The interface between everyday life, tourism and tradition : Western Ireland

Abstract

The Interface between Everyday Life, Tourism and Traditions Doolin is a small village (pop. approx. 600) on the west coast of Ireland, known as �The Traditional Music Capital of Ireland�. Three local brothers put Doolin on the musical world map in the 1950s, through their skilful playing of traditional tunes. Thousands of tourists arrive in Doolin each year, to listen to the music or to participate in the sessions. Music enthusiasts gather Doolin, site of a hectic music festival, from late February to late September. Musicians, tourists and guest workers settle in the village. My thesis focuses on the visited place. The first chapter gives a brief presentation of Doolin, setting the village in a greater Irish context, taking into consideration the EU membership and the development of tourism at the expense of other aspects. The second chapter looks at the perception and experience of place and landscape. The first part concentrates on the residents� relation to their surroundings. The second part looks at the image or myth that surrounds Doolin. The third chapter treats the residents: native Dooliners and newcomers. The latter are involved in a negotiation of belonging. Some of the natives take to othering to cope with the flow of tourists and newcomers. The fourth chapter elaborates on the everyday relation to music in the context of both residents and tourists, and how the musical expression changes from low to high season. The fifth chapter looks at the pilgrimage travel to Doolin, because of the music, but also connected to heritage tourism. Doolin exists today because of the musical tourism. The music scene in the village has been strengthened as a result of the incoming musicians. The residents have been brought closer together faced with the influx of visitors, at the same time they have attained a high degree of openness and inclusiveness to newcomers, since so many settle in the village. The small scale of Doolin means than visitors, newcomers and natives are inevitably faced with each other all the time, and they adjust to one another learn to exist side by side in some sort of harmony, in spite of their respective differences. Julia Oliane Boesen