Did Your Mother Come From Ireland?

Whether or not your ancestors came from Ireland, you will still find a lot to warm the cockles of your heart when you visit the land that, in some places, time appears to have forgotten.  It has been called "God's own place with the Devil's own people."  The people of Ireland are what draws visitors back time and again.  They are irrepressible folk who have survived one calamity after another and still have it in their nature to be warm, witty and welcoming to all visitors. 

Known for its' patchwork quilt "forty shades of" green fields separated by stone walls, this northern island paradise is steeped in tradition and history.  It is separated from England by the Irish Sea and from the rest of the world by the North Channel, the Atlantic Ocean and St. George's Channel.

You can get anywhere in Ireland by public transportation.  An efficient bus system exists there.  You can also travel by rail.  It's scenic but slow at times.  You'll need the ferry to get to the islands.   

Car rental is available but for short trips you might want to try your legs on a bike rental.  Don't be shocked if they ask for your passport until you return the bike.  It's a common custom. 

The most economical way to see the whole of Ireland may be a rented caravan.  These are usually barrel topped wagons drawn by a horse.  They are used by people who call themselves the Travelers.   They speak their own language called Cant.  Descendants of people known as tinkers, the Travelers are a rich and gifted people.

There are many fine hotels in Ireland but to really absorb the flavor of the land, try to spend some of your nights at one of the many Bed and Breakfast Inns that dot the countryside.  You'll be glad you did when your breakfast arrives.  It's a huge platter of delicious native fare.  You could afford to skip lunch after this.

 Barraty castle in Dublin, one of over 900 of these architectural treasures, is visited by thousands of day-trippers, (people who take a one day holiday) each year in the hopes of getting a glimpse of the spectral visitors that are purported to haunt it. Existence of the supernatural is taken for granted. 

Never scoff with an Irishman about his ghosts.  They take their haunts very earnestly in Ireland.  Many serious books have been written on the subject.

For a bit of Irish laughter, visit Dirty Nelly's pub in County Clare.  It was built in sixteen twenty but the jokes are all modern.

An Irishman goes into the pub and orders a drink.  "I'm sorry," the barman says.

"It's half past.  Do you know we're closed?"  In Ireland the pubs close from one to three.

The Irishman repeats his order.  "I just want one wee little drop," he says.

"We're closed, we're closed, we're closed." says the barman.

"Well, how do you know we're closed?" says the man.

"Are ye daft man?" shouts the barman.  "It's half past, we're closed, we're closed, we're closed!"

"I'm gonna sit here right on this barstool till you open up." says the man.

"Well," says the barman, "Would you like a drink while you're waiting?"

If you didn't find that joke funny, order up a growler of Guinness and listen again.  It's a brackish mud brown ale as it comes out of the tap.  Let it set a few seconds in the glass till the foam settles on the top and the rest turns almost black.  They say it doesn't travel well so you have to drink your fill while you're there.  It's much stronger than American ale.  I can almost guarantee you that joke will be funny the second time around. 

The town of Dingle has over fifty pubs.  In each of them as well as almost everywhere else, you'll find music and laughter and dancing.   Some say they learn to sing and dance before they learn to talk and walk.  Elizabeth the First tried to repress the Irish by taking their music from them.  She order all the harpers to be hanged and their instruments to be brought to her, but you'll notice Ireland still has her harpers and her music.   

Alwy Cave is nearby with it's bones of bears that hibernated over a thousand years ago.  Perhaps they visited Dirty Nelly, then went in the cave to sleep it off and never came out.

Besides leprechauns, the Irish also have bog spirits who haunt the peat bogs.  It is said that many a victim of an ancient highwayman now sleeps in a bog in Ireland.  The bog seldom gives up it's secrets, although recently it did give back an ancient mummy, very well preserved. 

In County Clare, you can walk on the very same burin (rocky scrabble where almost nothing grows.) where English invader Oliver Cromwell vowed to drive the Irish Catholics to Hell or Connacht.  He succeeded in slaughtering over a million Irish Catholics in the sixteen hundreds.

The views in Ireland are some of the most splendid anywhere in the world with the majestic Magillicuddy Peaks reigning highest in the land.  Although some of Irelands coast is walled with some of the steepest, sharpest outcrops, you can still swim, boat or fish in her sparkling lakes and glorious bays with pristine white sandy beaches.  The plumpest salmon abound in Galway Bay.

Derrynane is the birthplace of Daniel O'Connel, the liberator.  He was elected to Parliament but was not allowed to serve due to his being catholic.  Later he was elected to the House of Commons and this time he did serve.  He worked hard to free Ireland from British rule.  He wanted it done without force or blood shed.  He died before this could be accomplished.

The Dingle Peninsula juts bravely into the cold Atlantic.  Many a ship has gone down here.  In fact the wreck of the The Santa Della Rosa was recently discovered there.  She was part of the Spanish Armada.

While wandering the countryside, and this is the best way to do Ireland, you will see stone mounds.  If you think you're seeing burial mounds or smoke houses, you're wrong.  They are called clockens and are actually beehive houses made of unmortared stone.  Stone was one of the easiest building materials in the early days.  All you needed to do was pile it up so it didn't fall in on you.  It was free and you could find it everywhere, usually under your feet.  These clockens have withstood the test of time and unlimited Irish rain.  Although in Ireland they don't call it rain.  It's just mist.

In Tralee you can join in the Festival of Kerry where the Rose of Tralee is crowned.  Contestants come from not only Ireland, but from all over the world wherever Irish lasses are found.  This is Ireland's biggest bash.

If golf is your game, try the renowned world's hardest course at Ballybunion.  The name means town of saplings.  Some think the tall grasses growing on the many sand dunes that pitch and role are the saplings.  There are actually two eighteen hole golf courses here, so make sure you get the old one which is the hardest.

If you like a more energetic sport, you can try your luck at road bowling.  You take a round stone about the size of your fist and you throw it down the road.  A measurement is taken and your opponent gets a try.  The winner is the one who gets to the next town in the least amount of moves, but you have to stay on the road.

The river Shannon meets the ocean at Waterford where you will find the worlds largest glass works.  You can watch the finest craftsmen mix, blow and cut the intricate designs.  This is a good place for a glass bargain that could someday become a family heirloom.

Blarney castle in Cork should be included on your list of places to visit.  Elizabeth the First of England ordered Dermot McCarthy to surrender his castle to the crown.  He persisted in putting her off by sweet talking her.  She eventually said, "That man's nothing but blarney!"

To actually kiss the blarney stone, you must first empty your pockets of everything.  They you have to trust your friends not to let go of you as they dangle you upside down under the parapet to reach the proverbial stone.  It is said you will then be granted the gift of eloquence.

Fifteen miles from Cork is the port town of Cobh.  This was the Titanic's last port of call. 

It's also the port where the potato first entered Ireland by way of the American colony of Virginia.  The potato or pratie as the Irish call it, brought about a huge change in Ireland.  Peasants ate better and lived longer which increased the population until the blight hit in 1845.  You can't visit Ireland without learning some of her history.  The evidence is everywhere.

Also in Cobh is a monument to the lives lost when the Luisitania was torpedoed by the Germans in 1915.  Several hundred of her passengers are buried in the churchyard of Saint Maltos.  Cobh has come to be known as the port of hope.

There are many birds in Ireland. It is quite a common sight to see giant swans patrolling the waters of Lough Courrah or Lake Calm.

Horse lovers abound at the Connemara Pony Show.  It is an event for the gentry as well as the common folk. 

In Belfast you can visit the Crown Bookmaker who doesn't produce novels.  You can place your bets on the greyhounds races.  A sign over the window proclaims, No Bets Accepted Once the Hare Has Left.

Take the ferry to the Aran Isles to buy sweaters and white wool.  The variety of patterns in the sweaters was to aid in identification of the bodies of fisherman found in the waters.

Don't forget a visit to Dublin with it's big city bustle.  Grafton Street is known as the pedestrian zone.  Here you will be enthralled by the street entertainers.

A stop at Trinity College is a must.  It was founded by Queen Elizabeth the first and was the first college to give degrees to women.  It also houses one of the largest libraries in the world containing over 400,000 of the oldest and best preserved books.  Many of these are illuminated.  This includes the three volume set of the most valuable Irish treasure, the Book of Kells.  Each day a page is turned in the glass case so that everyone can see it's beauty.

Ireland has given the world many great writers including Sir Thomas Moore, Oscar Wilde, Brendan Behan, James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw and even Bram Stoker.  In Ireland eloquence is valued higher than affluence.