Europe’s Best Kept Secret
So what is it really like to live in Ireland? Well, Ireland has many good things going for it. But my favourite thing would be the landscape which I find very beautiful. Is Ireland really incredibly green? It certainly is! This is because we get so much rainfall, The grass can’t help but grow. In the county I live, County Mayo, it rains on 263 days a year.
With only 64 people per square mile in Mayo, you can walk among the stunning scenery and have it all to yourself (apart from the variety of wildlife.) Over here on the west coast the landscape is made up of mountains, rivers, bogs and many lakes. We have some forests but on the whole there are less trees than in any other European country. As an island we have many beautiful beaches including Keem Bay, Achill, County Mayo. This beach has been named one of the most beautiful in the world.
Dublin and the other major cities, of course are busy, modern and similar to cities anywhere in Europe. But in the countryside, the landscape is unique. There are dry stone walls everywhere. These are walls made with rocks There’s nothing holding them together but the skill they were built with. The fields tend to be very small. There are lots of sheep, mostly small, hardy, mountainy varieties. You also see cattle everywhere and quite a few horses and donkeys. The lanes are narrow and winding, often with a healthy growth of grass down the middle. If you are driving, you often have to reverse until you find a gateway to pull in when you meet another car. There is seldom enough room to pass.
My local pub also houses a shop and post office all under one roof. You can drink a pint of Guinness, post a letter and buy wellies, lamb feed and your weekly groceries all within a few feet.
There is a very old-fashioned quality to life that I adore here. Combined with a forgotten, unchanging, natural feel to the landscape, it makes Ireland a very special place to be.
I live within an Irish speaking area. People come from other parts of the country to improve their Irish language skills. Although English is still spoken as well.
If I could change one thing, I would give Ireland more hours of sunshine. The dark cloudy days can become a little mournful.
In a world of motorways, high rise buildings, hustle and bustle; I feel blessed to live in my little corner in the West. It’s Europe’s best kept secret.
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@Rain, I agree Ireland is a beautiful country and very green, Went there in October 2000 & spent 9 days on a bus tour of Ireland. It rained when we went around the ring of Kerry and also there were quite a few rainbows that day . We spent our last night in a Castle south of Dublin and will always remember our tour guide / bus driver John. My father’s brother married a woman from Northern Ireland who came over to the Washington, D.C. area and lived with a relative here & meet my father’s brother and they eventually got married and had 3 children. My cousin Mary is that cousin and her daughter inhearited her Mother’s family property when she passed away 12 years ago , as did my cousin sister and brother. Really enjoyed reading your blog on Ireland.
Nice to meet you, Marie41-2 . The Ring of Kerry is certainly a beautiful drive and I bet those rainbows were dramatic and beautiful. I’d say you got to see most of Ireland in 9 days as it is only 150 miles from one side to the other. I’m glad you got so much from visiting Ireland.
@Rain , Thank you for replying back to and I only had 2 photo’s that showed the rainbow that day and yes we did see a lot of Ireland in 9 days. Would have loved to have gone to Scotland and England but my friend I went with was 75 yr. old and she did not think she was able to do 2 more countries . So now 25 years later I am now 84 and can’t do all the walking any more that we did when I went there in 2000.
You paint a beautiful picture of a lifestyle I thought long gone. I visited the South of Ireland many years ago, the beaches were stunning. I bought local picked strawberries at the roadside whose taste I will never forget. My own family roots were in very rural villages in Lincolnshire Uk where I remember the simple life. The village of Teigh had maybe 20 houses circling the old church. The post office and only shop was run by Gran Wooly and sold everything you ‘needed’ that you didnt grow yourself. So I can picture your beautiful lifestyle and relive some beautiful memories. Thankyou for sharing. I also spent over 30 years in rural Wales where they are keeping the Welsh language alive. I an blessed by having experienced some beautiful parts of the world and love hearing others love of the best around us.
@tjay Thanks for telling us about your long years in Wales and your time in England which sound idyllic. I can picture the houses around the church. I’m glad you enjoyed your holidays in Ireland. I deliberately sought out a lifestyle of peace among nature. I grew up in a very busy town in England and it was always my dream of living in the countryside. One thing that is very quaint here is that my house doesn’t have a number and my road doesn’t have a name. My post is addressed to my name and then the name of the parish my house is in. The post woman has been delivering to me for 23 years and she knows everyone in the area. This does however have drawbacks. One night we had an intruder and it took the police 40 minutes to find our house. In the end I was told to put ALL the lights on, which made the house stand out like a beacon. Quite recently we have been given a post code. It’s safer because anyone with a sat nav can find us immediately if we need help.
Love it. So real in such an artificial world. Unyet deep down I think most of us are simple souls at heart.