Pop Culture of Ireland

1. Pop Culture of Ireland By: Jessica Lovins

2. Technology: Today • Dublin has become Ireland’s technological hub in more recent years due to companies running their international operations through the city, especially those with intellectual property. • It allows takes breaks for companies like Google, Twitter, and Facebook. In 2011 Ireland “won” Twitter’s selection over London and Berlin which was another huge technological advancement for the country.

3. Technology: Popularity of Twitter

4. Technology: Internet • In addition to twitter, the top websites for Ireland are very similar to the U.S., including Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, Youtube, Wikipedia, Linkedin, and Amazon. • Some Irish-specific websites are RTE, Allie Irish Banks, and Irish Independent.

5. Music • Popular music performers began making appearances in the 1940’s. BridieGallagher is known as Ireland’s first international pop star. • 1950’s-1960’s: Irish Show bands, which played covers of songs currently in the record charts of a variety of genres. • As a result in the rise in popularity of American Country Music, a subgenre known as “Country and Irish” became popular. It incorporates Irish folk music with American country.

6. Music: Irish Sands

7. Music Cont. • Traditional music fused with popular music later in the century with bands like Van Morrison using traditional elements in their songs. • Riverdance became popular after being performed at the 1994 Eurovision song contest, which Ireland won. They have won more than any other of the 51 participating countries. • Similar to American Idol; Countries submit a song to be performed live on television and radio and then vote on the other country’s songs to determine which is the most popular. • One of the longest running television programs in the world, and one of the most watched non-sporting events.

8. Music: Riverdance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgGAzBDE454

9. Music Cont. • Starting in the 1960’s major Irish rock bands starting forming, much like in the United States. (Van Morrison) • As Punk rock emerged in the late 1970’s bands like U2 emerged, and eventually Irish Punk led to alternative music styles. • In the 1990’s pop bands like The Cranberries became popular, and in the 2000’s it is continuing to grow with groups like Snow Patrol. • Celtic music has remained fairly popular throughout while being incorporated into other genres, whereas a lot of countries lose their traditional music to the times. • U2 is the top selling Irish act of all time, along with Van Morrison and the Cranberries ranking in the top 5.

10. U2’s Sunday Bloody Sunday • Bloody Sunday Recap: Nonviolent Civil Rights march held on January 1972 in Derry involving the death of 13 nonviolent protestors, some teenagers. • Protesting against inequalities involving the Catholic minority of Northern Ireland. • British soldiers opened fire. • U2 wrote this song as a part of the album War, and it is on Rolling Stone’s list The 500 Greatest Songs of All time. • The band formed in 1976 in Dublin.

11. U2’s Sunday Bloody Sunday

12. Sports • The most popular sports in Ireland include hurling, Gaelic football, soccer, and rugby. • As far as attendance, Gaelic football or “Gaelic” is the most popular. • Hurling is native to Ireland and is similar to Hockey. It is also the second most popular sport and is classified with Gaelic football under “Gaelic games.” These traditional Irish games are governed by the GAA. • Football, referred to as soccer in the U.S., is played and Ireland has taken part in the FIFA world cup. • Rugby has become increasingly more popular in recent years along with ice hokey in Northern Ireland.

13. Sports: Hurling

14. Sports: Gaelic Football

15. Sports: Rugby

16. Fashion • The Irish fashion scene is similar to most western cultures, constantly changing to fit the needs and lifestyles of the population. Today the fashion scene mirrors that of other countries in Europe and the U.S. • Layers are worn often in Irish culture to help accommodate the cooler, rainy weatherand sometimes traditional Irish clothing including hand knit sweaters are still worn.

17. Fashion: Marilyn Monroe Type Icons

18. Fashion: Marilyn Monroe Type Icons • Maureen O’Hara: Know for red hair and long time friend of John Wayne. Now has a magazine named after her. • Anne Sullivan: Lifelong teacher and companion of Helen Keller, daughter of U.S. immigrants that fled from the Irish potato famine. • Imelda May: Singer/Songwriter known for her 1950’s look. • Sybil Connolly: Irish fashion designer said to have put Irish fashion on the map. Know for incorporating everyday Irish clothing into fashion. • Maude Gonne: Radical revolutionary that got Irish women involved in 20th century politics. Known for refusing marriage proposals from a man who wouldn’t convert to Catholicism.

19. Fashion: Kilts • Kilts are sometimes viewed as traditional Irish dress but actually originated in Scotland. • They didn’t actually become popular until the 1930’s and 40’s through step-dance culture in which men wore them to competitions. Women wore heavily embroidered dresses. • They are still worn to similar occasions today.

20. Fashion: Stepdance Then Now

21. Film: History • The history if Irish film is relatively recent compared to its European counterparts due to lack of state investment and a smaller domestic audience. • History is put into three categories: • Early Cinema: Silent and Sound Films (1910-1975) mostly dominated by American and British producers. • Indigenous filmmaking: “First wave” (1970’s to 1990) • Contemporary Irish Cinema: Early 1990s to today beginning with the reestablishment of the Irish Film Board in 1993.

22. Film: Today • The Irish Film industry has grown significantly in recent years with an expansion of the Irish Film Board, and Ireland and has also become a popular film sight for American films like Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan, and P.S. I love you. • Famous Irish actors: Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell, Pierce Brosnan (James Bond), Michael Gambon (Dumbledore), Richard Harris (Original Dumbledore) “My left foot”1989 double Oscar winner that set off indigenous filmmaking.

23. Irish Television • Television got started in the 1950’s similarly to the U.S., but it was first made available in the Republic of Ireland in 1961 by the public service broadcaster RTE (RaidióTeilifísÉireann). • They were originally afraid of British influence picked up by British channels in Northern Ireland, which began in 1959. • Today RTE, MTV, Comedy Central, and Discovery Channel are on their top 20 most widely viewed channels. • A lot of Irish channels are still British influenced, as well as newspapers and magazines but Irish based media is growing quickly.

24. Newspaper and Media • Independent News and Media (INM) is Ireland’s leading media company that owns five market leading national newspapers. • They are the number one newspaper publisher and the leading wholesale distributor of newspapers and magazines. • RTE still provides most of the latest Irish and international news as well as stories on sports, entertainment, life and style, television, and radio making it one of the oldest broadcasters in the world.

25. Magazines: IMAGE • “The intelligent read for Ireland’s smartest women.” • “Cosmopolitan”

26. Art • Irish “Andy Warhol” Jonathan Aiken focuses on famous political and domestic icons in his work. Here he focuses on the 60’s.

27. Pop art: Aiken • This is a work by Aiken portraying Ireland’s 108 members of legislative assembly.

28. Sources • http://www.celticradio.net/php/service_mod.php?type=Celtic%20Music • http://iconfactorydublin.ie/?p=95 • http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/story/102547.html • http://www.theatlanticwire.com/business/2011/09/dublin-dubs-itself-europes-tech-hub/42978/ • http://www.ehow.com/about_5388071_kind-clothes-do-wear-ireland.html • http://www.irishfilm.ie/downloads/Irish-film-aw.pdf • http://www.jonathanaiken.com/news.asp?NewsID=76 • http://www.rte.ie/