Lifestyle and Culture in Ireland
Ireland, famously dubbed as ‘the emerald eye’ and ‘Europe’s rain shield’ is loaded with so many notable spots and regions. However, the nation's most famous product is beer, a beverage that is widely consumed across all works of life. Beer culture is such an integral part of being Irish, that sharing a pint of beer at any time of the day is a very normal phenomenon.
When it comes to food as well, Irish cuisine is very appealing and distinctive, some top notable Irish dishes include things like boxty, Irish potato bread, brown soda bread, bacon and, cabbage, coddle, and even original soup-based dishes like coddle and Irish stew, or black pudding, there's even oysters and Guinness which was popularized by the local Irish fishermen and is eaten across the country. Overall, you can find various Irish potato dishes cooked in different ways with various ingredients.
Thanks to modern media, we all have some form of exposure to Irish culture one way or another, for example, there is the River Dance that is loved across the world or the mythical leprechauns, but there is an entire world to the deep-rooted Irish identity. Prior to Christianity, Celts were primarily farmers and cattle-herders with pagan and druid roots, and then Christianity was introduced and to this day Catholicism plays a huge role in Ireland.
Certain ancient traditions have lived on to this modern-day, for example, the Festival of Samhain which later became known as Halloween which was popularized and is now celebrated all over the globe today. Originally they used turnip lanterns as decoration but the widely accepted ‘Pumpkin’ is now the universal star of the holiday.
Folklore and tradition are very strong in Ireland, the country has a history with mysticism and literature that are still relevant to this day. There are folklore stories such as the Fionn mac Cumhail, Gú Chulainn, Diarmuid and Grainne similar to the Princess Iseult and Tristan, and so much more.
The two most popular sports which are very exclusive to the Irish people are Gaelic Football and Hurling which is loved by the whole country and utilizes special game tools originally designed for the game. One interesting fact in Ireland is that contrary to pop culture and movies, there is no universal Irish accent, you get different dialects from different regions.
Some famous people of Irish descent include Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, Bram Stroker, Samuel Beckett, and the chemist Robert Boyle.
