Ardal O'Hanlon Quotes

My Irish identity is important as it's a part of who I am.

It is often said that in Ireland there is an excess of genius unsustained by talent; but there is talent in the tongues.

I'm proud of my Irish heritage and culture and this show will feature a lot of Irish dancing.

My soul is still Irish.

I'd never had any problem finding inspiration; Ireland was always just there, you know? All this richness of culture was there to tap into.

I can't think of anything you might say about Irish people that is absolutely true.

There's something about the Irish that is remarkable.

Irish people are educated not only about artistry but local history.

I always gravitate towards anything from Ireland. With Irish lit, I love the use of language, but also in many instances, the Irish writers are writing about people and circumstances that I can relate to.

I feel more and more the time wasted that is not spent in Ireland.

Ireland is a series of stories that have been told to us, starting with the Irish Celtic national revival. I never believed in 'Old Ireland.' It has been made all of kitsch by the diaspora, looking back and deciding what Ireland is. Yes, it is green. Yes, it is friendly. I can't think of anything else for definite.

I have been brought up amongst the Irish people. I was reared in a laborers cottage here in Ireland. I have not lived soley amongst the intellectuals—whever I wanted to know what the Irish people wanted, I had only to examine my own heart and it told me straight away what the Irish people wanted.

I think that's why you see so many Americans in Dublin look so sad: they are looking for the door through which they can begin to understand this place. I tell them, 'Go to the races.' I think it's the best place to start understanding the Irish.

Dublin's a great place. It really is. It's a great place. And Ireland, especially, is a great place. I've realized that growing up more. I'm loving my country more as I'm getting older.

Ireland is not at all a simple place, and in many ways it is spare and sad. It has no wealth, no power, no stability, no influence, no fashion, no size. Its only real arts are song and drama and poem. But Limerick alone has two thousand ruined castles and surely that many practicing poets.

My kids are Irish; I want them to grow up playing Gaelic football and learning Irish.

The problem with being Irish... is having 'Riverdance' on your back. It's a burden at times.

You can listen to carpenters talk for hours in Ireland. The people have a relationship to words that I don't think you will run into anyplace in the world.

My father was totally Irish, and so I went to Ireland once. I found it to be very much like New York, for it was a beautiful country, and both the women and men were good-looking.

Being Irish, I always had this love of words.

I love Ireland. I feel very at peace there. It's just magical and beautiful.

Irish history having been forbidden in schools, has been, to a great extent, learned from Raftery's poems by the people of Mayo, where he was born, and of Galway, where he spent his later years.

There was a kind of madness in the country. Eamon De Valera, the prime minister, had this vision of an Ireland where we'd all be in some kind of native costume - which doesn't exist - and we'd be dancing at the crossroads, babbling away in Gaelic, going to Mass, everyone virginal and pure.

I spent a lot of time growing up in Ireland in Donegal.

I think there's something about the Irish experience - that we had to have a sense of humor or die.