Meet An Actual Irish Man

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By simply looking at Shane, you couldn’t tell he was Irish. He didn’t have the stereotypical red hair and freckles but once he opened his mouth, he was, without a doubt, Irish. Yet, his accent wasn’t overpowering like other’s I’ve met; you could still easily hear the English underneath the coating of his Irish brogue. 

          Actually, it gave plain English a pleasant sound, kind of like adding milk or sugar to bitter coffee or tea. It made even the simple English words elegant, or at least they sounded that way.

          Shane wasn’t a particularly tall guy in comparison to my own brother’s almost 6 foot height, but he was taller than me (which isn’t that much of a feat since I am just 5’2”). He said that he was “the perfect height at 5’8”.

     I met Shane on a cloudy, misty Friday in a dark, basement lecture room. It was our “early start”orientation and he was my Irish Folklore professor. He and another woman named Aoife (pronounced Eva) announced that they would be our professors and then promptly handed out a recommendation guide of what attractions and pubs to go to. And let’s just say, I knew this was going to be a fun class since they recommended pubs for us!

      Every morning Shane’s hair was brushed neatly to the side and styled just so, but it was also peppered with gray. Yet, he didn’t seem old. There always seemed to be a spring in his step and a grin on his face. By far, the most noticeable thing about Shane (at least, about his appearance) were his eyes. They were light blue, what I would imagine the sky’s reflection looks like in a mirror. They were the kind of eyes that made you feel like he was looking right into your soul but not in a creepy way.

       Shane dressed as if he lived in sunny Florida or tropical Hawaii rather than in damp and misty Ireland. His wardrobe consisted mostly of tee shirts and khaki shorts with walking sneakers, but sometimes he would change it up by adding a light gray rain jacket. He was not the most stylish looking-man, but the Irish aren’t exactly known for their fashion. But I’m not exactly one to judge since I’ve been told I dress like a nun before. 

        Anyway, Shane had this enthusiasm wrapped around him, the kind that you would see from a child upon realizing every day is Christmas. He loved talking about the different aspects of Irish folklore but especially about the food. I’d wager a million dollars that food was his favorite part of folklore. 

          And who wouldn’t like that part? The food in Ireland is very fresh and tasty. To Shane, however, food was more than just delicious. He thought food was integral to understanding, not only the Irish culture, but all cultures in general. 

         At our first lecture Shane read this quote about cooking written by a famous anthropologist named Claude Lev-Strauss: “Cooking is the language through which society unconsciously reveals its structure.”

         That’s why, on our first day he took us out to a pub called The Long Valley. Shane had a genuine belief that food was central, not only for survival, but as a “meeting” of sorts and he wanted to show us by actually taking us to lunch. In fact, it was at lunch that we (the students) really got to know Shane better. I guess he proved his point.

The Long Valley Pub in Cork Ireland. The food is very good there by the way.

        Surprisingly, Shane also had a natural curiosity about simpler things. For example, he was fascinated with a traditional boat called a “currach." At a traditional boat workshop called Meitheal Mara,which means Group (or community coming together) of the Sea, he explained that a currach was “essentially a big basket covered in leather.” 

         Shane demonstrated the whole process of building a currach, from placing and cutting the pieces of wood to putting the leather bottom underneath it. He told us that he built one himself with his friends, but it took them a year and a half while it should have only taken one to two weeks. 

          Obviously, Shane was the type of man to be more interested with joking around and messing with his buddies than productively building a boat. 

          Shane, overall, was more into enjoying and experiencing life than working all the time and I think that’s what I liked best about him. He was more interested in showing us the culture of Cork and Ireland than having an actual class filled with tons of assignments and tests. 

         Shane didn’t even know what our assignments were going to be until half-way through the course. In fact, he wouldn’t let us call him “professor”, he was just Shane to us. And this, in itself, is a rare thing to find, but I’m glad I was able to experience Irish life through his eyes if only for three weeks. 

This is the basic form of the Currach. Fun Fact: It's Ireland's major symbol besides the Harp .