WHY NAKED IRELAND?
‘Naked’ and ‘Ireland’ struck me as rather ironically oxymoronic. Times and attitudes are changing, but the Irish on the whole as a nation are reasonably disinclined to disrobe and less likely to get their kit off than their mainland-European brethren.
It’s testament to this country’s historical religious and cultural embedding that the Irish have been particularly cowed by a Catholic guilt & papal prudity that hasn’t seemed to have afflicted their European coreligionists to the same extent.
Why the Irish should feel particularly abashed about dropping their draws is extraordinary when you think of the Swedes who swan around starkers in the sauna, jolly Germans gambolling around unclad, inadequately-dressed Italians, skimpily-clad Spanish and the French who will frolic au naturel at the drop of a drawer. I once had the audacious impropriety to wear a bikini top on a French beach and ended up feeling like a nun at an orgy . . .
Interestingly, Ireland is the only country in Europe where it is illegal to be nude in public, although, apparently there’s never been an arrest carried out in the name skinny-dipping. But, be warned! In your search for a secluded picnic spot or your quest for a quiet bit of beach you may, like I have, stumble across some of the growing numbers of Irish naturists who also seek out these isolated spots. The delightful habit of cordially greeting others on our semi-deserted beaches is made trickier when stumbling across people sunbathing in only a smile. My advice would be to say ‘hello’ politely and avoid the temptation to look you-know-where. We may all be super-cool and liberal in 2015, but people using the beach in the buff still want their privacy.
More Irish are parting with their pants than ever before, and the current trend for wild swimming means that you are more likely than ever before to come across bathers in their birthday suits. In fact, there are now several unofficial nude swimming places along Ireland’s shores should you fancy a skinny dip in like-minded similarly dis-clad company.
Charities have jumped on the bare-bottomed band waggon Dip in the Nip (www.dipinthenip.eu) has raised over €300,000 for cancer since 2009 through its sponsored skinny dips. If you are curious to brave the Atlantic in the altogether the Naturist Association have a suggested list of beaches on their website (www.irishnaturism.org) where you are unlikely to frighten fellow bathers.
However, I digress (although the reasons behind why and where the people of Ireland divest themselves in public are no doubt anthropologically fascinating). To answer the ‘why’ in the title of this post: No, this blog has very little to do with naked as in ‘déshabillé’ and everything to do with laying-bare, exposing, and uncovering the myriad of wonderful and little-known things to do and see on this beautiful island.
Of which skinny-dipping is just one.
It’s testament to this country’s historical religious and cultural embedding that the Irish have been particularly cowed by a Catholic guilt & papal prudity that hasn’t seemed to have afflicted their European coreligionists to the same extent.
Why the Irish should feel particularly abashed about dropping their draws is extraordinary when you think of the Swedes who swan around starkers in the sauna, jolly Germans gambolling around unclad, inadequately-dressed Italians, skimpily-clad Spanish and the French who will frolic au naturel at the drop of a drawer. I once had the audacious impropriety to wear a bikini top on a French beach and ended up feeling like a nun at an orgy . . .
Interestingly, Ireland is the only country in Europe where it is illegal to be nude in public, although, apparently there’s never been an arrest carried out in the name skinny-dipping. But, be warned! In your search for a secluded picnic spot or your quest for a quiet bit of beach you may, like I have, stumble across some of the growing numbers of Irish naturists who also seek out these isolated spots. The delightful habit of cordially greeting others on our semi-deserted beaches is made trickier when stumbling across people sunbathing in only a smile. My advice would be to say ‘hello’ politely and avoid the temptation to look you-know-where. We may all be super-cool and liberal in 2015, but people using the beach in the buff still want their privacy.
More Irish are parting with their pants than ever before, and the current trend for wild swimming means that you are more likely than ever before to come across bathers in their birthday suits. In fact, there are now several unofficial nude swimming places along Ireland’s shores should you fancy a skinny dip in like-minded similarly dis-clad company.
Charities have jumped on the bare-bottomed band waggon Dip in the Nip (www.dipinthenip.eu) has raised over €300,000 for cancer since 2009 through its sponsored skinny dips. If you are curious to brave the Atlantic in the altogether the Naturist Association have a suggested list of beaches on their website (www.irishnaturism.org) where you are unlikely to frighten fellow bathers.
However, I digress (although the reasons behind why and where the people of Ireland divest themselves in public are no doubt anthropologically fascinating). To answer the ‘why’ in the title of this post: No, this blog has very little to do with naked as in ‘déshabillé’ and everything to do with laying-bare, exposing, and uncovering the myriad of wonderful and little-known things to do and see on this beautiful island.
Of which skinny-dipping is just one.
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