Ireland is Quite Small

I had a long conversation this morning with two Irish ladies about how "small" Ireland is--small in the sense that everywhere you go, even in the "big city" of Dublin, you continually will run into people you know. People from your present circle of interaction, people from your past years in school, or people who are friends of your mother, grandmother, aunt, etc. These ladies shared story after story of meeting someone in the grocery store, who went to middle school with them, or who dated their cousin, or whatever. When you meet someone and ask where they are from and they say Kilkenny, then you ask if they know so-and-so, and sure enough his father was neighbors with the football coach of her daughter...or something like that.
They laughingly claimed this is why there aren't serial killers in Ireland, because the community would know who you are, your family, where you come from, etc. If a guy meets a girl in a bar and she agrees to go out with him, there's a good chance they will know some mutual person, so there's no way he could try to get away with murder, as people could easily track him down. (So they say.)

I have to admit, I've been here just over a month and have already had such experiences that make me realize Ireland is a bit small. Last Saturday night I went to the Gate Theatre. Then on Sunday a lady I've never seen before in my life comes up to me and asks if I was at the Gate Theatre the night before. I said yes, and she smiled and said "You've got great taste, wasn't it a great show!" Then she went about her way. Friendly folks, aren't they? Yesterday I was waiting at the bus stop, and a car pulled up and the persons inside asked if I wanted a ride. It turns out it was the pastor and his wife from the nearby church I've attended.
I must say, given that I can count on my fingers how many people I've met (I wouldn't even say "know") in this city/country, it's nice to be recognized! Although it makes me feel like I need to be careful what I'm doing, I don't want to have a scowl on my face at the bus stop, as who knows who will pass...and word travels in this small island...

Indeed Ireland is geographically small, not merely in this sense of a close-knit community. It takes only 3 hours to drive from Dublin on the east coast to Galway on the west coast--this is like driving from Houston to Dallas or Austin. In fact, I suppose we can think of the Republic of Ireland roughly as that size: the region from, say, San Antonio to Houston to Dallas, if we were to make a box-like shape there in Texas. That's the whole country of Ireland! Wow. No wonder paths cross, as generation after generation develops its web of interaction...