Ireland: Family Travel and Vacation Advice – Be Prepared for Laughter and Inspiration.
Safe, beautiful, relaxed, and welcoming best describe the atmosphere of Ireland for families on holiday. No two days need be the same and every place we stopped was ready to make families comfortable and welcome.
One more traffic circle to go. If driving is part of your family vacation plan, more than likely you will encounter road construction, tolls to be paid, and roads without signs. Your GPS may or may not work. It will rain for sure. Who really cares? It’s all part of being in Ireland - a lively country loaded with artistic energy, cultural pride, and a quirkiness that makes everything meld.
Prepare for your trip. The best way to become excited and energized about an upcoming holiday is to make a few cultural connections in anticipation. The rule holds for adults as well as children and for families it can mean the difference in a nice holiday and a great holiday. Any combination of films, books, music, food, and new words, will do the trick.
Films. Ireland is not only known as the home of Darby O’ Gill. For youngsters an excellent choice is
The Secret of Kells - an animated adventure with Vikings and an enchanted forest. I also suggest,
The Secret of Roan Inish, a remarkable film by director John Sayles.
Based on the West Coast of Ireland, the film includes mythical selkies, haunting Celtic music, beautiful scenery and family values. And third,
Into the West by director Mike Newell is an adventure film about two Dublin kids and a magical horse - Tir Na Nog. The film is at points realistic to the point of ugliness (no Disney influence) but it is uplifting in the end.
My short list of films best suited for families with older children:
Waking Ned Devine,
The Quiet Man, The Magdalene Sisters, and John Crowley’s
Intermission.
Bonus points: No one captures the quirkiness of Ireland like
Dylan Moran. He is known for his a litany of comedic commentaries about his homeland, he offers the same rhythmic sarcasm that worked so well for him as Bernard in Black Books.
Books and websites. I discovered an excellent place to find Celtic fairy tales and printable Irish stories for young children.
www.apples4teacher.com . Another option includes
Claddagh: The Tale of the Ring - the story of the first Claddagh ring. Download a PDF sample and read more about the book at
CladdaghTale.com
For short stories ideal to be shared with all ages,
Celtic Myths and Legends by Eoin Neeson. It covers Irish folklore around the time when the Tuatha De Danaan ruled the land. Who is Tuatha? The answer (worth discovering) is in the book.
For adults wishing to connect with Irish roots try
The Connemara Bus "A Journey Through The Past In Ireland by Ann Milholland Webb, plus
The Dubliners by James Joyce,
Amongst Women by John McGahem, and
All Summer by Claire Kilroy.
Stay for the music. One of the most rewarding part so any time in Ireland is the opportunity to enjoy music live. Being a traditionalist my thing is céilidhs (or céilí in Gaelic) – always awesome sessions of traditional music with dancing. My favorite CDs to set the mood for any trip to Ireland include
Lilt of the Banshee by Clair Roche,
Hills of Erin by Karen Ashbrook,
Celtic Treasure by Turlough O’Carolan, and anything from Celtic Thunder.
Bonus points: For parents with more contemporary tastes (or traveling with teen companions), Ireland offers plenty of options including: The Script (my favorite), The Pogues, The Frames, The Swell Season, The Chalets, and the very popular, Damien Rice.
Go for the fun of food. The good news, Irish soda bread – scrumptious, soft and always tempting - is available any time of day. Just say more please with cheese. Yes, you will still find potatoes on the menu. Look for two most traditional dishes colcannon – potatoes, leeks, cabbage, and ham or for breakfast in County Kerry, champ – mashed potatoes with spring onions. I found exceptional split pea soup, creative chutney, and luscious brown bread everywhere we went. Remember, it’s prawns in Dublin and oysters in Galway.
Need to know: Most restaurants simply offer children smaller portions of menu entrees. Grocers offer plenty of palatable options for children – the most delightful of which is Nutella. Yes it is a food - lighten up!
Bonus points: For fresh markets where ever you vacation checkout
www.irelandmarkets.com. Ireland is a rewarding places for cheese head and the most helpful source is
www.irishcheese.ie, of course what else?
Duck into a pub. Pubs are on almost every corner and many of them serve food not just spirits. Generally children of any age are welcome but there are some official rules. Pub owners apply for a children’s certificate permit and it is usually displayed for the general public. Most pubs have these permits. The permit allows children younger than 14 to be in the pub with an adult relative and normally children must leave before 9 PM.
How far is it? The "Irish mile" might be almost two. Locals tend to play down the distance to avoid discouraging walkers, especially if it is raining or about to rain. They also love to direct folks along the more "scenic route" routes, and to add helpful hints like "turn left just before the green gate to O'Shea's carpark" then take the
boreen on the right that would be the unmarked narrow lane of which there are many in Ireland. I think receiving directions is all part of enjoying a sense of place but folowing them is another thing altogether.
Speak Irish please. The Irish Tourism Board uses the phrase "Fáilte Ireland" (pronounced "fall-sha") means welcome. An equally popular phrase
céad mile fáilte ("kad meel-a fall-sha") convey "a hundred thousand welcomes". Although the national language of Ireland is Irish (a modern version of Gaelic or Gaeilge), English is the primary language throughout the country. Many signs are bilingual and radio program hosts often switch languages when delivering advertising messages. The combinations and switches between languages seem logical. For example: What's the
craic? Means what’s going on?
Say what? To my surprise, in Irish bailey is the word used to describe the outer wall of a castle and I thought it was an Irish cream drink. Still in any pub the word
sláinte (say "slaan-sha") works as a toast to good health. As all Canadians know
ceildh (or ceili) is the word for a session of traditional music with dancing. Diapers are called nappies and a baby bed is a cot, not a crib. The term for day care or nursery is a
crèche and just let your teens know
snogging means kissing.
Looking for the toilets? The general word is leithreas but almost everywhere the word displayed will be toilets. However on a more specific and practical note fir (not a tree) is the word used for the men’s toilet and mná (not a misspelling of the word man) is the Irish for "women" and appears as an identifier on toilet doors, mainly in the West of Ireland.
Safe from threats. I mention the word safe because for parents or grandparents traveling with children general safety is now more of a concern than ever. Ireland is currently not a terrorism hot spot making the destination even more appealing. Travel throughout the country is easy because Irish folks wish to be helpful to tourists and everyone looks after the welfare of children.
Look for combo tickets and save. Many attractions offer attraction combination tickets -- for example, in Dublin it is possible to buy a discounted ticket pass combing the Joyce Tower, the Writers Museum, and the Shaw Birthplace. Dublin also has a city attraction pass created to provide tourists with extra benefits. It must be purchased about three weeks in advance so plan ahead if it makes sense for your family.
www.dublinpass.ie/dublinpass/ Off set your family vacation travel. Everyone has their own way of greening the planet and I am not prepared to offer one more list of ways however, one useful source -
www.carboneutralireland.ie - will help you calculate your family’s travel emissions and offer suggestions on how to offset them.
Authentic Ireland Vacation Planning Resource. There’s plenty of useful information available online. My suggestion is to checkout Discover Ireland which provides free vacation planning kits. Simply contact them online at
www.discoverireland.com or call from USA or Canada toll-free 1-800 SHAMROCK (1-800-742-6762).
Comments and images provided by Nancy Nelson-Duac Editor FTF. Based on a recent visit to Ireland with her daughters. Copyright 2012.
