Have the houses and shops in Ireland always been so brightly colored?

Question

I came back from a recent trip with hundreds of photos of bright and cheerful houses, storefronts, and pubs. Is that traditional or is that new? And how do they come up with such bold and exciting combinations? Folks in the U.S. tend to be so much more conservative and dull.

Answer 1

Where the h**l were you?

Answer 2

Some places are more colourful than others, and local residents are encouraged to keep their housefronts looking good in many places, particularly the more touristy towns. I don't like in a touristy area, but the houses are fairly colourful where I live too. My own house is white with red trim, and many houses around mine are yellow with red or other vivid combinations.

If you go to other places in Europe it'll be different, partly because the buildings might be older or newer, and made of different material. It's rare to see terracotta (reddish) roof tiles in Ireland, the most common type of roof is gray or black slate.

Answer 3

It's the acid and the magic mushrooms that does it.................

Answer 4

most towns in ireland are old unlike america! lyk mayb up 2 hundreds ov years old! every building is very different to the next! every shop usually has different colour painted on it to the next shop! its basically just becuz of ow old dey are really! america was more planned!

Answer 5

I take it you haven't traveled around the US all that much...Miami, Los Angeles, New Mexico....not exactly dull when it comes to housing colors. Sorry, I just hate when people make these sweeping generalizations based on their limited personal experience.

Ireland has a thriving tourist industry - it is in their interest to look picturesque. Not all of Ireland is technicolor. Most of the houses in average neighborhoods were white with regular colored trim last I checked, or brick.

Answer 6

Where were you. That doesn't sound like the Ireland I know. I'm guessing it was a tourist town or Balamory.

Answer 7

I had another person from America say the very same thing...I really don't know ..in fact I never really noticed the different colours until it was pointed out to me by him...I know where I live my neighbours all have different colour front doors and yes it is nice..my door is bright sunny yellow..

Answer 8

I am living in Ireland and I never really noticed that. We do keep our houses outside tidy and well painted but not as colourful as the details in your question gave.

Answer 9

I can't comment on anywhere else but I do know the County Council in Limerick 'encourages' local residents to keep their frontages clean & tidy.  Some small towns & villages are also keen participants in the Tidy Towns competitions.

Adare, for instance, is a very pretty village, also a tourist destination & active participant in the Tidy Towns competition.

Answer 10

we're just cool