Country Article / Postcards

A World Apart

Date: 03/13/2004

Dear Reader,

The road where I live has no name.

This isn't peculiar in Ireland. There are no postal codes on this small island, and, outside the cities, many roads are known only by the landmarks they pass.

Despite its ambitions and Celtic Tiger posturings, Ireland is a developing country. Shopping malls are a recent addition to the skyline, and Golden Arches are few. Some businesses and shops still close for lunch every day, and only a handful are open Sundays. The electricity to our house (we live in the country) goes out at least once a month. Fortunately, when we moved in, the contractor we worked with on the renovations persuaded us to put in a stove that runs on bottled gas, in addition to our Stanley oven.

At least one morning out of five, I'm held up on my way to the office by a tractor on the road...or a herd of cows crossing from one field to another.

We lock our door at home only when we'll be away for an extended time. I lock my car door when we're in Dublin and Cork--but it's probably not necessary.

Shopkeepers will run an account for you, sometimes seeming to prefer it--"Pay me next time," they'll say. Nearly anyone will take a personal check--but don't count on using your credit card. Outside the cities, only the high-tech establishments have this capability.

Our 14-year-old daughter walks from school to a friend's house or the park, and we don't worry. And she's being educated in a school system that values good manners as much as chemistry.

The little stone church in Portlaw, the nearest town to where we live, is full every Sunday morning, whole families turning out together. Afterward, the three pubs in town enjoy the same brisk trade. (Yes, they're open Sundays.)

Over breakfast one morning in Florida early last week, a reader attending our Live Overseas Conference asked why we're living in Ireland. How can I explain to him, I thought, the peace and security we feel here...how much we look forward, each trip, to returning home to Waterford?

How long will we stay, the reader also wondered. Unfortunately, the Irish don't seem to appreciate their island the way we do. They seem keen for "progress" and are aggressively importing bad ideas--like shopping malls and housing developments (they call them "estates"). For the first time in a century, the Irish population is growing, and the country's infrastructure is struggling to support the load. New home construction is proceeding quick and unchecked. By-passes are beginning to criss-cross the emerald fields.

Before you know it...they'll be putting up road signs.

Maybe then, we'll think about moving on. Right now, we're content...a world apart.

Kathleen Peddicord
Publisher, International Living