| Days Like These By Malcolm Rogers
Ireland could never be accused of not offering plenty to do for travellers
of all ages. Malcolm Rogers recommends a selection of days out for those
visiting the Emerald Isle.
Go to a seisún
Visit one of the longest running traditional seisúns in the world at
the Village Inn in Forkhill, south Armagh. They’ve been going strong for
the last 30 years (Tuesday nights).
Get the lowdown on the GAA
The GAA is a truly unique feature of Irish life, and Croke Park is a
monument to this amazing body. The fourth largest stadium in Europe, it
regularly attracts crowds in excess of most World Cup gates. The stadium
itself is worth seeing, and inside are exhibits and touchscreen technology
which recreate historic moments from all the Gaelic sports. (Tel: 00 353
(1) 855 8176 www.gaa.ie).
Act the goat on Cape Clear Island
On dramatically beautiful Cape Clear Island, West Cork, you can learn
to love one of humankind’s oldest friends. For many years Cleire Goats farm
has welcomed visitors with little or no experience of the goat offering
practical courses in goat husbandry. Against the stunning backdrop of Roaring
Water Bay and the West Cork coastline, these woolly goats could become close
friends, helping to melt away stress. (E-mail
goat@iol.ie.
www.emara.com/goats,
tel: 00 353 (0)28 39126).
PS Don’t expect to lose weight — the farm makes its own delicious ice
cream — with goat’s milk, of course.
Mountain-boarding in the Mournes
This is snow-boarding on wheels, just as white-knuckle as the icy variety.
At Surfin’ Dirt near Kilcoo in the very heart of the Mournes, you can build
up to the really hair-raising stuff by starting out on the grassy nursery
slopes, feet strapped to your all-terrain board — it even comes with a very
welcome handbrake.
Within an hour you’ll be able to handle spectacular “power-sliding” moves
— set against the magnificent panorama of the Mourne Mountains. An hour
costs £10. Tel: 07739 210119,
www.surfindirt.co.uk.
Boys’ toys at Clandeboye
The Land Rover Experience Centre in Clandeboye —
www.landrover.com/experien
(tel: 0870 264 4457) — will allow you to thrash along forestry roads, splash
through mud pools and rev your Land Rover up slippery slopes and through
shallow fords. A half-day course for groups of up to four costs £200 per
vehicle.
Visit a PSNI station
The old RUC station in Dungannon occupies a tall 19th century castle
with imitation machicolations (projecting apertures for dropping missiles
on attackers, a tactic no longer used by the peelers up North). There is
a very strong local belief that the plans from which the police station
were built were originally intended for a fort in the Khyber Pass, but sent
in error to builders in Dungannon owing to a mistake by a clerk in Dublin.
It would be fair to point out that this story occurs in several places in
Ireland — but Dungannon’s fort really does look the business.
Visit a Garda station
Or the Garda Museum, to be more exact. The Garda Síochána Archives are
housed in the Record Tower of Dublin Castle (tel: 00 353 (1) 666 9989
www.policehistory.com).
The museum contains a vast amount of archival material relating to the setting
up of the State police force, as well as its predecessors the Royal Irish
Constabulary and the Dublin Metropolitan Police. And a Garda officer won’t
come up to you and say: “Alright, move along please. There’s nothing to
see here.” Because there’s plenty to see. Admission is free.
Have a blast on the Blaskets
Off Slea Head at the top of Dingle Bay lie the Blaskets. Now uninhabited,
the four-mile-long Great Blasket has magnificent sea cliffs along its western
side, dropping vertically a thousand feet into the Atlantic. This is the
island of writers Peig Sayers, Maurice O’Sullivan and Thomas O’Crohan, and
it’s not difficult to imagine how this dramatic landscape would awaken the
writing muse within anyone.
A holy enjoyable place
Contemplate on Holy Island, Co. Clare, some 300 metres from the Mountshannon
shore. Inis Cealtra is home to remarkable ancient church buildings and monuments.
It is one of Ireland’s most peaceful and extensive early monastic sites
at the mouth of Scariff Bay in Lough Derg, the largest of the Shannon lakes.
Unique among the site’s riches is the “Confessional”, or Anchorites’ cell.
Even if you have limited interest in historical buildings the atmosphere
on this place will clutch at your soul.
Go and visit Charles Laughton
Killadeas, Co. Fermanagh, a village facing the island-studded Lough Erne,
is home to `a chapel belonging to the Culdees, or missionary monks of Devenish.
Sometimes known as the Yellow Church, in the graveyard stands the Bishop’s
Stone (9th-10th century). Here you can see the stooped figure of a monk
holding a crook and bell near a carving of a plump face with a moustache,
which bears a striking resemblance to film star Charles Laughton. You can
just imagine him, Hunchback style, shouting: “Sanctuary! Sanctuary!”
Have your timbers shivered
Call of the Sea Visitor Centre in Castletownbere, Co. Cork (tel: 00 353
(0) 27 7083) holds a wonderful treasure of local history to thrill adult
and kid alike. Using multi-sensory and interactive equipment, the story
of the Beara region is brought to life. Visitors hear Murty Óg O’Sullivan,
a local pirate, tell his life story as well as what it’s like being at sea
during a thunderstorm. If you want your swash well and truly buckled, this
is the place to go.
Take a photo of Fota
Fota Island is located on the northern shore of Cork harbour, some 12km
east of Cork City and 7km from the town of Cobh. Fota House, with its neo-classical
perfection, was originally the home of the Smith-Barry family from the mid-18th
century up until 1975. The arboretum, of international repute for its collection
of rare species from as far away as China and the Himalayas, is today open
to the public. The 700 acre estate also boasts a Wildlife Park which concentrates
on breeding and re-introducing animals to their natural habitat.
All aboard!
Visit the Fry Model Railway, at Malahide Castle Demesne, Co. Dublin (tel:
00 353 (0) 1 846 3779). The collection is a unique slice of Irish transport,
presented in imaginative fashion. Situated in the exquisite grounds of Malahide
Castle, the exhibition features beautifully engineered models from a collection
originally built up in the 1920s and 1930s by Cyril Fry, a railway engineer
and draughtsman. The trains run on a Grand Transport Complex which includes
villages, stations, bridges and the River Liffey. For kids and overgrown
kids alike.
Splish-splashing in Donegal
Waterworld in Bundoran (tel: 00 353 (0) 71 9841172) offers water adventure
for everybody in the family. Facilities include huge chutes, high towers,
whitewater rapids, giant waves, sea-baths, sunbeds and solarium.
A religious experience in Cork
Head for the hills to say your prayers at St. Finbarr’s Oratory in Gouganebarra,
Cork. To the north-east of the Pass of Keimaneigh, set on the shores of
romantic mountain lake of Gougane Barra, this place is tranquillity personified.
Overlooking the lough is an ancient graveyard, much venerated in former
times, St. Finbarr’s Well and a cluster of monk’s buildings.
Silver prospects in Galway
Visit Ireland’s only Irish mine with shafts and tunnels open to the public.
Glengowla Silver Lead Mines, heritage and visitor centre is located just
two miles from Oughterard on the Clifden Road (N59). You can see the workings
of this abandoned mine with an underground trip to view the large marble
chamber and mineral studded caverns (Tel: 00 353 (0) 91 552360).
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