A Terrible Beauty is Born: An Irish
Education
I had an
absolute ball in Ireland. I wish that
sentence could contain all of the complete, incredible, eye-opening,
mind-expanding, wholly inspiring-ness that was my experience abroad. I am stupidly grateful – so grateful it’s
nearly unbearable – that I got this opportunity.
Ireland was
my first truly independent experience. I
funded the trip myself, I booked my tickets, I learned as much as I could and I
got to the place by myself, like a real adult.
I have gained an incredible amount of confidence in myself, because I
know now that I have the skills to go where I want, to do what I want, and to
try every experience I want.
Ireland is,
perhaps, a bit of a tame choice: they like Americans, they speak English, it’s
not too terribly far away, and the culture is similar to home. But those arguments are the same ones used by
international companies when choosing Ireland to locate their headquarters.
The actual
experiences I had in Ireland were fairly consistent with what I expected. Visiting companies was exciting, but it met
my expectations. Our traveling was
beautiful, but the sights were much like what I had predicted they would be. What I didn’t expect was how much I would
fall in love with Ireland. I didn’t
think I would find a place and a people so truly delightful, so incredibly
beyond my expectations, that I would shed my somewhat naïve belief that I need
nothing that exists outside of the US. I
am humbled by how small my mind had been about international travel, about the
value of other cultures for me in my life, and about my place in that world. It had never occurred to me that I would ever
voluntarily become an expatriate, but I have never wanted to move somewhere so
much in my whole life. I stumbled across
an article on hurling (let’s be real, I searched for information on hurling),
and I honestly nearly cried thinking about the game. I am sure my affection for Ireland will fade
with time – God, I hope not – and I’m sure that it will become less and less
feasible to skip off to the emerald isle as I gain more and more responsibility
at home. For now, I am still in the
post-abroad honeymoon phase, and I hope my wistful thinking lasts long enough
to get back. I absolutely feel that I
left some of my heart and soul in Ireland.
I hope that
when Gabriel comes to visit, we can find out, because I think there are several
busloads of college students who would love to thank him again for all he has
done for us. He was certainly integral
in my Ireland experience. I think I
became the best friend he never asked for on our trip. Gabriel is such an incredible choice as a
driver – a quintessential Irishman from the backwoods of the Gaeltacht.
As you know,
I wrote prolifically while abroad. You
can find my blog at thereisatrail.blogspot.com.
The blog was my starting point for this paper, so I’m sorry for any
redundancy when you read the blog (which I hope you do.). I was writing for my family, and especially
my mother, so I wrote candidly about the highs – and occasional lows – of my
trip. I strove to be honest, and I think
that in general, I wrote about my experience effusively, and tried to document
every bit of every experience. Writing
while I was abroad was an amazing way to keep everyone in the loop, and to aid
my memory of my experiences. One day, I
hope to edit it, correct it for historical factuality, and add back all of my
photos. Eventually, it will be a
complete, holistic record of my amazing trip.
I hope one day to add to it with more adventures, and I think now I am
ready to pursue many more such adventures.
Rather than
going chronologically through our trip, I thought it would be more informative,
almost more logical, to group the companies by industry: Technology (Facebook,
Carma, and Cisco), Financial (PwC and EY), Alcohol (Jameson, Bushmills, and
Guinness), and Traditional (GAA, Kissane Sheep Farm, Clonakilty, Waterford
Crystal, Dingle Crystal, and Dixon Carpets).
Because our visits group into categories, I feel I got a more
well-rounded picture of what each industry is like, as well as the big picture
of what business in Ireland is like. It
was a really great and diverse exploration of business abroad.
Technology:
Facebook
The Facebook headquarters
is a big glass building, 6 stories high, one of the highest buildings in the
city. From the sixth floor rooftop porch, we could see the offices for
several other tech companies such as Google. It is so cool inside, and we
were obviously overdressed. They offered us tons of food; they have food
everywhere. The whole office is really chill, and the corporate mentality
is that if you're at work, you should be at work, and not worrying about
getting food for breakfast or lunch. I wonder how much time people spend
there, because Rick said you can get dinner too, and there are toothbrushes and
toothpaste in the bathrooms.
The building was designed
by the same engineer who built the German Guggenheim museum. We could see
a Lego wall on the second floor, and there was a meditation room and a nap
room. It's definitely one of those progressive, new-age work places,
exactly like what you expect Facebook to be. It was really cool and
invigorating to talk to Rick Kelly, the games marketing director. He talked about how the ads in our newsfeed
are because the giant growth in mobile device use has made right side banner
ads fairly obsolete. And he said that they filter your feed by people you
interact with often first, and that postings that are particularly commented on
or liked from people you rarely talk to will get forced into your feed; all of
that filtering is because we still have the same amount of disposable time but
everyone is posting 9 times more stuff per day than they did even two years
ago.
Gaining
insight into the inner workings of Facebook was absolutely fascinating. Facebook is so much a part of all of our
daily lives, it was amazing to be that close to something that I interact with
already so often.
Carma
Carma is an actual
ridesharing app (unlike Uber or Lyft, where you are making money as a taxi
service, which is technically illegal), where people coordinate their commutes
and make back the cost of their drive. It is meant to reimburse the costs
of infrastructure paid in taxes, and insurance and gas. Since you aren't
technically making money, it falls under the law that was passed in the 70's
during the energy crisis that made carpooling legal. The other benefit is
that each rider pays their driver for driving, Carma takes 15%, and you get
credit for driving that you can use later to ride. So at a certain point,
regular riders are only paying Carma 15% of the cost of driving, which often is
close to 50 cents, and just trading off the responsibility of driving.
Right now, the app only works in Austin, Texas, Bergen, Norway, and Cork,
Ireland. They are working on expanding into Seattle and DC in the
foreseeable future.
Our contact, Shawn
O'Sullivan, who invented the app has been more involved in my digital life than
I ever could have known. He invented a program called Map Info, which is
the basis of all the online mapping services in the world. Google runs on
his platform and idea. He also coined the term "cloud
computing" about 20 years ago. He says that if you look for
megatrends, and come up with solutions to problems that haven't reached their
critical mass yet, you can make millions. Because the world is generally
looking for the best solution to a problem, and most of being the best in the
world is being the first. I'm not sure I could ever have a brilliant idea
like that, and even if I did, I don't know what I would do with that
idea. But if I can just be a cog in the system that turns that guy's
mind, that would be pretty incredible.
It was far more interesting
meeting with him than I expected, and we all had plenty of questions for
him. It was fairly inspiring to meet with him, and he seemed very
cool. He is clearly not in it for the money, as much as for the science
experiment of solving problems. He seemed like he was definitely thinking
of about 8 million other things while he was talking with us. Not a bad
thing, because I'm sure those things are way more important anyway.
Cisco
Our first visit in Galway was
with Cisco, the tech company. They really went above and beyond with this
visit. I didn't realize how integral Cisco is in leading the curve on
technology improvements. They are working on little Bluetooth devices
that will communicate with people's smartphones as they search for Wi-Fi, and
provide information about locations directly to your phone, like a map to the
bathroom, or a video about the art piece you are looking at, or a discount for
the product you are looking at in the store. They also have mastered the
full immersion board room, and have worked on all these improvements on cameras
to make the digital board room seem more realistic. They spent quite a
bit of time with us, and we got to talk to executives in London and Oslo as
well during the demonstration of the immersion boardroom. They certainly
brought out all the big toys, and aimed to impress.
The idea that Cisco was
once the Facebook of 15 years ago is funny.
It is the privilege of the young to forget everything that made
modernity possible. Cisco is the
developed, older brother of Facebook and Carma.
I liked that Cisco, now that they are developed, are giving back to
their community. If they want to develop
into a Microsoft, an IBM, or an Apple, they must build a larger purpose around
their business than just innovating. It
was also interesting to see that Ireland is having the same
tech-gender-inequality issues that we are having in the US, and that they are
having equally limited success in their initiatives.
§ § §
The
companies we visited represented each stage of the tech development process –
from inspired, struggling start up, to developed innovator, to mature firm with
market power and an eye toward an empire.
To see business at all these stages was really interesting, and I was
glad that the companies were all so forthcoming with us.
Financial:
PWC
Pricewaterhouse Cooper is
one of the big four accounting firms. The office building was one of the
tallest, all of seven stories, and it was very fresh and modern. It was
like being inside one of the new iPhones, all white and modern and sleek, and
full of pops of very bright colors like hot pink and teal and lime green.
We got name badges (which we got to keep), and they lead us up to the
conference rooms for lunch.
There was a short
presentation to talk about the company, then a tour of the building while they
set up lunch. Maeve, who took a subset of our group on a tour of the
building, was very chatty and fun. They have a five star chef in house,
and a gym that only costs 50 euro for a lifetime membership. They also
have a clinic that has posted hours in the office, and a beautician who comes
in and does hair and nails. People would never leave. It was like
Facebook in that way, but you had to buy your own food.
After that we had a lovely
chat over lunch with a couple of employees, and it was nice to have a
one-to-few conversation with someone. Zara talked with Dale and me at
length, and I think we convinced her to come visit us in Seattle. If she
does come, we will tour her around. She was really fun and informative,
and I was really glad to talk to her. I
made email and LinkedIn connection with her, and I hope that maybe one day that
could become an international work connection.
EY
We went to EY for lunch
with them. We socialized for a while over sandwiches, which was
fun. Everyone at EY loved the states, and had been several times, so we
talked about travel for a good portion of the time. The presentation
about EY unfortunately occurred in very comfortable chairs after lunch, so I
was a bit drowsy. But fairly quickly they moved on to the mini case
competition. We had about an hour to decide on a recommendation for
Delicious chocolates, a fictional company that sells luxury chocolates in the
UK and US. We could choose from one of four recommendations, either to
expand into Europe, into Australia, into a new product line, or sell out to a
larger firm.
We didn't get to choose our
groups, but our group was fairly business heavy, and we did a pretty good
job. We decided to expand into new product lines. Nearly everyone
suggested slight modifications to the provided options, and no one suggested
that Delicious sells out. Dale's team won, and they did a really good
job.
§ § §
I
liked that PwC and EY went to such lengths to entertain us, and make our
experience memorable and fun. Accounting
is not inherently the most interesting, but they did an amazing job of making
it engaging. I got the impression that
the accounting firms go to great lengths to expand the horizons of their
employees, and they tried to do the same for us. It seems that they also put a particular
interest in providing extra benefits to their employees, and I wonder how much
that is because of the tax structure in Ireland. It might be a way to compensate employees
without paying them, to avoid the tax burden on that portion of their
income. I don’t know if that is true,
but it would be interesting if that was the motivation behind the incredible
benefits they give their employees.
Alcohol:
Jameson
Jameson is just over the
river a few blocks, so we all walked (no taxi!). The tour was slightly
hokey: they turned the original distillery into a museum because they couldn't
produce their global production in the original site anymore, as of 1980, so
the main distillery is now in Cork.
We had a snarky little
guide named Adam, who found us all very silly in our suits, and seemed a bit
bitter about the whole "Prohibition killed Irish Whiskey"
thing. We ended the tour with a tasting, and he explained the difference
between Irish triple distilled whiskey, twice distilled Scotch whiskey, and
once distilled American whisky. Flavor-wise, Irish whiskey is smooth, and
a little vanilla and honey flavored from aged barrels. Scotch dries the
barley over peat fires, which gives the whiskey a smoky, hot flavor, and American
whisky is corn based, and single distilled, so it's sweeter and fresher from
new oak barrels.
Then Jane from marketing
came to talk to us about the brand and positioning of Jameson. America is
the biggest market, and the fastest growing, and she talked really fast, but I
took notes. It is interesting that
Jameson is rebranding without direct reference to their Irish heritage. I liked that they recognized the grass-roots
quality of their relationship with bartenders.
Utilizing those natural relationships to develop an organic marketing
campaign is at the front of modern marketing, and exactly what Jameson needed
for a relaunch.
Bushmills
Our
visit in Belfast was to Bushmills, the other Irish whiskey. Bushmills is the oldest distillery in the
world, and received its license to distill in the 1600's and has been in
operation ever since. Their bottling capacity is actually greater than
their production, and since Jameson's production is greater than their bottling
capacity, Bushmills has a lease to do much of the excess bottling.
According to Niall, the representative with whom we talked for a while, it is
better to be your competitor's bottler than to let anyone else bottle for your
competitor. Might as well get some of that greater Jameson money
anyway. Bushmills has benefited tangentially from the revival in
popularity of Irish whiskey, so Jameson and Bushmills are much in the same boat
on those things, despite Jameson doing better overall. As is unsurprising
after talking to Jameson, the target market for their rebranding is of course,
young people. They have created a honey whiskey to compete with brands
like Jack Daniel's, to go after women as well.
After
a fairly brief meeting with Niall, we took a tour of the distillery. It
was much more interesting to go into a working factory than to see recreations
like at the Jameson tour. It was quite warm in nearly ever step of the
process, from the mash to the distillation, to casking. They use many
different barrels, including bourbon barrels and madera wine barrels. The
girl who lead us on the tour was only 18, and was headed in the fall for
Bristol to go to university. She was quite excited to meet us, and talk
about college-ish things with us. So there was learning going in both
directions.
Guinness
Our
last company visit was a formal visit with Guinness at the Guinness
Storehouse. While Lauren and I had
walked to the museum the day before, we had both wondered about the large,
circular glass room at the Guinness facility, and we were soon to find
out. We began our visit with a talk with the media marketing director,
who talked about how the point of the Guinness Storehouse is to be more than a
tourist attraction; Guinness already receives more than half of all the people
who pass through the Dublin Airport. The Guinness Storehouse is supposed
to be a pilgrimage site, for devoted Guinness brand enthusiasts, for locals and
tourists, and for everyone who wants to appreciate the history of a beer that
is older than America (founded in 1759). It was a remarkable place, and
the interior glass atrium was shaped like a giant pint glass. After
talking about media impressions for Guinness, St. Paddy's Day prep for
Guinness, and discovering that the world's per capita greatest consumers of
Guinness are in Nigeria, we headed downstairs for a proper tour of the
facility.
We
had a guide, who spoke to us all via microphone transmitted to our headsets,
which was quite a handy way to talk to 25 people at once. She talked and explained the various steps of
production, and taught us how to drink Guinness correctly. Elbows out,
eyes to the horizon, drink through the head. All the men on our trip with
facial hair have come to appreciate the pleasure of the Guinness head in their
mustaches. Guinness appears black, but is really a very deep ruby red
color. This is the time, by the way, to say Slainté. We all had a
little baby pint of Guinness, and I am glad they only gave us a baby pint,
because, as usual, I hadn't eaten breakfast. Always good to start your
day with a Guinness at ten in the morning. I think I might really be
Irish by now.
We
continued on, and took our group picture within the life sized Guinness
advert. Our guide left us on the next floor, where we learned to pour a
perfect pint. I have a few pictures of myself pouring a pint, and Tanner
(who happily drank my Guinness for me, because I didn't want to) said that I am
a very good pour. I posted to Facebook from the canteen, because Guinness
very much wants people to brag on the internet about their brand, and I think
it has already been decided that when it comes time for a house party, I'll be
pouring. It takes exactly 119.5 seconds for a Guinness to settle after
the initial pour, so don't rush me, this is for science. I wish we had
gotten some kind of cert from Bushmills when we went, because between my
Jameson tasting diploma, and my Guinness perfect pour document, I am certainly
more than qualified regarding Irish alcohol. Not going on the CV, but certainly
on the wall.
We took our perfect pours
up to the Gravity Bar to enjoy. The Gravity Bar is in that circular glass
structure, and it had an absolutely beautiful view of all of Dublin. If
you followed the glass interior of the Storehouse structure all the way up, the
Gravity Bar is the head on top of the pint.
§ § §
Our stop at Bushmills was a
very interesting complement to the visit at Jameson. Bushmills benefit vicariously through the
advertising and Irish whiskey revival spearheaded by Jameson. Much of the strategy was already explained to
us at Jameson. But it was really
informative to see how the whiskey really gets made, and see an actual
operating facility and seeing that Jameson gets bottled at Bushmills.
Bushmills and Jameson have
a funny, uniquely Irish, symbiotic relationship. They benefit from the advertising of each
other, and from the cultural reengagement of interest in Irish whiskey. They are competitors as brands, but also as
members of the portfolios of two competing larger firms. They produce a similar product, and indeed,
Bushmills actually brings to market their competitor’s product.
Guinness, I think, does the most for encouraging Irish-ness in
drinking, and reinvigorating the culture.
All Irish brands benefit from the efforts Guinness go to, to keep
Ireland in our minds and our glasses.
With Guinness as a drinker’s ambassador, the other alcohols logically
follow in everyone’s Irish alcohol education.
I think Jameson is making a weird choice by completely neglecting Ireland
for their messaging. This might be an
opportunity for Bushmills to fill that gap.
It is certainly one that Guinness has used very profitably.
Traditional:
GAA
If the Gaelic Athletic
Association (GAA) visit had been on a different day than the EY visit, we
wouldn't have had to march around the stadium wearing suits. But, it was
not so bad. We briefly met with the executive from GAA, then toured the
stadium with this really cute, if slightly hunchbacked 21 year old hurling
player, Shane.
When I saw the GAA on our
schedule, I initially thought, oh, well that's cool and cultural, but not a
super interesting spot. Well, after watching Gaelic football on TV, and
with a hurling match coming up on Saturday, we all had endless questions for
this kid. And, OH EM GEE, ESPN is going to start playing football and
hurling. Probably at really late hours, but I'm going to DVR it so we can
watch and learn. It's my new favorite blood sport. Hurling seems a
little too rough, but football is amazing.
Hurling has the same kind
of Viking quality as football. But it is much, much rougher. The
hurling sticks are like hockey sticks mixed with bludgeons. The top edge
of the hurley paddle is slightly pointed, and the bottom end is wide like a
mallet. They are made of ash wood, but are edged with metal, which makes
their points and mallets even more dangerous. Players can slash with
these hurleys, and hit the living crap out of each other. Only two years
ago, they made it a rule to wear a helmet. It is absolutely brutal.
The little ball is like a baseball with the edges of the seams sticking out
instead of tucked inside. It's called a sliotar. A
"slit-her". Right.
The boys played with the
hurleys and sliotars, to see how good they could get. Within the game, the
players serve to themselves and hit the ball like baseball. It's similar
to lacrosse and baseball and battle all at once. Shane said that the GAA
replaces hurleys for free, and they get broken a lot. His team went
through 26 hurleys in 12 games.
The GAA is just one facet
of the Irish heritage revival. The fact
that they have kept to much of their culture alive, after so many attempts at
repression, and have maintained a purity of the game as it has grown, is amazing. American sports could stand to learn from the
purity of Irish athletics.
Kissane
Sheep Farm
Kissane Sheep Farm is 6
generations old, located on the scenic Ring of Kerry. The nearby sight,
Moll's Gap, was named for Molly Kissane, a matriarch of the family who made
bootleg whiskey and sold it in a pub near the sight around the turn of the
century. A few years ago, when synthetic wool began dominating the wool
trade, it became difficult to keep the sheep farm running. Its primary
source of income had been wool, not meat, and the farm had always maintained a
very large herd relative to neighboring farms; about 1500 adult sheep plus
lambs, compared to 3 or 4 hundred sheep plus lambs for most farms in
Ireland. As the cost of care of sheep went up, and the price for wool
went down, it became difficult to make ends meet.
A Dutch marketing group
traveled to the farm to watch a Border collie demonstration, and Ann, one of
the marketers, fell in love with John Kissane, and they got married and had a
son named Sean. She came up with the idea for Adopt a Sheep, and it
became wildly successful, and literally saved the farm. You can go
online, to adoptasheep.com, and for 50 euro you can save a sheep's life, give
it medicine and food, for a year, name it, and if you ever come to Ireland, you
can visit your sheep and find it in the field. It's certainly a touristy
thing, but I would encourage you to adopt a sheep anyway, because it's
adorable. (Sad ending is that eventually Ann the Dutch marketer divorced
poor John the sheep farmer and went home to The Netherlands, but the Adopt a Sheep
program is still keeping the farm going.)
We watched the dogs
demonstrate with some sheep, and he worked with three teams simultaneously,
with different sets of commands. We need to get our dog Dash on a serious
sheep farm, those dogs looked so happy, I can't even tell you. And they
were smart too, so when one sheep broke away, that John couldn't see, the dogs
went and got it back to the herd without being told. It was strongly
raining at the farm, so when the demonstration was over, and we went inside to
watch the shearing, we were all grateful for the reprieve. Andy the farm
hand talked while another man sheared.
Irish sheep are no less
dumb than American sheep, and while this breed of Scottish Blackface sheep were
not as bad as low-land sheep (which fall down in a wallow in the grass and
can't get themselves up again, and will die there because they won't roll
over), the poor sheep who had to sit on its butt and get a haircut did not seem
very bright. Andy was very cool, and said that sheep are like children,
they just don't know what is good for them. He told us about how, in the
fall when it's time for little lambies to get made, they literally just pick up
all the rams (or rent them from neighbors to prevent inbreeding), and dump them
in a group of probably sixty ewes, and just let it go. He said that the
rams have very good lives.
I definitely think that
Kissane will need to add some attractions to their farm to keep expanding. A bed and breakfast seems like a really cool,
if somewhat expensive, opportunity to pursue.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the challenges to make ends meet will
resurface sometime in the future, if they don’t find new ways to bring in
additional revenue.
Clonakilty
We met with the executives
from Clonakilty, and talked about black pudding. Apparently there is actually more blood in a
rare steak than in black pudding. The recipe is fairly heavy on milled
oats and onions, as well as beef or pork, and some dehydrated beef blood in the
black pudding. It is mixed much like the surimi that we make from the
fish protein at Westward Seafoods, so it was fairly familiar for me. The
spices are mailed directly to the CEO, Collette, who mixes them secretly
according to the Harrington's recipe (which is a 1920's variation on the 1880's
original family recipe). Other than that, all that goes into the pudding
is meat, oats, onions, spices, and some dehydrated blood. Then it gets
squeezed into either a plastic casing (which will last for a few months) or
into a natural intestine casing. They hand pack all the boxes for the
sausages, and hand label the sausages that are in the natural casings because
of their nonstandard shape and size.
It was fun talking to the
executives, and they are looking to move their factory closer to the original
butcher shop in Clonakilty. The current factory is near Cork City.
We walked through their whole operation, which was incredibly small,
considering. I think some pudding might be made in other cities in the
world, but I'm not sure. The more interesting thing is that this Collette
character is also the mayor of the city of Clonakilty, and she called up the
model train museum to schedule a tour of the city and a trip to the original
butcher shop. Cause when you're the mayor, you can just do stuff like
that. The model train place was really cute, and the train ride was hokey
but adorable, and it dropped us off right outside the original shop. We
talked to the butcher inside for a minute.
I would like to see them
get into refrigerator packs like the ones that Hillshire Farms makes, so that
their natural casing sausages can travel further. I also like how homely their business is. They are really a family operation, on a
family scale, and with a family atmosphere.
Waterford
We had to wear suits, but
when we arrived at Waterford, the executive had already left, and thus we were
exceptionally overdressed for a tour of the factory. From a craft and art
perspective, 8 years to become a master craftsman is actually not that
long. But it is remarkable the level of
commitment required to become a true master.
Few fields anywhere in the world require that kind of dedication anymore. While the craft was incredible (and I
confess, I didn’t realize that crystal was made of glass, not crystals), I was
more interested and concerned with the duration of the product.
Their products are
beautiful, and the scale of things that they can produce out of this factory is
astounding. It is always interesting to
see how things really get created, and it was surprising how many steps are
required to make even a fairly standard water goblet. I think Waterford may be less able to adapt to
changing markets, because not only are they large in operations, they have a reputation
and a history to maintain. From an
agility standpoint, Waterford seems slightly behind the times. Their products are beautiful, but I think
they are unlikely to keep pace with cheaper, non-wealth displaying brands and
products. I wouldn’t be surprised if
“investment pieces” become more and more obsolete, as younger generations don’t
identify with the brand as a status symbol, and moreover, lack the expendable
income to purchase them.
Dingle
Crystal
We met for a brief but
interesting visit with the craftsman for Dingle Crystal. Sean Daley was
formerly a Waterford Crystal employee, before the layoffs in the nineties, after
which he moved to Dingle and started his own business. He now has other
craftsmen in Scotland I think or Turkey, who blow his glass, and he does all
the carving and things from his workshop in Dingle. He is a really cool
guy, with tattoos and piercings and rings, and I think someone said that the
patch on his jacket was for a biker gang. He said that business is booming,
and part of that is the increased popularity of Irish whiskey, and so he has
been making special whiskey tasting glasses that are extremely popular.
In the scheme of spillover positive effects, the better business for Irish
whiskey is probably helping him out immensely. I didn't get a chance to
go in his shop, and I'm not sure that anyone in my house would really want any
crystal anyway, but maybe one day when I'm super rich I'll get some. If
you get Dingle Crystal over Waterford, you'll get a product certainly crafted
in Ireland.
Dixon
Carpet
Our other Galway stop was
the Dixon Carpet company, which primarily does very expensive custom carpeting
for yachts, private planes, and other very posh places. Honestly, it was
a remarkably interesting trip. Much like the Clonakilty trip, it is
surprising how much more impressive the cottage industry visits were than the
big international companies. They make all the carpets by hand, aided
only by a yarn gun, which is hardly an improvement over the wooden hand devices
that they used to use. They make so many gorgeous carpets, and it was
really impressive. They dye their own yarn, and mix the luxurious merino
yarns or silks with the tougher, more resilient Irish and Scottish yarns.
The level of intricacy is incredible.
I
like that Dixon has maintained their very modest facility, and despite having
far more than enough credentials to support some cockiness, have yet to become
too big for their britches. American
companies could stand to learn from the humility of Dixon. I wonder, of course about the growth
potential for Dixon, as the world becomes richer and wants to buy more quality
things. But much like the potential
obsolescence for Waterford, Dixon may fall prey to being identified with an
older ideal of wealth. There are
certainly simultaneous upward and downward pressures on demand, and I’m sure
Dixon will find a way to adapt. Their
limited resources and labor may challenge them one day, but for now, they seem
to be exactly what they need to be.
§ § §
Seeing the heritage of
Ireland through their native industry was, in some ways, more interesting and
informative than the bigger, international companies. Keeping traditions alive is such and
admirable endeavor, and Ireland has an amazing fanaticism for preserving those
crafts and traditions. I think all
American companies could benefit from maintaining their heritage that way, as
they grow. American companies are
finally getting old enough to capitalize on heritage as well as ability.
Cultural
Visits:
I can’t
finish my discussion on Ireland without at least mentioning all the cultural
experiences. I pursued every opportunity
to find a cultural sight, and it was great having Lauren to be my compatriot in
my search for history and culture. Our
visits were so diverse – be they sights to see, things to climb, horses or
bikes or carriages to ride – that I feel like I immersed myself in every bit of
Ireland. I still thumb through pictures,
or online collections of other people’s dreams of Ireland, and see places I
recognize, streets I’ve walked, and hillside I have come to love.
I loved
Dublin for feeling so much like Seattle.
I felt instantly comfortable there.
I loved the proximity of everything, I loved the labyrinthine insides of
every restaurant and pub. I felt like
there were layers of history and tradition, and by simply moving around the
city, I could uncover more and more, and go deeper and deeper into the heart of
the city. I loved the bridges and the
winding streets, and I even came to love the cobblestones – to an extent. We had so many visits in Dublin, it is hard
to list them all. I saw many museums,
two libraries (the Chester Beatty and National Library of Ireland), and the
Dublin Castle. I felt that Dublin was a
great place to both begin and end my trip.
It brought a feeling of closure to the trip, that I could both say hello
and good bye to the country where I feel I found a whole new part of myself.
I loved Cork
for being a happy release from the bustle of Dublin. It felt much more homey, like a place to
live, not just to work and play. I loved
the English Market and the cathedrals, and I loved the free time to roam the
city. I loved being in Co. Cork. I felt a kindred spirit with the rebel
county, and I enjoyed all of our stops: Blarney Castle (and Blarney Woolen
Mills!!), Clonakilty, and all of Cork City.
I loved
Dingle because OH MY GOD, there is so much to love about Dingle. What a completely magical place. I will never in my life say enough words to
explain how incredible it was. I
recently watched Leap Year, which is allegedly set in Dingle (or rather, on the
road between Dingle and Dublin), and I have no idea why they couldn’t film in
real Dingle. They filmed mostly near
Galway. Dingle is so freaking cute, they
should have done the place justice and actually filmed in Dingle. There is not one thing about Dingle that
didn’t fill me up with pride for Ireland.
It was Dingle that really convinced me that I need to return to
Ireland. Three lifetimes would not be
enough to live to soak up all of Dingle.
I also regret not going back to talk to Patrick, the barman at John
Foxy’s. I fear I may have missed my
Irish love story. ;)
I loved
Galway because it felt so cultured. I
got my best brushes with the native Irish while in Galway, and that was
invaluable. The Aran Islands were
amazing, and Tony the cart driver aside, I would very much like to return for
the immersion program in Irish Gaelic. I
could work for my education by knitting for the Aran Sweater Market. The tags say “Made in Ireland” not “Made by
the Irish.” I would be a superb knitter
for them. I loved Galway for the college
town feel. Our hostel was my favorite of
all the ones at which we stayed. I met
so many people at the pubs, and in the common areas at our hostel, and it was
an entirely welcoming and inviting experience.
I liked Belfast. I feel somewhat reserved about Belfast, and I
feel bad for that. It is not the city’s
fault. Belfast was pretty, and had
plenty of history. But it felt so bleak,
so close to danger, that it set my teeth on edge. It was encouraging to see the Titanic museum,
and the efforts to which they are going to keep Belfast friendly. There were certainly enough beautiful sights
in Northern Ireland, with Giant’s Causeway and the Carrick-a-Rede bridge. But passing through the peace wall, and
seeing those children in the Protestant neighborhood; it felt like a National
Geographic special. Those poor children
could have been pulled from Sudan or Somalia.
They gave our bus of looky-loo tourists the same hardened, wide-eyed
expression. It was sobering to say the
least. It is important to know the
history, and you could feel it so close to the surface, everywhere in
Belfast. I felt that Northern Ireland
was somehow not the “Ireland” I had come for.
I was quite anxious to return to Dublin.
Having a few
days in Dublin to myself only strengthened my confidence in myself. I walked everywhere, and conversed with
anyone who was willing to speak with me.
At first I felt a bit abandoned, but soon I struck out alone and felt
the full force of complete, unfettered independence. When you are alone, it is much easier to get
people to talk with you, and I made a few new Irish friends along my way. I soaked up still more museum information. I felt that roaming the city streets with
confidence, jaywalking across several lanes of very confusing traffic like a total
local, I came to really know the city. I
want to return, if only to tap into that feeling of independent youth that I
gained while walking. Dublin is a fair
city, and I hope to see her again one day.
