Tourism and national identity 1930's | Adoption of the Tricolour

An Tóstal Poster 1954
An Tóstal Poster 1954

An English travel writer in 1934 suggested that he would publicise Ireland by showing how it was different from England: “I would show green pillar-boxes, the Irish Tricolour flag, anything that was different ... My posters would show an Ireland that was a foreign country

John Gibbons, writing in The Spectator in April 1934, agreed, while also offering marketing advice to the Irish:

"In modern Ireland we have Queenstown becoming Cobh and Kingstown turning into Dun Laoghaire with the English version as a sort of footnote for the benefit of the old-fashioned Saxon tourist. There are places like Bray and Bundoran and Tramore, seaside resorts with a social atmosphere completely different from their English counterparts. To the Englishman, the Irish watering-place is as foreign as Dinard or Knocke.

"If I did Irish ads for English hoardings, I would almost leave out mountains, lakes and ruined abbeys ... I would show a dancing platform at a crossroads or an Irish train with the Gaelic lettering of its destination board. I would show green pillar-boxes, the Irish Tricolour flag, anything that was different ... My posters would show an Ireland that was a foreign country.

Irish Travel Poster from 1930's
Irish Travel Poster from 1930's

In 1934, the I.T.A. reported that notwithstanding the adverse propaganda directed at Ireland by a section of the British Press, the popularity of the country continued to grow among British holidaymakers, and brought to its shores an ever-increasing number of motorists, sportsmen, cyclists, hikers and excursionists:

(Irish Travel, vol ix no 10 (Dublin, 1934) p. 181.)


Sources

(Irish Travel, vol ix no 10 (Dublin, 1934) p. 181.)

Furlong, Irene THROUGH A MIRROR, DARKLY -- IRISH TOURISM AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF NATIONAL IDENTITY 1922-1960.International Journal of Regional Local Studies. 2009, Issue 2, p48-67

Spectator Archive April 1934


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