Culture & Social Behavior

                Hi from Dublin again. This is my last blog and I hope you have enjoyed my previous blogs and enjoy this one as well. This time I am going to talk about our culture and our social behavior in Ireland. I will tell you about our relationships and our behaviors when it comes to sex, sex and Catholicism, same sex marriages, marriages in general, and our dating behaviors. Here we go!

                First I am going to tell you about is our view and behaviors when it comes to sex. In my family, sex is not something we talk about openly, and we are more conservative when compared to other European countries. Of course, social attitudes and sexual behavior has changed in the last four decades and is much different now then what it was when my parents were younger. Some of the changes include the increase in non-marital births, sex before marriage, and cohabitation. I think it is because of the differences in cultures, the new development of social attitudes, urbanization, and of course the mass media that we see every day (Conroy, 2006). In regards to cohabitation, I think it is a normal thing now days because people are still conservative but not as conservative as they use to be. My parents and I do not talk about sex openly because of our conservatism and we don’t feel that it is appropriate. Also here in Ireland, when it comes to casual sex and sex under the age of consent, we have the lowest school in Western Europe which I think is great. I do not believe in casual sex or sex under the age of consent but there are girls in my school that believe in different things (Conroy, 2006).

                Next I am going to talk about sex and Catholicism. As I have said, Catholicism is huge in Ireland, and due to the changes in the last years, these changes have affected the catholic beliefs. Catholicism and its moral teachings, have had many influences on our life including the public policy on sex and sexual behavior. I learned these from my parents and also while going to church. These teachings include no sex outside of marriage, and a ban of artificial forms of contraception within marriage. These are the most well known teaching and the change is that sex before marriage has become a normal occurrence with younger age groups. My parents of course look down upon this, but I myself along with other friends have partaken in this change (Conroy, 2006). I feel like this has also been a result of mass media and changes in cultures around the world.

                Once major controversy we have been having in Ireland is the different beliefs of same sex marriages. As of right now, the rate of homosexuality in the Republic of Ireland is the lowest in Western Europe but it is still a controversy to some people (Conroy, 2006). Even though Ireland has a low rate of same sex marriages, many people including my parents and I are turning our thoughts around and are supporting it. I think I read in the newspaper the other day that ¾ of the population is supporting it as well. Of course because of the religion aspect, there are concerns that people have about same sex marriages. These concerns are it will damage or change the definition of marriage, religious freedom will be affected, civil partnership is enough for homosexuals, and marriage is only about procreation (Griffith, 2004). I however do not agree with these concerns. I feel that everyone is an equal citizen and they deserve equal freedom, and marriage is about the person you love not what gender they are. My parents have always said that denying a civil marriage to same sex couples is discriminatory and unfair (Griffith, 2004). Also when it comes to the concern of procreation, my parents and I believe that for a child being raised in a loving home by loving parents no matter what gender is more important than be raising by strictly a mother and a father (Griffith, 2004). Soon, many of us Irish, hope that people become more open-minded and accept people for who they really are.

                Now that I have talked about same sex marriages, I am now going to talk about marriage in general. I don’t have a lot to say about marriage but I have a few things. Marriage of course important to the Irish culture and Ireland is known to have the lowest divorce rate (Griffith, 2004). I think this is a huge accomplishment for our culture and a great part of our social behavior. As I stated, there have been changes in the Irish culture and even though marriage is still important, there are some Irish that believe that marriage is no longer the institution it once was (Barry, 2011). It is now a tendency to remain single for a while, partake in delayed marriages, or not get married at all (Schellenberg, 1991). In my parents’ relationship, they were too focus on the avoidance of sexual relationships, high respect for their family and family values, and be loyal to their vows (Schellenberg, 1991). As my opinion, I have seen how happy my parents are together, and I cannot wait to have that.

                Last but not least, I am going to talk about the social behavior when it comes to dating in Ireland. Dating in Ireland is not something we do for fun. Of course we like to date people but when we date, we are eager to settle down with a serious long-term partner therefore, we take dating seriously. I am currently single and not dating but my ideal date would be casual, informal affair that is relaxed (Barry, 2011). I think this is pretty normal for most Irish people on their views of dating. Some important characteristics of relationships in my opinion are personality, faithfulness, education, and descent financial position. Physical attraction is not very important to me and I can that for other Irish as well. When we do find that special someone, we believe that love is about being cared for and understood, and it will all be worth it in the end (Barry, 2011).

                Well that’s all I have on social behavior here in Ireland! Hope you enjoyed!

Barry, G., Hurley, S. (2011). Anotherfriend.com, Love: Uncovered. The first detailed and intimate

                study of Irish attitudes to dating, relationships, love, and marriage. April 15, 2014 from,

                http://www.anotherfriend.com/images/LoveUncoveredwithsurvey02.pdf.

Conroy,R., Cousins, G., Donnelly, C., Laye, R., McGee, H., Mulcahy, F., Quail, A., Rundle, K.

                (October, 2006). Department of Health and Children. Irish Study of Sexual Health and

                Relationships. April 15, 2014 from,

                http://www.ucd.ie/issda/static/documentation/esri/isshr-report.pdf.

Griffith, M. (2004). Marriage Equality. The Case for Marriage Equality in Ireland. April 15, 2014

                from,

                http://www.marriagequality.ie/download/pdf/final_me_constitutional_convention_su

                mission.pdf.

Schellenberg, J. (1991). Patterns of Delayed Marriage: How Special are the Irish? Taylor &

                Francis, Ltd: JSTOR. Volume 24. Pp. 1-11. 

Culture & Self & Identity

Hello again from Ireland! I hope you are enjoying reading my blogs because I am enjoying the chance to write all about myself and the culture and environment here in Dublin. This time I am going to write about self and identity here in Ireland. Of course, it is hard to speak for the whole country but I am going to give you my perspective of self and identity here in Dublin. So I will be telling you all about the concept of identity here in Dublin, about our last names, how religion is a huge part of our identity, another way we identify ourselves, and finally about the self-esteem in Ireland.

            To get us started, I will tell you what I have learned about the identity here in Dublin, Ireland. As I have stated, I have lived in Dublin my whole life so I cannot speak for the whole country of Ireland, but this is what I have learned about my identity.  My parents have told me and I have also learned in school that the Irish culture, society, and economy has undergone a huge transformation than the way it use to be. Also since this has happened, the Irish language has been altered a bit and now the main language is Gailic. Due to this happening, in many schools including the one I attended, Irish language is an obligatory course for students. Many people find it interesting, that we want to preserve the old Irish identity but this is normal for us. We of course want to preserve what started our culture (O’Donovan, 2009).

            Next I will talk about one of the things that makes and Irish person stand out among a group of people; our last names. Of course not everyone in Ireland has a surname but it is very common. My name as you know is Molly O’Brien in which surnames starting with “O” or “Mc” are the most common in Ireland. We were among the first people in Europe to start using these surnames and I think it is a great way for us to identify ourselves among other people of the world. The “O” comes from the language Gailic which came from Ua which means grandson, or “descendant” of a names person (Aldous, 2014). I classify myself as a true Irish person because I was born and have lived here my whole but also because of my last name. It is definitely the identity of an Irish person.  Some people may think the “O” is used in Scotland, which it is, but is used far more in Ireland (Aldous, 2014).

            Next on the topic of identity and self is religion. Many Irish people in Ireland don’t identify themselves as “Irish”, “British”, or “Northern Irish”, but rather by their denomination. There are two major denominations in Ireland and they are Catholic (which is the most popular) and Protestant (Leach, 1999). Religion may be the biggest concept related to self and identity when it comes to Irish people. In my family, we are catholic and it is a huge part of who we are and when we identify ourselves, we are “Catholic”. Since I was little, my parents and I have gone to church every Sunday and if for some reason we can’t go, it better be serious! J But as I have gone to church I have learned that religion is the framework for my life; baptism as a baby, confirmation in the teen years, and then marriage (The Blix Theme, 2008). Also along with religion being a huge part of our identity, there has always been a dispute between the Catholics and the Protestants. The Catholics, including my parents and myself, believe that to improve the economic situation, we need to join the Irish Republic but this then leads to resistance by the Protestants which will then feed into the continued conflict between the two (Leach, 1999). My parents and I believe this conflict will never go away or be resolved.

            I think the reason why religion is so important to us Irish people is because it is a perfect match for us, or at least that is what my parents have always told me. I think my parents and I practice Catholicism so much is because we have rules but are able to choose which ones we want to follow. Or at least that is how we do it here in Dublin (The Blix Theme, 2008). I like to call our religion “a la carte” Catholicism because we pick and choose what suits us best and I think being able to pick and choose what suits me as a person, I appreciate it that much more (The Blix Theme, 2008).  

            Although we may identify ourselves as either Catholic or Protestant, there is another way we identify ourselves here in Ireland. We call ourselves either the Northsiders or the Southsiders. I know this might sound a bit ridiculous but it is totally true. Every Irish city, town, village has a northside and a southside which are divided by a landmark. In Dublin, it is the River Jiffey is the dividing landmark (McGloinn, 2013). This division is not a legal division, but it is I people’s heads and it influences our lives. My family and I live on the north side of the river so therefore we are classified as the Northsiders. The characteristics of Northsiders are we are working class people and we do not like people that live on the south side of the river (The Blix Theme, 2008). Of course, this isn’t exactly true since we have some family that lives on the South side, but many people hold to this hatred towards each other. Southsiders are characterized by their careers do not require work, social status, and considered lower than Northsiders but of course that is our opinion as Northsiders and the rival group (McGloinn, 2013).  . I honestly think it is kind of funny, but it is all that I have grown up knowing about so I better keep the identity alive and going.

             Last but not least, I am going to talk about the self-esteem in Ireland. Since I consider myself a young adult, I can definitely say that is apparent that we at my age have a moderate self-esteem. Also in the Irish culture, boys have a higher self-esteem than girls and I witnessed that when I was in school. I myself never thought I had a low self-esteem, but I had a friend that had a very low self-esteem. I think it was due to her parents being divorced that she had a lower self-esteem because since my parents have been married a while, they were always there to boost me up hence me having a high self-esteem. Another fact about self-esteem, is that Catholicism is so popular here in Ireland, that people that practice Catholicism have a higher self-esteem. One last thing about my self-esteem being high, I look to my parents, grandparents, close teachers, or church leader when trying to decide what is right or wrong. However, my friend that has a lower self-esteem, turns to media, celebrities and magazines (Francis, 2007).

            So when thinking about Irish identity, a lot of things come to my mind because we identify ourselves in many different ways. There is a famous quote that is very popular in Ireland and it is “It is not blood that makes you Irish but a willingness to be a part of the Irish Nation.” by Thomas Davis (Aldous, 2014). I think this quote is so true because being “Irish” is more than just a word!

Aldous, R., Davies, N., Ellis, S.G., MacManus, S., McLaughlin, M., Nicholls,K., Oppenheimer, S.,

            Sykes,B., Toman, R., Various. (April 6, 2014). WIKIPEDIA. Irish People. April 6, 2014 from,

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_people.

Francis, L.J., Greer, J.E., Kay, W.K., Pearson, P.R., Robbins, M. (March 2007). Office of the First

            Minister and deputy First Minister. Self-esteem, Attitudes to Behaviors, Influences and

            Dimensions of Personality among Young People in Northern Ireland. April 6, 2014 from,

            http://www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/de/bulletin2.pdf

Leach, C.W., Williams, W.R. (December 1999). Group Identity and Conflicting Expectations of the

            Future in Northern Ireland. JSTOR, Volume 20. Pp. 875-896.

McGloinn, Donnacha. (2013). Dublin Escape. Northsiders vs. Southsiders. April 7, 2014 from,

            http://www.dublinescape.com/dublin-northsiders-vs-dublin-southsiders.html.

O’Donovan, F. (November 2009). Irish Identity is Far From ‘Ideal’. Socheolas. Volume 2. Pp. 1-22.

The Blix Theme. (April 6, 2008). WordPress.com. Being Irish; What are we Like?. April 6, 2014 from,

            http://beingirishwhatarewelike.wordpress.com/.