The Emerald Isle Adventure

8/9/2019 The Emerald Isle Adventure

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Romas Excellent Adventures, Part III:

The Emerald Isle

God invented whiskey so that Ireland would not rule the world

-Irish Proverb

In August, 2009 I traveled with my daughter, Maya, toIreland. This tiny, lush, island is about the size of Indianahousing 5.5 million people, about a million of whom arefrom the EU, especially Poles, Lithuanians, and Czechs.

In fact when I arrived in Dublin, afew days before Maya, I had trouble

finding people who were Irish. It wasa bit frustrating.

Ireland is an absolutely historicplace. It was first occupied byNeolithic peoples about 8000 BCfollowed by the Celts arriving about500 BC, then the Vikings (800-1100

AD) held sway, replaced by the Normans, (1160- 1536). KingHenry VII came in with a strong English influence from 1530, andThe Irish took back their lands from the English formally in 1923.

One question I asked resulted in an important answer. I took a tourof lovely Wicklow, the bogs, and was mesmerized by the Irish countryside (see wheatbelow). After I finished my tour, I asked how in Gods name the Irish could have starvedto death during the potato famine of 1846. The famine, caused by potato blight, lasteduntil 1852, took a million lives and lead to the mass emigration of hundreds of thousandsof Irish to the U.S.

My question was Ina land brimmingwith wheat, barley,

cows, sheep, andwith farmland sogreen irrigation wasnot even need, howcould the decline ofpotatoes impact somany? Why couldntother staples have

Celtic cross; aCeltic sun marriedwith St. Patricks

crucifix.


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taken up the slack? The answer will surprise you. It wasnt the potatoes so much as theEnglish. The English landowners thought the Irish were barbarians, treated them muchlike slaves, and they simply exported most of the food, leaving the Irish with rottenpotatoes to eat. The famine and starvation were fundamentallypolitical! It gives quite aninsight on why the Irish have an antipathy for the English to the point that they remained

neutral during World War II, and are still agitating to get them out of Northern Ireland.Imagine exporting most of the indigenous food for profit and leaving the peasants tostarve!

I enjoyed Dublins Temple Bar area, lots of pubs, right across from the Liffey River.While I was sitting, relaxing my achingfeet at Grogans pub (right), and havinga bit of wine, an old man said in themost charming Irish lilt Pardon me,my good friend, I dont want to disturbyou, but if you dont mind my

comment. I think you are a verycontented man, very happy. I can seecontentedness all across your face.Youll likely live to be a ripe old ageindeed. Made me feel good. Hehimself was 84.

People in Ireland are nice, exceptionally nice, sweet, and kind. In fact there is a bumpersticker that says Because Nice Matters

I made a bus tour of the Wicklow mountains and found some beautiful areas. In one spot

we stopped to look over a lake. This was the Guinness estate covering thousands of acresand two lakes. The water of the lake comes from the bogs and is colored a dark brown. Itis drinkableand pure butlooks like ahefty Guinnessstout. As amatter of fact,the Guinnessfamily, sotaken by the

lake, importedFrench sand soit would lookexactly like aGuinness stoutwith a foamytop. (See right).


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On the Wicklow mountains bus tour, we passed the sprawling homes of Daniel DayLewis and some other celebrities. We then stopped in a place where St. Kevin became ahermit. He lived in a cave, was loved by the local people, and farmers slowly started tosettle around him as he was believed to be holy with a special gift for treating sickanimals. These are photos of the lush vegetation on the way to St. Kevins cave, plus a

shot inside the 12

th

century church dedicated to him.


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But I digress. This story began not in the Wicklowmountains but in Dublin and its delightful and picturesquepubs.

The pubs are really as nice inside as out.

My adventure really began not in pubs but at Trinity Collegein the heart of Dublin

Built about 50 years after Columbus discovered America, thisProtestant College started admitting Catholics only in 1970.Its distinguished graduates include Samuel Beckett and scoresof others. I took a short historical tour of the place with aguide who had just escorted John Roberts, Chief Justice of theU.S. Supreme Court through the same winding tour. (Robertsdidnt leave a tip, by the way). Ireland is known as the land ofSaints and scholars. One story has it that playwright

Maya and her girlfriend, Kathy in front of St. John Gogartys pub.


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Brendan Behan was drunk riding home from a pub on a bus late at night. An irate ladysaid to him on the bus Youre a disgusting drunk! His reply: I may be drunk, buttomorrow Ill be sober, and youll still be ugly!

What intrigued me about this placewas the Long Room, a beautifulroom of over 200,000 books thephotographs of which alwaysintrigued me. Thats what drew methere. Trouble is, it doesnt look likethe photo. It is dark, dusty, poorlylit, and no one goes there since thebooks are over 200 years old, filednot be authors name or Deweydecimal number, but by size. So it

is virtually impossible to find abook. On top of that they wouldntallow photos. Skip Trinity if that iswhat is drawing you to this place.Trinitys famous alumni includeJonathan Swift, Samuel Beckett,Oscar Wilde, and one of my favoritephilosophers, George Berkley

Next stop was the Dublin Castle, the largest castle in Ireland,

in the heart of Dublin. A nice tour. I learned the meaning ofsaving face and losing face. Seems the ladies of the courtwore wax make-up. If they got too close to the fireplace, theylost face. If they stayed behind a fabric shield, they savedface.

Maya at Trinity College

All the choir of heaven and

urniture of earth - in a word,

all those bodies which compose

the frame of the world - havenot any subsistence without a

mind.George Berkeley


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The next day Maya arrived and we met in a sleek little village called Kilkenney about an

hour south of Dublin. It is known as the most picturesque village in all of Ireland. Westopped to see the cute Kilkenny Castle. (below)

But then we took off in a rented car on a road trip and our first stop, unexpected andunplanned, was a visit to the Jonathan Swift estate. Our Gullivers Travels author, theysay, was a bit mentally disturbed, but that is only a rumor. His estate covers probably 50acres, and the house, now owned by a German woman, was impressive. She invited us inand we liked the layout a lot (below).


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However, our major interest that day was in the Purcell castle. My mother, whose maidenname was Margaret Purcell, originally came from Ireland. Her grandfather was bornthere. So we asked where the Purcells were fromwe knew it was the Kilkenny areaand we learned that Montague Purcell built a castle in about 1380. After his death,

women were notallowed to ownproperty, so thewidow Purcellsbad brother put herin a nunnery andtook over thecastle.

We may bedescended in one

way or other fromthis DNA. Here isa picture of us infront of the PurcellCastle which isnow a youth hostel.Located outside ofKilkenny, its nowcalled Foulksrath,and the man in thephoto is Jack

Madden who tookthe time to tell usthe whole storyand was a delightto get to know.

Maya, me, and & Jack Madden at the Purcell Castle


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We departed the Purcell Castle and headed for a pre-historic monument I wanted to see.

This is a so-called capstone gravesite (although no one really knows what it really is).It is out in a wheat field, has been dated to 2500 BC, and the Neolithic people whoerected it managed to lift a 240,000 lb. stone into this mysterious configuration. Funnything is that if you look hither andyon, all you see are fields, no rocks,no hills, no quarries, no rocks of anykind. So how did they get this rockand deliver it to this site? No answersat this time. The site is calledBrownes Hill Dolmen

Maya inside Purcell Castle

Two prehistoric sites (dolmens) also found in Denmark and France. We visited theone on the right


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Maya and I then journeyed to where Jims wife, Veronica, was born. Veronica died twoyears ago and was born in a small Irish village called Graigenemanah (pronounced GregNamanah). It was only about 30 miles from where my mothers family originated in the

Purcell Castle (go figure!). We had no

anticipation that we would be able toactually find Veronicas house, but wewent to a pub and said Do any of youknow the Crowleys; VeronicaCrowleys father was a constable hereabout 50 years ago. Of course wedo! they said, and we were escortedto Veronicas place of her birth, tookphotos, and met a guy named LiamFoley, a friend of her brother, Michael.He showed us around, plus a bicycle

he made himself entirely out of wood (includingthe chain).


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Random things:

Of course there are things that just come out at random, so here goes.

1. Bog Man. I went to the museumof natural history and was looking for BogMan, an almost perfectly preservedNeolithic orCeltic manwho hadbeen buriedin the bog.Here is theupper half

of his torso,skin andfingernailsintact. Roughly 2,000 years old.

2. Churches : The major cathedrals of Dublin were St. Patricks and Christ Church,both Anglican. I took a liking to another, however, not listed on the brochures, St.Augustines. It was stately and even more ornate inside.


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3. Guinness: We went to the Guinness breweryfor an incredibly interesting tour. Itsadvertising room alone is worth the visit: very

creative and ingenious commercials downthrough the ages. The Brewery is celebratingits 250th year. Arthur Guinness signed a leasefor the land for 45 pounds per year for 9,000years! The copy of that unusual lease isproudly displayed in the brewery.

We tasted draft, stout, and extra stout. About3.6 billion pints are downed every day, and itwas a delight. Trouble is I dont like the taste.As you can see Maya felt differently.

4. Dublins shopping streets. We didnt frequent these shops much, but there are loadsof beautiful and crowded shopping streets that are filled with people, street musicians,and mimes. The guy painted black was singularly impressive!


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5. The Irish literary tradition. Home or birthplace

to Dylan Thomas, Samuel Beckett, Oscar Wilde,James Joyce, Jonathan Swift, and Brendan Behan,you see frequent reminders in the sidewalk or onpanes of glass, quotations, spread throughout thecity. This one from James Joyces Ulysses isembedded in the sidewalk.

6. Obamas health plan. I met a man on a bus whosaid that he lived in San Francisco for 20 years. Hehad a heart attack, insufficient medical insurance,and it cost him $70,000. He had to sell his property

and move back to Ireland. He likes it here better hesaid.

7. Smokey and Corky. My Irish uncle, Jerome, Uncle Jerry was my namesake. Heused to call my brother Corky and me Smokey when we were 3 and 5 years old. Mybrother, as an adult, developed a slightaddiction to alcohol (Corky), and cigarettes,rather than alcohol, grabbed me by thebullocks thus the name Smokey. UncleJerry had incredible foresight. So when Isaw a pub called Korky, I couldnt resist.

7. Favorite area and time. My best spotwas near Powerscourt, a shopping area with agood vibe, and I truly enjoyed resting from my walking tours and having an afternoonread and wine near Temple Bar.

8. Food: Ate traditional Irish dishes (Irish stew, about 4 times, bangers and mash(sausages and mashed potato), and my favorite, cottage pie (basically shepherds piemade from beef). Mayas friends, Kathy & Vinnie, went out with us and Vinnie hadCoddle, an interesting an tasty blend of sausages, vegetables, and cream. Best beer wasSmithwicks at a pub in Kilkenny called Duiskes. Best desert also at Duiskes pub: bread,

ice cream and butterscotch. Incredible!


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9. Just pretty things. I took pictures of pubs and buildings which I liked, just because I

thought they were pretty. Here are a few.


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10. Ballykissangel/ Avoca

On my bus trip through theWicklow mountains westopped in a quaint villagecalled Avoca. This is wherethey film Ballykissangel, aBBC-PBS TV program.Everyone in the little town hasbeen an extra in the on-goingseries. Cute little place.

8. Poland. There are many EU citizens in Dublin, and I wassingularly impressed with how many poles there were, includingPolish stores and markets. Heres one celebrating my 50% PolishDNA right in the heart of my Irish DNA:


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8. Comedy club. On our last evening, Maya and I went to a comedy club. We had to waitfor an hour, so we sat in a pub across the street and Maya peppered me for whichfashions I liked and which I didnt. An interesting game to play as you people watch.

The comedy was exceptional. A perfect end to the trip.

So its time to say goodbye to this little adventure. How better than to put in a bit of theIrish harp and shamrock.


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If me aunt had any balls, shed be me uncle!

The Emerald Isle Adventure

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