A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet –Irish proverb.
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| Irish Folk Session |
The friendliness of the Irish is partly due to the fact that there are so few of them, only 3.5 million, so those that can stay here have room to breathe and see each other as human beings.
At the same time, the considerable racial, cultural and religious homogeneity of the Irish gives them a kind of collective security, while their easy-going approach to life allows people time to be friendly towards each other.
When strangers start talking in Ireland, they try to find friends, acquaintances, or distant relatives in common, usually with some success.
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They’ll even optimistically try the Do you know so-and-so? ritual with visitors from a country where they happen to know someone.
That may seem ridiculous, but so many Irish people have gone near and far in every direction, as emigrants and missionaries, that sometimes it seems as if half the world is little more than an Irish colony, 50 million North Americans, including 17 American Presidents, claim Irish descent.
The Irish feel at home anywhere in the world, and usually enjoy making visitors welcome to their own beautiful country. However, many foreigners feel that the Irish are slow to develop long-term friendships; they seem an open book but are complex, subtle and quite hard to get to know.
Source: Why do the Irish? by Fiana Griffin
May the lilt of Irish laughter lighten every load,
may the mist of Irish magic shorten every road,
may you taste the sweetest pleasures that fortune e're bestowed,
and may all your friends remember all the favors you are owed.
and may all your friends remember all the favors you are owed.
Popular Irish wish
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