I just finished my 4th day in Ireland. I took a day tour on a motorcoach to the Wicklow mountains, Glendalough, and to see the Avoca weavers in the town where they filmed the BBC series Ballykissangel. I have to admit I have heard of the show, and might have seen an episode or two. I, however, did not really recognize the village, so the allure of the show was somewhat lost on me. I did buy a jolly nice wool golf had at the weavers. It matched the color of my jacket, and it fit my fat melon large head.

I have been impressed with Ireland so far. In fact, I might have to rate Dublin as my favorite European city. This comes as quite a surprise to me, but it is true. Ireland has been in an economic boom in the last 2 decades, as the government was far-sighted enough to lure all the fledgling software companies to Ireland and invest highly in technical computer education for its citizens back in the 1980s. Apparently Ireland is first in the world in software exports, surpassing even the US and Japan.
This on-going economic boom, which everyone around here seems to be calling the "celtic tiger," has made Ireland an economic powerhouse in Europe. I seem to recall an "Irish wave" of movies that came out in the 90s when I was taking the art of film class when I was in college. I suppose that is part of it. This boom has turned Ireland from a backwater, poor country to a powerhouse. This has created a lot of new money. Electric trams have been built in Dublin in the last 2 years with 6 more in the primary works.

I have heard some warnings (hearsay at the pub) that concern me. When the bubble slows down or pops, as is the case in market economies, there is some concern as to what will happen. Suddenly having money and then having the sources dry up is a concern. But as far as I can tell, that will be a distant future. From what I can tell, Ireland is in good shape, as most of the other European economies have been quite static in the last few years.

In any event, the above pictures are from St. Kevin's monastery (7th Century) and a picture of the mountains in Wicklow to the south of Dublin. Cheers...
 Posted by Picasa

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thoughts on the 'Connecticut 6'

For some weeks, I have had several friends (mostly non-Episcopalians surprisingly) wanting me to voice an opinion on this Connecticut 6 (sounds like a fleabag motel) business. If you are unfamiliar with this fiasco, for lack of a better term, let me describe it as best as I understand it. There is so much spin going on (from both sides I might add) that I have been having trouble discerning fact from fiction. As I understand the situation, the Rt. Rev. Andrew Smith is the Bishop of Connecticut. Well, at least he has a pointy hat, I do not think he is particularly acting like one. Likewise, as I understand, there are Six rectors of churches (at least they have collars, but likewise are not acting like it) that have applied for DEPO oversight (i.e. another Bishop to oversee them.) The best way I know how to describe the hoohah is as follows: The Feloniously Rev. Smith is trying to defrock the Superciliously Reverend Rectors. Darth Smith claims they have abandoned communion and has shadil...
Read more

My board gaming journey, pt. I

Image
     Something a bit different today than my normal reflections. I thought I would delve a little bit more into a topic that is not necessarily theological in nature. I am a real person, and not some ethereal doctor in an ivory tower who gets to smoke a pipe and contemplate the infinite mysteries all day. So, today, I thought I would delve into one of my personal hobbies: board gaming.      Now, do not tune me out because you hear "board gaming" and immediately default in your brain to your brother overturning a table with Monopoly money flying everywhere because the game has gone on for hours and overturning the table was the only option left other than murder. Most people, including myself at one time, thought of board games as those boring or frustrating games that seem stuck in 1952. You know the usual suspects: Clue!, Monopoly, Scrabble, Chess, maybe even more saccharine games like Life or Candy Land, i.e. those games that everyone owned at some p...
Read more

The History of the Football helmet

Image
NCAA.com put out an interesting editorial about the evolution of the football helmet that can be found here . This is in part due in my estimation to the current buzz (one might go so far as to describe it as hysteria) about concussions in contact sports, particularly football. I have always found this an interesting evolution. Long gone are the days of strapping on your leather helmet: In the 50's and 60's, the helmet evolved into, basically becoming a metal then hard plastic version of the leather helmet with the addition of a rudimentary face mask (which was really just a bar at first): Gradually, the helmet's face mask itself began to evolve: Combines with new space age style lightweight plastics and foams, the helmet mask ultimately became a type of full, goalie style face mask (This little number costs just under $1000 to purchase new): Ironically, being a military history major, the football helmet evolution followed the pattern of design that helmets worn...
Read more