Why I Love Ireland

Class? Eyes forward, stop talking, let's begin... 

There's a concept that sociologists and geographers use when discussing the concepts of community and community building called the "third place". This is a place where people go to create, maintain and strengthen personal relationships, gain a sense of place in their community and make new friends. It is an important part of a healthy society.

Your "first place" would be your home and family,  your "second place" would be your workplace, and your "third place" is any social setting you frequent aside from the first two. Ray Oldenburg is an influential sociologist who wrote about the importance of the third place as somewhere to build stronger communities and foster interaction. He describes the qualities that define the third place as:

1. Free or inexpensive
2. Food and drink, while not essential, are important
3. Highly accessible, proximate for many (walking distance)
4. Involve regulars, those who regularly congregate there
5. Welcoming and comfortable
6. Both new friends and old should be found there

According to Oldenburg, third places "host the regular, voluntary, informal and happily anticipated gatherings of individuals beyond the realms of home and work". In America, the third place used to play a major role in society. The local pub, bingo night, the coffee shop in the morning, church. There were plenty of places people would congregate outside the home and workplace to socialize and stay in touch. But ever since the radio wormed its way into the American living room, eventually giving way to the television, sitting around the house getting anesthetized by gadgetry has relegated the "third place" to the scrap heap of distant memory. There is still the occasional bowling league or neighborhood watering hole but, for the most part, people now come home from work every day and sit on their asses in front of the television with some microwaved food and do not a goddamned thing. Hell, most people I know don't even read books anymore. Sad, but true.

Now, what does that have to do with my trip to Ireland you're probably asking yourself. I'll tell you what it has to do with Ireland, my friends. The third place is alive, well and thriving there! It was a revelation to me, as were a lot of things Irish, how people would go out almost every evening after work, have a pint or two with their friends, visit and talk story for a couple of hours, listen to live music in the pubs and then go home, only to be back at "the local" the next night, the next night, and the night after that! Contrary to popular opinion there are not drunk Irish people staggering in the streets nightly. It's a very civilized social ritual that is practiced by most everyone I met there, at least in the city. I didn't spend much time out in the countryside, but I can't imagine it's a lot different there. You can't sit down within twenty feet of someone and get ignored. You WILL make friends there, they'll see to it. By my third day in Galway I was running into people out in the streets who knew my name and wanted to know if I was going to be out for a pint later. In Dublin I made the acquaintance of a bartender who gave me his email address and told me to let him know when I was coming back so he could take a couple of days off to show me around. It was amazing to me. Young and old alike, everyone was friendly. The third place is alive and well in Ireland, I'm happy to say, and it looks a lot like this...

Galway

Neactain's

Even though I can see the writing on this pub, I'm not sure what they are. Everyone calls it Neactain's, (pr. nock-tons). This is the "local" my friend Kevin frequents most often and where I met some of his friends, who are now my friends.

Danny Rosen

The most interesting man in the world does NOT drink Dos Equis. He drinks hot whiskey and some beer whose name eludes me at the moment. His name is Danny Rosen, born in New York, went to sea at the age of 19 on a commercial fishing boat and spent the next 14 years of his life in the Caribbean and Atlantic oceans, lived in Liverpool for a time, came ashore and bought a 4-acre farm in Ireland to raise his family in, now lives alone in Galway, sews all his own clothes, travels all over the world dancing the Tango, is maybe the best-read person I've ever met, can converse fluently in several languages on any topic you can think of, and makes a living selling donuts in the City Center on weekends. An amazing guy and a good friend to my friend Kevin. 'Nuff said.

L to R, Viv, don't know, don't know, Ina (sp?), Miriam Donohue

On my third night in Galway, Kevin couldn't keep up and decided to turn in early, so I went to a club called Roisin Dubh, (pr. ro-sheen dove) which means "Black Dove" in Irish, and yes, it's Irish, not Gaelic. I got corrected so you don't have to later. Anyway, I met these people there and they immediately took me under their collective wings and we had a great time drinking and talking the night away. The fact that I was an older graybeard didn't seem to matter. The gal on the right in this picture as it turns out is somewhat of a rising star on the Irish folk music scene and had been performing there earlier in the evening. I missed her set but I did buy a CD and it is excellent. At one point in the evening this large, inebriated fellow came bounding up to me expressing his admiration for my beard and insisted on getting a picture of himself with me (and my beard). It was a great night all the way around, I got invited to an after party at some dude named Nigel's house, which turned out to be a total dud and cabbed it home about 6:30 that morning. That was the first time in a lot of years I went out, and came home, with the sun above the horizon.

The guy in the middle is the one who found my beard 

so impressive. The guy on the left is some publicity hound

I guess.

I have heard and seen all the jokes about the Irish being a bunch of drunks, and I gotta tell you that based on what I saw, it just ain't true. One of the main reasons I don't spend much time in neighborhood bars in the city I live in is because I find most of the regulars to be a bunch of obnoxious drunks. In Ireland, not so much. I didn't see anyone who was too drunk to function, and you got the impression in the "locals" as they like to call them, that they come in to sip a couple of civilized pints and then head home at a reasonable hour. They come in after dinner and stay for an hour or so and head home. Now, I'm sure they have obnoxious drunks in Ireland too, don't get me wrong, but from what I've seen in my limited exposure to the pub scene in Ireland, the percentage of abusive drinkers amongst the patrons is higher here in the states than it is there. Just sayin'...

Dublin

I spent five nights and six days in Galway, and two nights and one day in Dublin, so my experience was much greater in Galway, but once you got inside the walls of a pub or eatery it was exactly the same, one place to the other.

Doyles in Dublin

I guess you're kind of getting a sense by now that I spent a lot of time in pubs. You'd be right. But in my defense, it was freakin' cold outside and what's a boy to do?

Doyles is a great example of an Irish pub located between Temple College and Temple Bar. I had a bowl of soup and a couple of hot whiskeys while I waited out the rain. Hot whiskey, you say? Oh, yeah, hot whiskey.

Hot whiskey. Who knew?

Hot whiskey was a wonder to me. Hot whiskey, lemon, clove and a pinch of sugar. On a cold, rainy day there is nothing better. I don't know if they serve them in the Irish pubs here, but I'm sure as hell gonna find out.

This is David, the bartender at Farrington's in Temple Bar, the party district in Dublin. He was kind enough to give me a tasting tour of Irish beers and make a few recommendations. He also offered to take a couple of days off and show me around the next time I'm in Ireland. An excellent bartender and a good man. I can't wait.










In Ireland, "third places" that meet all of Oldenburg's requirements are plentiful and easy to find. This is one place you would have to make a serious effort to not make new acquaintances. The people here are as warm as the weather is chilly, and you can always find somewhere to shake off the cold and make new friends. If you ever find yourself in Ireland, take a tip from me. Stay in one place long enough to wiggle into the folds and creases of the place and get to know it. Feel it, smell it, wear it. You'll be rewarded with pleasant memories and new friendships and burdened with a desire to never leave. Enjoy.