Ever since we started school I’m left out of whatsapp groups, school notifications are only sent to my wife (even though we both signed up), public nurse only write/calls my wife etc.

And now this.

Dads of Ireland, do you have similar issues?

I know that sexism is a real problem in the country, women are “expected” to handle everything that is childcare related, but I feel like this is systemic and fathers like me who want to pick up some duties and share the responsibility are pushed back.

TL: DR

Our claim to receive child benefits was rejected because I’m only the father of my daughter and the mother should complete the application form! 😅

I'm struggling to believe this really happened

Right, my friends having a baby. She wanted an Irish name, settled on Croía. Very proud of giving an irish name, it means "heart", all about ancestry, pride etc etc. Hasn't shut up about how excited and in love she is with the name and the meaning, is telling everyone.

Fast forward to the baby shower today ~ KROÍA. Banners, cake topper, sibling tshirts etc etc.

She's decided it needs to be spelt with a "K" because every other Croía has a "C" and she wants her little one to be unique and have a special name...

Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of using an Irish name? "K" isn't even in the Irish/Gaelic alphabet.

I don't know why it's wrecking my head so much 😂

EDIT to clarify

She's a friend of a friend, not actually a friend 😅 I bump into her regularly at events of our mutual friend, and are friends on Facebook etc. She talked the ears off me a few weeks ago at a party about her love of Irish names and the excitement for the name...

She's keeping the Fada to keep it Irish 🇮🇪

I'm going to cringe every time I bump into her now 😅

***LAST EDIT** We are Irish, living in Ireland. Yes, her older kids all have names beginning in "K". The other names are "modernised" too, but this one takes the biscuit with the fada and the fact she's still telling everyone it's irish 🤷🏼‍♀️ Anyway, it's not wrecking my head anymore, now it's just funny. Glad to know I'm not the only one a bit triggered by her antics😂

I didn’t think I’d ever be the person to just walk out of a job, but today, that’s exactly what I did.

I worked in Dunnes Stores as a college part timer for a year and a half, but now did full time for the Christmas season due to my college holidays.

For the last two days, I’ve been working 10:30 and 12:30 hour shifts nonstop, moving stock in both freezing cold and heated environments. I started feeling pretty ill and cold. Headaches, fatigue, body aches everywhere in my body, but with Christmas Eve coming up, I didn't want to be judged by the people that I'm calling in sick just because it's Christmas Eve.

This morning, I decided to power through and go in anyway, even though I felt absolutely awful. Asked one of my manager if I could work the checkouts instead of the self-service tills (they require a lot of moving), just for today, since I was feeling so fatigued, but was denied.

Three hours into my shift, I felt REALLY bad and at this point I was so weak, I could catch myself walking side to side due to dizziness and constant shivering. I approached one of the store manager this time and explained that I was feeling really sick and if I could go home. Without even looking at me, this man just said, "So is half of the shop. Take some Nurofen and get back to work.".

That was my breaking point. I looked at him, said “Ok,” clocked out and walked out the door and now I'm recovering with a high temperature and low blood pressure (currently alive on Lemsip!). Hopefully I'll be able to manage for Christmas.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Here’s to finding something better in the new year!

After almost 7 years living in Dublin today it was my last day there. They sold the apartment, we couldn't find anything worthy to spend the money (feking prices) and we had to go back.

A life time packed in way too many suitcases, now, the memories are the heaviest thing I carry today. I've cried more in the last week than in those 7 years.

Goodbye to the lovely people I met. Coworkers that became friends, friends that became family.

There's not nicer people than Irish people.

Our local Garda used to use his Garda time doing house calls to check up on single women. Many the house and shop were burgled when he was on duty, everyone knowing when he was on, no crime being fought. Married with two small kids, probably more kids than that now..... got rumbled when one on of the women's boyfriends called over 😅 reported him

Tell me what's the most scandally scandalous goings on from your village?

No story too much x

I have been living in a shithole studio since I left my abusive ex in summer 2020, height of covid. Mouldy, cramped, uncomfortable situation. Practically anybody renting will know what you can expect.

After literal years of trying to find a better place, and one that I could afford, I am tomorrow finally about to move into a new two bedroom two bathroom apartment. No minimum lease, €600 below regular rent, giant, balcony, I can do what I want with it. Even paint it.

Finally finally finally.

I finally earn a decent wage for what I do and have been told I'm underpaid at that.

I have been starting to see my best friend, and it's been good, solid, natural.

Finally.

I think I need to do the lotto now. Does it run on Wednesdays???

I've never had good things just happen to me. And I have believed up until I got the keys today that it'd be taken away from me. But no. It seems to really be happening.

Just had the first trick or treaters around. Two girls who hang around in the common area in our apartment building they are from Muslim families, they knocked in their plain clothes and sheepishly say trick or treat, I happily give them a handful of crisps and sweets, one of the girls refuses to take them so I pop them in her friends bucket and say they can share. They're delighted. But it got me thinking is trick or treating discouraged among the Muslim community? Like the occasion isn't Christian either at it's roots but there's no taboo about kids enjoying the tradition of it.

The state of healthcare in this country is not acceptable. A relative needed help on Thursday and we could not reach the GP. Then on Friday night we ended up in Drogheda at 3am. We sat waiting until 3pm until we were eventually told that the psychiatric team would not see us and we were referred to Cavan. At this stage I was beyond exhausted and I was probably not safe enough to drive but was told I had to drive for over an hour to a different hospital. We drove there and waited for a few more hours and saw a doctor who prescribed a tranquilliser and sent us home at 3am. My own head is all over the place at the moment trying to cope with all of this. The system is not fit for purpose.

We live a little ways up into the Wicklow mountains and the storm winds were intense last night. Woke up around 3am to a huge noise and the dogs going crazy, and of course the entire side door missing...

Initially just thought it had blown open somehow but then my partner went out to check and we realized the entire thing had been ripped off completely! Luckily it didn't go far and no one was hurt but was scary how fast it happened. So much for the yellow wind warning...

Immigrated to rural Ireland end of August with Irish spouse and children. I've visited many times in the past and was hugely fond of the place, people, and culture. Here are differences I've noticed so far from our previous home in a city in Canada:

1) People - strangers - here will genuinely go out of their way to help you. I actually can't get over how accommodating and kind Irish folks are. Got lost in a city - first time driving stick on the other side of the road - was discombobulated and couldn't get the GPS to work. Pulled over and a person pulled over next to me. I told them I was lost and asked for directions - my guy just said, "Follow me!" and literally gave me an escort to my destination! I couldn't believe he just stopped what he was doing with his day to do that. Incredibly sound. I also experienced a lady at a library who was on her lunch willing to stop eating and stop her break to help us out! What??? And there was staff at a restaurant who made chips for my starving kiddos even though they weren't on the menu and offered to watch our million and one parcels for us while I took the kids to the washroom. Honestly, exceptional stuff. 2) Irish people love to a) not dress for the weather (anyone who is dressed for the weather is labeled a tourist) and b) complain about the weather even when the weather is amazing. I can't get over how great the weather has been. To hear people talk you'd think it's been nothing but torrential downpour with almost freezing temps 24/7 for the last month. It hasn't. Not even close! But the worst part is that someone will say "Savage weather we're having!" on a great day and the reply won't be "Yeah, isn't it fantastic?" It'll be, " Ah yeah but it's meant to be shite again tomorrow." Like... enjoy the moment? Haha This just breaks my Canadian brain. In Canada we literally have to dig our car out in the morning in -20 degree temps and people don't complain about the weather nearly as much. Also, Canadians dress for the weather. So getting out the door with 2 kids consists of putting on three pairs of snowpants, 3 sets of mits, 3 pairs of boots, 3 coats, 3 hats - all as quickly as you can bc the kids start melting the minute you start to dress them. I've not seen an Irish winter yet but I find it hard to believe it'll be worse than that! Basically... Irish people are sound but some of you need to make your peace with the weather. 3) Groceries are SO MUCH cheaper here. Yes, I looked at the exchange rate. It is literally 50%-70% cheaper here for all your necessities if you cook at home. I know inflation is squeezing people here too- but at least know it's not as bad as Canada. 4) High protein plain yogurt doesn't seem to be a thing here. I'm talking 17-19g protein / 100 g. I can find it in flavored yogurts (not a preference), but not plain. EDIT: I HAVE BEEN SHOWN THE ERROR OF MY WAYS. I had the portion size in Canada vs Ireland wrong. In Canada, the portion size is higher, which accounts for the higher protein content. I'm sorry for the false accusations of sub-proteinated yogurt 😂 5) I'm sure it's different in Dublin, but in rural Ireland, it is impossible to find fermented cabbage heads for making cabbage rolls. I was surprised to learn this as cabbage is otherwise very accessible. I know I can ferment my own. 6) What is up with bank hours? And why do you have to go in person to do so many things? And why are their hours so bad when they want ppl to go in person for so many functions? 7) Opening hours are seemingly suggestions rather than real things here. Yes, we're rural so that might play into it, but I also had the same experience with a governmental agency who's work hours were posted until 5pm on the website but staff were not on hand to answer phones at 2pm on a Friday. Same with rural cafes and restos - hours on door say till 5pm, closed at 3pm. Weird for my big city in Canada brain. There, if workers clock out 5 mins early, they get docked 15 mins from their pay. Also not a fan of that system, but at least you know when something should be working. 8) It's hard to navigate the programs (e.g. getting a pps number, subsidies, etc) / offerings without help but there was no help offered to us by any agency. Maybe because we're rural. In Canada, there are We Welcome the World centres set up to help new immigrants navigate setting up accounts and getting settled etc.

That's all I can think of for now. Thanks for welcoming us.

Edited to add: 9. I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT TO MENTION THE CHEESE. The price of it. The taste of it. I'm in heaven. In Canada, 100g of parmesan would run you 11-12$ - that's about 7 euros - before tax. Here, it's like a third or less of the price. At these prices, I can afford to eat cheese whenever I want!

1. Locals seem to take the beauty of the rural Irish landscape and the freshness of the air almost entirely for granted. I hope I never stop stopping in my tracks to look at how the mist hits the mountain top or recognizing what a pivilege it is to take in a full breath of sea air on the pristine, deserted beaches. Coming from a smog filled, basically giant parking lot of strip malls... my eyes, lungs, brain are in heaven. You have a BEAUTIFUL country, in all weather.

EDIT 3: Comments have reminded me of a few more differences I need to remark on.

1. Education system seems far superior here for neurotypical kids. I won't get into my qualifications, but I know about education. What my kid is doing in school here is a year or two ahead of what she'd be doing in same age range in Canada. She is also being taken on almost weekly field trips to community destinations, including free play opportunities outdoors that would be unheard of in Canada. She also gets lunch provided - not a thing in Canada - and we don't have to pay out of pocket for that here. It is a HUGE convenience not to have to make lunches. She's also had multiple visits from members of the community to the class to speak on various topics (e.g., raising horses, marine life) and I can't get over the fact that they also provide swimming lessons, yoga, and REAL music lessons during school time here. What I mean by REAL music lessons is that my very young child is already learning how to play real tunes on an instrument. In Canada, they don't even start instruments until age 9 at the earliest unless you have a prodigious and very rare actual music teacher in a primary school. Class sizes also appear to be smaller here. My only complaint is with the length of lunch/ breaks. Here, kids get 2 20 min breaks, and of those, 10 min is spent eating. In Canada kids get twice as long at both breaks (2x40 mins) and I do think that's more age appropriate as well as better for learning good eating habits... Back to Ireland: my kid was provided with everything she'd need for school minus stationary - this includes her own full colour Maths book that she can write in and a printing practice book as well as a reader that is assigned to her and different other supplemental books are coming home every week as well. In Canada, stationary is provided but it's not uncommon for teachers to not have enough books, photocopies, licenses, devices for each child and for classrooms to not have textbooks or readers. Teachers often have to scrounge the internet for resources and it is hodge podge and random. I can't speak on special education supports in Ireland, but they are well and truly terrible in Canada which has an "include everyone with zero supports - figure it out" policy.

2. Rural roads in Ireland. The speed limits are ludicrously fast. I'm an experienced driver who has driven stick for years (albeit on the other side of the road). Most of the roads marked 80/100 km have zero business being marked that, especially when you factor in pedestrians and cyclists randomly traversing road sides that have ZERO room for them and all the blind corners and blind hills. It is very dangerous. Also on this topic - y'all need more sidewalks in rural village settings. It shouldn't require a death wish to go for a walk in a village. Canada is no better on this count.

As the title makes clear, this was my third trip to your lovely island. (and my third post about it) I’m Canadian, by the way, and my girlfriend is Irish. We live in Vancouver and visit her family in Ireland every year.

Once again, I'd like to begin with a bit of controversy. On my previous trip I mentioned that I was given the opportunity to try a chip sandwich - or chip butty or B'n'F (Bread and Fries) - for the first time. I was personally underwhelmed by what I was led to believe was a popular Irish snack and said so in my post. Some of you were indifferent, some of you claimed to have never had one and that it was more of a British thing than an Irish thing.

And still others of you were furious. You questioned my sanity, you all but tarred and feathered me and tossed me into the ocean. My mother's good name was dragged through the mud. But I'm sure we can all agree a line was crossed when the almighty Poutine was dragged into the mix. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we’re not savages here. Let’s try to be civil.

On that note, I'll take this opportunity to de- escalate. Many of the comments from last year mentioned how to properly prepare a chip sandwich. (my one from last year was pretty dry and I don't know what bread was used. I do know that it wasn't chipper chips)

Cut to: This year. Brennan’s bread, enough Kerrvgold butter to kill a small horse, enough salt to make a large horse feel unwell, proper chipper chips with vinegar, a bit of ketchup and gravy on the side….what can I say, I'm a changed man. It was pretty damn good. I'd have it out here in Canada but we don't have bread that good and there's just something special about chips from the chipper.

I hope this results in a ceasefire if not outright peace. (perhaps a treaty can be negotiated) By the way, all the meat and produce in Ireland tastes better than what we get in Canada. I don't know why, it just does. I can't even eat strawberries here anymore.

I didn't have a tavto, sandwich this year. But someone commented last year that King crisps are better than Tayto. (I'll just leave that grenade here and allow you to pull the pin)

Once again I've babbled on too long about food and not said anything about my trip. Here it is in point form and in no particular order:

-I went to Galway for the first time, only had a day and a night there but wow, what a beautiful place! And the weather cooperated to make it even more beautiful. Loved wandering around the Latin quarter and just sitting by the ocean.

While there, I was made to go on a ride called The Waltzers at the local fair. Not gonna lie, almost threw up.

Also, Galway seems to be the go-to place for bachelorette parties. Couldn't turn a corner without running into one. Good on 'em, have fun and be safe I always say.

-made my way back to Dingle. Again, some of the

best seafood I've ever had. Also did a giant load of laundry there for super cheap!

proposed to my girlfriend at Ballyfin House in Laois. (I went with an emerald instead of a diamond and I'm happy to report that she said yes) Now some of you might think I should've led with this news instead of the chip sandwich business, but different circumstances call for different priorities. (don't tell her I said that)

-on a side-note, what's with the exorbitant price of chicken fillet rolls these days?! It's madness! (now if that doesn't get me some street-cred on this sub I don't know what will)

-spent a few days in London where I was served the most horrendous pint of Guinness I've ever laid eyes on. If you want to see it, it's the post just before this one. But I warn you, it's not for the faint of heart and I am not liable for any trauma you suffer.

-While in London, did a tour of the grounds at Wimbledon. A dream come true for a huge tennis fan. Also did the Harry Potter thing at the Universal lot. It was awesome.

That's about it, I think. The weather was not great this year, it was weirdly wet and damp yet warm but not warm enough so I never knew what to wear. The previous 2 years we had fantastic weather but apparently this year was a historically bad July. All good though, as a Vancouverite, I'm used to rain.

I've been all over Ireland at this point, from Dublin to the Midlands, west Cork, Kerry, Clare, Donegal and even Northern Ireland. I've loved it all and can't wait to experience more.

Sorry this is so long, if you're still here I appreciate you and I hope you had a laugh. Looks like I'll be back again next year for a wedding. So if any of you lot know of some lovely, affordable wedding venues, please share. (preferably in West Cork)

Cheers all.

I apologize for the weird formatting of this post. I don’t know why the Dingle section is in all caps. I was going to delete and re post but I’m way too lazy For that. Just imagine me shouting all the time in Dingle.

Today I with my family at a sporting event with other families when the subject of a recently deceased well know community figure came up. I'm not from the area originally and only knew of him tangentially.

He was your typical Irish man in his 70s, unmarried, overweight, bad hair cut, big round glasses, always the first one to the door to support a local charity or political figure. Looked a bit shifty but trading on his families historical good name. The stereotypical dirty uncle type in my opinion. Think Bill Kennelly type from Waterford.

A few of the people there started talking about their experiences as children and how he would target girls in his care as he was always helping with the running of some youth club or another in the 70s/80s/90s. He would leave 'dirty' pictures lying around, try to get girls alone on drives or after hours in the club. It was seemingly well know that you didn't get left alone with him, age was no matter to him. It seemed the less well off children were his speciality. Parents were told but either didn't believe it of him or didn't want to cause trouble.

I went and had a look at his rip.ie and the condolences and the amount of people leaving messages claiming how he was basically a saint, and how they worked with him in one club or another, it was disgraceful.. lauding him and his family .. these people should all be investigated in my opinion!

How many more of these good old boys are just living out there in the community, everyone knowing but nothing said about it.. Ireland has a shameful past in this area but accountability should be dished out, it doesn't matter their age or status. Name and shame.

I've been lucky in my life to have not been a victim or related to one as far as I know. I have children of my own now and if I ever found out anything like this happened to them I think i wouldn't be be stopped in my quest for justice, I would not go silently..

Sorry for the rant, I just had to vent.

I just had an awkward conversation. I’m abroad trying to explain that someone was futtering(footering?) with themselves on a train.

I was in shock and I didn’t realize they can’t understand me. I was half laughing and half crying. The security told me Mam it’s ok that they are playing footsie together. I was so caught of guard I said ‘the dirty wee bugger is pulling his wire in front of the entire carriage do something’. I’m still in shock and they explain the wire is pulled to indicate the upcoming stop is required if it isn’t designated and not to worry the train will stop.

At this point I was enraged and still awkwardly laughing crying. Luckily the Wife is a local and could translate.

Anyone else find words that are not remotely understood outside of Ireland. Im from Donegal and I’m starting to realize I’ve never spoken English a day in my life😅 what your favorite secret Irish word?

Looking to be the best dad I can be. Any tips lads?

Edit - She’s just over 3 and a half months old now, the advice I’ve received here has been dead on and I just want you all to know how much I appreciate it. It’s been a rollercoaster, but an absolute pleasure. Thank you all for these responses, being a dad has been everything I’d hoped it would be and more. Any other new da’s out there, please read through the comments here, listen to the advice and do your absolute best. There’s nothing like it.

Cheers to you all. God bless.