Money is never just numbers in a bank account. It is history, geography, religion, humor, and scars from the past. Nowhere is this clearer than in Ireland — a small island that moved from poverty and mass emigration to tech hub, tourism magnet and global tax haven in just a few decades.
To understand how people in Ireland think about money today, you have to look at three layers:
- the historical layer — famine, emigration, and survival,
- the cultural layer — community, Catholicism, and modesty,
- the modern layer — tech, remote work, startups, and side hustles.
Put them together and you get a very specific money mindset: cautious but ambitious, community-driven but global, shaped by both hardship and opportunity.
🍀 1. From Famine and Emigration to “I’ll Find a Way”
For a long time, Ireland was not a country people moved to — it was a country people left.
The Great Famine of the 19th century, followed by decades of economic stagnation, pushed millions of Irish people abroad: to the United States, the UK, Australia, and beyond. Work was scarce, land ownership was limited, and survival often meant leaving home.
This created a deep pattern:
“If there is no opportunity here, I will go and find it somewhere else.”
That mindset lives on today:
- Irish people are highly mobile and open to working abroad.
- They are used to adapting to new cultures and systems.
- They think globally, even when they live in a small town.
The Irish relationship with money has therefore always been tied to: migration, flexibility, and the ability to reinvent yourself in a new place.
⛪ 2. Catholic Roots: Modesty, Guilt, and Generosity
For much of its modern history, Ireland has been strongly shaped by Catholic values. This doesn’t mean everyone is religious today, but the cultural imprint is still powerful.
Traditionally, wealth was something you did not show off. Being too rich, too flashy, or too proud could be seen as morally suspicious.
Three attitudes emerged:
- Modesty — keep your success low-key; don’t brag.
- Guilt — if you have money, you should not forget those who don’t.
- Generosity — charity, helping family, supporting your local community.
Even today, many Irish people:
- value community and relationships more than pure status,
- are suspicious of arrogance and greed,
- prefer people who stay “down to earth” even when they succeed.
This creates a unique combination: you are allowed to make money — but you are expected to stay human.
🐅 3. The Celtic Tiger and the Hangover: Boom, Bust, and Caution
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Ireland experienced the “Celtic Tiger” — a period of explosive growth. Foreign companies flooded in, unemployment dropped, property prices soared, and for the first time in history, Ireland felt truly wealthy.
Then came the financial crisis of 2008. The property bubble burst, banks collapsed, and many families discovered how fragile “wealth” can be when it is built on debt.
This left deep marks on the Irish money psyche:
- greater suspicion of easy credit and speculative property deals,
- a stronger focus on savings and emergency funds,
- a desire to diversify income instead of relying on one job or one asset.
You can feel this in conversations about money: people joke, they are self-deprecating, but behind the humor is a serious awareness that things can go wrong quickly.
🏙️ 4. Modern Ireland: High Costs, High Wages, and the Need for Side Income
Today, Ireland is home to:
- big tech companies,
- pharmaceutical giants,
- financial and legal headquarters for global firms,
- a strong startup and tech scene in cities like Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick.
Salaries in sectors like tech, finance and professional services can be attractive. But there is a catch: the cost of living is high, especially in Dublin: rent, childcare, food, transport — everything adds pressure.
Result: many young professionals feel “well paid on paper but squeezed in real life”. This pushes them to think more seriously about:
- investing,
- saving,
- and finding side hustles to complement their main job.
💶 5. How People Make Money in Ireland Today
Let’s look at the main ways people in Ireland earn money — both traditional and modern.
1) Stable Employment in Key Sectors
Many people follow what might be called the “classic Irish middle-class path”:
- a stable job in public service, education, healthcare or local government, or
- a corporate role in tech, finance, consulting, pharma, or shared services.
These jobs offer:
- decent salaries,
- pensions,
- relative job security.
But they rarely make you “rich” on their own — especially with modern living costs. So people look for more.
2) Property and Rentrons
Property is a sensitive but central topic in Ireland. For many, owning a home is still the ultimate financial goal and psychological anchor.
Some people also:
- rent out a room in their home,
- manage a small rental portfolio,
- use platforms like Airbnb in tourist areas (coastal towns, city centers, scenic routes).
Because of the housing crisis and regulations, this space is complex — but for those who navigate it carefully, property remains a powerful wealth-building tool.
3) Tourism and Hospitality
Ireland’s landscape, music, pubs and storytelling culture attract millions of visitors every year.
That creates many opportunities to make money:
- guesthouses and B&Bs,
- small hotels and hostels,
- guided tours (walking tours, history tours, whiskey tours, nature hikes),
- local experiences: music sessions, storytelling nights, craft workshops, food tastings.
Irish people are naturally social and conversational. Turning that skill into income — especially in tourism — comes almost naturally.
4) Trades and Self-Employment
Electricians, plumbers, carpenters, builders, hairdressers, small shop owners, local café and pub owners — these are the backbone of everyday Irish life.
In a growing economy with housing needs and renovation demand, skilled trades can earn very good money, often with more flexibility than a corporate job.
5) The Remote Work Revolution
Ireland has strong internet infrastructure and a population comfortable with English and global clients. This makes it perfect for:
- remote tech roles,
- freelancing (design, writing, coding, marketing),
- online consulting,
- international customer support and operations.
Some people live in smaller towns or rural areas while working for employers or clients abroad — combining lower local costs with global income.
6) Creative and Digital Side Hustles
Ireland is famous for writers, musicians and storytellers. Today, that creative energy has moved online:
- blogs and newsletters about Irish life, finance, travel or history,
- YouTube channels and podcasts,
- music released on streaming platforms,
- digital products: online courses, e-books, templates, coaching.
Add affiliate marketing, sponsorships and brand deals, and it becomes clear: you can now turn Irish stories and expertise into global money flows.
🏡 6. Rural vs Urban: Two Different Money Worlds
Life in Dublin is very different from life in a small town in Mayo or a village in Kerry.
In cities like Dublin, Cork or Galway:
- higher salaries, especially in tech and finance,
- higher rents and living costs,
- more networking opportunities and events,
- faster lifestyle and more competition.
In rural Ireland:
- lower costs (especially housing),
- smaller local economies,
- more reliance on agriculture, tourism, local trades and remote work,
- stronger sense of community and family support networks.
This split creates different money strategies:
- city-based workers often chase salary growth and career moves,
- rural families focus on land, small business, and diversified local income.
🏦 7. Credit Unions, Saving Habits and Cautious Optimism
One unique feature of the Irish financial landscape is the importance of credit unions — community-based financial cooperatives.
They encourage:
- regular saving,
- responsible lending,
- a human relationship to money (you know the people you deal with).
Combined with the memory of the financial crisis, this has encouraged many Irish households to:
- keep emergency funds,
- stay cautious with debt,
- question “too good to be true” schemes.
The national mood around money could be described as:
“Let’s aim high — but let’s not forget what happened last time we went crazy.”
🗣️ 8. Irish Attitude: Humor, Storytelling, and Talking Openly About Struggle
Money can be a taboo topic in many cultures. In Ireland, people don’t always share exact numbers — but they are often very open about:
- financial worries,
- mortgage stress,
- rent pressure,
- the cost of living.
They use humor as a shield:
- joking about being “broke after payday”,
- laughing about the price of a pint in Dublin,
- telling stories about landlords, banks and politicians.
Behind the jokes, there is something powerful: a willingness to name the problem instead of pretending everything is fine.
This honesty and storytelling tradition are also a massive asset online: Irish creators who talk about money in a real, relatable way can build huge audiences.
📈 9. What You Can Learn From the Irish Way of Money
Even if you have never been to Ireland, there is a lot you can take from the Irish money mindset and apply to your own life.
- Resilience — accept that your financial story may include crisis, setbacks, and reinvention. Keep going.
- Global thinking — don’t limit your opportunities to your city or country. Think like an emigrant: “Where else could I create value?”
- Community — build relationships. The people around you are often more important than the numbers in your account.
- Multiple income streams — salary, side hustles, rentals, online projects. Don’t rely on one pillar only.
- Cautious optimism — be ambitious, but don’t forget risk. Prepare buffers. Question bubbles.
- Storytelling as a skill — whether you sell products, services or your own profile, learn to tell your story. It’s one of Ireland’s greatest exports.
🔚 Final Reflection
Ireland’s relationship with money is not a simple success story. It is a complex journey: from famine to prosperity, from emigration to immigration, from poverty to tech hub — with a painful crash in between.
But that journey produced something rare:
a culture that can laugh about hardship, dream bigger than its size, and still value people over pure profit.
If you combine that spirit with modern tools — remote work, online business, investing, content creation — you get a powerful formula for building wealth that is not just about numbers, but about life.
Maybe that is the real Irish lesson about money:
Make enough to live well, share enough to stay human, and never forget to tell a good story along the way.
Want more global money mindsets? Follow Make Money Buffet for deep dives into how different cultures think about wealth — and what you can learn to build your own freedom.
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