Once more for the slower children in the class

Filed in archive Destination: Europe , Travel Tips on June 23, 2006

We need to do this one more time, because today is the third day in as many weeks I've encountered clueless Americans on holiday in Ireland and had to restrain myself from beating them to death with a frying pan.

There seems to be a great deal of confusion on the part of our American cousins regarding the relationship between Ireland and the United Kingdom. Cliffs of Moher? Not in Great Britain. Galway? Not in the UK. Let us review:

1) The UK is an abbreviation for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Great Britain is the collective term for England, Scotland and Wales.

2) Therefore, the UK consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

3) The country referred to as Ireland is actually the Republic of Ireland. It is its own fully independent country and has nothing to do with the UK. There is an Irish Prime Minister and he is not Tony Blair. There is no Queen. UK pounds are not valid currency.

I suspect its the Ireland vs Northern Ireland thing that throws tourists off. These two countries are attached, but they're attached in the way the US and Canada are attached, not in the way Virgina and West Virginia are attached.

I can understand sitting in Iowa and looking at a map of Europe and being both confused and not very interested in the particulars of the distinction indicated by the line between Ireland and Northern Ireland. What I cannot understand is spending 10 days abroad on your honeymoon and returning home to show your friends photos of your trip to the UK... all of which were taken in Dublin, Galway and Kilkenny.