants to visit Ireland at any point, and I figure now's as good a time as any.

Weather

It rains like 24/7 here so bring a fucking rain coat. And an umbrella. I'm so serious. There will be mornings where you'll leave your hotel/tent/wherever you're staying and you'll think "It doesn't look like it's going to rain" NO. BRING THE COAT. The sky is lying to you. Just because it doesn't look like it'll rain does NOT mean it's not gonna rain!!

The west and north tend to get worse weather, but rain happens everywhere here.

History

Not gonna get into it here because that'd be wayyyy too long of a post, but a lot of our tourist attractions rely on people having at least some kind of knowledge of Irish history and/or folklore. It's interesting, if a bit depressing at times, but I'm pretty sure that goes for all countries.

Long story short we were under British control for a really really really REALLY long-ass time, and we fought like hell to get our independence. Oh - speaking of which, if you're anywhere near the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, it's a good idea to avoid wearing orange ESPECIALLY in or around July. This is because orange is seen as a symbol of Unionist beliefs (ie, the belief that Ireland should be part of the UK) and it's a REALLY touchy subject for a lot of people. Do your research. Trust me on that.

Language

First off, most people speak English here (unless you're in a Gaeltacht region, where people mainly speak Irish. These are located in Cork, Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Meath, Mayo and Waterford, and they can be a great cultural experience but it's not for the faint of heart.) However, there are like a zillion different regional accents so good fucking luck trying to understand people 😂😂

The way Irish people talk has some nice quirks, some of which I'll share here.

Craic (pronounced "crack") No, it's not drugs. The word craic generally means a good time or other happenings. There are three main ways the word is used.

"What's the craic?" = What's up?/Any news?

To have the craic = To have fun, especially at a party

"No craic" = Boring, nothing happening at all.

If someone invites you for a "cuppa" or better yet, a "cupán tae" (pronounced "cup awn tay") they want you to come in and have a cup of tea with them. This is usually accompanied by a LOT of small talk, which Irish people are experts at.

Other expressions vary WILDLY by county and sometimes even by region, so I'm afraid I'm not much help to you here.

Things To Do Here

First off, our restaurants are quite overpriced, as are our hotels. However, our healthcare is fairly cheap.

We have SO MUCH NATURAL SCENERY. If the weather allows, definitely go out and explore it! Just watch out if you're hiking, as the rain makes a lot of places muddy and slippy, so maybe bring the good hiking boots. We also don't have a lot of animals that can kill you, which is great!

As I mentioned, we have a lot of places to go that are based in our history, and they can be great places to learn about Ireland's past. But if you're not interested in history (which is fine) there are plenty of other options. We have a wax museum in Dublin, a theme park called Emerald Park (formerly Tayto Park, after an Irish potato chip brand) and a LOT of great theatres, pubs and clubs. Oh yes, if there's one thing we do well here, it's our night life!

We even have a coastal trail called the Wild Atlantic Way, which stretches all the way up our western coastline, from Cork to Donegal.

And lastly, if you're in the area, there is this fucking LEGENDARY ice cream parlour in Sligo called Mammy Johnstons. It's RIGHT next to the beach, and (in my limited experience) it's the BEST ice cream place in the country.

So yeah! Enjoy your trip!

🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪