Three Weeks as a Canadian in Ireland

My name is Krista McAvoy and I just spent three amazing weeks in Ireland! It was good 'craic' as the Irish would say - a lot of fun.

In 22 days on exchange through Junior Farmers' Association of Ontario, I had 12 hosts. It was a great way to meet tons of people in a short time period. I also got to see a lot of the country. Unlike Canada, you can drive across Ireland in one day, making it easier to see lots! While there I toured with two delegates from Scotland, learning about their country as well.

During my stay I enjoyed a wide range of activities, from a tour of a slaughter house to surfing! I got to see lots of castles and other historic sites, along with many other things. I also learned a lot about their version of Junior Farmers, an organization called Macra na feirme, meaning the "Youth of the Land" in Irish. It is a very active club. They have three to four thousand members, and that doesn't include Northern Ireland! Each year they get what they call their "Macra bible" which contains all the executive information and rules for their various competitions throughout the year. They include such things as "Mr. Personality", "Miss. Macra", "Miss. Blue Jean", "Queen of the Land", rallies and many other events.

While there, different clubs organized socials, such as sports night to get members of their local clubs out to meet us. We had great conversations with lots of people. At the beginning I had trouble keeping up to their accents, but in the end I was able to follow along. I soon learned that we had different meanings for the same words. A tip to a traveller going there, do not say pants and suspenders; to them it doesn't sound like you're wearing much!

Staying on lots of dairy farms I learned they pasture their cows most the year, and only have a short winter where the cows stay in and are fed. This method requires a lot less feed then a typical Canadian farm. All the farms I saw had the same milking system where the milkers were in the middle of the alley and they would switch them from side to side. I also visited a piggery, chicken farm and a wildlife park.

I only spent one night in Dublin, my last night, but it was entertaining! Like any city you get the "entertainment acts" on the side of the street, but in Dublin there are some streets just for pedestrians: no cars can go down them, which I enjoyed.

I am very thankful that I spent most of my time in the countryside as I learned a lot about the local Irish culture. I found their roads really hard to get used to -- curvy, narrow, and TONS of hedges.

Someone was bugging us about not taking pictures of the scenery, and I told him that the hedges always got in the way! If they get too much snow, the country shuts down as they have no snowploughs, or no need for them.

If you have the urge to travel, I strongly recommend Ireland! It was an amazing trip, and this is just a sum up of some of the things I saw and experienced while there, thanks to being selected for exchange this year. If you have any interest in Junior Farmers or questions about my trip, please feel free to e-mail me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.jfao.on.ca