Why Ireland?

I’ve always liked the idea of having a feet in several places in the world. There is something special when you stay longer and get to know a place. Especially, when you make friends in that place. It widens your  perspectives and makes you more aware of your own culture. I also assume that if we want to see a change in the world, which I certainly do, it needs to be done on a global scale.

Until now, I’ve been lucky enough to have two places in Spain where I come back whenever I can - Aragon in the Pyrenees and Galicia in northwestern Spain. However, I have been missing a place in the English speaking world. I did go to Australia and New Zeeland about ten years ago, but that’s too far away. I have also done voluntary work in Scotland for two weeks, and for a while I tried to study in Brighton in England. Unfortunately, that journey ended up with me falling ill, and acquiring a severe depression. Even if the depression wasn't caused by England or the English, I didn’t feel like going back. I also have an impression of England as being a very aggressive class society. I guess thats true for most countries, but in England it’s very articulated. You may have any ethnicity or sexual preference you want as long as you got money, but if you’re poor and don’t fit in you’re simply scum. I guess that became quite obvious to me during the 2011 England riots, when hearing how the media responded to the unrest.

So why go to Ireland? I have been to Ireland before, I took a language course when I was fifteen years old, and I really liked the friendliness of the Irish, people seemed so relaxed.  I also visited an Irish Anarchist organization called Workers Solidarity Movement, who had their meeting in a pub to my surprise. However, this idealization of Ireland, might have to do with me only visting when I’ve been on vacation, Moa went to work in Dublin during their economic boom, and she said it wasn’t that nice.

Anyway, there are also interesting links between my home region Bohuslän, Galicia and Ireland. The latter ones are connected through their Celtic heritage. Even if Irish Gaelic is in decline and people in Galicia ceased to speak their celtic language more than 400 years ago, there are many archeological, cultural and climatic similarities. Similar archeological findings have been found in Galicia and Ireland such as dolmens, both places are green and and surrounded by the Atlantic ocean. Similarly, both places have had to struggle for their independence from a foreign power which certainly creates a rebellious image of the two countries. Although Bohuslän can’t claim to have any Celtic heritage, our rock carvings and stone age graves show striking similarity to the ones in Galicia and Ireland.

(to the left , rock art in Ireland Bohuslän and Galicia)

There is a theory about the Atlantic Bronze Age which states that these coastline areas share cultural similarities due to ancient trade networks. These networks have obviously continued and fisherman and sailors from Bohuslän probably knew the ports of Dublin and A Coruña better than the interior of their own country. Although Bohuslän, was taken from Norway by Sweden 500 years ago, Bohuslän has also had a rebellious population among the socialist stonemasons.  All this gives me a feeling of being connected to Ireland and Galicia, and it certainly makes me want to explore both places more.

With this in mind I started reading wikipedia articles about Ireland, I listened to irish news and discovered an excellent podcast called Irish History Podcast. The podcast was strangely enough produced  by a former member the Irish Workers Solidarity movement. I spent a night in a Dublin pub with his friend. They had all met in that organization, even though several members had moved on and started new projects. I have planned this trip for quite a while and managed to persuade Moa and then the rest of my travel companions to come along. This is actually my 30th birthday present. It’s probably the best birthday present I had so far.

(Below: Galician anti-fascists, Stonemasons in front of “The People’s House in Krokstrand, Bohuslän, Irish workers protesting against conscription)

Ireland - First Day

Today, my family and I went to Ireland. It’s the first time Moa and I bring our son Frode abroad. We're traveling together with Moa’s sister Hanna and her boyfriend Mattias. The plan is to travel around for a week. We’ll start with two days in Dublin and then we’ll go to the Dingle Peninsula in the west. When the others go back, I’ll stay two weeks in Cork to study English for teachers. 

When we landed in Dublin Hanna and Mattias got themselves into an adventure. Instead of taking the shuttle bus to get to our rental car, we briskly decided to walk even though it was raining. We reached a hotel where we thought the car would be, but no. The car park was further away, so Mattias and Hanna walked while the rest of us stayed in the cosy hotel lobby. Apparently, they got completely lost, but manage to ask for help at the airport luggage office. A sympathetic fat man forced one of his employees to drive them to the right place. The young driver cracked jokes about not having a drivers’ license and dodged our itinerary. He said that Dingle is a tourist dollhouse where we were likely to get ripped off. What a dork! how does he dare to question my master plan! Anyway, I wished I was there. 

I’m enjoying traveling with Frode. It’s completely different from any other journey I've ever made. We have to pack twice as much as usual and watch him constantly, but its so much fun. Today, he has used every possible occasion to walk. He took his first steps just a few weeks ago, so it must be quite amazing for him. He especially likes stairs, although he needs a bit of help. I'd never thought I’d enjoy walking up and down a set of stairs four times in a row.  But with him it’s like climbing a beautiful hill.

Frode is also a social magnet. He flirts with people all the time, and a new world of social opportunities opens up to his parents. You can always talk with fellow parents: We ask each other about our children’s age, we compliment our wonderful kids and we mean it, we smile at each other, we help out with practical things and share experiences. I love it. Frode seems to enjoy it too. A nice waitress, told us he was ”an adorable child” after he had caught her with his blue eyes. 

Right now Frode is asleep, the others are out and I get time to do what I want. Life is great.  In the next post I hope to describe why we chose to go to Ireland. I’ll see if that happens.