If we look carefully, we can see the effects of history in the culture all around us. Can you think of any historical reasons for the following things that you might notice in Ireland today?
Read through the questions and then click the link below to see some suggested answers.
1. If you look at a food menu in an Irish pub or restaurant, you’ll see lots of dishes with potatoes… Historically, why have potatoes been so important in the Irish diet?
All the signifiers of the day of big finals are here, all so familiar and still stressful. The stiff, aching muscles, the soreness in all my body from the previous two days tournament. The tight shoulders after a restless night’s sleep. I wish I’d slept more but I can’t change that now. The feeling of anxiety in my stomach. A quiet breakfast, nodding to people, nervous joking among some of the players. I keep my head down in my muesli, in my thoughts.
A lot goes back for me to the Senior Mixed Final in 2016. The start of the bad times. Continue reading
With the abruptness of a Thanos finger snap, everything is reset and all the World Cup planning and hopes and thinking is done.
Perception is everything. We played Belgium in a tournament in Brussels in May. I was coming back from injury, I was still struggling, and had played almost no Touch in months. We didn’t have a full team and they beat us well. I couldn’t handle the speed they were coming at us and couldn’t believe how good Belgium had become.
In our game today, I was watching the first couple of sets from the box and everything seemed manageable. I went on the field and felt very in control, nothing that stressed me unduly. This was a comfortable performance.
Watching back at the video, I’m happy with how I’m responding to mistakes. I’m agitated about the error, giving away a score when I’m on the pitch pains me. I could analyse about three things wrong here straightaway.
Intercepting and dropping the ball on last touch is unforgiveable.
I’ve got better at getting straight back in the game and not compounding a mistake with another one.
Diarmuid arrived in today for the tournament and it’s great playing with him. I combine with him here and a few other times. I’d never really played with him before but the understanding is immediate.
You can see the experience and intelligence, making simple things look easy. No drama. Score.
I did score a try myself. An easy finish really.
FULL MATCH: Men’s 30 | Belgium vs Ireland | European Championships 2022 – YouTube
We’d only one game today against Sweden so here in no particular order are my top 5 Swedes:
1. Eric the Red – since he and his friends pillaged and plundered in Ireland and my red hair probably goes back to him at some point.
2. Alfred Nobel for inventing dynamite and giving himself a prize. I think that’s what happened.
3. Anita Ekberg for that scene in La Dolce Vita in the Trevi Fountain in Rome.
And we’re off.
The highlight of this game for me was playing in every position on the pitch – middle, link and wing. I hadn’t played wing since the World Cup in 2011. It was great.
For some reason, I thought of the character of Boxer from George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’. Give me a job and I’ll do it. I loved it.
One of the things I’ve done in preparation for the tournament is visualise every pattern we run from the vantage point of every position, so I can slot into any position. As you get older, you’ve got to find your point of difference anywhere you can get it.
We did some good things in this game and others were a bit like a when Ireland drew 1-1 with Lichtenstein in soccer in 1995.
Manager Jack Charlton said after as an explanation, ‘It was difficult. They were running different angles from what you expect teams should do.’ The excuse was treated with derision at the time.
I found that in our game against Luxembourg. It was hard to run some of the systems. What we really needed to do was run a simpler game plan.
On the taxi drive from the airport into Nottingham, the sights are slowly becoming familiar, evoking feelings and memories of the last Euros here in 2018.
I look out the right window as the thick trees of the university campus reach out onto the road and I’m thinking about what I was thinking and feeling back then. I was agitated, on the edge of fury, listening over and over to a Podcast soundbed of Roy Keane, that equally inspired and fueled my rage. I wasn’t liking anything around me or myself.
I remember how I walked alone through those campus trees on the morning of that tournament and imagined if I did my own Saipan, continued walking, got on a plane and flew out of there.
I had to allow myself to imagine it to ease the pressure in my mind. I got close, and not really close.
What countries do you think are being talked about in the five descriptions below? Match the five countries to their romantic style.
Ireland – Sweden – France – South Korea – Argentina
There are certain words that are used very frequently by native English speakers. Their meaning is not always 100% clear, and sometimes they have more than one meaning, but they are very useful and can make a big difference in making your English sound more natural and authentic.
‘Just’ and ‘actually’ are two words that do not always have exact meanings that you will find in your dictionary. They both have very useful and sometimes varied functions. They can be used in subtle ways to connect and express attitude about things we say or write.
In a previous blog, we saw how the Tara Brooch and Gleninsheen Collar were worn to show social status in ancient Irish society. In the modern world, what we wear also communicates information about who we are and our place in society.
Throughout the world, clothing and image can have multiple functions. Apart from providing protection from the elements, clothes in all cultures are used to communicate messages such as social status, intentions or belonging to a certain group. Clothes are also worn for modesty (the parts of the body that must be covered may vary around the world.) We dress differently for business and recreation.
Do you think a lot about what you wear? What do you think your look communicates about you?
What is your favourite city in the world?
Here are the top ten cities to live in, according to Forbes magazine, in 2021:
Have you been to any of these cities? Do you agree that they are good places to live?
Cities may rank high as good cities to live in for their design and planning because of good infrastructure and facilities, clean public spaces, good public transport systems, the ease of getting out of the city to the countryside, good traffic management, green areas and location.
Do you think that some cities are better to visit than to live in?
Do you have any possessions – a phone, a bag, a piece of furniture etc. – that you’ve personalised?
Throughout human history, decorating our property (or ourselves) has been a way to enrich our identity, to make our mark in the world. We often decorate objects with symbols that represent our character or our beliefs, as a way of advertising who we are.
What visual symbols would you most associate with Ireland? Continue reading
One of the simplest and quickest ways to expand your vocabulary in English is learning some of the rules of changing words from one form to another: from nouns into adjectives, into verbs and back again.
One of the easiest methods of doing this is by adding appropriate suffixes to the end of the root word to form either a noun, a verb or an adjective. Look at these examples:
Read more of the rules and patterns of adjective, noun and verb suffixes below.
I’m Ian. I am a freelance writer and eductaor.
I am the published author of the novel ‘God on a Bicycle’, a series of activity books based on Irish culture, graded student readers and short stories.
I have worked as a copywriter & materials developer, as a teacher, lecturer, trainer & mentor and as General Manager of educational organisations.
I have represented Ireland in Touch Rugby at World Cup and European Championships.
For more detailed information, click on the image above, go to the About page or get in contact.
MALLEYMAN 