#hibernophilia

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Kilkee Cliffs, Ireland

#cliffs #landscapes #ireland #hibernophilia #beautiful places

[fortressofserenity]

Good and Bad Things about Anglophilia

Gross Britain

Anglophilia is an interest in British culture, even I myself have had it at various points in my life. Not that there's anything wrong with it or being delusional about it (or any other country as I'm not immune to that one either) at some point or another. It's easier to become Anglophile especially if you are raised in an Anglophonic environment and/or in an area that has a strong historical tie to England than it is to become a Japanophile unless if you live on the West Coast of America where it faces Japan and the Philippines. In my case, I'd like to blame it on a number of books, the Spice Girls, S Club 7 and CD-Roms that I've enjoyed as a child and also Disney Channel (at least the Southeast Asian version where they even aired Spike Milligan's take on fairy tales of all things). At some point, I even assumed that some Irish bands were British (Ireland used to be a British colony too, to make matters worse it's also Britain's next door neighbour so there's your uncanny valley version of Britain in Europe).

It might be easier to gain access to British media with the addition of the Internet and that English is a lingua franca at this point (it might change in the future) but that doesn't mean that Britaboos don't exist. They do but even their delusions are nowhere nearly as bad as that of some Japanophiles and anime fans have. But here are some things that I'd like to debunk: England gave us Monty Python, Dr Who, the English language and Sherlock Holmes (in whatever incarnation he appears as or whatever incarnation of a medium he appears in) but it also gave us stuff like Daily Mail, The Only Way is Essex, One Direction, Jimmy Savile, Cheryl Cole, chavs, Raoul Mouat, Mills and Boon novels and Page 3 women. Even if the latter aren't really that bad themselves but that doesn't mean trashy media is inexistent in Britain or anywhere else on the planet or even in the entire universe! I am saying that England gave us a lot of things that aren't always bad or good in and of themselves.

I brought up One Direction and Mills and Boon because they are both seen by a number of them as rubbish and bollocks. Which is understandable but in this essay for every Kano, Lady Sovereign, MIA and Black Sabbath there's room for stuff like Take That, One Direction, The Wanted, Spice Girls, Girls Aloud and S Club 7. So the bad things will balance the good things when a lot of it is accessible to a lot of people on this green planet. Even if Spice Girls and One Direction aren't really all that bad, but then that doesn't mean that British music and Britain itself is free from bad elements and aspects. It can be said of Germany (Tokio Hotel, Nazism, not a lot of effort is put into preserving or cultivating minority languages like Low German and Saterland Frisian), Ireland (Boyzone, Louis Walsh, the inability to show a lot of effort into actually preserving and cultivating the Irish language at various points), Sweden (ABBA, Max Martin, inability to preserve Sami languages at various times). And the list goes on and on.

You can like a country or another culture whatever you want but there will come a time when you feel like it's kind of ridiculous to like a country while being uninformed. I've been through that too at some point in my life and now I've given up on it. These days, I may resort to a confirmation bias but I will sometimes have to point out upsetting facts to be more clear-headed about another country's problems. Especially here in this essay because I can take it as a sign of not being informed enough about the country to point out its problems and stuff. England and very other country still have their demons for every virtue that they have. So you have to take your xenophilia with a grain of salt, perhaps two teaspoons of salt when it comes to reality.

#anglophilia #disney channel asia #hibernophilia #irish language #sami #Saterlandic frisian #germany #ireland #great britain #Spike Milligan

[sparklepocalypse]

Gotcha there, didn't I. ♥

#Merlin #Colin Morgan #The Alphabet of Pretty #Hibernophilia #My Graphics

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Lieutenant Constance Markievicz in Citizen Army uniform (c. 1915). Her advice to women was: "Dress suitably in short skirts and strong boots, leave your jewels in the bank and buy a revolver."

#women you should know #vintage photography #hibernophilia #women warriors #historic uniforms

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Altar of the Gods by National Library of Ireland on The Commons The Druids Altar in the Giant's Ring, Belfast, Co. Antrim looks impressive and no doubt was even more impressive when the capstone was in place. There are so many of these, what we always called "Cromlechs" when I was young, about the island and they hark back beyond the mists of time to a simpler age. I wonder what it looks like now and what has been found out about it? Photographer: Unknown Collection: Eason Photographic Collection Date: between 1900-1939 NLI Ref: EAS_0462 You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie https://flic.kr/p/2o9KP7W

#belfast #ireland #hibernophilia #standing stones #vintage photography #beautiful places

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We need your help - now! by National Library of Ireland on The Commons Via Flickr: Good morning all, it's great to be back and hopefully the site hasn't gone to hell in a handcart in my absence? To start the week on a weird one we have a postcard that appears to have originated in the United States with a plea for recognition of the "Irish Republic"! The date of this should be interesting, was it in the aftermath of the 1916 Rising, during the War of Independence or after the declaration of the Irish Republic in 1949? Photographer: None Collection:NLI Ephemera Collection Date: insert date NLI Ref.: MS 17,688/21 You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie

#hibernophilia #irish history #vintage photography #ireland

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Reading the Cross of Kells by National Library of Ireland on The Commons For many years we have been fascinated with the wonderful work on the pages of the Book of Kells but here we have the Cross of Kells with it's own wonderful work. We have been intrigued by the symbolism on paintings and sculptures in many countries and here is a fine stone Celtic cross with a great array of features. Those at the base would be a good place to start? Morning Mary had a few minutes to spare in Dublin yesterday and called in to the NLI Photographic Archive in Temple Bar. There the exhibition "PEOPLE AND PLACES" is on display and well worth a visit! Photographer: Robert French Collection: Lawrence Photograph Collection Date: Circa 1865 - 1914 NLI Ref: L_IMP_0118 You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie https://flic.kr/p/2oeXtjW

#vintage photography #hibernophilia #ireland #celtic cross #knotwork

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Connemara, Ireland

#landscapes #lakes #connemara #ireland #beautiful places #hibernophilia

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Dublin Temple Bar long exposure

#dublin #ireland #cityscapes #beautiful cities #hibernophilia

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Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland

#beautiful places #ireland #giant's causeway #hibernophilia #landscapes

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The River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland

#rivers #dublin #ireland #beautiful cities #hibernophilia

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Small Gothic chapel in Kylemore Abbey, Co Galway, Ireland

#kylemore abbey #county galway #ireland #beautiful spaces #holy places #hibernophilia

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LEYENDECKER, J. C. "Cuchulain" The Century Magazine, Jan. 1907. by Halloween HJB

#j.c. leyendecker #myths and legends #hibernophilia

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A bibliophiles idea of heaven by National Library of Ireland on The Commons From a life on the ocean wave yesterday with our visit to Dunmore East to the quiet seclusion of a library today. The light streaming in the windows on the right hand side may be limiting our ability to read the spines of the books but nonetheless there are a few that may help establish the location. Given that it is based in Armagh and there is a masculine feel to the room it seems fair to say this is/was a religious establishment? Photographer: Robert French Collection: Lawrence Photograph Collection Date: Circa 1865 - 1914 NLI Ref: L_IMP_3735 You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie https://flic.kr/p/2orhiJb

#libraries #hibernophilia #vintage photography

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An Elizabethan railway station by National Library of Ireland on The Commons We normally associate those timber framed buildings with the Elizabethan era but there is also an abundance of faux Elizabethan about and this must be one of those. Having said that this railway station is more attractive than most. Portrush is in one of the most beautiful parts of the world and it is easy to see why people would use the train to go there. Photographer: Robert French Collection: Lawrence Photograph Collection Date: Circa 1865 - 1914 1893 NLI Ref: L_IMP_2744 You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie https://flic.kr/p/2o4t4td

#vintage photography #historic buidlings #ireland #hibernophilia

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CURRAN. Ireland, Radio Train Day Trips by CIE. by Halloween HJB https://flic.kr/p/2nJKnGJ

#vintage travel posters #hibernophilia