This US travel clip shows Ireland “as one of the most interesting, helpful and picturesque countries in the world."

From ladies carrying bales of hay on their backs to mothers mourning the emigration of their children, the film shows how much has changed but also how much remains the same.

Part of the charm of the video is the narrator’s comments on “the real charm of old Erin” as he describes “her picturesque and peaceful countryside where a vast majority of her people engage in agricultural pursuits and live in humble but happy circumstances.”

The eight-and-a-half-minute clip goes on to explore the stone walls of the West of Ireland, the livestock, the blarney of the Irish, and the thatched cottages to the south, including some amazing footage of the people of Ireland going about their daily business.

Here’s the amazing clip:

The narrator says, “To sit in an old kitchen beneath to low rafters of a thatched cottage, sipping a good cup of tea, and listening to the tales that Irish peasants tell so well is to know Ireland as it can never be known otherwise. Here a stranger needs no introduction for he is always a welcome guest.”

Not much has changed then! Tea and telling stories are still at the center of any Irish household. Not sure about the “peasants” though. 

The mothers of Ireland, illustrated by some ladies with heavy scarves wrapped around their faces, are also singled out for having suffered heartache as their children left home to seek their fortunes in the United States, something that continues today with Ireland’s economic recession and the “brain drain.”

The snapshot of history moves on to explore Dublin and especially Trinity College Dublin, a 17th-century haven in the center of the bustling city. 

The movie concludes with the high praise that they found Ireland to be “one of the most interesting, helpful and picturesque countries in the world.”

For more visit Travel Film Archives.

* Originally published in 2016. Updated in 2025.