From Dublin to Cork

Remember when Ryanair wouldn't let us on the flight because we didn't have the right visa checks - and we said 'never again' - well we meant it, except for this trip to Dublin which we had booked prior to the earlier fiasco. But now it is 'never, ever again'. We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare only to find that the counter wasn't open for our visa stamp. So, we waited, and stood in line and then was told one stamp wasn't good enough, we had to go across to another queue for another stamp. Eventually after a huge sigh of relief, we lowered ourselves into the narrow seat of a Boeing 737-800 and once the doors had closed and we were bound for the sky we foolishly thought "O.k. maybe it wasn't so bad after all". Oh so wrong.... after another great weekend in Dublin we arrived at the airport to be told that I needed another boarding pass as they wouldn't accept any other name except the one on the photo page. My passport is endorsed with my maiden name and we've never had any trouble before. So, no we didn't argue but went to stand in another queue for a new boarding pass. Some time later arriving at the front of the queue the check in person said "No the other person was wrong and you don't need a new boarding pass after all". She wrote all over the other stamp and my boarding pass, stamped it once again and told us to go on our merry way. Harry was flying back to Bristol and I to Leeds and we left each other wondering if I would make it across the ditch. After another couple of people scrutinising my passport, boarding pass and photo far longer than necessary they finally allowed me to board. I caught a train back to Bristol on Wednesday...
I've always enjoyed Ireland. There is something about the country that just lightens the senses - its visually attractive in a quaint sort of way with lots of colour, tasty with lots of Guinness and food, and great on the airs with lots of music. Ireland paints there houses and buildings - just like in Kiwi land. It doesn't matter that they are colours we'd never chose for our house - they are just such a stark contrast to England where it is rare to see painted stone or stucco. One of our first stops was Cobh - not far from Cork. Once upon a time it was called Queenstown - presumably the Queen may have visited - but for some time now has reverted back to its Gaelic name. It still is in many ways the ' Queenstown of Southern Ireland', but there is little in common with the postcard scenes we see of Queenstown, New Zealand. Cobh was however, one of the many places where boats sailed for America and down under with the poor Irish during the famine years. From the top of the hill we looked across to the Cathedral and down the valley of terraced houses to the promenade and sea front. On the quayside there is a memorial to the those who drowned in the Lusitania disaster as many were buried in the local church cemetery, and those lucky enough to survive the German submarine hit were bought back to the town. One could think there was something about this peaceful little port, as it was also the last port of call before the Titanic sailed across the Atlantic. As I stood on the shores it was difficult to imagine that many of the 6 million Irish stood here waiting for their chance of a new life, away from poverty and starvation - I guess the expectation of a better life somewhere else, or perhaps they had no choice. I found this lovely story of Annie Moore on the web, and since she and her brothers now are immortalised in a statue in Cobh I thought it worth repeating.
Loving and Leaving Ireland http://www.coedu.usf.edu/culture/Story/Story_Ireland.htm

"It was December in 1891. Annie Moore stood in line with her two younger brothers, Philip and Anthony. They were waiting to board the SS Nevada, a ship that would take them from Ireland to New York. Annie's red hair blew in the breeze and tears fell from her green eyes. She could not believe they were leaving their Irish homeland. Annie wondered if she would ever return to the "Emerald Isle." She cried thinking that she might never see the beautiful green valleys again. Would she be able to eat Irish stew in America? Would they continue to celebrate St. Patrick's Day? There were many questions going through her head.Yet, she knew she had to get on the ship. Even though she was sad, she was also excited about seeing her parents again. They had gone to America two years earlier with her older brother. It would be wonderful to have the whole family together. Her parents had jobs in New York. They did not like the big city, but they had an apartment and enough money for food and clothing. Life was better than it had been in Ireland, and they could go to the Catholic Church. Annie and her brothers were on the ship for 12 days. They were in steerage class, which meant they were in a large room with many other people. The ship was crowded, and the food was poor. Annie watched her brothers very closely to make sure they were safe. The people in steerage class did not get to go on the deck very much. It was very cold on the ship. Many people got seasick. On January 1st, 1892, the ship reached New York. The Statue of Liberty welcomed them as they sailed into the harbor. It was a beautiful sight and everyone cheered and cried. Annie was very happy that the trip was almost over. Then the captain announced that the ship would dock at Ellis Island. Everyone who was in good health would fill out forms to stay in America. Annie was the first one off the ship. She was very surprised when an official gave her a $10 gold piece. At first she didn't understand. She had never seen so much money, and did not know why he gave it to her. He explained that Ellis Island was new, and the $10 was a gift to the first person off the ship. As an extra bonus, Annie realized it was her 15th birthday! And so it happened that Annie became the first immigrant to land on the newly-opened Ellis Island. Now, over 100 years later, a statue of Annie and her brothers stands on Ellis Island (which is now a museum). A similar statue can be found in Cobh, Ireland, where they began their voyage. Since then, over 17 million people have entered the United States through Ellis Island".

We started our trip along the south coast in Cork where we wandered the streets for a while, listened to buskers of all ages (elderly woman playing the flute, father and primary school son on guitars, university students earning a few cents playing cello and violin, and middle aged men pretending to be statues or raising money for a worthwhile cause). Having a coffee in 25 or so degree heat and listening to music seemed almost idyllic and so we didn't move far fast, and then eventually wandered up one street full of sports shops (Munster country) and music shops, and through the old market back to the car park.
Then it was off to Blarney for the night - where we stayed in the Blarney Woollen Mills Hotel. The mills were originally built in 1824 and produced many of the tweeds and woollens that the Irish and the rest of the world wore and still wear today. There are shops all around Ireland (we know this as the road map we had were sponsored by the Blarney Woollen Mills). It sounds as though these mills provided a lot of employment to the locals and in 1928, Christy Kelleher who was 13 started working firstly as an apprentice machinist and then as a supervisor of the running and maintenance of the heavy industrial machinery for 22 years. He must have had a creative streak as during the war when many parts were not available he continued to keep the machines working. In 1951 Christy left the mills and ventured to the city where he continued his business creativity and worked for an insurance company, ran a cinema and dance hall, as well as providing a 'vegetable round'. He returned to Blarney and opened a little souvenir shop - a little thatched cottage on wheels. Christy saw his old employer slowly decline and stop, the building slowly decaying over time and decided to buy the buildings he had worked in as a boy and turn it not into the mill that provided his employment as a young man, but a tourist centre and hotel. As an employee he was only allowed to enter through the side gate, so the first thing he did was take down the iron gate so that ordinary folk could enter through the main entrance.
The hotel is just across the road from Blarney Castle (yes we visited another castle!!). Who could resist the castle that is home to the Blarney stone? To get to the castle we wandered along a little stream and through a tree lined garden. In the grounds is the Rock Close - that was the former place for Druid worship (we get the connection now - Druids used snakes in their worship - St Patrick banned snakes from Ireland - and that is why Rathlin Island is Irish and not Scottish - the jigsaw puzzle pieces begin to fit together). We wandered around the remains of rocks, old tombs and stones, sacrificial altars, old witches kitchen as well as some Japanese bamboo trees, magnolias, Siberian dogwood and weeping willows as well as past Blarney House. But it was really the Castle we had come to see and the Blarney Stone where if kissed, you are granted the 'Gift of Eloquence'. The castle was built in the 1200's, and with many stairways looking like the original we had fun climbing to the top (or pulling ourselves up on a strategically placed rope). Like many castles, it suffered a number of fates like fire, demolition, attack, but became a family home sometime during its life when the Irish were chucked out of their own properties as they weren't allowed to own property. The 'Kiss of Eloquence' stone is at the top, up all those steps and around the top. If you can pull yourself away from the great views and lie on your back you can lower yourself down to the stone to kiss it. I struggled, and didn't make it as it seemed to me an impossible task for someone of my stature - and I wasn't too keen on hitting my head on the iron railings strategically placed to stop me falling four storeys to the ground. The stone, is thought to be one half of the Stone of Scone which originally belonged to Scotland. For some reason it is meant to have special powers and if you kiss it you become more eloquent (haven't noticed improvements in Harry or Caramello powers of speech yet but maybe the changes are gradual). Anyway, Harry and Caramello are in good company as for 200 years or so lots of people have also spread their germs like Francis Sylvester Mahony who later was heard to say (eloquently I might add)

'There is a stone that whoever kisses,
Oh! he never misses to grow eloquent
'Tis he may clamber to a lady's chamber,
Or become a member of parliament.'

Anyway to make me feel a bit better about not kissing the Blarney stone and not having the opportunity to becoming more eloquent than I already am I would like to tell you that the Blarney stone is one of the top 5 germiest places in the world - having over 400,000 pairs of lips kissing it each year (I'm watching Harry and Caramello closely I tell you). The other four germiest places in the world are:

• Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood - where millions touch the hand prints of the famous each year (yes we couldn't resist it), and probably very busy at the moment as many come to pay tribute to one of the great dancers Patrick Swayze.
• Wall of Gum, in Seattle, Washington. I have a feeling this has become one of my 'must see' places. The wall is beside the Market Theatre in Post Alley and once the authorities tried to remove the bubble gum from the walls, placed there by bored theatre goers waiting to enter to see a show (I wonder who the first person who did it was). Eventually cleaners tired of the task and now people come to see bright colors , tons of textures, and take interesting photos as well as to see the shows.
• Oscar Wilde's tomb in Paris which is apparently covered in lipstick - not sure why when some of his quotes I've managed to find include:

"A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her".
"Music makes one feel so romantic - at least it always gets on one's nerves - which is the same thing nowadays".
"Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same".
"I am the only person in the world I should like to know thoroughly".
"A man's face is his autobiography. A woman's face is her work of fiction".
"I see when men love women. They give them but a little of their lives. But women when they love give everything".
"Women are made to be loved, not understood".
"There is nothing so difficult to marry as a large nose".
"To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance".
"Most modern calendars mar the sweet simplicity of our lives by reminding us that each day that passes is the anniversary of some perfectly uninteresting event".

• St Marks Square in Venice - pigeons - need I say more (and yes there were a lot of them and we weren't allowed to picnic - but I can see the point).

On Sunday we drove slowly back through the Irish countryside. We had one thing on our mind - to go to Tipperary (I got the impression before we went that there wasn't a lot there and on a Sunday morning my impression was absolutely right!). But you know when you've sung a song about a place for many years, you just have to go there. It is more disappointing to read that the
sweetheart of the song wasn't really in Tipperary at all. Jack Judge and Harry Williams wrote the song in 1912 - history says (and history is always written after the event) that Jack accepted a bet to write a song over night - and it out came the famous "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" - it is doubtful he had ever been there he just needed a name with four syllables to go with the tune. It was popular from the start and many a marching soldier sang the song on the way to the Western Front. Law suits were around even in those times and in 1917, a Miss Alice Smyth Burton Jay sued the song publishers claiming that they had stolen her song written in 1908, for a fair promoting the Washington apple industry - she wrote "I'm on my way to Yakima". Somehow I can just see the judges trying to sing those words to the well known tune and dismissing the case (actually it wasn't trying to get their tongue around the words that won the day for Harry and Jack, but that the two song writers had never been to Seattle and the two songs weren't that similar according to experts of the day). Back to the sweetheart - she didn't exist the song is all about the Irish feeling homesick while living in London...

Up to mighty London came
An Irish lad one day,
All the streets were paved with gold,
So everyone was gay!
Singing songs of Piccadilly,
Strand, and Leicester Square,
'Til Paddy got excited and
He shouted to them there:

It's a long way to Tipperary,
It's a long way to go.
It's a long way to Tipperary
To the sweetest girl I know!
Goodbye Piccadilly,
Farewell Leicester Square!
It's a long long way to Tipperary,
But my heart's right there.

Paddy wrote a letter
To his Irish Molly O',
Saying, "Should you not receive it,
Write and let me know!
If I make mistakes in "spelling",
Molly dear", said he,
"Remember it's the pen, that's bad,
Don't lay the blame on me".

It's a long way to Tipperary,
It's a long way to go.

And then on to the Rock of Cashel which for some reason is associated with the snake banner St. Patrick. It's name means "stone fort" and it is that all right, imposingly sitting on top of the hill over looking 3 other old priories and the town.

And just because I like Ireland here are some of my favourite photos of the weekend (the last two are of postcards which I have sent home).
During the week we went to 'Beyond the Barricade'. I am known to be quite critical of shows - I know I shouldn't be because I certainly couldn't do half as well dancing, singing and acting as those on stage. So, it is a real compliment with I say 'Beyond the Barricade' was exceptionally good. It has toured the country for 10 years, and when Harry suggested we went we really had no idea what to expect - and we got 4 singers and 3 musicians led by Andy Reiss, who has starred in lots of musicals including Les Miserables and The Rocky Horror Show. So from Les Miserables, and where the group get their name from ...

Lost in the valley of the night? It is the music of a people Who are climbing to the light... Will you join in our crusade? Who will be strong and stand with me? Somewhere beyond the barricade Is there a world you long to see? Do you hear the people sing? Say, do you hear the distant drums? It is the future that they bring When tomorrow comes!

and from the Little Shop of Horrors
Lift up your head Wash off your mascara Here, take my Kleenex Wipe that lipstick away Show me your face, clean as the mornin' I know things were bad, but now they're okay Suddenly Seymour is standin' beside you You don't need no makeup, don't have to pretend Suddenly Seymour is here to provide you Sweet understanding Seymour's your friend

The trip to Leeds was full of work but it was worth going. We had meals in the hotel both nights - first was great (a vegetarian pasta), but the last night there were only the 2 of us, the other 8 had gone home. We decided to try their special meal. The vegetable soup was too salty (we decided not to say anything because we thought the cook might spit in our next course), but the second course was equally terrible and not edible - gluggy instant gravy, and solid instant mashed potato) - how could they ruin Belgian Waffles we asked (hard as rock and couldn't be broken by a spoon) - so after three unfinished courses the waiter had enough courage to ask "if everything was o.k" and we just had to say 'It was actually a very disappointing meal' - we got 20% off and some free drinks - all we wanted was a nice meal. It was nice weather and I had a wander along the canal one evening...