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Showing results for tags 'Ireland'.
Found 7 results
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It being 12 years since I lived there I doubt I have more recent experience but I'll give it a try (I do have the advantage of going back once a year). Theres also a few fairly good Egulletthreads on dining in Ireland but they tend to skew a little high-end. Go to Roly's Bistro in Ballsbridge and have their lunch special. 3 courses for 20 euro and without a doubt the best dining value in the whole country - there are some real gems on that menu. Before you go go to Eamonn's in Old Town Have some fish and chips or a batter burger and then do the same at Leo Burdock's to compare. Go to Sheridans on South Anne St (just off Grafton St) and pick up some great cheeses and bread and have a picnic somewhere. Go to the Temple Bar Farmers/Food Market on Saturday morning. A nice lady from this farm sells some fantastic cheese there. I'm sure my memory will dredge up a few others but this is a start.
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My wife has been a fan of Glen Hansard for maybe the last half dozen years or so. My first impressions were that he was overwrought. A little too moody for me. Not inventive. Songs sounded too similar. Meh. But....I love my wife. And she's indulged me in my fascination with metal. And besides, I generally love Scottish and Irish music. I'm a huge Silly Wizard fan, for example. So when she suggested we see Glen Hansard at The Anthem, while I initially was not wild about it, I remembered these things and remembered that she's also turned me on to many bands and other performers that I loe dearly so, of course, we set the plans in motion. This concert was a week or two ago. It was GREAT. Tremendous performer and band. A storyteller. Inclusive. Infectious. And clearly I had been doing things wrong. Many songs, while unfamiliar to me absolutely were great. I need to listen to his stuff MORE LOUDLY. And some blew me away. Like this absolute gem. I think they stretched this to about 9 minutes. To say I was elated to see this performed by folks at the top of their game is an understatement. -
The last time I was in Ireland was 1992. It was the summer after my second year of law school. I looked for a summer associate position but didn't find one. I knew if I did nothing I was gonna get killed interviewing for a job as a 3l. So I spent the summer studying abroad, in Exeter of all places. Classes were only Mon-Thurs, so we took off Thursday afternoons and traveled throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland. One weekend, a friend and I took the train to Swansea, boarded a ferry the size of cruiseships, and set sailed for Cork. I had many pints of Guinness as we rocked across the Irish sea. I don't remember much of that trip. Snippets of memory included bending over backwards to kiss the piss soaked Blarney Stone, eating at a Chinese restaurant where we were served chips instead of rice, and listening to lots of Irish music whiling downing pints of the dark foamy stuff (which lead me to purchase several Chieftains cds). So it's time to refresh my memory of the emerald Isle. I'm set to take a guided tour, starting in Dublin, then overnighting in Kilkenny, Killarney, Westport, and then back to Dublin. If you have suggestions for places to eat or drink, please post!
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"Three hundred years ago people in England were putting witches to death ... But surely the reason we do not execute witches is that we do not believe there are such things. If we did—if we really thought that there were people going about who had sold themselves to the devil and received supernatural powers from him in return and were using these powers to kill their neighbours or drive them mad or bring bad weather—surely we would all agree that if anyone deserved the death penalty, then these filthy quislings did? There is no difference of moral principle here: the difference is simply about matter of fact. It may be a great advance in knowledge not to believe in witches: there is no moral advance in not executing them when you do not think they are there. You would not call a man humane for ceasing to set mousetraps if he did so because he believed there were no mice in the house." -- C.S. Lewis, from "Mere Christianity" -
This picture brings back so many memories of my son and I going to Ireland in 2010 - we were there for about 10 days, and seemingly every single morning, we'd have an Irish Breakfast, which looked exactly like this (except that we had cheaper, lower-quality, hotel versions). By the time our trip was over, neither of us wanted to see another Irish Breakfast again, and I'm pretty sure it remains that way now, six years later. They look *so good*, but in reality, the ones they serve in most hotels just aren't, and when you have them day after day, they really just wear on you. Thanks for the memory - I think!
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I just heard the word "Donnybrook" used for the first time (that I remember) to describe a chaotic event. I looked it up, and it turns out that the Donnybrook Fair was a multi-day, public drinking-fest held in Dublin, Ireland beginning in the year 1204, when King John (*) of England granted permission for the event - it lasted up until 1855, when it was purchased by The Committee for the Abolition of Donnybrook Fair. I tell you, those people in the Middle Ages - they might not have had cell phones, but they sure knew how to have a good time. This fair sounds a lot like the Maryland Renaissance Festival, except it was the real thing. (*) An interesting sidebar about King John: He was also known as "John Lackland," and in Norman French, there's a literal translation of that name - he was called Johann sanz Terre ("John without earth"). That's probably only interesting to about five people in the world, but I'm one of them.
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I can't handle much more than Dubliners (which I'd *love* to discuss with someone if they started a topic about it, hint hint hint) ) - I picked up Ulysses once, and put it back down after about ten minutes, realizing I'd never finish it.
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