activity

Making a St Bridget’s Cross

Friendship’s a noble name, ’tis love refined.

Susannah Centlivre

After visiting the Cliffs of Moher, we took a moment solitude at the Well of St Bridget. The well is crowded with devotions and gratitude for the Saint’s intervention for the pilgrims who worship at this holy sight.

A few days latter, Barry showed us how to construct a simple St Bridget’s Cross from the reeds that abound in the bogs near Leenane. Both stops had special meaning for Colleen whose middle name is shared with the Saint, her Grandmother and our daughter.

St Bridget’s Well

St Bridget

Collecting reeds to make a St Bridget’s Cross

Constructing a St Bridget’s Cross

The Hawk has Landed – Ireland School of Falconry

As we strolled through the beautiful gardens of Ashford Castle, I noticed the signs to pointing to the Ireland’s School of Falconry and thought that would be a cool activity. No sooner had the thought crossed my mind, we reached the school gates and Barry announced that we would all be experiencing the thrill of falconry.

Awesome!

Birds of prey are inherently lazy, only expending their energy in flight when they need to hunt so each bird has a flying weight. Over that prime weight, the bird will resist flying but if weight drops too low a bird may perish especially in cold weather. Their handlers weight each bird daily and ensure they remain within a tight boundary of their flying weight, easy right? Well, the flying weight changes constantly as birds mature so the handlers are always adapting the flying weight to ensure the birds are at their best.

The School has several different species but the majority of students will work with a Harris Hawk, the only social bird of prey on the world. Unlike other birds of prey who are solitary hunters, Harris Hawks hunt as a team similar to lions and this makes them ideal to work with groups of people.

Maya, a young female hawk, became our companion for the morning walk and each member of the group had at least one opportunity to fly her as we strolled the Ashford Castle grounds. The birds are trained to come to the raised black leather glove and expect the small reward of meat held in your palm, if you look carefully at the photos Maya’s head is focussed on the palm as she lands on the glove.

Maya is amazingly gentle as she lands on your outstretched hand, and sits quietly while waiting for you to send her airborne again. Unlike a parrot or other domestic birds, the hawk never pecks or scratches you and even if she steps off the leather glove her talons never break the skin. A truly magical experience that our whole group will remember as a highlight of a truly wonderful tour.

This is not a regular part of the Rick Steves’ 14 Day Best of Ireland tour but I cannot imagine a better addition to an already great itinerary.

Rick, please make it so.

Cong, County Mayo – A Quiet Man’s Village

Mary Kate: What manner of man is it that I have married?

Hugh Forbes: A better one, I think, than you know, Mary Kate.

The Quiet Man (Film)

In 1952 Hollywood came to the quiet village of Cong to film John Ford’s The Quiet Man starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara, a film the studio did not want to make but agreed after all three agreed to shoot a western for Republic Studios (Rio Grande). The tale of Sean Thornton (John Wayne) who returns to Ireland from America to reclaim his family’s farm in Inisfree, his tempestuous relationship with Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O’Hara) and her brother’s attempts to pull them apart.

Ford filmed the outdoor scenes in Counties Mayo and Galway including the grounds of picturesque Ashford Castle near Cong. Sixty years latter the movie still draws visitors to Cong, as they walk in John Wayne’s footsteps across the Irish countryside. In one memorable fight scene the protagonists conduct a rolling battle through the streets of Inisfree, a dying man leaps out of his death bed to watch the pugilists punch it out.

The movie garnered Republic Studios their only Best Picture Oscar nomination, and is an enduring favourite with fans.

For most tourists Cong is a quirky little stop to slip into a little movie history but it is also a perfect rest stop on the less travelled road between Galway and Westport via Leenane through the picturesque Connemara countryside.

Ashford Castle

Dying Man’s House.

Lawnmower Graveyard

Dallying in Dingle

I am a daylight atheist.

Brendan Behan

A full day to explore Dingle, bike and hike to Eask Tower, horse riding, search for Fungie in the harbour or visit Great Blasket Island – so many options for a single one day so we rose early, headed down to breakfast and saw the fog enshrouding the bay. Thoughts of hiking, biking or sailing dissipated as quickly as the boat disappeared into the foggy expanse, we dallied over a magnificent breakfast spread contemplating the sightseeing options closer to town. Perhaps we can risk a walk out to the harbour entrance to see the 19th Century folly?

The grey mist persisted until after lunch but we walked out to the harbour entrance and sat under the folly watching tour boats searching forlornly for Fungie the dolphin; no Fungie, no cost is their guarantee I think they made little money that day. The English fishing along the shore no doubt happy that the dolphin was not there to scare the fish away.

Back in town, we lingered over lunch and in St. Joseph’s Convent we listened to the narration explaining the illumination of master craftsman Harry Clark’s six stained glass windows depicting scenes of the life of Christ. Outside the Sisters lie together under the spreading boughs of an old tree, their service to God complete they rest eternally in their adopted home.

An interesting if bleak day but the sun did emerge to bring colour to our Dingle stay.

Shark?

Searching for Fungie

Sisters Last Resting Place

Kissane Farm – Of Dogs and Sheep

Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it’s awful.

Samuel Beckett

Visiting a working farm, seeing and hearing about their struggles opens your mind to the plight of modern farmers in the Western World. Once profitable commodities like wool have become drains on many small farms, sheep must sheared but the wool is worthless in a market demanding ever finer and cheaper wool from suppliers.

Kissane Farm is a larger operation than many Irish farms but it is tourism and crowd funding that keeps the farm from failure; meat, wool and other farm produce are almost the sideline markets. It is a common problem in small rural areas, large corporate farms have reduced prices to the point where independent farmers cannot make a living from their properties. Many fail, sell to the multi-nationals or hand the land over to their bankers before heading to the cities and a life away from the open spaces.

Sheep dog and shearing demonstrations, the sale of bespoke items and an intriguing Adopt a Sheep program all contribute to the Kissane Farm financial security. And hey, it was a great fun watching the dogs herd the sheep reacting to the shepard’s commands to bring them all home.

Shearing a ewe

Irish Sheep

Round them up

With a Song in my Heart

THAT crazed girl improvising her music.
Her poetry, dancing upon the shore…

W.B. Yeats

From traditional folk music to hard bitten rock anthems, Ireland is a country immersed in their music heritage and the rich tradition of live performance. We began our musical journey on a Musical Pub Crawl in Dublin, our guides explained the different styles, traditional instruments and taught us all to play the boot (stomping the beat). They encouraged us to bring our music to the evening, and Suzanne took up the challenge to share a song from her heart. The pub crawl is aimed at the tourists but it is a great introduction to the Irish folk traditions and the music you will encounter in every pub in Ireland.

In Kinsale, we headed to the local pubs and joined the locals as the belted out the gritty sometimes bawdy songs. While the tourists still outnumbered the locals (at least early in the evening), they played to their passions with strong voices and instrumental skills beyond their amateur status. Grab a Murphy’s (the preferred stout in County Cork), play the boot and if the mood takes you chime in to share a song from your home.

In Dingle, we visited Siopa Ceoil for an introduction to the Irish language from the music shop’s enthusiastic owner Michael Herlihy. Michael’s encyclopaedic knowledge and passion for Irish music is infectious, and he hosts intimate concerts in his shop featuring some of Ireland’s best musicians and dancers. We had the pleasure of seeing Niamh Varian-Barry from the acclaimed Irish-American band Solas play with her husband Peter Staunton, fresh from their honeymoon the interplay between them made the music simply magical. Throw in World Champion Irish dancer David Geaney, and you have the full evening of Irish entertainment.

Music is everywhere in Ireland, walking down Grafton St (Dublin) on our last tour day we stopped to listen to Mutefish a reggae folk ‘n punk band that started as a busking project on the streets of Dublin in 2007. Although the Irish folk music influence is unmistakable, the original band members all hail from Eastern Europe with Daithi (flute/tin whistle) joining them in 2010 to add some Irish authenticity to their unique sound. The only souvenir we brought home was a copy of Mutefish’s CD On Draught, a great accompaniment to our Irish photo memories.

Sausages Sausages Mash

Suzanne shares her music.

Musical Gathering in Kinsale

Dingle Music Magic

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