Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The lord hath made them mad
For all their wars are merry
And all their songs are sad.
TheIrishseem bornwithaloveofmusic. Atsocial gatherings, everyone'sreadytosing
hisorher“partypiece.” Performances arejudgedlessbyskillthanbyuninhibited sincerity
or showmanship. Nearly every Irish household has some kind of musical instrument on a
shelf or in a closet. And live music is a weekly (if not nightly) draw at any town pub worth
its salt. Pub music ranges from traditional instrumentals (jigs and reels) to ballads (songs
of tragic love lost or heroic deeds done) to contemporary sing-along strummers. It's worth
staying until the wee hours for the magical moment when a rare
sean nos
(Gaelic for “old
style”) lament is sung to a hushed and attentive pub crowd.
PartofthefunoftravelinginIrelandisgettinganearforhowlocalsexpressthemselves
in English (sort of)—from the surprised distant relative who is “gobsmacked” (astounded)
by your appearance, to the businessman in the pub who complains that the economy is ut-
terly “banjaxed” (messed up).
