Irish relationships

Hey! And what's about relationships? They're very interesting so keep on reading.

Family

Irish families are dominated by the mother and family sizes are quite large by western European standars. It can be a reflection of the church's teaching towards family planning and the historic severe mortality rate in centuries past. The desperation on having boys (male heir) is typical in the country, because males inherit the farm but females traditionally had to be married with a dowry, but such practices are mainly extinct in these areas.

The mother is still a big feature of the Irish family. She often controls the finances of the house and now (since the mid XX century) will often have a part-time job as well. She is frequently the house disciplinarian controlling her children's lives.

Friends

Irish people typically have a huge cincle of casual friends (due to their informallity and the lack of need for introductions). Many will maintain school friends into their adulthood.

The gregarious and easy-going nature of the Irish people, combined with the effects of strong family ties in a small island, mean that most Irish people know about each other's extended families and friends-of-friends.

Other curious things

When Irish people are introduced to another Irish person and the're making small talk, they'll often avoid asking where the other people went to school, because this is one sure way of finding out about their religion and usually their background.

The Republic of Ireland is about 96% Catholic.