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