Ireland named best country to live in

[Guest]

I clearly am in the minority around here. What did I miss when I was in Ireland those 2 weeks in May & June?

But my sis-in-law, who was there for three years, has much more insight into the differences between living in the UK and the US. .

That may be how it appears to an American but to the locals, Brits, the differences could not be more stark and he he ...fun.

Try telling a UK Constable you were speeding to catch the last race at the Bookies and see where it gets you!

:0)

It may be windy, it may rain a lot, and it may even be occasionaly frustrating, but the rest more than makes the difference.

[pearl grey]

I clearly am in the minority around here. What did I miss when I was in Ireland those 2 weeks in May & June?

I would think that, as much as you took in, you missed quite a lot. I have this notion that I would like living in London (having spent a grand total of 3.5 cumulative weeks there.) But my sis-in-law, who was there for three years, has much more insight into the differences between living in the UK and the US. While I am not her, and would not object to the same things as she...it takes longer to know what cultural variations may tug at your personal comfort zone, and whether you'd grow to love them, hate them, or merely accept them.

It's true that visiting and LIVING there are very different. Kind of like going out for a date compared to marriage. Or babysitting compared with parenting.

As for the weather - May and June are the loveliest months in much of the northern hemisphere! But after living in England (which I imagine has the same type of weather as Ireland), the long dark cold damp northern winters are what stick in my memory! I think I had SAD, seasonal affective disorder, from not seeing the sun! It was dark when I went out in the morning and dark by the time I came home. You can always put on another sweater, but you can't bring out more sunlight when you need it, and that's the hard part for me. But I'm from North Carolina which has more sunlight hours in winter. (And I've always wanted to visit Iceland, but I'm surprised it's on the list!)

My mom is from Ottawa but also lived many years in England, and she's told me more miserable stories about English weather than Canadian! But I think a big part of the difference is that in Canada, her family lived in newer houses with better insulation, better heating systems, etc. But in England their houses were always older and colder, and heating was much more costly and they had to be more miserly. She remembers waking up in the mornings with her curtains rattling on the window because they had frozen in the night! I never had it that bad though - the worst I had was when my Nutella froze solid in the kitchen cabinet.

[feadogin]

I clearly am in the minority around here. What did I miss when I was in Ireland those 2 weeks in May & June? Apparently it was the terrible weather that so many of you keep alluding to. When I was there the temps hovered around the mid 50's to upper 60's. We experienced the daily shower that lasted an hour or two, and the rest of the time it was partly sunny (even into the wee hours of the night - or so it seemed). Maybe it was just a fluke, but I couldn't have asked for better weather.

When we were in the Dingle Penninsula, the people said the past couple of winters were very mild with no snow (unlike where I am now off of Lake Michigan). I also heard this from a lady friend who returns to County Tipperary every December to visit her mother. County Clare and other locales in the country may be different; I don't live there and don't know. I do, however, remember the midges in Lisdoonvarna. They were horrific.

Will O'Ban

I think the weather in Ireland is better than some places, like the East Coast for example with those sweltering summers and freezing winters, but I'm a California girl and it's an undisputed fact that the weather here is perfect. I am spoiled, in other words.

One of the other things that struck me as really different in Ireland was the size and number of the insects! I remember one week last summer when there were swarms of flying ants and midges in Donegal. I tried to go for a walk at sunset one day that week....bad mistake. I had midges actually crawling into my hair and biting my scalp. After that I headed over Cavan, only to find that Cavan had swarms of huge wasps visiting that week. Even the mosquito eaters there were like the size of my hand.

(My boyfriend says that on the East Coast of the U.S., though, the insects are worse).

J.

[izzarina]

(My boyfriend says that on the East Coast of the U.S., though, the insects are worse)

Now, I've never been to Ireland (SIGH!!! Maybe someday), but I can absolutely say that the insects on the east coast are terrible. Go to the forests of New England in May and meet the black flies. They are absolutely horrible. They literally swarm around you and when they bite you, they more often than not take a chunk out of your skin. They bite you everywhere....on the scalp, in the ears, on your face, and then anywhere else they can get at you (wearing a skirt is NOT a good thing!!!). Plus it itches after they bite you. When you go indoors, they still follow you, but then they go toward any window that is close by. I've had almost a hundred on the windows after coming in from outside. The funny thing is that they are TINY in comparison to other bugs. Even smaller than a mosquito.
And then there are the mosquitos.....but that's a whole other story entirely

[Jay-eye]

My wife's originally from Derry so we go over to Donegal every summer for a couple or 3 weeks - I've certainly seen some changes over the last (almost) 30 years... weather hasn't changed much though! Still very 'soft' a lot of the time!

... "and here's a stick to beat the pretty lady with!" (The Quiet Man)

i missed that, but i remember this one:
"there's no locks or bolds 'round me!!" (mary kate dannaher/in the quiet man, 1952).

Most memorable for me:
"Woman of the house - where's my tay!"

j.i.

[pearl grey]

Mamma mia! I never heard about such insect problems, yuck! Well east coast USA, we do have a lot of insects. I hate the swarms of mosquitos and occasional cockroaches, and worst of ALL I hate the disgusting enormous camel crickets (which just a few weeks ago decided to come inside to die before winter, but my brilliant cats caught and ate them - best cats EVER!)

In the UK, even in Scotland summers, I never encountered the famous midges! The worst I saw was a few spiders in the kitchen and bathroom, and they don't bother me at all. And I heard about a few small slugs in the bathroom, but I never saw them.

[pearl grey]

I wasn't too keen on "The Quiet Man." The wife-beating aspect is rather disturbing, in addition to humiliating her in front of the entire cheering town and beating her brother? father? I'm really skeptical about that kind of thing winning a woman's love!

[feadogin]

(My boyfriend says that on the East Coast of the U.S., though, the insects are worse)

Now, I've never been to Ireland (SIGH!!! Maybe someday), but I can absolutely say that the insects on the east coast are terrible. Go to the forests of New England in May and meet the black flies. They are absolutely horrible. They literally swarm around you and when they bite you, they more often than not take a chunk out of your skin. They bite you everywhere....on the scalp, in the ears, on your face, and then anywhere else they can get at you (wearing a skirt is NOT a good thing!!!). Plus it itches after they bite you. When you go indoors, they still follow you, but then they go toward any window that is close by. I've had almost a hundred on the windows after coming in from outside. The funny thing is that they are TINY in comparison to other bugs. Even smaller than a mosquito.
And then there are the mosquitos.....but that's a whole other story entirely

Those flies sound exactly like the midgies...I wonder if they are the same thing?

J.

[claudine]

I wasn't too keen on "The Quiet Man." The wife-beating aspect is rather disturbing, in addition to humiliating her in front of the entire cheering town and beating her brother? father? I'm really skeptical about that kind of thing winning a woman's love!

I didn't like that movie either for the same reasons. And I also didn't like the part where they burnt the money. That's immoral. If they don't want it, they should give it to some poore people. This whole macho show is totally disgusting. Besides the movie was of bad taste, silly and terribly kitsch.

[emmline]

Doesn't sound much better than Taming of the Shrew, though I've seen only snippets of The Quiet Man.

[emmline]

I clearly am in the minority around here. What did I miss when I was in Ireland those 2 weeks in May & June?

But my sis-in-law, who was there for three years, has much more insight into the differences between living in the UK and the US. .

That may be how it appears to an American but to the locals, Brits, the differences could not be more stark and he he ...fun.

Toasty, I'm not sure I get your point. Mine was that a 3 year resident would have a more complete feel for a place than a 3 week resident. Obviously, even 3 years doesn't doesn't tell you as much as a lifetime.

[Will O'B]

I clearly am in the minority around here. What did I miss when I was in Ireland those 2 weeks in May & June?

But my sis-in-law, who was there for three years, has much more insight into the differences between living in the UK and the US. .

Toasty, I'm not sure I get your point. Mine was that a 3 year resident would have a more complete feel for a place than a 3 week resident. Obviously, even 3 years doesn't doesn't tell you as much as a lifetime.

Em, it sounds as if you may have misinterpreted what I was trying to say as well. I agree with you 100% that someone who only visits a place for a couple of weeks can't understand the place as well as someone who has lived there much longer.

When I asked, "What did I miss when I was in Ireland those 2 weeks?" I literally meant, "What did I miss?" This was a question for the locals or people who have lived there longer than 2 weeks. Several people have alluded to the terrible weather due to the global warming. All I heard from residents while I was there was how the global warming has made the climate (especially the winters) more mild in their areas. I live near Lake Michigan and we have experienced milder winters for the past couple of years, but they are still wet and cold, and "mild" is a relative term depending upon what you are used to. In Ireland, we did not experience any of the humidity like we have around here (and which I despise), so for me that was a big plus. I don't doubt the folks who say that their weather in Ireland has gotten worse, I'm just wondering in what ways is all.

Cheers,

Will O'Ban

[Whistling Willie]

The winters are usually a bit milder now than they were years ago.....but it's still bloody freezing

[emmline]

The winters are usually a bit milder now than they were years ago.....but it's still bloody freezing

Well, there you go Will...you missed bloody freezing winters!

[Teri-K]

Anyone who would like to train for Ireland weather is welcome to come here to Seattle. We have the only rainforest in North American. The weather turns to rain and fog and darkness just after Labor Day and doesn’t change to spring-like until July 5th. Then we haul out the power washer and blast the moss off the roof, side walks, and door mat. It isn’t uncommon to go 30 days without sunshine in the winter, but the temps stay in the 40’s. Looking out the window right now, the sun hasn’t come up, fog is rolling in (which probably won’t lift all day) and the sun will set just after 4:00 p.m. – forecast is rain through Saturday.

… and we walked 10 miles in hip-deep water to go to school everyday