Bobby Dodge Ireland Blog CAS 299H

Yesterday we unfortunately said goodbye to Tom our tour guide on the trip, and returned to Dublin. With this change of scenery came an intensified push to finish up our documentaries, and we spent a large chunk of the night putting B-Roll, Interviews, and music together. Throughout this experience, I observed an even more distinct revealment of group dynamics amongst different members of the group, and I believe these complementary demeanors will be key in helping us finish up.

Elizabeth described her role as preserving group-wellness during the completion of this documentary. At certain points during the evening, Elizabeth encouraged group circles in which we would mindfully breath in and out in order to reset. Between those abbreviations of mindfulness, Elizabeth also kept a very bubbly personality, as she always does.

Chayil has a particularly difficult part in our group as the main video editor, although each of us has contributed to editing in some form. However Chayil probably experienced the most adversity last night as her computer was struggling to work and was lagging immensely when she tried to use our video editing software. One word I would use to describe Chayil from last night was persistent.

Jack was probably the group member I was most impressed with, because he didn’t say much, but he was nevertheless making excellent progress on editing certain sections of our documentary. Jack was highly motivated to get the job done.

As someone who is sometimes not the most comfortable in group-work, I have to say I am enjoying working with Elizabeth, Jack and Chayil because of their different personalities, and more importantly, their investment of time in this final product.

Billy Joel has always been my favorite artist. As a piano player myself, I would spend hours learning every single one of Billy Joel’s songs, in order to play for my enjoyment, for tips at the local Yacht Club, or to try to impress girls at the high school (that whole “girls like pianists” notion is a fallacy).

I initially liked Billy Joel for his choice of instrument, but as I matured as a musician, I realized that what made Billy Joel so special was his ability to tell stories through his songs. Billy Joel was the best storyteller in pop and rock music during his prime.

By now, if you, dear reader, had the opportunity to witness the performance at the Doolin Music House yesterday, you probably realize the connection I am about to make. What made Christy (the flutist) and James’s (the fiddliest) performance so powerful was their ability to give meaning to their traditional Doolin music through story. Between their performance and a eloquent ability to contextualize each song, Christy and James not only entertained the audience, but made their music thought-provoking.

Some of my peers explained to me how while listening, they couldn’t help but travel back in time to that era when the music would have been played in Doolin pubs hundreds of years ago. For me, I mostly stayed in the present and looked for musical themes that justified their connection to the stated story. I must admit I didn’t quite understand some of the stylistic choices for all the songs, but there were others, such as James’s solo, and the Battle of Aughrim where I made a clear connection between theme and style.

James and Christy have made it their life mission to preserve Doolin’s culture through music, just as those who came before them did. I particularly admire this mission because their means of preservation is unique. I have observed that many traditionalists, particularly in the United States, have invoked “cultural” preservation through purely rhetoric. However James and Christy love of their culture is channeled through their works in addition to their voice, and for that I admire them.

I would like to diverge from my usual pattern of observation and write about an incident that occurred two days ago over dinner. I had the opportunity to have dinner with Daniel, our bus driver, amongst about ten other students sitting at the table. Now Daniel has traditionally been on the quieter side, maneuvering our bus through the windy roads of West Ireland with grace. However, during this dinner, he decided to break out of character.

As I was getting up to leave, he told me to sit back down and began explaining how we need to cleanse the United States of its corruption and meddling in foreign, such as support for the “Nazis” in Ukraine. Now I am inclined to shy away from politics over the dinner table, however one has to draw the line somewhere. Long story short, Daniel and I got into a 45-minute debate over the Ukraine War.

I will decline to get into the specifics of what was contested but was most intrigued by some of the witnesses to this discussion’s takeaways, plus my own.

First, Daniel is a good man. Like many of the Russian people who support the war in Ukraine, Daniel appears to approach the conflict from a sincere point-of-view. What this makes me wonder though is if the Russian government sincerely believes in this stated purpose for the war as well, and that is a question I can’t begin to infer the answer to.

Second, on reflecting on why I engaged in this discussion, I concluded that it was important to me to demonstrate strength, support, and loyalty for my government. As American students studying-abroad, we are scholars, that is true, but we are also ambassadors for the U.S. in a European Union country that is pro-Ukrainian. Thus, due to an increase in isolationism and skepticism of U.S. support for the Ukraine war, it was important to me that I show there are still ordinary citizens in the U.S. that have Europe’s back.

In connecting this to Irish culture, I believe that part of the reason our class has been so welcomed by the Irish people is because of, despite our flaws, our overall commitment to freedom, democracy, and the west.

Yesterday we left Galway and transferred to the Lahinch, where we will be staying for the next three days. En route to the hotel, we stopped at the Burren Family Farm in the Town of Boston and received a tour from the wife and husband.

Now, the Burren Farm is unique from other Irish farms for a couple of reasons: for one, they characterize themselves as an organic farm, meaning their cattle isn’t fed synthetic food to improve growth. In this sense, the Burren Farm is on the cutting edge of meeting customer demands for beef, and they have lucrative deals with Dublin for this organic meat.

At the same time, the Burren’s explained their relationships with the government, who neighbor’s their property on all sides. Much more than they would give themselves credit for, the Burren’s seemed to be extremely compliant with sustainability, carbon capture, and conservation laws regulated by the European Union, and I was shocked by how hands-on the EU was in the family’s affairs.

While the Burren’s have bought in on sustainability efforts, they admitted themselves that many of the regulations from Brussels were extreme and contradictory. For example, in certain parts of the farms, it is against European law to pick flowers. Can you believe that? Additionally, there are extensive laws on what can be cut down and not, and what landscaping can be done on the land. Finally, the government also requires that certain vegetation that excels in carbon capture be planted on the farm.

But how are these laws enforced? One way is that the farm is monitored from above to take note of the Burren’s behavior and compliance. Additionally, government officials routinely inspect the farm for evaluation as well. Now the Burren’s don’t seem to care too much, partly because they have nothing to hide, and it would be interesting to see how other Irish farms have responded to these measures. That being said, I can’t imagine these laws or enforcement being nearly as well received in the United States.

It is important to note that the Burren’s do receive a substantial amount of euros for their cooperation.

I write about this tour to express surprise with the extent of the EU’s anti-climate change laws, and how the Irish reception of these laws would differ from a similar implementation in the United States. The Burren Farm experience could suggest an increased trust in the government, at least at a price.

When I woke up yesterday morning, I kept telling myself one thing: don’t blow it. I said it as I was waking up at 4:30 AM, I said it as I was walking over to the bus station, and I said it while I was on each bus, hoping to avoid the bad fortune of missing my next connection.

I was trying to get up to Cong, the location of my favorite movie, The Quiet Man, which required me to take three different buses. However I was running a tight schedule, and one hiccup could cause me to miss a bus and be stranded for four hours until the next one came through. And the last thing I wanted to do was spend four hours in Tuam or Headford.

But fortune favored the bold today for even making this excursion, and I arrived in Cong just as planned. There were two things that surprised me about the town: first, the village itself was extremely tiny – one could circle the village in a five-minute walk. Second, I was shocked just how much this village was culturally influenced by The Quiet Man. No matter the restaurant or pub I went in, there were gestures to the famous movie in music, framed photographs or paraphernalia.

My main observation in how this town relates to Irish culture is that Cong draws pride in its contribution to Irish history through the Quiet Man, you could say a culture of commemoration. As such there is also a keen interest in preservation, whether it be the artifacts in the museum that were being dusted down, the white-colored cottages doing their best to replicate White O’Morn from the movie, or the preservation of famous movie scenes, such as the recent opening of Pat Cohan’s Bar, the bar locals drank in during the movie.

Additionally, Cong epitomizes the Irish hospitality that much of our class has observed due to its economic reliance on tourism. Cong is home to a five-star hotel in Ashford Castle, the most famous visitor being Ronald Reagan. Cong is also located at the top of Lough Corrib, Ireland’s largest lake, which makes it a popular fishing location.

But beyond these cultural observations, my biggest takeaway was how proud I was of myself for making this trip happen: when I was preparing for this Study Abroad trip, I vowed that I would make it to Cong, and through good planning, execution and fortune, I delivered on that promise to myself. Because of this, I will forever remember the day I visited Cong’s quaint and friendly streets.

My topic from today’s blog came from a more unexpected experience. As you, dear reader, may or may not know, our class had a “mandatory” outing in Galway at the pubs and nightclubs. It was convenient for most since the only deliverable due tomorrow is this blog post itself, however because of my excursion to Cong the next day, I didn’t need to be a hero that night.

The first place we went was a pub with live music, the name escapes me at the. moment. We had staked claim to an outdoor table, however once we discovered they were clearing a dance floor for the evening, we moved inside to be part of the pageantry.

The dance scene started out shaky; we were the only ones really dancing, however it picked up progressively until the room was packed. It was then our group learned we were in for a surprise performance. A surprise drag performance.

Photo Credit: https://wellington.scoop.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/drag-show.jpg

I wasn’t sure if the drag performance was what prompted everyone to the dance floor to begin with, but most of the partiers seemed to enjoy it. As for me, this being the first drag show l ever witnessed, I again did not try to be the hero, which some of my classmates can attest to.

So how does this relate to Irish democracy? Having learned about the rapid change in Ireland’s social culture in the past 15 years, I viewed this as further evidence of the country’s acceptance of unorthodoxy. While we can debate what caused this sudden shift, be it the Citizens’ Assemblies, the Church’s scandal, or the recession, I saw firsthand last night, an example of this change. As such, I believe that experience broadened my perspective.

Yesterday we conducted a few more interviews around the Kennedy Square in Galway, and although distinguishing tourist from native was difficult at first, we had a string of good fortune: a Canadian here, a couple of Australians there, and finally some Irish people scattered in the nearby shopping mall. Our final interview was with a student at the University of Galway studying Mechanical Engineering, and he was relatively well up-to speed on current affairs and the Citizens’ Assemblies. This student won the most unique answer of the day award when I pressed him on his confidence in the Citizens’ Assemblies’ judgement. The student expressed a complete lack of confidence in the Citizens’ Assemblies judgement because the participants don’t represent the Irish perspective.

Of course, my follow-up requested some reasoning for this, and I reminded him that the 100 participants were selected randomly. In response he conceded what I already knew as a data science major in that a random sample of 30 is typically the requisite to gauge a group’s views. His main problem though was the factors that could influence participant support, such as expert viewpoints and group pressure. These factors, he argued, could introduce bias and lead to groupthink.

And so after hearing this, it was interesting to listen to our tour guide Tom’s storytelling of the former Bishop of Galway, Eamonn Casey, who was revered within Ireland for his charisma, but disgraced for fathering a child and absconding $100,000 in charity funds to help raise him. This and some settlements for alleged sexual abuse that Tom apparently omitted from his story, Casey was never forgiven anywhere but Galway. In fact, according to Tom, you would be wise to keep Casey’s name out of your mouth lest walk into a confrontation.

I connect these two stories to concede my interviewee’s concern but dispute his overall premise. Casey’s story shows how there will always be variables that shape human perspective. In this example, location was the determining factor, as Casey’s post-scandal popularity was highest in Galway, and dissipates the further away you are from the city. When gathering humans to discuss important issues, bias will never be fully resolved, and experts might exacerbate bias in some instances. However at the same time, what’s more important is to endeavor to have as well-educated Citizens’ Assembly as possible.

Yesterday was one of the best days of my life. Our class toured the Connemara Region on Ireland’s western coast, and between the ocean, lakes, mountains, and sheep, I can’t remember a more beautiful scenery this side of the Finger Lakes in New York.

It was particularly cool for me, to visit the Quiet Man Bridge landmark on the way back to the hotel, as the movie is one of my favorites. I sincerely thank the class for their patience in stopping after a long day hiking and on the road.

However, no region, no matter the beauty, is without its ghosts. Those ghosts were revealed to me by Professor O’Hara when we drove through the Town of Letterfrack. In fact, Letterfrack had become the poster child for one of Ireland’s worst scandals: the physical and sexual abuse of 35,000 boys in industrial schools administered by the Catholic Church across Ireland over a 40-year period.

It’s not that this extensive abuse was a secret either. When the Ryan Report which documented these crimes was released, the public was horrified, but not surprised. As Tom, our tour guide, and Professor O’Hara said, this chapter of Irish history is Ireland’s primary example of collective guilt for not doing more, due to cultural reverence for the Catholic Church and a lack of institutional control over these disciplinary schools.

It appears that Ireland has reckoned with its horrors and turned the page towards the future, as evidenced by the Catholic Church’s dwindling influence in the country and safeguards put in place on these boarding schools. However, I do wonder if this has been totally the case on a human-psyche level.

My main reason for this, while I am conceding my Americanness, is why I hadn’t previously heard of this scandal? For example, before I even had any interest in Penn State, I was well aware of the sex-abuse scandal that was revealed just two years later in 2011. Yet despite that these atrocities occurred at a college rather than a country, and even though the 45 victims of he who shall not be named pales in comparison to that 35,000 number, the Penn State scandal appears to be more well-known and documented from news archives, and contains a more informative Wikipedia page. When a neutral observer hears the words “Penn State,” the sex-abuse scandal is often the first thing to come to mind. Just the other day, I was at the hotel in Dublin, and a German tourist struck up a conversation with me about Penn State and that “shady coach.” Again, I understand that Ireland is a small-country and that I was relatively young at the time, however given the sheer magnitude of victims, and because I had never heard of this scandal from the news, from interviewees, or in passing, I do wonder if this abuse has ever been treated with the degree of seriousness it mandates.

I apologize for the length of this blog post; however I approach this subject with genuine confusion.

Yesterday, multiple groups interviewed Tom, our tour guide, about his take on the Citizens’ Assemblies and Irish culture. Tom expressed skepticism about the actual effectiveness of these assemblies, labeling them as insurance for politicians who have an idea. However, he did concede that the Citizens’ Assemblies increased civic participation.

One unique perspective that I hadn’t yet heard was his uneasiness with the fact that when the Citizens’ Assemblies’ referendums are passed, they involve altering the constitution. Such was the case for the abortion, marriage equality and the unsuccessful gender equality referendums, plus the potential right-to-housing proposal.

Tom zoned in on this right-to-housing referendum to-be soon, and set it in the context of Ireland’s most pressing challenge, the housing crisis. After blaming the housing crisis on several factors, lingering effects from the great recession, an influx of Ukrainian refugees, and a lack-of-housing for potential foreign workers who would build new homes, he argued that a right-to-housing provision in the constitution would be impractical because the government can’t possibly guarantee housing given current economic strains. For this reason, Tom doesn’t think any Citizens’ Assembly recommendation on housing will be brought to a vote by the government.

Tom’s perspective on the constitutional amendments relates to American democracy both in public opinion as well as in system-practice. In the United States the constitutional amendment process was deliberately made difficult to prevent a usurpation of checks and balances, however this has also limited the ability for public policy to be added to the constitution. Thus, the U.S. Constitution is mostly reserved for guidelines on how the American government should function as a system, rather than as a source for policy.

Tom’s perspective relates to Irish democracy because it shows a contrarian perspective on how the Citizens’ Assemblies function within Irish government. Additionally Tom highlights one of the potential flaws of the Irish government system, which is important to our class’s critical thinking in assessing Irish democracy with a neutral lense.

If I could ask Tom further about his concerns, I would inquire about whether his reservations are motivated from his own instinct, or if he is invoking U.S. practice to justify his reasoning.

In class today we explored Ireland’s culture of commemoration with an absolutely fantastic presentation from Prof. O’Hara on Irish urban legends and mythology. By explaining the various creatures and stories, I have learned a few lessons for the good of the order, and also broadened my perspective on Irish culture, and possibly how this relates to Irish democracy (?).

First and most important, I have learned that when I travel to the Ireland’s west coast tomorrow and begin to bask in the rural fields of Connemara and other places we do excursions to, if I see a conspicuously shaped mound, I will be sure to avoid it, lest I anger the notorious fairies who dwell in these structures.

Most interesting to me was the story of Oisin, similar to that of Orpheus and Eurydice in Greek mythology. Oisin is a warrior who lived in Tir na nOg for nearly three hundred human years without aging, who after visiting Ireland by horse, accidentally touched the ground and aged the balance. According to the legend, he then met St. Patrick, who he had intense theological disagreements with between his old ways, and Christianity.

Oisin’s story relates to Ireland of history in the modern era because it demonstrates a degree of stubbornness from the Irish people. Just as Oisin refused to convert to Christianity, the Catholic majority of Ireland refused to convert to Protestantism despite severe persecution. This story demonstrates a culture of commemoration both for remembrance of Ireland’s past ways, and potentially as a framework for maintaining one’s core beliefs.

From a strictly religious perspective, this would relate to deliberative democracy by potentially highlighting motives behind the more socially-conservative factions or Irish society motivated by textualist approaches in the Catholic Church, thus as more progressive values have become mainstream due to the recent referendums, I am not sure if a culture of commemoration involving Oisin’s story bears that much weight in the mainstream. That being said, I still found these legends personally interesting.