Before coming to live in Ireland, if I were to have been asked what Irish entertainment was like I probably would have thought of traditional Irish dancers in fancy outfits and three old Irish men playing Irish tunes in a dusty old pub. As for television shows and movies, well I wouldn’t think they produced much content at all. While some of that is accurate, I have learned that there is so much more to Irish entertainment than I ever would have thought.
When it comes to music, there is a lot more variation in the music produced here than I would have thought. Traditional music is still played in a lot of pubs, but that’s not what most young Irish people have blasting in the their headphones on a day to day basis. Hanging out with the Irish I have been exposed to many different bands and artists that came out of Ireland. One of these bands is called The Wolfe Tones. This band plays “rebel tunes,” or songs about the revolution. One song that I was shown is called “Come Out Ye Black & Tans.” This song talks about the British invading Dublin. The music itself reminds me of American folk music with its hard hitting beat and acoustic instruments. When you hear this kind of music it is pretty clear it is Irish through both the lyrics and the heavy accent of the lead singer.
Along with music another form of entertainment I have been exposed to while in Ireland is Irish podcasts. The two that I have been instructed to listen to are comedy podcasts, The 2 Johnnies and The Blindboy Podcast, which is by a member of the Rubberbandits, an Irish musical group. The 2 Johnnies is a great comedy podcast produced by two men named Johnny from Tipperary. Essentially, they post a new podcast each week and talk about pretty much anything and everything. It is slightly raunchy, super funny, and all around great craic. (Craic is a word used for fun in Ireland for all you confused Americans out there, they are not talking about the crystallized form of cocaine. Don’t worry I was super confused at first too.)
Finally I want to talk about classic Irish movies. I had no idea that Irish films were even a thing until it was pointed out to me. To try and educate myself I watched one of the Irish classics, The Wind that Shakes the Barley. This movie was so much more than I expected to be honest. I thought a classic Irish film would have a pretty low production quality and a plot that was interesting but not mind blowing. Well, I was wrong. This movie had pretty great production quality and the story line was everything I could have asked for. I laughed, I cried, and most importantly I learned so much about Irish history and what life was like during the War of Independence and what lead to the Civil War as well. Based on this movie, Irish film can definitely hold its own compared to Hollywood.
A Day in the Life 