Is Ireland really devoid of snakes?

McGillicuddy wrote:

Scotland has lots of Adders. I find it amazing that in all this time no snakes either swam or more likely hitched a ride on ships.

I suspect that the snakes of Scotland learned from the Scots themselves, some of whom went to Ireland in the 17th century in hopes of better lives.

Wrong again. Laddie.

I know New Zealand doesn't have snakes, but I'm sure a few get into the country now and again. It'd suck to get fatally bitten out for a run in the mountains/woods because some guy released a deadly snake from Australia into the wild. Hopefully the ferrets or rats would get it first.

Do runners in NZ have to worry about rat and ferret attacks?

This is a reason Ireland is high on my places to live outside the US.

Okay, now *I* want to know--and in all seriousness:

What DID the Irish eat before they had the potato?

BRF wrote:

Okay, now *I* want to know--and in all seriousness:

What DID the Irish eat before they had the potato?

I figure this is the day to ask, because I'm curious, too.

BRF wrote:

Okay, now *I* want to know--and in all seriousness:

What DID the Irish eat before they had the potato?

Here's a discussion on the topic:

Basically sounds like oats were the main staple in the era just before the introduction of potatoes. Potatoes allowed for a population boom, and then....

Here's a more detailed description with sources cited. Covers prehistoric through modern day.

http://www.ravensgard.org/prdunham/irishfood.html

highschoolrunner111 wrote:

Even I read it in high school and I went to school in Oklahoma. Everybody got it, joke's on you.

Maybe I'm alone here, but I did not read it in highschool (and still haven't). So I don't get the joke.

I went to one of the better high schools in IL. Our English department wanted to find nontraditional literature I guess. Then in college I took as few English classes as possible (I like reading but I'm a scientist and analyzing literature is not something I am good at)

are you good at googling the phrase "a modest proposal?"

What the Irish ate before potatoes was meat. There were plenty of animals, and fish too. Little do most people know that island was once covered with forests where real animals lived, instead of grass with useless sheep.

When the Irish ate meat, they were healthy and strong. That is why all their folk tales tell of the time when giants like Finn McCool roamed the land and did amazing things no modern Irishman is capable of. Potatoes made the Irish weak. If it hadn't been for the infusion of strong Nordic blood able to survive on disgusting potatoes, Ireland would be devoid of people too, not just snakes.

Boooooo Bad Wigins. Hisssssssssssss!

Off topic I know but.....JOHN LENIHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This man is a legend and a proper runner, absolutely inspiring. Legendary quote(said in a casual manner): “I broke my leg in October 1999 and was kept in hospital for a week, however two weeks later I resumed training each day doing laps of the field with my crutches. I got the cast off mid-December and I won the first race of the new millennium in Kerry on January 1st."

dudewheresmycar wrote:

May I make a modest proposal?

No one will get this, but thank you for that reference. I just enjoyed a pleasant "lol" because of it. A good evening to you.

Yes, I'm sure no one will get a reference to the MOST POPULAR PIECE OF SATIRE EVER WRITTEN.

trinh duc fofana boom wrote:

Off topic I know but.....JOHN LENIHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This man is a legend and a proper runner, absolutely inspiring. Legendary quote(said in a casual manner): “I broke my leg in October 1999 and was kept in hospital for a week, however two weeks later I resumed training each day doing laps of the field with my crutches. I got the cast off mid-December and I won the first race of the new millennium in Kerry on January 1st."

Yeah, but the new millennium didn't begin until January 1, 2001--he had a lot of time for recovery...

Had Some Myself wrote:

Here's a more detailed description with sources cited. Covers prehistoric through modern day.

http://www.ravensgard.org/prdunham/irishfood.html

Thanks very much for the link! I had made an honest 'Net search, before my earlier post, and couldn't find anything definitive.

Ha ha ha! Clevercloggs.

Reminds me of a party piece from my great hero Dr Johnson.

Johnson said that he could repeat a complete chapter of “The Natural History of Iceland” from the Danish of Horrebow, the whole of which was exactly thus: “There are no snakes to be met with throughout the whole island.” 62 [Chap. lxxii.]

Life of Johnson (Boswell). 63 Vol. vii. Chap. iv. 1778.

Jonathan Swift's A modest proposal isn't well known in England. Such a biting satire on the English Government's treatment of the Irish has been somewhat suppressed since its publication in 1729.

BRF wrote:

Had Some Myself wrote:

Here's a more detailed description with sources cited. Covers prehistoric through modern day.

http://www.ravensgard.org/prdunham/irishfood.html

Thanks very much for the link! I had made an honest 'Net search, before my earlier post, and couldn't find anything definitive.

That link doesn't seem to work on my computer--a blank page comes up--but I found this:

concerned citizen wrote:

BRF wrote:

Thanks very much for the link! I had made an honest 'Net search, before my earlier post, and couldn't find anything definitive.

That link doesn't seem to work on my computer--a blank page comes up--but I found this:

http://www.bonappetit.com/trends/article/what-the-irish-ate-before-potatoes

Were you spending the past 11 months looking that up?