Ready for an epic ride through Ireland's wild history, dramatic uprisings, and quirky modern life? From the IRA and snipers to Guinness, St. Patrick's Day, and why Irish pubs are the best in the world, this video has it all—plus a dash of Irish humor! Don't forget to subscribe for more awesome stories, and drop a comment sharing your favorite part! #history #Ireland #culture #travel #funfacts
👉 This channel was created in collaboration with https://www.youtube.com/@kramola_online
0:00 - Recap and New Conflict Preview
0:30 - The War of Independence
4:29 - Civil War and Aftermath
7:39 - IRA Evolution and Border Campaign
9:17 - Religious Conflict and The Troubles
15:50 - Peace Process and International Impact
24:47 - Modern Ireland: Economy, Society, Traditions
29:55 - Irish Culture, Pubs, and Wisdom
👉 This channel was created in collaboration with https://www.youtube.com/@kramola_online
0:00 - Recap and New Conflict Preview
0:30 - The War of Independence
4:29 - Civil War and Aftermath
7:39 - IRA Evolution and Border Campaign
9:17 - Religious Conflict and The Troubles
15:50 - Peace Process and International Impact
24:47 - Modern Ireland: Economy, Society, Traditions
29:55 - Irish Culture, Pubs, and Wisdom
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00In the first part of our story about the confrontation between the Irish and the English, we touched
00:04on the medieval uprising, the mass famine, British suppression tactics, and made it to
00:10the 20th century, where we covered the Easter Rising. But now it's time to talk about perhaps
00:15the most striking episodes in the struggle for Ireland's independence. Ahead, you will hear
00:20stories about the Civil War, the Irish Republican Army, the religious clash in which the Vatican
00:26intervened, and the influence of the United States. Let's go. The War of Independence.
00:32After the suppression of the Easter Rising, public opinion became sharply radicalized.
00:37The public executions of the uprising's leaders, arrests, and repression led to increased support
00:43for the national movement. In January of 1919, the parliamentary faction of Sinn Féin proclaimed
00:49the Irish Republic and began armed struggle. The main armed force became the Irish Republican Army.
00:55The IRA, which by 1920 had an official strength of about 100,000 people, of whom around 15,000
01:03were active participants, and about 3,000 fighters were constantly under arms. They killed police
01:09officers and their informants, kidnapped and killed British officials, destroyed administrative
01:14buildings, obstructed tax collection, and carried out sabotage against British troops. The Irish
01:20Republican Army did not operate as a conventional army. Thanks to the genuine support of the
01:25population, the fighters could easily blend in among civilians. This tactic caused even more anger
01:31in London. In 18 months of conflict, English security forces carried out about 40,000 raids,
01:37arrested nearly 5,000 suspects, organized 1,604 armed attacks on gatherings of Irish Republican Army fighters,
01:46and killed 77 civilians, including women and children. One of the largest episodes of the
01:52confrontation was the arson of the Ministry of Local Government building in Dublin. The Irish
01:57Republican Army seized the building, destroyed documents, and symbolically attacked the British
02:02administrative system. As a result, five volunteers were killed, and about 80 were taken prisoner.
02:08Seeing that the usual methods could not defeat the guerrillas, the British created their own
02:13paramilitary units, the Black and Tans. These units carried out acts of intimidation and terror against both
02:20open and covert supporters of independence. Moreover, only hardened veterans of the First World War with
02:27high morale and training were accepted into their ranks. In addition, they sincerely hated the Irish,
02:33whom they called Rebels and Draft Dodgers, because the Irish were in no hurry to fight for the ambitions
02:38of the British Crown. The burning of Balbriggan is one of the most notorious attacks by British Black and
02:44Tans units on civilians. On September 20, 1920, after two policemen were killed by Irish Republican
02:51Army fighters, a unit of about 100 men stormed into the town of Balbriggan, smashed dozens of houses,
02:58set a factory on fire, and killed at least two civilians. The victims were ordinary residents,
03:04not connected to the militants. Delving into the history of the conflict, researchers point to
03:09correspondence between colonial office officers, where the term moral exhaustion policy is used in
03:15reference to the Black and Tans. In the Irish archives in Dublin, letters from local commanders
03:21of the Irish Republican Army have been preserved, stating that the Black and Tans acted not as police,
03:26but as an instrument of terror aimed at making the people themselves turn away from the uprising.
03:31The partisans were greatly aided by the fact that their units were semi-autonomous,
03:36lacking the rigid vertical chain of command found in conventional armies. Even after achieving local
03:41successes, it was simply impossible for the English to completely suppress the entire movement.
03:46The Irish created a situation in which England was essentially at war with the entire country,
03:51and there seemed to be no end in sight to this war. The digital concentration camp hadn't been invented
03:56yet, and the English had no chance of completely suppressing the rebels. However, the Irish
04:02Republican Army had its own plans. They wanted to take advantage of the situation and push London
04:07toward a favorable deal. By 1921, such an agreement had taken shape. The leaders of the Irish nationalists
04:14and the British government signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty, under which most of Ireland became a dominion
04:20within the British Commonwealth, following the example of Canada and Australia. Under the treaty,
04:25Ireland received broad autonomy, but not full independence. Northern Ireland, where a significant
04:31Anglo-Scottish Protestant population lived, remained under English control. But even such a seemingly
04:37successful treaty for the Irish still had a flaw. It caused a split among the Republicans,
04:43some of whom wanted to continue the struggle until full independence. There is a fairly popular version
04:49that the British government had planned the partition of the island in advance as a strategy of control.
04:54Documents from that time indicate discussions about the six counties in the north and the creation
04:59of Northern Ireland as a permanent foothold loyal to London. A civil war broke out in the newly formed
05:05Ireland. During the street fighting, many heroes of the War for Independence were killed, including the
05:11first Prime Minister and head of the Irish Republican Army, Michael Collins. Officially, Collins died in an
05:18ambush on August 22, 1922, but the facts indicate that he was eliminated by British agents. The site of
05:25the ambush in Beale-Nablath was under surveillance by former British intelligence officers. The official
05:30investigation was conducted hastily and did not include a ballistic examination. During such an examination,
05:36it is possible to determine with centimeter accuracy from which position the shots were fired,
05:41and from what weapon, and many other details that often change the course of the investigation.
05:46The very fact that there was no ballistic examination already says something. Documents preserved in
05:52British archives indicate Collins remains a potential factor of instability. As is often the case,
05:59people like Michael Collins were inconvenient for everyone. His death suited both sides, the British
06:04and the moderate wing of the Irish, who wanted to stop the radicals. Researcher Christopher Andrew,
06:09the official historian of British intelligence MI5, noted that in 1921, an agent with the code name
06:16Informant 37 was in direct contact with Michael Collins' closest associates. It was precisely because
06:22of the large number of British agents that some Irish Republican Army operations failed literally within
06:28hours of starting. In London, as always, there were cunning politicians who wanted the treaty supporters to
06:33win and supplied the pro-treaty forces with weapons. There are even two radically opposing films. For moderate views,
06:41there's the 1996 film Michael Collins, starring Liam Neeson. The events are presented from a moderately nationalist point of view.
06:48The British are shown as enemies, but not as demons, and Collins is portrayed as a tragic figure forced to
06:55choose between war and peace. This is the perspective of moderate Republicans, those who believed that independence
07:01could be achieved step by step, not through total war. The second film is The Wind That Shakes the Barley,
07:07from 2006. This film is a grim, emotional, and highly ideological version of the same events,
07:13but seen through the eyes of ordinary Irish people. The plot follows two brothers who fight against the British,
07:19and then end up on opposite sides of the barricades in the Irish Civil War. A state within a state.
07:26After
07:26the signing of the treaty and a brief civil war, the Irish Republican Army split into many factions. Each of
07:32them declared itself the real Irish Republican Army, but after a few years, most of them returned under a
07:38common flag. From the 1920s to the 1940s, the relationship between the Irish Republican Army and the
07:45government of independent Ireland went from mutual respect to hostility. The new cabinet was made up
07:50of former revolutionaries, but now they had to think about the state, not about guerrilla warfare.
07:56The Irish Republican Army, on the other hand, demanded a complete break with Britain and the
08:01unification of the island. When the organization's leadership tried to use contacts with Nazi Germany
08:06during World War II, it became a reason for repression by both London and Dublin. The Irish authorities,
08:12although maintaining neutrality, acted together with the British, arresting commanders, eliminating
08:18underground weapons caches, and carrying out secret executions. As a result, the Irish Republican
08:24Army went deep underground, but it could not disappear completely. It took root in society,
08:29enjoyed support in rural areas, and controlled part of the criminal networks. After the war,
08:35the situation changed. Britain lost its status as an imperial hegemon, and the United States increased its
08:41influence. For the new generation of politicians, the idea of armed resistance seemed outdated,
08:47but no one dared to openly oppose the Irish Republican Army. The respect for the veterans
08:52of the War for Independence ran too deep. An unspoken balance formed. Dublin avoided interfering in the
08:58Irish Republican Army's activities in Northern Ireland, and the Irish Republican Army did not challenge
09:04the Irish government. By the late 1950s, the organization underwent reorganization and became active again.
09:10It launched the so-called Border Campaign, a series of attacks and sabotage operations on the border with
09:16Northern Ireland. It was only a shadow of the previous war in scale, but its impact was much greater.
09:23The campaign inspired a new generation of Catholics in Northern Ireland and reminded everyone that the
09:28issue of uniting the country remained unresolved. Meanwhile, life in the north of the island remained
09:33difficult. After the partition of Ireland in 1921, a sharp religious conflict persisted there. Protestants,
09:41descendants of Anglo-Scottish settlers, maintained ties with Britain and considered themselves true
09:46citizens of the Crown. They became known as Unionists. The word Unionist itself comes from Union. These
09:54people considered themselves British and wanted to preserve the Union with Great Britain. They were proud of the
10:00British flag, the Crown, and the Protestant faith, seeing Catholics as a threat, not only politically,
10:06but also culturally. Almost on a civilizational level, Catholics, who made up about a third of
10:12the population, remained second-class citizens. They faced discrimination when applying for jobs,
10:18had no access to political power, and there were hardly any Catholics in the police or administration.
10:24And as if the struggle with the English wasn't enough, there was also pressure from the Vatican.
10:29They were indeed actively interested in the Irish question. The document, No Pope Here, Britain,
10:35the Vatican, the Irish Republican Army, and the Papal Visit to Ireland, from September 1979,
10:42authored by Martin Duerthy, points out that there were serious disagreements within the Vatican regarding
10:47the Irish question. Some Catholic hierarchs preferred to support British policy,
10:52rather than the interests of Catholics in Northern Ireland. Another study noted that Protestant Ulster,
10:58the Northern Irish Protestants living in the province of Ulster, perceived the Catholic Church
11:04and its connection to Rome as a threat to their position. The text claims that Protestants saw the
11:10Vatican as a kind of conspiracy against them. A specific fact is also given. The Unionists and the
11:16Protestant community were alarmed by the 1908 decree Ne Temero and the subsequent Papal Order with the
11:24greatest zeal of 1911. Both documents concerned marriages between Catholics and non-Catholics,
11:30and they reinforced the Protestants' suspicions that the Vatican was interfering in Ireland's public affairs.
11:35This, in turn, strengthened the Unionist resistance to the idea of Irish self-government. In the 1960s,
11:42inspired by the civil rights movement in the United States, Northern Irish Catholics began to demand
11:47equality. They demanded police reform, an end to political arrests without trial,
11:53and the elimination of the unfair electoral system in which only homeowners could vote. In fact,
11:59this meant that most Catholics were deprived of the right to vote. At first, the protests were peaceful,
12:05but by the late 60s, attacks, arson, and retaliatory killings began. The British army deployed troops to
12:13restore order. On January 30th, 1972, a tragedy occurred in the city of Derry, which went down in
12:20Irish history as Bloody Sunday. The soldiers opened fire on unarmed participants of the Civil Rights March.
12:2613 people were killed, 14 were wounded. That day became a point of no return, the beginning of a new,
12:32much bloodier stage of the conflict. After that, Northern Ireland was completely divided. Among
12:38Catholics, two main groups formed, the Official Irish Republican Army and the Provisional Irish
12:44Republican Army, alongside a dozen smaller factions. The Protestants had their own armed organizations,
12:49the Ulster Volunteer Force, the Ulster Defense Association, and others. Their differences were
12:55secondary. Each terrorist attack triggered a wave of retaliatory assaults, followed by a new spiral of
13:01violence. In 1972, the bloodiest year of the entire conflict, about 500 people were killed. Explosions
13:08and shootouts became part of everyday life. Cities turned into war zones, and neighborhoods were
13:14divided along religious lines. Protestants were afraid to enter Catholic districts, and Catholics were
13:20afraid to enter Protestant ones. Even children in schools knew which house was safe and which was not.
13:26After the early 70s, the Irish Republican Army no longer resembled the organization from Collins' time.
13:32It still had a clear goal, to drive out the English, give land and rights to Catholics, and eventually
13:37unite the island. But they had no plans for turning the guerrilla network into a political force,
13:42though they certainly had enough ambition. In 1972, representatives of the Irish Republican
13:47Army secretly arrived in London for negotiations. They demanded the withdrawal of British troops from
13:53Northern Ireland. The response was predictable, a refusal, and just two days later, the ceasefire
13:58was broken. By that time, in the Catholic areas, the Irish Republican Army had almost become a local
14:04government. Neither the British police nor the army operated there. The Irish Republican Army
14:09settled disputes, punished criminals, regulated marriages, and even intervened in everyday matters.
14:15In fact, it was a state within a state, where the word of the unit commander carried more weight than
14:20any law. British soldiers tried not to go there. Snipers and grenade launcher crews were waiting for
14:26them on the rooftops. The Irish Republican Army, of course, avoided open battles. Instead, they waged a
14:32guerrilla war, terrorist attacks, ambushes, explosions, assassinations of officials. In densely populated cities,
14:39this approach turned life into a never-ending nightmare. Of the more than three and a half thousand
14:44people killed during the entire conflict, half were civilians. But the concept of a civilian in Northern Ireland
14:50was relative. Almost everyone helped their own side. Some transported militants, others hid weapons. Such
14:57small favors could cost a person their life. To at least somehow limit the violence, the authorities began
15:03building so-called peace lines, concrete and metal walls separating Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods. These walls still
15:11stand today, reminding us that peace in Northern Ireland is not final. If we look at the statistics,
15:17throughout the entire conflict, about 60% of the those killed were caused by Catholic groups,
15:2330% by Protestant groups, and around 10% by British military forces. But simple arithmetic doesn't reflect
15:30the essence. The British Army intervened not as a peacekeeper, but as a third force with its own
15:36interests, the guerrilla war lasted a long time. The resolution came in 1998 when the Good Friday
15:43Agreement was signed. It established the participation of both communities in governing the region
15:48and granted amnesty to most militants. At that time, about 1,700,000 people lived in Northern Ireland,
15:5560% Protestants and 40% Catholics. The first minister was Unionist Peter Robinson, with Martin
16:02McGuinness, a former Irish Republican Army member who had served prison time for combat operations,
16:07as his deputy. Initially, Unionists were outraged, claiming they were betrayed and handed to terrorists,
16:13but with London insisting on peace, Protestants accepted the change. Catholics, however, were slow
16:19to give up their arms. The disarmament dragged on for years, and small underground groups still exist
16:25today, a kind of reserve that can be activated if old grievances resurface again. Some of the former
16:31fighters moved south to the Republic of Ireland, where they got involved in smuggling, illegal arms
16:37trading, and even a kind of business, folklore clubs and tours of battle sites. On the surface,
16:43Northern Ireland is calm today, but the tension hasn't disappeared. From time to time, car bombs
16:48are discovered, explosions happen, and fights break out during religious holidays. Formally, both sides
16:55have been granted amnesty, but people continue to live next to those who killed their friends and
16:59relatives. Forgiving this is not so easy. Of course, now it's only a few people a year rather than a
17:05hundred as before, yet the memory of past decades has not disappeared. Half a million people in Northern
17:11Ireland have seen violence with their own eyes at least once. And although the war ended long ago,
17:16peace remains fragile, especially since demographics are gradually changing the balance. Catholics are
17:22growing in number faster, while the traditional Protestant parties are weakening. More and more often,
17:27people say that in ten years the question of the region's future may resurface with a new wave of
17:32radicalism, but under different circumstances. Sniper warfare. Still, the subject of snipers deserves
17:39separate discussion within the Civil War. This is quite a specific chapter, since people usually recall
17:45street protests, explosions, political confrontation, and the activities of underground groups. The Sniper War
17:52developed gradually, starting from the late 60s, and became an integral part of the entire confrontation.
17:58Sniper tactics emerged as a response to the heavy presence of the army and police in urban areas,
18:04primarily in Belfast and Derry. Narrow streets, numerous alleys, abandoned houses, and dense neighborhoods
18:12created ideal conditions for sudden attacks. At first, sniper attacks were sporadic and mostly symbolic,
18:19but by the mid-70s they had become a full-fledged element of the Irish Republican Army's strategy,
18:26especially within the ranks of the provisional Irish Republican Army, the most active faction
18:32of the IRA. The main task of the snipers was not to eliminate large numbers of opponents,
18:38but to deliver targeted strikes against military patrols. Sniper fire allowed the Republicans to
18:43operate relatively covertly and withdraw from combat without direct confrontation,
18:48which was especially important amid tight control of the streets and regular raids.
18:52Republican marksmen typically relied on weapons that could be easily upgraded and repaired in
18:58underground workshops. Civilian hunting rifles, old army models, and weapons smuggled in from the
19:06United States and the Middle East were widely used. Later, more powerful rifles began to be used,
19:13including the famous Barrett M82, which became one of the most notable technological changes in the
19:19sniper war. The Barrett rifle has a range of almost two kilometers, and it doesn't just shoot. It can
19:25penetrate brick and stone walls, armor plates raided to stop rifle rounds, concrete blocks, and even light
19:32armored vehicles. The British Army noted that the armor of patrol vehicles couldn't withstand even a single
19:37hit, and the bullets would reach their target. In 1990, a soldier named Kirk Ward was killed with a
19:44Barrett. The shot was fired from a distance of over 300 meters through a narrow gap in the wall of
19:49a
19:49farmer's barn. The British soldier's body armor didn't save him. The Barrett bullet went right through it.
19:56In 1993, a bullet struck Corporal James McManus. This was one of the most accurate shots by the
20:02Irish Republican Army. The soldier stood behind a Land Rover's armored shield, but the sniper shot
20:08through the narrow gap between the pillar and armor plate. A few days later, the British Army increased
20:14the thickness of the side armor on their patrol vehicles. In total, the group is credited with the
20:19deaths of about 10 servicemen. It's important that they operated almost unnoticed. The British forces were
20:24only able to arrest some of the members by chance due to a vehicle inspection that found rifles being
20:30transported. Sniper groups almost always operated in small teams—a shooter, a spotter, and a driver.
20:36They carefully studied patrol routes, armored vehicle movement schedules, and the features of the
20:42city layout. One of the most well-known areas where sniper activity became almost routine was South Armagh,
20:48a rural area near the border with the Republic of Ireland. Here, Republican snipers used the
20:54rural terrain, abandoned farms, and a network of country roads. This area became known in the
21:00press as the Sniper Triangle. The most well-known was the group of snipers from South Armagh,
21:06who operated in the 1990s. Despite the relatively small number of attacks, their activities had a
21:12serious impact on the morale of British units. And it wasn't just about the use of powerful Barrett rifles,
21:18carefully planned retreat tactics, and minimizing information leaks. The very fact of the presence
21:24of such snipers forced government forces to remain under constant stress. After all, the local residents
21:31won't help. A shot could be fired at any moment, and even armored vehicles won't save you. In response,
21:37the British Army reinforced patrol vehicles, constantly changed the routes of mobile units,
21:43and used observation posts. Special sniper towers appeared in urban areas, metal structures rising
21:49above residential neighborhoods. From there, government snipers tried to spot Republican snipers.
21:56Sniper teams hardly used radio communication. All their work was based on hand signals and pre-arranged
22:03escape routes. This only allowed British intelligence services to intercept information occasionally.
22:09The American connection. You might ask, where is the influence of the United States?
22:14Initially, we mentioned interference from London, the Vatican, and Washington. But so far,
22:19we've only discussed two. That's a separate and interesting topic. Researchers note that the
22:24trail of the Irish Republican Army extended far beyond Ireland and led to the United States,
22:29to one of the Irish American organizations known as NORAD. This organization raised funds to
22:34support Irish Republican Army militants. And some sources claim that through NORAD,
22:38the supply of weapons and equipment, was actually controlled by American intelligence agencies.
22:44Witnesses and archival reports claim that this money and weapons were not simply transferred as
22:48charitable aid, but were directed towards specific operations of the Irish Republican Army
22:53in Northern Ireland. Officially, no one has ever confirmed this. But British officers who worked
22:58with intelligence insisted that the CIA not only turned a blind eye to such actions,
23:03but sometimes it even seemed as if they were encouraged. Former British intelligence analysts
23:08recall that the NORAD network operated as a carefully organized chain. Funds were collected by the
23:14Irish diaspora, passed through branches in the US, and then sent through secret channels to the north of the island.
23:21Some authors note that such an organized supply chain could not have been accidental. It functioned as a tool in
23:27a geopolitical game,
23:28in which the Irish Republican Army, while fighting for independence, unintentionally became part of a much broader system of influence.
23:35Some believe the United States viewed the Northern Ireland conflict as a way to weaken the United Kingdom.
23:41And the timing was just right. The height of the Cold War, at the end of which the United States
23:46gained the status of global hegemon,
23:48in part by further weakening one of the former hegemons and the largest empire of its time, the British Empire.
23:54In this logic, the Irish Republican Army became not only a liberation movement, but also a means of external pressure
24:00on London.
24:01Access to weapons, finances, and information allowed the militants to operate much more effectively than could be expected based on
24:08their numbers and local capabilities.
24:10Thus, the Irish Republican Army existed at the intersection of two worlds. It was a popular movement, and at the
24:16same time, an object of manipulation by external forces.
24:20Internal operations, shootouts, sabotage, and countermeasures, all of this fit into a larger scenario where the lines between the struggle
24:28for independence and international strategic interests became blurred.
24:33And in this context, neither a single victory nor a single defeat of the Irish Republican Army was a completely
24:38isolated event.
24:40Every operation had its invisible shadows in London, across the ocean, in Washington, and among the American and Irish diaspora
24:47modern times.
24:48So, how are things in the southern part of the divided island? How is the Republic doing?
24:54More than 10 years ago, reforms began in Ireland, a country that was previously almost exclusively agricultural and, frankly, poor
25:03compared to its prosperous neighbors,
25:05which allowed it to become not only a European, but also a global leader in GDP per capita.
25:10This economic phenomenon was called the Celtic Tiger, by analogy with the developing countries of the Asian region.
25:17The name is strange, but the main thing is that it works.
25:20The introduction of a low corporate tax rate, which dropped to 12.5%, played a crucial role in the development
25:27of the Irish economy at that time.
25:29Thanks to this, the European headquarters of global IT giants – Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, PayPal, Yahoo, Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, Airbnb,
25:40and other unicorns – immediately moved to the island.
25:44The advantages are multi-billion-dollar injections into the country's budget, allowing the country to afford a great deal.
25:50The downsides are a sharp increase in prices for literally everything, which happened due to the massive influx of foreign
25:57specialists filling the constantly opening vacancies.
26:00By the way, after the corporate tax was lowered, the pharmaceutical industry began to thrive in Ireland alongside the IT
26:07industry.
26:08Many international banks have offices in Dublin.
26:1125% of the computers produced in Europe are made here.
26:15American high-tech companies are actively investing tens of millions of dollars in the Irish economy.
26:22Today, this is one of the fastest-growing countries in the European Union.
26:26At the moment, just over 4.5 million people live in this country.
26:31That's even less than in St. Petersburg, but there are plenty of Irish people all over the world.
26:36The first thing you need to know about the weather in Ireland is how relative the phrase Northern Ireland really
26:42is.
26:42Yes, in a geographical sense that's true, but the key role here is played by the warm Gulf Stream current,
26:48which branches out from the south and makes the eastern coast of the island relatively warm all year round.
26:54For example, on December 29th, Dublin became the warmest place in Europe, because even in the shade it was 15
27:01degrees Celsius.
27:02Snow, the kind that stays on the ground for several days, falls only once every few years, and it's such
27:08a unique event that the Republic is completely unprepared for snowfalls.
27:12Cars and public transport come to a halt for those couple of days, store shelves are empty, and people don't
27:18go to work.
27:19Knowing this peculiarity, as soon as the locals hear a weather warning about possible snow or a storm, they rush
27:25to buy what they consider the two most essential products, milk and bread.
27:30Which, of course, aren't enough for everyone because of the rush.
27:34Fortunately, besides their fear of the cold, islanders have another innate quality, a great sense of humor.
27:40So pub owners, who never close their establishments under any circumstances, came up with a funny promotion.
27:46With the purchase of a pint of beer, you'd get a piece of the coveted bread for free.
27:51The Irish happily celebrated the apocalypse instead of trudging through the unusual snow to a boring job.
27:57Overall, the average winter temperature in Dublin is 6 degrees Celsius above zero.
28:02Several times a season, storms come in from the ocean, and it's better to stay home during them.
28:07Both in late December and early February, there may be a few sunny days with temperatures reaching 15 degrees Celsius.
28:13So compared to the weather in the northern capital of Russia, for example, Dublin is just like a resort.
28:19Maybe that's why the Irish don't like to dress warmly. Warm jackets, downcoats, pants, those aren't for them.
28:26No matter the weather, it's shorts and a windbreaker.
28:29It often happens that an Irishman owns two plots of land, one on the coast and another inland.
28:36Both plots have all the utilities connected.
28:39And so, when the storm season, rains and piercing winds begin here at the start of winter,
28:44they simply move the house away from the ocean to the central part of the country.
28:49In spring, they bring it back to the sea and the pleasant, salty air.
28:53The cost of residential houses starts at 10,000 euros, that's about 700,000 rubles, without finishing.
29:00It's moved twice a year.
29:02It turns out to be much more economical than maintaining a house that stands empty for an entire season.
29:07Referendum.
29:08It's a sacred word for every Irish person.
29:11If a controversial issue arises in the Republic, or people start discussing changes to the law, there will be a
29:18referendum.
29:19The islanders can't even imagine, not even in their worst nightmares, that someone from the government wouldn't consult the people,
29:26and would start issuing decrees that could affect citizens' private lives.
29:30That's why they hold votes there regularly.
29:32Abortion, decriminalization of jokes about religion, lowering the age for presidential candidates, abolition of the death penalty, divorce proceedings.
29:43Everything is decided by referendums.
29:45By the way, to participate in voting, it's enough to have a residence permit.
29:50And since you are a taxpayer, your vote will be counted.
29:55Religion.
29:56The main treasure of Ireland, which they actively share with the whole world, is their favorite holiday, St. Patrick's Day.
30:03It is celebrated every year on the 17th of March.
30:06This is the most significant date for every Irish person living anywhere on the planet.
30:11St. Patrick, being a bishop, actively preached Christianity in Ireland, founded either 300 or 600 churches, and personally baptized more
30:20than 120,000 Irish people.
30:22The symbol of the holiday is the shamrock.
30:25People dress up in green clothes and leprechaun costumes.
30:28The holiday is celebrated on a grand scale.
30:31Parades, processions, and festivals are organized on the streets of cities.
30:36In Chicago, on this day, they even dye the river that runs through the entire city green.
30:41In general, this country is very religious.
30:44During the Civil War, all Protestants were expelled to Northern Ireland solely on religious grounds.
30:49Here, religion is indicated everywhere, in all documents.
30:54It's even difficult for a non-Catholic child to go to kindergarten, and schools, which are strictly Catholic from the
31:00age of four, are always attached to a church.
31:03Boys and girls study separately.
31:05Elementary school teachers are nuns with teaching degrees.
31:09Sports are mandatory, and both boys and girls play the national sport, rugby.
31:14At the same time, old church buildings can be sold if they're no longer needed or turned into stores.
31:21A sign saying, Church for sale, is no joke.
31:24Because the building stands empty when the parishioners get an education and trade religion for books.
31:29So it's not surprising that one of these buildings has been turned into a pub.
31:34St. Mary's Church in Dublin was built in the early 18th century.
31:37The founder of the brewery company, Arthur Guinness, was married there himself.
31:42And at the age of 23, a local entrepreneur bought the abandoned church, renovated it, and opened a pub there.
31:48He restored the organ and stained glass windows, and placed a bar counter and tables for visitors in the center
31:54of the hall.
31:54Now this unusual establishment is extremely popular, because pubs in Ireland are sacred.
32:03Pub is short for public house.
32:06Regulars have been coming here for decades not to get drunk, but to talk over two or three pints.
32:12Sports, politics, the weather, and of course local news are the topics for discussion.
32:17And the bartender, who knows everything and everyone, is the link between the customers.
32:22So the Irish bartender, especially in local pubs, is almost always a mature man who can both keep up a
32:30conversation and politely let a tipsy customer know that he's had enough.
32:34Any significant event is celebrated in bars, meeting with friends, a birthday, getting paid, or just Friday.
32:42Almost like in Russia, our countries are even next to each other in the alcohol consumption rankings, sixth and seventh
32:49place, respectively.
32:51In general, the Irish are often compared to us.
32:54It's believed that a Russian and an Irishman will always understand each other.
32:57Both Russia and Ireland are, to some extent, on the outskirts of Europe.
33:02That's why we have more of a mentality inclined toward community and social connection than other Europeans, who are more
33:08individualistic and focused on themselves.
33:11Or, take the behavior of pedestrians in the Irish capital, for example.
33:15The locals cross the street whenever and wherever they want.
33:19A red light? Well, it looks like there are no cars coming. Let's go.
33:23Is it really not allowed to cross the road here? Come on, I'll be quick.
33:27Are there actually cars coming? Let's go anyway. May St. Patrick protect us.
33:33Some people think that even our folk music is very similar.
33:36For example, the Irish traditional dance reel is very much like the Russian Berynya.
33:41But there are more pubs in Ireland than we have.
33:43In Dublin, there is one pub for every hundred people.
33:47And the oldest continuously operating pub in the world is also in Ireland.
33:52It is over a thousand years old.
33:54This is Sean's Bar in the city of Athlone.
33:57In 2004, it was entered into the Guinness Book of Records.
34:01And this book was founded by the Guinness Brewing Company.
34:05They produce the most popular Irish beer, which has long since become a legend.
34:09Some people think that in Ireland it has a special taste.
34:13That it is brewed according to a special recipe only on the island.
34:16But the Guinness brand inspector in Ireland claims that this is a misconception.
34:21The differences in taste appear solely because of relative freshness.
34:25Since it can take up to two months from production to consumption of the beer.
34:29In any case, the Irish love beer very much.
34:32And in terms of per capita consumption, they are second only to the Czechs.
34:36Each local resident drinks just over 130 liters per year.
34:41And probably, so that Dubliners don't confuse their own door with their neighbors after leaving the pub at night.
34:46All the doors in this city are painted in different colors.
34:49There are almost no black or brown ones.
34:51The Irish haven't heard anything about Belarus.
34:53But they believe they've invented the best beer snack in the world.
34:57One you can't find anywhere else.
34:59To prepare this exquisite dish, you need to grate potatoes.
35:03Mix them with eggs, flour, and salt.
35:06And then make small potato pancakes.
35:09They're called box tea.
35:11Well, someday they'll find out about Draniki.
35:14Or Cartoplianiki, as Belarusians also call them.
35:17Also, in Ireland, no stores are open on Sundays.
35:21That's unusual for us.
35:23But in Dublin, even in the smallest shop, you won't be offered plastic bags.
35:28Only paper ones.
35:30And here are a few more interesting facts about this country.
35:33There are no snakes in Ireland.
35:35A long time ago, the country was covered by a glacier.
35:39In such conditions, no reptile could survive.
35:42When the glacier melted, Ireland was already separated from other lands by the sea.
35:46And snakes couldn't get there.
35:48Great Britain wasn't so lucky in this regard.
35:51This island separated from Europe only after the glacier had receded.
35:55And its southern edge wasn't covered by ice.
35:58So snakes are doing just fine there.
36:00Because of its isolation from the mainland, you also won't find moles, ferrets, or weasels on the island.
36:06And the Irish absolutely love cats.
36:08There are twice as many cats in the country as there are dogs.
36:12At the same time, Ireland can boast the largest dog breed in the world, proudly called the Irish Wolfhound.
36:20But the Irish people's greatest asset is their down-to-earth outlook on life.
36:24Famous Irish wisdom says,
36:26There are only two things you need to worry about.
36:29Whether you are healthy or sick.
36:31If you are healthy, then there is no reason to worry.
36:34And if you are sick, then there are only two things you should be concerned about.
36:38Whether you will recover or die.
36:41If you recover, there is no reason to worry.
36:43But if you die, then there are two things to worry about.
36:47Whether you will go to heaven or to hell.
36:49If you go to heaven, then you definitely have nothing to worry about.
36:53But if you go to hell, you'll be so damn busy shaking hands with your friends that you won't have
36:59any time to worry.
37:01A familiar approach, don't you think?
37:03Anyway, that's all we wanted to tell you about Ireland.
37:07Rate this episode fairly and write in the comments which other countries you'd like to learn more about.
37:13See you on Cremola.
Comments