those rebellious Irish

those rebellious Irish
those rebellious Irish

 Tomorrow we leave Ireland. I am really sad about that. I cannot believe we have been here for a month. It has been a once in a lifetime experience. I grew up being told I was 100% Irish by my mom. Of course that wasn’t true and if I believe ancestry DNA I am about half Irish. I will always consider myself 100% Irish! What else would I want to be? I reject my other heritage, dammit!

Starting in Belfast was weird because of the continued tension there. The history of the troubles is real there even now. I learned a lot about Northern Ireland history. Although I’m no long a practicing Catholic, I thought about what it would have been like to be Catholic in Northern Ireland. Cant help but admire the Catholic people and their struggle for an equal place in society. I don’t think they’ve achieved it yet.

I was kind of thrown by Dublin at first. I thought so this is all about tourism? The Temple bar? There is so much more to Dublin than that. There is a rich culture and history. Dublin played such a major role in the country’s independence. It feels weird to be staying right in the area where a lot of it took place.I absolutely loved learning about Irish history. It gives you a real understanding of irish people and my background and the people in my family.

My great grandfather John was born a year before the famine hit. He grew up in a tumultuous time in Ireland after the famine. Imagine having 1 million people starve and 1 million people leave and the effect that has on the country, on the Irish psyche. It probably continues to affect people to this day because many more people left after the famine.

Every Irish I have met has had a relative in the United States or they have been to the United States. There’s a close connection.

Finally there’s Waterford, where my Dads family came from. His family is still here. Some left. It has been so interesting to see the area they lived in, to learn the history of Waterford and imagine what life must have been like for them going back to 1790, as far as I can trace them.

People in Waterford are friendly, saying hello to strangers, eager to talk to. 

So as we leave Ireland, if I had to describe it I would say there is a sense of melancholy.  Definition of melancholy: a feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause. 

Other words to describe Irish people: resilient, rebellious, joyful. In a way that describes me. God knows I’m resilient. I’m defenitely rebellious(!). I’m happy, haven’t always been.

I think the part of the Irish people I like the best is the rebel in them. They never gave up, fighting til they won.

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August 25, 2022 at 09:36PM


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