Cultural Journal 8 - Common Sense

I’ve been amazed by how many sites I have visited in Ireland lack extensive warning signs and guard rails. At Kilmainhem Gaol, we could (with rare exception) walk up to, into, and touch the cells where prisoners famous and mundane were once kept. We could reach out and touch, or even hug, the standing stone on the Hill of Tara, the Celtic crosses at Kells, and much of the artwork in St. Patricks. Most staggeringly, at Dun Aengus on the Aran Islands, we were able to walk right up to the edge of a 300 foot sheer cliff, leaning out to take pictures and tempt fate on the damp stones. A few scattered signs warned of the risk of climbing on the monument, a park ranger or two was present, and I assume there must have been a high wind warning sign somewhere, but by and large the site was all but unguarded as tourists of all ages hiked, ran, and gaped at the sea far below.
It’s unreal to me that this is possible – in the USA, if you look at a cliff funny, someone screams that a warning sign, fence, patrol and video surveillance system should be installed, and a waiver signed before getting within a mile of the place. Massive stone crosses would be covered in protective chicken wire, or fenced off completely with a replica installed nearby to get the full postmodern experience. As an American, I can’t help but wonder at the risk the government is taking, not only the risk to the bodies of the citizens, but the financial risk of the lawsuit that would inevitably result if someone fell off the cliff.
But maybe it isn’t so inevitable here. I’ve already noticed a more relaxed attitude towards children; maybe that extends to a relaxed attitude towards others, in the sense that common sense is still acknowledged and believed in here. A quick Google search turned up no mention of deaths at Dun Aengus, so I can’t do a statistical analysis to back this up, but the Irish seem to be a very practical and self-sufficient people; I can easily see them shrugging their collective shoulders and acknowledging that any such death was a shame, but that it could have been avoided far more effectively and aesthetically with a dose of common sense and careful footing than it ever could have been with a fence and a guard.