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,
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,
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,
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,
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