The reason for so many stone walls is that the stones have to be taken from the soil to allow anything to grow there. The walls are from "cleaning" the ground. The limestone landscape (called Karst landscape) is difficult to grow things on and people would bring seaweed up from the beaches to dump on the ground to make soil (over years) as it broke down. Then that soil is fertile. A lot of the "grass" you think is super short is not grass. It IS green... it could be moss, or clover or bracken - and yes, sheep grazing keeps grass close to the ground and "cut". Ireland is lovely - but he got weather that was better than normal for sure - and his drone work is excellent.
Imagine you are clearing stones - big stones - off the ground to create grazing ground. What do you do with all the stones? You stack them into lots of walls so you don't have to haul them too far. The walls help control cattle and also offer a bit of protection from the weather. The ground that is revealed may be improved with seaweed. The huge slabs of rock are part of the Burren, a lovely, eerie place with amazing eco-systems. The grass is thanks to the endless rain, and yes the sheep and cattle keep it short. The grasses on the Skelligs are probably a short coastal grass that is pretty common.
Yes, the native name for Ireland is Éire, pronounced something close to "air-ah". Not "air" as he says it! They were also there to show German pilots that they had reached Ireland, not Britain, and to not bomb us, please. Yes, the stone walls are to seperate fields that are usually used for grazing. And yes, those are crosses, and they are indeed graves!
The Éire signs were for all pilots. They were all numbered. British and American pilots knew the numbers so could tell exactly where they were, German pilots couldn't.
Dublin was bombed once from what I remember, at the 5 lamps, multiple people killed. Various German airmen were interned in Ireland, if they crash landed, also where I'm living in West Cork, an American B17 flying fortress bomber made an emergency landing in fields near the town of Clonakilty, they were welcomed by the locals and stayed at the local hotel while the aeroplane was repaired. Before it took off again and they were gone. Various aircraft crashed during the war on mountains around the coast, some of the aircraft wreckage is still were if fell.
Well it didn’t do much good because the Germans bombed from Wexford to Belfast during the world war 2. Please stop trying to connect Ireland with the Nazis as the Israelis like to do. We were and are a neutral country.
Some of those little stone walls dividing fields are quite old. The oldest known are the Céide fields in Mayo which date back about 6000 years. I always suggest that visitors should go to Newgrange which is a mound constructed about 5500 years ago. It has an internal passageway with a small chamber at the end. The passageway is aligned so that sunlight can light up the chamber at dawn on the winter solstice.
Hi Connor, I was born in N. Ireland, grew up about 6 miles from the Giants Causeway. (Now living in Australia) The spectacular columns of Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland look like an architectural marvel, but the formation is entirely natural. It developed between 50 to 60 million years ago when a flood of lava oozed from fissures in the earth. The molten rock cooled and contracted, cracking into a series of some 40,000 columns, mostly in near-perfect hexagonal shapes. Regarding your 'Irishness', I know you'd be made very welcome, and your Irish heritage would be of great interest as so many Irish now call the USA home. Love your vids. Love your humour and the interest you take in so many varied topics. Sláinte
Connor. There's a 3 part documentary on Ireland called. THE ISLAND. 1st episode is about geology and how the island formed 3.8billion years ago.. and yes BILLION years ago. ✌🇮🇪
Don't forget Derrynane Beach, Valentia Island, on the ring of kerry. Slea head drive and across the conor pass the Castle Gregory on the Dingle Peninsula, Go to west Cork Glengarriff and Allihies.
Hi Conner, The Giant’s Causeway was created from a lava flow that cooled very quickly (in geological terms) in the seawater, that is what gave the columns their hexagonal structure. Éire is one of several names that the pre-Celtic Irish gave to the island of Ireland. Erin is another one after the same goddess. The Éire signs (all 95 of them) were built out of white limestone all around the coast of the Free State (now Republic of Ireland) during WWII to warn the Luftwaffe that they were over neutral territory. They might have been looking for Belfast in the northeast of the island. Germany did drop bombs on the newly formed Republic of Ireland on more than a few occasions though. The worst incident were two bombs over Dublin’s north docks in 1941 that killed 28 people. You are right, the majority of our population is on the east coast with Dublin a major port since Viking times and also Belfast developing in the 18th/19 th centuries. The grass is short because of the wind, it just can’t grow so close to the sea. It is more ‘normal’ in the midlands where the cattle will take care of it. In the west the irregularity of the walls is just due to a good farmer’s eye really 😉 To make a usable field, you needed to clear the rocks, break them and then to dispose of the rocks, you just built walls. No science, no instruments (and no title deeds). Whoever was hard working enough to do this back breaking work then fertilise the land with weeds collected from the beaches, owned the right to farm the field. There is a play by John B. Keane, a native of Kerry ( and also a publican) called The Field that describes the sense of ownership that comes with this type of work. It was adapted into a film with Richard Harris (a native of Limerick) and John Hurt (a resident of county Kildare) in 1989, I think. BTW, in Ireland your name is spelt Conor from the Irish Conchobar ‘master of hounds’.
There were more than two Gernan bombs. They also bombed the South Circular Road. One of the bombs flattened a synagogue. Hitler's government paid compensation, and this was used to build a new synagogue. I wonder if he ever found out.
That grass is short because they’re meadows. That’s highly fertile farmland. In some places the wind makes grass growth difficult but not there. Edit: Oops, you’re talking about the Skelligs. I thought you meant at the Giant’s Causeway.
@@mikekelly5869Hi Mike, thank you for the reminder, how could I forget Donore Avenue? I lived around there for years. I corrected my entry, thanks again. At a quick glance, I could not find any mention of compensation for that incident. Maybe it didn’t come through an official complaint of the Irish government.
@@valerieh84 You were close to the scene of the crime! If you look up "bombing of Dublin in world war II" on Wikipedia you'll see a mention of the synagogue, and also the little church that (I think) now forms part of the school, opposite Merton Avenue. The house that you lived in probably lost its windows!
Yes, and as a result of this rain there's also a lot of free calcium and magnesium in the soil as most of the county's geology (the flat arable bit) is comprised of carboniferous rock.
Great stuff! If you come early enough you’ll get to see us all *mow the grass* to *keep it really tidy* before the tourists arrive. There’ll be all manner of mowers: hand mowers, electric mowers, diesel mowers, ride-on mowers, robot mowers. Don’t mind this video. Of course, it’s not sheep. If you ever see a mower in bits at the foot of a cliff you’ll know that some fool let his sheep mow the grass. 🤣😂🤣🤪👍🇮🇪
The walls were partially built to use up the limestone taken from the ground to make it farmable. And to help with erosion. The buliding of the walls is a skill in of itself, and you'll see them not just in the Aran Islands, but all around Ireland, albeit especially in the West. You're not wrong about the grass either. Softest, best, must lush grass...one of the upsides of the rain! And also lends to the quality of the dairy produce!
The population definitely thins out as you go west but you will still see houses at least scattered across most of the countryside apart from the wildest parts, which aren't particularly massive but are beautiful. The Eire xx signs were to show all aircraft they were over Ireland during WWII. It was our only defence from bombers. The Burren is incredible. Such a unique landscape it jas many plant species not found anywhere else. Donegal and Kerry are probably the most scenic counties with the most variation in landscape. Rolling hills, lakes, rivers and forrest leading to barren hiils covered in heather and peat bog, mountains, valles, cliffs and coast with every imaginable combination between. Look into the weather.. it rains probably 3/4 or even 4/5 days. Might only be showers but equally could be steady light or medium rain all day for days at a time. That and the large ammount of livestock grazing on much of it. It is Very green when you get some good light. Mysterious in the mist and dreary when overcast.. which happens allot. And wither has V short daylight hours. 8.30am - 4,10pm being sunrise and sunset for the winter solstice. (And thats dublin, lil bit shorter on north coast)
"Dry stone walls" are a feature of the Irish landscape and are found on 'all three' of the Aran Islands; Inishmore, Inishmaan and Inisheer... Although the islands are not very big, combined they contain approximately 1,500 miles of dry stone walls. Each wall was designed to meet specific needs such as enclosing crops, to hold livestock (such as sheep) or grazing pastures (some left free to grow new grass, while others where used to feed the livestock in rotation). The walls vary between 4-6ft in height. During bad weather or heavy winds (and with no natural shelter, like trees etc.), you will often see livestock taking shelter behind these walls.
I dont think I have every commented on any of your videos before. Avid follower. However as I'm irish, I just wanted to say that you have a genuine natural insight and laid back empathy that is short on reaction vids. Also, yes Ireland has truly unique green, and lots of it. I have worked abroad and on coming home, the green and sheer 'freshness' of the country is what gets you most, you even dont appreciate as you grow up here. Also yes, the east most populated, further west you go the less so. Various historical, cultural and geographical reasons for that, soil shallower and the medieval Norman / English inhabitants pushed the natives back that way - resultant in enforced v natural population divergence
Conor, the sharpness of the cliffs is not due to erosion, but due to rapid "isostatic readjustment" after the weight of retreating ice is lifted off the land.
There’s so much more to see on that route. Obviously he can’t mention all of them. Slieve League, Gleniff Horseshoe, Glencar Valley, Achill Island, Sky Road, Slea Head, Connor Pass, Healy Pass, Mizen Head etc. etc.
Yes Éire is Ireland in Gaelic which comes from the Celtic Goddess Ériu who allowed the Gael (celtics) to land in Ireland only if they promised the island would forever called after her name.
I think has someone pointed out - some of the manicured grass relates to Royal Portrush Golf Course which hosts major tournaments including the British Open ( although it’s just called the Open because it’s the original). It’s ranked among the best Golf Courses in the world. The sites - down the Giants Causeway and the ruins of Dunluce Castle ( 13th Century) ( used in Game of Thrones) make it one of the most spectacularly scenic areas for a Golf Course anywhere in the world. Plus with the wind - if you hit the ball up in the air there is a chance that you will end up further back than the tee from which you started. Even if it’s raining this is an exhilarating place and if the sun shines it feels like heaven.
9:15 These small walled plots of land are an eventual result of the The Popery Act (Penal Law) of 1704, which required land owned by Roman Catholics to be divided equally between all a landholder's sons, both legitimate and illegitimate, on his death.
Conor, I'm from near the first location ... the Giant's Causeway. But ALL of Ireland's coastline offers great scenery. There's a documented route called the Wild Atlantic Way, which pretty much encompasses the sites that yer man captured so well. By the way, I laughed when you asked what mows the grass ! But you did at least answer it yourself. Yes ... the population density outside Dublin is very low. But even so, every little town and village will have loads of bars to occupy you.
You could easily do a top 40 or 50 in Ireland. Anyone interested in visiting should look into "The great Atlantic way" it brings you from the south all up along the west coast. On the Aran islands, those are just land boundaries, a lot of people used to live on the island a long time ago and he didn't show on the video but there's a place there called the "Worms hole" and it basically looks like an Olympic size swimming pool cut into the rock, and it's where red bull do a cliff diving competition.
The grass near the giant causeway would probably be kept short by cattle rather than sheep as sheep are usually for rougher grazing on the uplands ,and also for haymaking
About erosion.. the ocean hits agains the rock, making turbulence under the sea and little by little removes the rock, until it has removed that much so that the cliff above cant hold anymore and just drops down. Therefore is creares sharp cliffs. And that happens many times..
The cliff that dun aonghasa is on on inis mór, arran islands, is 330 feet high, theirs massive chinks of rock that were chipped away by the sea lying on top on the cliff, the sea is that powerful
In Western Europe, dominant winds almost permanently come from the West (Atlantic wind), from south west in summer (warm wind from Açores), and from north west in winter (cold wind from Iceland). Both are quite humid, as they both cross the Atlantic ocean. That's why western Europe is not very dry, and the irish meadows stay green all the time. For their confort, people often live in "off wind" areas : on the west coast, but protected by hills, or downright in the eastern parts of the country (the wind loses power when crossing lands). As a joke, in western Brittany, we call that phenomena, the "celtic monsoon" ! Fortunately, the Gulf Stream prevents temperatures from going too low (not below O°C), even in the northernmost islands of the european west coast... So the ships can navigate all year long without meeting ice growlers, below the arctic circle, but the storms in northern Atlantic are huge, and it's not rare to see 20 meters high waves, during the winter ! As a navy veteran from the Northern Fleet (based in Cherbourg - Normandy) I have incredible memories about some very "harsh cruises" (actually navy operations, during the 90's, consisting in surveying russian subs departures from their Poliyarnii naval base, in Barents sea, near North Cape : it's no longer classified information now. Just look at "In the hunt of Red October" : it was at these times and in these places).
The giant that cuts up the land is called the Atlantic 🤣. A cool thing that tourists do is take a boat to the Aran Islands where you can see the Cliffs of Moher from the sea. If you think the Aran Islands look otherworldly you should see the Burren from an aerial view, it looks like the moon because it was formed underwater. Also the stone wall on the islands were formed just to make fields. The place was full of rocks so they had to do something with them. On the mainland there are famine walls that look similar, but they were famine-relief works projects which were sponsored by landlords to provide work for the poor.
I don't understand why you ask what are the Aran Islands for?!!!. They are just natural islands. People live and farm there and can travel to mainland!!
The sea water does not get very cold in Ireland because the North Adkantic Drift carries warm water from the Mexican Gulf. Some people swim in the sea all year round. Without the NAD, Ireland would have a climate similar to Newfoundland.
You might recognise Skellig from Star Wars! I'm surprised the narrator didn't mention the puffins which the Porgs were based on. While the stone walls serve the purpose of dividing fields, they also utilised the stones removed from the land. During the Plantation of Ulster, the indigenous population were exiled by Oliver Cromwell who famously told the natives 'to hell or to Connaught' because the land was so bad and unworkable. Yes, the green IS beautiful, but to the detriment of our forestry - a huge proportion of which was shipped to England during British rule, rampant deforestation for agricultural purposes, and over grazing. Pretty, but environmentally disastrous. The name Éire is derived from Ériú who was a Gaelic goddess, and the goddess of Ireland, goddess of the land.
Haha, funnily enough many geologists have come to Ireland and are stumtped as to how a lot of the formations came about. There's outcrops next to others that make no sense. It's great.
Yes, the Gaelic for Ireland is Éire. And during World War II, the Irish Government had declared that the 'State' would remain neutral. A series of look out posts (or LOP's) were erected around the coastline, connected by telephone, to monitor and report all sea traffic to the Irish Coast Guard. The majority of these LOP's were built to the exact same plans and were completed between 1939 and 1942.The marking "EIRE 64" as clearly seen in the video was an indication to American aircraft that they had reached 'Neutral Ireland' having crossed the Atlantic Ocean... 🙂 EDIT: I meant to also say: Many LOP's are still standing in various state of repair. Recent maintenance work to "LOP 64" on Downpatrick Head has helped to preserve this piece of history and will continue to be maintained for the future... 👍
It's funny you said "don't knock over that please", years ago I visited the giants causeway and an American tourist decided to climb it in a stupid way, he jumped up to grab one of the pillers and pulled half of it down on top of himself he cracked it in half, as he lay screaming on the ground with a broken leg literally everyone there just looked at him with utter contempt and didn't help him, what you would probably call a park warden was the only one to help him and he didn't look like he wanted to, some Chad deciding to Chad destroyed a piller that stood for millions of years..
There is a lot of green landscape due to the temperate climate. Plenty of sunshine and rain all year round. The weather is predictable, in that it changes constantly 😁.
My son camped for 3 days on the Skellig doing a survey on behalf of the Board of Works, the government body responsible for the island. It is a truly magical place.
Watch star wars. Do t know which one but one from 2010 ish probably actually 2015. The very very last scene with Luke Skywalker is on Skellig Michaèl. I'm Irish but have lived in Pamplona for years. When we I brought the kids to see the movie I jumped out of my sit and screamed "that'd Skellig Michaèl at the top of my voice. Spent an hour afterwards giving the locals tips on where to go and what to see. Head along the west coast as this chap did. The east is beautiful too but it all depends on how much time you have. For 1 or 2 weeks. I'd base myself in Galway. Then head north and south along the coast. Bed and breakfast accommodation is incredible in my humble opinion
The best way to pronouce Ireland in Irish is to say "Air-A", it's as close as you're going to get if you are Amercian 🥰. The people in this video got around the county to be fair to them, but I'd say they saw less than 1% of the country 😉
Article 4 of the Constitution of Ireland adopted in 1937, provides that '"(t)he name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland in (English) Irish state has two official names, Éire (in Irish) and Ireland (in English) simple really Google is your friend, if one can't pronounce Irish name, (place names) ask google simple thats of course if one is not related to Trump then it is doom no hope! ☘☘☘☘☘☘☘
In ancient times, our island was largely covered in dense forest. Until the middle ages really, when wolves and bears also existed here in the wild. There's a massive movement currently towards "rewilding", to increase what little natural forest cover remains. Over grazing is the short answer as to why this has happened. Pastoral farming is huge here. And hugely damaging.
In this video there was no mention of the many towns, villages and cities in Ireland. A lot of Americans just think of Ireland as you see in the video. I've even been asked "what do you DO over there" or even "do you have electricity" 🙄. Others just thought of Ireland as green fields. You should visit the Burren area in County Clare. That's where you see the amazing scenery with all the rocks - left over after the ice age apparently. Come to Ireland - May and September are good because it's cheaper - you avoid a lot of tourists that come June to August. There's lots to see & do. Best wishes from Ireland. 👍🇮🇪
If you think 1% of your heritage stopped off in Ireland by mistake one afternoon you can call yourself Irish. Most of us know what you mean and those who get annoyed have their own issues.
According to the Irish Constitution the name of the country is Eire in Irish and Ireland in English. An act of the Irish parliament, defines the description of the country as the Republic of Ireland. And the Ireland Act of 1949, passed by the parliament of the UK states that the name of the country in the UK is Eire this is why you will hear Ireland being referred to in the UK as Eire in all official documents and communications. Interesting the act goes on to state that Ireland is not a foreign country for the purposes of UK legislation and so Irish citizens enjoy the same rights as British citizens in the UK.
Nope, if you have extensive knowledge of our culture, history, geography then you can call yourself irish, even without irish heritage. Being irish and having irish heritage are two different things
Read the Irish constitution and you'll see our brothers and sisters across the seas are all our people. Spread by the wind of long suffering. Anyone who claims you of Irish heritage living abroad are no longer ours are fools
Quick info on what you see on Arran Mor. Individual units are walled 'fields' resulting from (like slicing a pizza to share with your family) giving your male kids their inheritance. A strategy that broke Irish family structure and gave power to landlords (usually English aristocrats). shit history unfortunately. Otherwise great coverage.
Hi Connor! The stone walls you saw were on flat land. Elsewhere in the British Isles you can find dry stone walls going up steep slopes. Keep Reacting!
French here and i lived there so magical , beautiful country and people.❤
Bonjour mon ami, comment vas-tu? Chui anglais, et j'ai vecu en franche comte, le fromage est top! Bisous
❤❤😘😘
🇮🇪🤝🏻🇫🇷
Good to see Donegal well represented in this one. I spent most of my summer holidays there as my mum was from Derry.
The reason for so many stone walls is that the stones have to be taken from the soil to allow anything to grow there. The walls are from "cleaning" the ground. The limestone landscape (called Karst landscape) is difficult to grow things on and people would bring seaweed up from the beaches to dump on the ground to make soil (over years) as it broke down. Then that soil is fertile.
A lot of the "grass" you think is super short is not grass. It IS green... it could be moss, or clover or bracken - and yes, sheep grazing keeps grass close to the ground and "cut". Ireland is lovely - but he got weather that was better than normal for sure - and his drone work is excellent.
Aran Island and other places where there is a lot of stone in the ground, walls were made not to separate but to clear ground for growing etc.
Imagine you are clearing stones - big stones - off the ground to create grazing ground. What do you do with all the stones? You stack them into lots of walls so you don't have to haul them too far. The walls help control cattle and also offer a bit of protection from the weather. The ground that is revealed may be improved with seaweed. The huge slabs of rock are part of the Burren, a lovely, eerie place with amazing eco-systems. The grass is thanks to the endless rain, and yes the sheep and cattle keep it short. The grasses on the Skelligs are probably a short coastal grass that is pretty common.
Yes, the native name for Ireland is Éire, pronounced something close to "air-ah". Not "air" as he says it! They were also there to show German pilots that they had reached Ireland, not Britain, and to not bomb us, please. Yes, the stone walls are to seperate fields that are usually used for grazing. And yes, those are crosses, and they are indeed graves!
The Éire signs were for all pilots. They were all numbered. British and American pilots knew the numbers so could tell exactly where they were, German pilots couldn't.
Shut up, your country is overrun with outsiders.
Dublin was bombed once from what I remember, at the 5 lamps, multiple people killed. Various German airmen were interned in Ireland, if they crash landed, also where I'm living in West Cork, an American B17 flying fortress bomber made an emergency landing in fields near the town of Clonakilty, they were welcomed by the locals and stayed at the local hotel while the aeroplane was repaired. Before it took off again and they were gone.
Various aircraft crashed during the war on mountains around the coast, some of the aircraft wreckage is still were if fell.
Nazi sympathisers
Well it didn’t do much good because the Germans bombed from Wexford to Belfast during the world war 2. Please stop trying to connect Ireland with the Nazis as the Israelis like to do. We were and are a neutral country.
Anything with gal is pronounced gaul i.e. Galway (Gaulway), Donegal (Donie-gaul).
Some of those little stone walls dividing fields are quite old. The oldest known are the Céide fields in Mayo which date back about 6000 years.
I always suggest that visitors should go to Newgrange which is a mound constructed about 5500 years ago. It has an internal passageway with a small chamber at the end. The passageway is aligned so that sunlight can light up the chamber at dawn on the winter solstice.
You are always welcome to visit 💓
Hi Connor, I was born in N. Ireland, grew up about 6 miles from the Giants Causeway. (Now living in Australia) The spectacular columns of Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland look like an architectural marvel, but the formation is entirely natural. It developed between 50 to 60 million years ago when a flood of lava oozed from fissures in the earth. The molten rock cooled and contracted, cracking into a series of some 40,000 columns, mostly in near-perfect hexagonal shapes. Regarding your 'Irishness', I know you'd be made very welcome, and your Irish heritage would be of great interest as so many Irish now call the USA home. Love your vids. Love your humour and the interest you take in so many varied topics. Sláinte
Connor. There's a 3 part documentary on Ireland called. THE ISLAND. 1st episode is about geology and how the island formed 3.8billion years ago.. and yes BILLION years ago. ✌🇮🇪
Thanks for the info, I must look that one up. 👍
Thanks for the info, I must look that one up. 👍
@@gerardflynn7382 i think the program was made by the BBC.
Don't forget Derrynane Beach, Valentia Island, on the ring of kerry. Slea head drive and across the conor pass the Castle Gregory on the Dingle Peninsula, Go to west Cork Glengarriff and Allihies.
Great video of Ireland, from Belfast 🇮🇪☘️
Skellic’s are also the location used in Star Wars for the centre of the ‘force’
There’s more than Dublin airport in Ireland. You can fly in to Shannon from the US east coast.
Hi Conner,
The Giant’s Causeway was created from a lava flow that cooled very quickly (in geological terms) in the seawater, that is what gave the columns their hexagonal structure.
Éire is one of several names that the pre-Celtic Irish gave to the island of Ireland. Erin is another one after the same goddess.
The Éire signs (all 95 of them) were built out of white limestone all around the coast of the Free State (now Republic of Ireland) during WWII to warn the Luftwaffe that they were over neutral territory. They might have been looking for Belfast in the northeast of the island. Germany did drop bombs on the newly formed Republic of Ireland on more than a few occasions though. The worst incident were two bombs over Dublin’s north docks in 1941 that killed 28 people.
You are right, the majority of our population is on the east coast with Dublin a major port since Viking times and also Belfast developing in the 18th/19 th centuries.
The grass is short because of the wind, it just can’t grow so close to the sea. It is more ‘normal’ in the midlands where the cattle will take care of it.
In the west the irregularity of the walls is just due to a good farmer’s eye really 😉 To make a usable field, you needed to clear the rocks, break them and then to dispose of the rocks, you just built walls. No science, no instruments (and no title deeds). Whoever was hard working enough to do this back breaking work then fertilise the land with weeds collected from the beaches, owned the right to farm the field. There is a play by John B. Keane, a native of Kerry ( and also a publican) called The Field that describes the sense of ownership that comes with this type of work. It was adapted into a film with Richard Harris (a native of Limerick) and John Hurt (a resident of county Kildare) in 1989, I think.
BTW, in Ireland your name is spelt Conor from the Irish Conchobar ‘master of hounds’.
There were more than two Gernan bombs. They also bombed the South Circular Road. One of the bombs flattened a synagogue. Hitler's government paid compensation, and this was used to build a new synagogue. I wonder if he ever found out.
That grass is short because they’re meadows. That’s highly fertile farmland. In some places the wind makes grass growth difficult but not there.
Edit: Oops, you’re talking about the Skelligs. I thought you meant at the Giant’s Causeway.
@@mikekelly5869Hi Mike, thank you for the reminder, how could I forget Donore Avenue? I lived around there for years. I corrected my entry, thanks again.
At a quick glance, I could not find any mention of compensation for that incident. Maybe it didn’t come through an official complaint of the Irish government.
@@valerieh84 You were close to the scene of the crime! If you look up "bombing of Dublin in world war II" on Wikipedia you'll see a mention of the synagogue, and also the little church that (I think) now forms part of the school, opposite Merton Avenue. The house that you lived in probably lost its windows!
The grass in ireland is so good becase it rains alot in the temperate climate and because its next to the atlantic ocean😊
Yes, and as a result of this rain there's also a lot of free calcium and magnesium in the soil as most of the county's geology (the flat arable bit) is comprised of carboniferous rock.
We have 3 types of weather in Ireland, It's after raining,It is raining,It's going to rain😂😂😂😂
15 of us are traveling to ireland again takeing in the midlands dublin mayo cork and clare and limerick🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🍀☘🍀☘🍀☘😊😊😊😊
there are airports in Donegal Derry Antrim and Belfast.
@padraigogallachoir626 we are traveling to the main airport in ireland dublin airport
Great stuff! If you come early enough you’ll get to see us all *mow the grass* to *keep it really tidy* before the tourists arrive. There’ll be all manner of mowers: hand mowers, electric mowers, diesel mowers, ride-on mowers, robot mowers. Don’t mind this video. Of course, it’s not sheep. If you ever see a mower in bits at the foot of a cliff you’ll know that some fool let his sheep mow the grass. 🤣😂🤣🤪👍🇮🇪
The ‘Stones’ are also just over 20 miles away on the coast of Scotland.
They just have tall columns too.
The walls were partially built to use up the limestone taken from the ground to make it farmable. And to help with erosion. The buliding of the walls is a skill in of itself, and you'll see them not just in the Aran Islands, but all around Ireland, albeit especially in the West. You're not wrong about the grass either. Softest, best, must lush grass...one of the upsides of the rain! And also lends to the quality of the dairy produce!
60 million years ago there was a volcano eruption. As the lava cooled it caused the hexagonal shapes.
The population definitely thins out as you go west but you will still see houses at least scattered across most of the countryside apart from the wildest parts, which aren't particularly massive but are beautiful.
The Eire xx signs were to show all aircraft they were over Ireland during WWII. It was our only defence from bombers.
The Burren is incredible. Such a unique landscape it jas many plant species not found anywhere else.
Donegal and Kerry are probably the most scenic counties with the most variation in landscape. Rolling hills, lakes, rivers and forrest leading to barren hiils covered in heather and peat bog, mountains, valles, cliffs and coast with every imaginable combination between.
Look into the weather.. it rains probably 3/4 or even 4/5 days. Might only be showers but equally could be steady light or medium rain all day for days at a time. That and the large ammount of livestock grazing on much of it.
It is Very green when you get some good light. Mysterious in the mist and dreary when overcast.. which happens allot. And wither has V short daylight hours. 8.30am - 4,10pm being sunrise and sunset for the winter solstice. (And thats dublin, lil bit shorter on north coast)
Yep, you're never more than 25 minutes from a Centra in Ireland.
Yes.. but in the summer it's bright from at least 5am to 11pm..
"Dry stone walls" are a feature of the Irish landscape and are found on 'all three' of the Aran Islands; Inishmore, Inishmaan and Inisheer... Although the islands are not very big, combined they contain approximately 1,500 miles of dry stone walls. Each wall was designed to meet specific needs such as enclosing crops, to hold livestock (such as sheep) or grazing pastures (some left free to grow new grass, while others where used to feed the livestock in rotation). The walls vary between 4-6ft in height. During bad weather or heavy winds (and with no natural shelter, like trees etc.), you will often see livestock taking shelter behind these walls.
I dont think I have every commented on any of your videos before. Avid follower. However as I'm irish, I just wanted to say that you have a genuine natural insight and laid back empathy that is short on reaction vids. Also, yes Ireland has truly unique green, and lots of it. I have worked abroad and on coming home, the green and sheer 'freshness' of the country is what gets you most, you even dont appreciate as you grow up here. Also yes, the east most populated, further west you go the less so. Various historical, cultural and geographical reasons for that, soil shallower and the medieval Norman / English inhabitants pushed the natives back that way - resultant in enforced v natural population divergence
Conor, the sharpness of the cliffs is not due to erosion, but due to rapid "isostatic readjustment" after the weight of retreating ice is lifted off the land.
There’s so much more to see on that route. Obviously he can’t mention all of them. Slieve League, Gleniff Horseshoe, Glencar Valley, Achill Island, Sky Road, Slea Head, Connor Pass, Healy Pass, Mizen Head etc. etc.
Ireland such a beautiful country and always was my mum's people come from Ireland the talk broad Irish in your car understand them sometimes
11:59 rain... Feckin lots of rain. It could easily rain here every day for 3 or 4 weeks at a time 😂
Ah now, don't exaggerate and scare him. If it rained every day for 3/4 weeks at a time, we'd be feckin' Venice!
@@LFire12when we get the 4 seasons in one day, it's very possible to get rain at least once a day for a month...
Cloudseeding every day 🌨🌨🌨🌨
Glendalough should be in the list.
You are much welcome here, as I know you'd appreciate this beautiful land whenever you visit
Yes Éire is Ireland in Gaelic which comes from the Celtic Goddess Ériu who allowed the Gael (celtics) to land in Ireland only if they promised the island would forever called after her name.
I think has someone pointed out - some of the manicured grass relates to Royal Portrush Golf Course which hosts major tournaments including the British Open ( although it’s just called the Open because it’s the original). It’s ranked among the best Golf Courses in the world. The sites - down the Giants Causeway and the ruins of Dunluce Castle ( 13th Century) ( used in Game of Thrones) make it one of the most spectacularly scenic areas for a Golf Course anywhere in the world. Plus with the wind - if you hit the ball up in the air there is a chance that you will end up further back than the tee from which you started. Even if it’s raining this is an exhilarating place and if the sun shines it feels like heaven.
9:15 These small walled plots of land are an eventual result of the The Popery Act (Penal Law) of 1704, which required land owned by Roman Catholics to be divided equally between all a landholder's sons, both legitimate and illegitimate, on his death.
Conor, I'm from near the first location ... the Giant's Causeway. But ALL of Ireland's coastline offers great scenery. There's a documented route called the Wild Atlantic Way, which pretty much encompasses the sites that yer man captured so well.
By the way, I laughed when you asked what mows the grass ! But you did at least answer it yourself.
Yes ... the population density outside Dublin is very low. But even so, every little town and village will have loads of bars to occupy you.
You could easily do a top 40 or 50 in Ireland. Anyone interested in visiting should look into "The great Atlantic way" it brings you from the south all up along the west coast. On the Aran islands, those are just land boundaries, a lot of people used to live on the island a long time ago and he didn't show on the video but there's a place there called the "Worms hole" and it basically looks like an Olympic size swimming pool cut into the rock, and it's where red bull do a cliff diving competition.
The grass near the giant causeway would probably be kept short by cattle rather than sheep as sheep are usually for rougher grazing on the uplands ,and also for haymaking
About erosion.. the ocean hits agains the rock, making turbulence under the sea and little by little removes the rock, until it has removed that much so that the cliff above cant hold anymore and just drops down. Therefore is creares sharp cliffs. And that happens many times..
The cliff that dun aonghasa is on on inis mór, arran islands, is 330 feet high, theirs massive chinks of rock that were chipped away by the sea lying on top on the cliff, the sea is that powerful
In Western Europe, dominant winds almost permanently come from the West (Atlantic wind),
from south west in summer (warm wind from Açores), and from north west in winter (cold
wind from Iceland). Both are quite humid, as they both cross the Atlantic ocean.
That's why western Europe is not very dry, and the irish meadows stay green all the time.
For their confort, people often live in "off wind" areas : on the west coast, but protected by hills,
or downright in the eastern parts of the country (the wind loses power when crossing lands).
As a joke, in western Brittany, we call that phenomena, the "celtic monsoon" !
Fortunately, the Gulf Stream prevents temperatures from going too low (not below O°C),
even in the northernmost islands of the european west coast...
So the ships can navigate all year long without meeting ice growlers, below the arctic circle,
but the storms in northern Atlantic are huge, and it's not rare to see 20 meters high waves,
during the winter ! As a navy veteran from the Northern Fleet (based in Cherbourg - Normandy)
I have incredible memories about some very "harsh cruises" (actually navy operations,
during the 90's, consisting in surveying russian subs departures from their Poliyarnii
naval base, in Barents sea, near North Cape : it's no longer classified information now.
Just look at "In the hunt of Red October" : it was at these times and in these places).
The highest sea cliffs in Ireland (and the third highest in Europe) are at Croghaun, Achill, Co. Mayo: 688 metres (2,257 ft).
Ireland is the best. So much treasure on one island. Incredible.
The giant that cuts up the land is called the Atlantic 🤣. A cool thing that tourists do is take a boat to the Aran Islands where you can see the Cliffs of Moher from the sea. If you think the Aran Islands look otherworldly you should see the Burren from an aerial view, it looks like the moon because it was formed underwater.
Also the stone wall on the islands were formed just to make fields. The place was full of rocks so they had to do something with them. On the mainland there are famine walls that look similar, but they were famine-relief works projects which were sponsored by landlords to provide work for the poor.
I would also like to go to ireland:) want to go together 😅
Greetings from Finland:)
Irish person here, I heard that Finland is beautiful.
I don't understand why you ask what are the Aran Islands for?!!!. They are just natural islands. People live and farm there and can travel to mainland!!
The sea water does not get very cold in Ireland because the North Adkantic Drift carries warm water from the Mexican Gulf. Some people swim in the sea all year round. Without the NAD, Ireland would have a climate similar to Newfoundland.
You might recognise Skellig from Star Wars! I'm surprised the narrator didn't mention the puffins which the Porgs were based on. While the stone walls serve the purpose of dividing fields, they also utilised the stones removed from the land. During the Plantation of Ulster, the indigenous population were exiled by Oliver Cromwell who famously told the natives 'to hell or to Connaught' because the land was so bad and unworkable.
Yes, the green IS beautiful, but to the detriment of our forestry - a huge proportion of which was shipped to England during British rule, rampant deforestation for agricultural purposes, and over grazing. Pretty, but environmentally disastrous.
The name Éire is derived from Ériú who was a Gaelic goddess, and the goddess of Ireland, goddess of the land.
Haha, funnily enough many geologists have come to Ireland and are stumtped as to how a lot of the formations came about. There's outcrops next to others that make no sense. It's great.
There’s more, like Killarney, Dingle (my favourite), Cork, Wicklow and of Dublin
Yes, the Gaelic for Ireland is Éire. And during World War II, the Irish Government had declared that the 'State' would remain neutral. A series of look out posts (or LOP's) were erected around the coastline, connected by telephone, to monitor and report all sea traffic to the Irish Coast Guard. The majority of these LOP's were built to the exact same plans and were completed between 1939 and 1942.The marking "EIRE 64" as clearly seen in the video was an indication to American aircraft that they had reached 'Neutral Ireland' having crossed the Atlantic Ocean... 🙂 EDIT: I meant to also say: Many LOP's are still standing in various state of repair. Recent maintenance work to "LOP 64" on Downpatrick Head has helped to preserve this piece of history and will continue to be maintained for the future... 👍
video correction, the guy said the best light is at sunrise at Slieve League, nope! They are dark as they are in the West, best light is sunset.
Yep, far fewer in the west. Getting towards 7m people, mostly Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Derry and other cities
Erosion - tens of thousands of years.
It's funny you said "don't knock over that please", years ago I visited the giants causeway and an American tourist decided to climb it in a stupid way, he jumped up to grab one of the pillers and pulled half of it down on top of himself he cracked it in half, as he lay screaming on the ground with a broken leg literally everyone there just looked at him with utter contempt and didn't help him, what you would probably call a park warden was the only one to help him and he didn't look like he wanted to, some Chad deciding to Chad destroyed a piller that stood for millions of years..
There's Irish in the blood, you could see that moved him, the ancestors are speaking.
That was a cross on Skellig Michael. Ireland was
There is a lot of green landscape due to the temperate climate. Plenty of sunshine and rain all year round. The weather is predictable, in that it changes constantly 😁.
My son camped for 3 days on the Skellig doing a survey on behalf of the Board of Works, the government body responsible for the island. It is a truly magical place.
yes Connor they are graves
That island is where Luke Skywalker was hiding .
grow up !!
@enemde3025 Never !
@@James-wp3jq😂😂
Watch star wars. Do t know which one but one from 2010 ish probably actually 2015. The very very last scene with Luke Skywalker is on Skellig Michaèl. I'm Irish but have lived in Pamplona for years. When we I brought the kids to see the movie I jumped out of my sit and screamed "that'd Skellig Michaèl at the top of my voice. Spent an hour afterwards giving the locals tips on where to go and what to see. Head along the west coast as this chap did. The east is beautiful too but it all depends on how much time you have. For 1 or 2 weeks. I'd base myself in Galway. Then head north and south along the coast. Bed and breakfast accommodation is incredible in my humble opinion
@@naomhfermin yes that's right, it's at the very end of the force awakens I think, you see all those steps going up to the top .
Yes u are 'irish' American, the mother land i understand. Say whatever u like. 👌
Grass Heaven ☺️💚🇮🇪
If your DNA, Blood and family are Irish.
More than loads that live in Ireland there is more Irish in America then there is in Ireland.
Come visit! Love your channel.
The giants causeway, a natural rock formation. The shape is pronounced. hex, ag onal.
Golf courses are some of the tidy grass areas
I LIVE IN IRELAND
Eire pronounced Eir ah. The Eire markings were put in place at the request of the USAAF to guide them in from the Atlantic during WW2.😊
If you have an Irish grandparent ( or parent ) you’re automatically entitled to Irish citizenship.
The hexacon rock formations are frim ancient volcanic lava in the giants caseway😊
iceland and Ireland were once conected
the skellig islands was were luke skywalker went to live in star wars
Ireland was originally known as Hibernia then Eire now Ireland ❤
The best way to pronouce Ireland in Irish is to say "Air-A", it's as close as you're going to get if you are Amercian 🥰. The people in this video got around the county to be fair to them, but I'd say they saw less than 1% of the country 😉
It rains a lot here,
The islands are so beautiful, no wonder Luke Skywalker lives there.
Article 4 of the Constitution of Ireland adopted in 1937, provides that '"(t)he name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland in (English) Irish state has two official names, Éire (in Irish) and Ireland (in English) simple really Google is your friend, if one can't pronounce Irish name, (place names) ask google simple thats of course if one is not related to Trump then it is doom no hope! ☘☘☘☘☘☘☘
I always wonder why there are so few trees, they would have enaugh rain.
They have cutted the forest
@@sunshinereggae417 And the huge amount of sheep doesn't allow anything to grow back, like in Scotland.
In ancient times, our island was largely covered in dense forest. Until the middle ages really, when wolves and bears also existed here in the wild. There's a massive movement currently towards "rewilding", to increase what little natural forest cover remains. Over grazing is the short answer as to why this has happened. Pastoral farming is huge here. And hugely damaging.
the strong winds also prevent many small trees from surviving...
@@garethm3242 lost most of our forests to the sassenach when they used it to build their ships
In this video there was no mention of the many towns, villages and cities in Ireland. A lot of Americans just think of Ireland as you see in the video. I've even been asked "what do you DO over there" or even "do you have electricity" 🙄. Others just thought of Ireland as green fields. You should visit the Burren area in County Clare. That's where you see the amazing scenery with all the rocks - left over after the ice age apparently. Come to Ireland - May and September are good because it's cheaper - you avoid a lot of tourists that come June to August. There's lots to see & do. Best wishes from Ireland. 👍🇮🇪
If you think 1% of your heritage stopped off in Ireland by mistake one afternoon you can call yourself Irish. Most of us know what you mean and those who get annoyed have their own issues.
According to the Irish Constitution the name of the country is Eire in Irish and Ireland in English. An act of the Irish parliament, defines the description of the country as the Republic of Ireland. And the Ireland Act of 1949, passed by the parliament of the UK states that the name of the country in the UK is Eire this is why you will hear Ireland being referred to in the UK as Eire in all official documents and communications. Interesting the act goes on to state that Ireland is not a foreign country for the purposes of UK legislation and so Irish citizens enjoy the same rights as British citizens in the UK.
The same is also true in reverse.
Not exactly the same and some are dependent on you being a resident.
You ask questions and dont read the comments. Why should we answer?
You can be both Irish and American 😊
If you're of Irish heritage you're Irish.
Nope. You are of Irish heritage.
Nope, if you have extensive knowledge of our culture, history, geography then you can call yourself irish, even without irish heritage.
Being irish and having irish heritage are two different things
Just like Genocide Joe??
No you can't . Plenty of English historians tha study Japanese history and heritage and they don't call themselves Japanese@@captainireland1375
Just because your born in a stable, doesn’t mean your a horse.
Americans love their grass 😂
Damn right!!
We should introduce him to silage season in Ireland 😂😂😂
Because hexagon is bestagon
It's limestone.
Be proud to be Irish, even if its just a tiny bit. We dont have a problem with it😊
Honey! Stop asking silly questions and pick up a few books and educate yourself, respectfully.
Read the Irish constitution and you'll see our brothers and sisters across the seas are all our people. Spread by the wind of long suffering. Anyone who claims you of Irish heritage living abroad are no longer ours are fools
Lol. It's not "car RICK"-a-Rede, it's "CARrick"-a-Rede.
There are hundreds more here hun come see us
Quick info on what you see on Arran Mor. Individual units are walled 'fields' resulting from (like slicing a pizza to share with your family) giving your male kids their inheritance. A strategy that broke Irish family structure and gave power to landlords (usually English aristocrats). shit history unfortunately. Otherwise great coverage.
EIRE IS IRELAND ABD PEOPLE CALL THERE DAUGHTERS ERIN OR Eireann both means IRELAND 🇮🇪
Many Americans lost their lives by falling over the cliffs.
Hi Connor! The stone walls you saw were on flat land. Elsewhere in the British Isles you can find dry stone walls going up steep slopes. Keep Reacting!
Ireland is not a part of Britain, so stop your British isles crap , it's outdated .
Eire is Ireland - pronounced like aira
I took one look at you and knew that you had Irish ancestry.
Famine walls. Landlords paid starving people to build these walls.
You have to go to ireland🍀☘🍀☘🍀☘🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪😊
Hiya just fyi GALWAY is pronounced GAWL-WAY, not like how it’s pronounced in the video 🤦♀️
I'm getting really irritated now when people are doing info videos but fail to research the correct pronunciation. Visuals are great.
@@Ophelia771I think the issue is they use Google to pronounce the word for them. I cringe at how Google maps pronounces placenames in Ireland
Please stop advertising our country. We have enough people here as it is and the ones who come all seem to be angry at us before they even get here.
You are an American. Trust me.