Probably the Best Coffee in Dublin

Dublin along the River Liffey

The British are famous for their self-deprecatory humor -- everyone from Emma Thompson to Eddie Izzard consistently demure from taking any credit or praise. This, in contrast to the perceived American bravado, creates a pretty stark difference in humor and culture.

Dublin is certainly no England, but the Irish love to jokingly remind themselves of how “small a country” they are, as our final speaker tonight repeated more than once. An unlike every single café in cities in the US that boast “the best coffee in the world,” Dublin seems to set its sights a bit lower, if a bit more tongue-in-cheek as well.

I wish we had a picture, but near the center of the city, one café’s sign boasted “Probably the best coffee in Dublin.” This sat only a few blocks away from the (what must be aptly named) “Decent Cigar Shop.” When we spoke to one of the UN peacemakers that makes up Ireland’s only international military force, he constantly reminded us how small or in some way less Ireland was in comparison to the larger armies of it’s fellow EU and NATO brethren. However, at the same time, because he was able to point out his own countries faults, we could also listen with a certain level of trust when he gave his opinions of the other operations of the world. When he spoke of the actions of French troops in the Congo or the Italians in Lebanon, we heard both the strengths and the flaws of these countries—in part, yes, because he had already set his own nationalism aside with a few quips about how the Irish were nowhere near perfect.

A final moment occurred this morning at the Derry police department. One of our guides turned to us and asked, slight bewilderment in his voice, “Why are so many Americans so interested in being Irish?”

We joked around the answer, perhaps mimicking our hosts in playing it a bit coy about our own nationality, but the bewilderment is funny. The Irish display so much pride in their history, their heritage and their heroes. They take their past and their present very seriously – much more seriously than their self-deprecatory humor lets on. It’s a bit of a surprise, and I think sometimes hard for Americans to understand, how a people can be at once so proud and so apologetic. It makes for a charming people and a relatively hilarious set of street signs, however.

By Caitlin Cummings