After a long and (almost) sleepless flight, it was refreshing to experience a new environment and to take in the surroundings of Dublin. The quaint architecture of many of the buildings such as the Christchurch Cathedral, local pubs, houses and others was striking to me as it was quite different than the places I am used to seeing in America. I found it interesting how Christchurch uses several different types of ancient architecture like Romanesque and gothic styles, because segments of the church were built at different times as it was expanded. I was also surprised to see that there were not many tall skyscraper like buildings, as I expected large cities like Dublin to have. One of our tour guides explained to us that this is due to a city-wide order that building must not surpass a certain height without applying to do so. This was put in place to preserve the historical beauty of Dublin. I was also impressed with the green areas around the city. While on a break, we took a detour and walked through St. Anne’s park, which captures the natural beauty of Ireland and provides spaces that are less urban.
Ireland has a long and rich history and I am very appreciative of how much I learned about it during today’s tours. I believe it is important to understand this history while working as a business consultant. Ireland has had a long and tumultuous history of conflict in its struggle for independence. Many of these events have happened during the previous century. For example, due to the Irish people’s struggles during the War of Independence during the late 1910s and early 1920s , they have a strong sense of national pride. It is important to understand the Irish’s effort to preserve their tradition and history while engaging in business dealings, as well as topics that they may be sensitive to, such as some of the conflicts and try to avoid topics like this.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed the tours we went on and am having a great time so far. I thought it was interesting how the different suburbs of Dublin come together to provide different profitable businesses for the country, such as the successful fishing in seafood industry in the town of Howth. One of the most interesting things that I learned today was about the historical context of popular last name prefixes in Ireland like Fitz, Mac, and O’ all mean “son of” in traditional Irish names and have formed last names of Irish citizens that are still prevalent today.