"Young Irishmen think life more hectic here" from the July 23, 1974 Door County Advocate
By LINDA ADAMS
Irishmen Tom Conrad (left) and Derick Elliott are summer guests at the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Moore, 934 Quincy.
Young Irishmen think life more hectic here
By LINDA ADAMS
Not only don't the Irish in Ireland drink green beer but they don't flock to kiss the blarney stone and they don't celebrate St. Patrick's with daylong celebrations, say Sturgeon Bay visitors Tom Conrad and Derick Elliott.
The boys, natives of the Republic of Ireland, are summer guests of Mr. and Mrs. John Moore, 934 Quincy. They came to Door county last month and found summer jobs at Dorco. In the fall they will return to their studies at Trinity college, Dublin, where both are engineering majors.
In 1970 John Moore went to Ireland to install the large Christy shipyard press brake in a factory close to Tom's hometown. While there for six months Moore became acquainted with Tom's father and the family and when the boys expressed a wish to come to the states Moore agreed to sponsor them.
Tom lives in Rathnurem, near New Ross, in southeast Ireland, and Derick is from Navan, in the northeast part of the country. Tom has one sister and four brothers and his father owns two general stores where they sell "everything except motor cars." His hometown is near the famous Waterford Crystal factory.
Derick's father owns a wood working factory in the northern part of the country. He has an older brother and a younger sister. Both his parents and his brother have already visited the United States. Before returning to Ireland Derick and Tom will stay with friends of Derick's family in New York.
Both boys were anxious to clear up the misunderstanding about the severity of the Catholic-Protestant trouble that exists in the minds of many. According to them "Except for the recent bombs in Dublin there has been very little trouble anywhere except in Northern Ireland." Both claim that the terrorist attacks in that country are isolated and limited mainly to Belfast and Ulster.
They say that the Irish view the influx of British troops in much the same manner as they viewed Americans in Vietnam. In both cases they feel there is no need for outsiders to try to establish peace.
The boys implied that those outside of Ireland might have a distorted view of Ireland and the troubles there. They also said that the religious conflicts between the Protestants and Catholics don't reach into Southern Ireland. Proof of this assertion is their own relationship. Tom and Derick are close friends and even room together at college but Tom is Catholic and Derick is a Protestant.
Unlike American students Irish collegians don't protest or strike against the military involvement but have confined their protests to striking against the system used for selecting those who receive government grants for college.
Both feel that school in Ireland (both college and at undergrad level) is much harder than in the states. "In Ireland a 55 is a very high score and few score above that. In the states students try to get 100 percent. You couldn't do that in Ireland because the tests are too hard," Derick said.
Right now Tom and Derick are waiting for the results of their first year examinations to determine if they are eligible to continue their studies.
The boys are in the states with working visas which permit them to hold a job. The visas are granted to college students with the hope that their visit will be an educational working experience. "In Ireland a holiday is a holiday but a vacation is a holiday when you work," Derick explained. The pair consider themselves on a "vacation."
Already the two have been on excursions throughout Door county and Green Bay and say they have found the countryside beautiful and very spread out. There are so many people in such little space that Ireland is very crowded in some areas.
In their country most of the houses are being built with concrete blocks because the lumber in that country has nearly been used up. They report that the highest buildings usually are only 10 stories and recently in one part of Dublin a new law is forcing contractors to remove 30 feet from the top of one building.
Like students here the Irish children must go to school until they are 17 or 18 and then they graduate with a "leaving certificate" which is the equivalent of a diploma. In school they are required to take English and math as well as the ancient Irish Gaelic language.
Sports in Ireland include hurling, similar to lacrosse; rugby, a rough form of football; basketball and tennis. In their leisure the boys attend the cinema (movie), concerts and the theatre (plays) much as American youths.
Tom prefers the music of the Moody Blues, Deep Purple, Simon and Garfunkel and Gilbert O'Sullivan ("Naturally"). Derick still ranks the music of the Beatles high on his list.
"Probably the strangest thing we have found in America is the driving on the 'wrong' side of the road," said Tom. He did, however, praise the American drivers and said they were more careful than Irish drivers.
Both said they have found Door county residents very friendly and have no trouble understanding their mild accents. They did have some problems in Chicago because they couldn't understand the southern drawl of a taxi driver.
The boys implied that they felt Americans lead a more hectic life "We Irish like to enjoy life," said Tom, "Around here people are always rushing to get someplace in a hurry."
Like Wisconsin, the dairy industry is a major source of revenue in Ireland. Dairy products are exported throughout the continent and some to the states. On the whole they said the farms are much smaller in Ireland compared with the large farming spreads they have seen here.
In closing they explained why Ireland is called the Emerald Isle. "They call it that because we have 40 shades of green over there," said Tom.
Although Tom and Derick exposed many of the old fish tales as pure myth they did uphold the most important one. There are no snakes in Ireland (except m zoos). Whether or not this strange phenomenon may be accredited to St. Patrick they wouldn't say for sure.
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
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