0:00:03 > 0:00:07For Victorian Britons, George Bradshaw was a household name.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10At a time when railways were new,
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Bradshaw's guidebook inspired them to take to the tracks.
0:00:15 > 0:00:20I'm using a Bradshaw's guide to understand how trains transformed Britain
0:00:20 > 0:00:25and Ireland, their landscape, industry, society and leisure time.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28As I follow its roots 130 years later,
0:00:28 > 0:00:31it helps me to discover these islands today.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58At the time of this 1882 edition of Bradshaw's guide,
0:00:58 > 0:01:01Ireland was part of the United Kingdom.
0:01:01 > 0:01:06But because its population had been drastically reduced by famine and
0:01:06 > 0:01:11emigration, many Irish resented British rule.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15I'll be interested, on this rail journey, to see how Irish culture
0:01:15 > 0:01:17strengthened during this period,
0:01:17 > 0:01:22with a new devotion to the Irish language and Irish sports and national
0:01:22 > 0:01:26pride celebrated on the harp and the fiddle,
0:01:26 > 0:01:33in song and in dance, and in literature and poetry that rejoiced in the
0:01:33 > 0:01:35loveliness of this Emerald Isle.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48My Irish journey begins in the south-east.
0:01:48 > 0:01:53I travel north to the political capital and cultural centre of Dublin,
0:01:53 > 0:01:55then cross the country westwards,
0:01:55 > 0:02:00delving into the core of Irish identity and Victorian ingenuity
0:02:00 > 0:02:04before ending on the wild Atlantic coast in County Mayo.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11Today's route starts in the old port of Wexford.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15I'll travel through the musical valleys around Arklow northwards to
0:02:15 > 0:02:19County Wicklow, where a trot around the surrounding hills ends this leg.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26'Along the way, I take to the seas in a hundred-year-old lifeboat...'
0:02:27 > 0:02:30It's wonderful to feel the sense of teamwork...
0:02:31 > 0:02:35..as I pull the oars with this wonderful crew.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38'..learn of a much-forgotten political poet...'
0:02:38 > 0:02:42He deserves to be remembered as someone who spoke up for Irish culture and
0:02:42 > 0:02:47Irish political rights at a very, very dark time.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50'..and abandon the trains for a taste of the travelling life.'
0:02:50 > 0:02:53Reins in hand, and we're all ready.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05My first port of call will be Wexford.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09The guidebook tells me it's the capital of a county of that name
0:03:09 > 0:03:11at the mouth of the River Slaney.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15Steamers from here to Bristol and Liverpool.
0:03:15 > 0:03:20Many Victorian travellers arriving from England would have started their
0:03:20 > 0:03:24journey here and would have been struck by the town's relationship with
0:03:24 > 0:03:30the sea, which was to have an extraordinary influence across the ocean.
0:03:36 > 0:03:41Wexford was a transport hub for Victorians travelling between England and
0:03:41 > 0:03:43Ireland on the steam ferries.
0:03:44 > 0:03:49The quayside railway station opened in 1874, a decade before my guidebook,
0:03:49 > 0:03:54as part of the Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford railway linking this port to
0:03:54 > 0:03:55the capital.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01I'm meeting historian Jarlath Glynn.
0:04:05 > 0:04:06Michael, welcome to Wexford.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Thank you very much. The town is looking absolutely gorgeous and you've
0:04:09 > 0:04:11got the bunting out. You've got a festival going on?
0:04:11 > 0:04:13We have. Wexford Maritime Festival.
0:04:13 > 0:04:14It's in its fifth year.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18And it celebrates all things maritime and Wexford.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21And I notice you've got a lot of lifeboat posters up today.
0:04:21 > 0:04:22So you have a lifeboat, do you?
0:04:22 > 0:04:26We have a lifeboat. We've one here just behind us at Wexford Bridge and
0:04:26 > 0:04:27we've another one in Kilmore Quay.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29And there are lifeboats from England,
0:04:29 > 0:04:32Scotland and Wales here today to join our celebrations.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34And it's a great institution,
0:04:34 > 0:04:37saved so many lives, and the volunteers are wonderful.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41And here in Ireland, it's still known as the RNLI,
0:04:41 > 0:04:43R being for Royal.
0:04:43 > 0:04:44Yes, that has continued.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48I suppose that's surprising, but I think, because they do such marvellous work,
0:04:48 > 0:04:49that the name has just continued.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52I'm not sure people pay any attention to the name now.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01Wexford has had a lifeboat station since 2002.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06This life-saving service is celebrated as part of the festival.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12We gather to bless these boats and all those who sail in them.
0:05:12 > 0:05:17- BOTH:- God of love, at the beginning of time, your spirit hovered over the deep.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20And from these oceans, you brought forth life.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22We ask your blessing on these boats
0:05:22 > 0:05:26and all who will work and travel in them.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33I've donned this life jacket because I've been given the privilege of
0:05:33 > 0:05:37riding with the oarsmen today on the lifeboat.
0:05:37 > 0:05:38Hi, guys. Can I come aboard?
0:05:38 > 0:05:40Yes, of course you can.
0:05:40 > 0:05:41Thank you.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45This oar is tremendously heavy.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47I'm a bit nervous. I just have to follow what the others do.
0:05:47 > 0:05:48Oars in, lads.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52Away and pull.
0:05:56 > 0:05:57Pull.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01This hundred-year-old lifeboat and its crew are visiting from Whitby in
0:06:01 > 0:06:06England, where lifeboats have been operating for over 200 years.
0:06:07 > 0:06:12Since the foundation of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1824,
0:06:12 > 0:06:17its crews have saved over 139,000 lives.
0:06:18 > 0:06:24I'm concentrating like mad on trying to keep the same rhythm as my fellow
0:06:24 > 0:06:26experienced oarsmen.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Rowing boats like this set the standard until the 1850s.
0:06:33 > 0:06:34To feel the sense of teamwork...
0:06:35 > 0:06:39..as I pull the oars with this wonderful crew.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50Get rid of the blue oars, please.
0:06:50 > 0:06:51Thank you.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54Michael, would you like a drop?
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Oh, I would. Thank you, cheers.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00- You're welcome.- What a very lovely crew this is.
0:07:02 > 0:07:03Well done!
0:07:03 > 0:07:05Ah! I could row the Atlantic now.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12Wexford's maritime history goes back to the Vikings,
0:07:12 > 0:07:16who named the place Veisafjoror, meaning Inlet of the Mudflats.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20It's long been a busy fishing harbour and, since the 18th century,
0:07:20 > 0:07:23it's also been an important trading port.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28This strong maritime culture spawned one of the town's most famous sons.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35Commodore John Barry, United States Navy.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40- Who was he?- John Barry has been described as a Wexford-born American hero.
0:07:40 > 0:07:45He was born in South Wexford in the mid-1740s,
0:07:45 > 0:07:47he came from a maritime background.
0:07:47 > 0:07:53And he emigrated to the United States at the age of 14 and he started as a
0:07:53 > 0:07:55cabin boy, started at the lowest ranks,
0:07:55 > 0:07:57and worked his way up to the highest ranks.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59And he became a commercial sea captain.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04At the start of the American War of Independence,
0:08:04 > 0:08:08commercial sea captains were drafted in to fight the British.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12Loyal to his new nation, John Barry commanded numerous warships,
0:08:12 > 0:08:13winning crucial victories,
0:08:13 > 0:08:17including the final sea battle of the revolution against the British
0:08:17 > 0:08:18in 1783.
0:08:19 > 0:08:24He became a naval hero and President George Washington appointed him
0:08:24 > 0:08:28senior captain of the United States' new naval force.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32How was he recognised for those achievements?
0:08:32 > 0:08:36He was given the title Father of the American Navy and he is really
0:08:36 > 0:08:37recognised in America.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41Four US destroyers named after him, and the two American presidents have come
0:08:41 > 0:08:45here to lay wreaths at this statue.
0:08:45 > 0:08:50Dwight Eisenhower came in 1962 and the following year, of course, John F Kennedy
0:08:50 > 0:08:54came to Ireland because his ancestors come from Dunganstown
0:08:54 > 0:08:55outside New Ross.
0:08:55 > 0:09:00And he came to Wexford town in June 1963, and people are still talking
0:09:00 > 0:09:02about it.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06Should we be surprised that Wexford produced a naval hero of global
0:09:06 > 0:09:08- significance?- No, not really.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13Wexford has always had a very proud maritime tradition and Wexford has
0:09:13 > 0:09:14always looked out to the sea.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22Before I leave, there's just time for a quick peek in the food tent,
0:09:22 > 0:09:25where some rather unusual local produce has caught my eye.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32- Hello, there. - Good day, sir. Michael, and I'm another Michael here.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34Michael, it's very nice to see you.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37- And you too, fella.- I imagine Wexford's pretty famous for seafood.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39It's absolutely, yeah. We're obviously by the coast.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41That's a seafood sausage, if you want to try one.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44- A seafood sausage?- It's salmon and haddock and herbs and spices.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47They're gluten-free, they're high in Omega-3 oil, low in fat,
0:09:47 > 0:09:49seriously healthy. What do you think?
0:09:49 > 0:09:50Well, I think they're wonderful.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54- Yeah.- They are delicious and, may I say, you are the best-dressed man here today?
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Well, I think you beat me on that one, sir. Fair dos to you.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59- No, no, no, no!- Thank you very much. - Thank you.- Cheers.- Bye-bye.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01Bacon marmalade, that's intriguing.
0:10:06 > 0:10:07It's very nice.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10- Thank you.- It seems very strange, bacon and marmalade,
0:10:10 > 0:10:13- but it works very well. Have a good day.- Thank you very much.- Thank you.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26I'm leaving County Wexford and heading north up the coast to the very
0:10:26 > 0:10:27scenic county of Wicklow.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36The arrival of the railways opened up this region to the 19th-century
0:10:36 > 0:10:41traveller, who could enjoy the view from the window, just as I do today.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51This is a beautiful train ride.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54The guidebook says, "The greater part of this county is mountainous.
0:10:54 > 0:11:00"Towards the sea coast, it assumes great splendour and variety of scenery.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03"The railway can be taken to the famed Vale of Avoca,"
0:11:03 > 0:11:06or meeting point of the waters.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09And where the gurgling stream meets the babbling brook,
0:11:09 > 0:11:11you can expect sweet music.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26I'm alighting at the town of Arklow.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34It's the closest station to the Vale of Avoca, mentioned in my Bradshaw's,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37which became a popular destination for Victorian tourists.
0:11:39 > 0:11:44It's where the River Avonmore meets the River Avonbeg, and where I'm meeting
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Maynooth University professor of English Emer Nolan.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54Emer, hello.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56Michael, welcome to County Wicklow.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59Thank you very much. So, the waters meet here.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03- What makes them so famous?- This is the setting for a very,
0:12:03 > 0:12:09very famous Irish song, composed by Thomas Moore in the, er...
0:12:09 > 0:12:1019th century.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14It became one of the most popular musical pieces for performance in
0:12:14 > 0:12:17Ireland and beyond Ireland, as well.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21And he sets the story of the song exactly at this spot,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24contemplating the meeting of the two rivers.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28Give me an idea of his popularity in his heyday.
0:12:28 > 0:12:29It was enormous.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33He was one of the best-known English or Irish writers of the early 19th
0:12:33 > 0:12:39century, and he really put Ireland on the map, in literary terms.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43He was the first person who found all the kind of stories and symbols and
0:12:43 > 0:12:48images of Ireland that we would recognise today - the shamrocks, the harps...
0:12:49 > 0:12:54..rediscovered many of the old airs and melodies and really made them
0:12:54 > 0:12:58available to a vast audience throughout the world.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04Considered by some to be Ireland's national bard,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07Moore had left his homeland as a young man to work in London.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13Through his nostalgic, patriotic poetry and songs,
0:13:13 > 0:13:18he championed a proud Irish identity, and his work inspired the masses and
0:13:18 > 0:13:20those working for independence.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25Did people make a connection between Thomas Moore and politics?
0:13:25 > 0:13:27I think they did, yes.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31There was a very important connection between Moore's poetry and music and
0:13:31 > 0:13:33Irish politics.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35He was associated with Daniel O'Connell,
0:13:35 > 0:13:39the great leader of the Catholics in the early 19th century in the great
0:13:39 > 0:13:42movement for Catholic emancipation.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Thomas Moore has probably been almost completely forgotten in
0:13:45 > 0:13:48Great Britain and substantially in Ireland.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50How should he be remembered?
0:13:50 > 0:13:54He deserves to be remembered as someone who spoke up for Irish culture and
0:13:54 > 0:14:00Irish political rights at a very, very dark time, and remained so important to
0:14:00 > 0:14:08millions of Irish people in Ireland and beyond as someone who had kept a
0:14:08 > 0:14:11gleam of nationhood alive.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22Thomas Moore's emotive Irish poems were set to traditional Irish
0:14:22 > 0:14:27melodies - famous amongst which are Minstrel Boy, The Last Rose Of Summer
0:14:27 > 0:14:29and The Meeting Of The Waters.
0:14:32 > 0:14:33- Hello.- How are you?
0:14:33 > 0:14:35Very well. You're playing The Meeting Of The Waters.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37Yes, we are. Well spotted.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39It's meant to be a little bit old-fashioned,
0:14:39 > 0:14:41but you still get something out of it?
0:14:41 > 0:14:45We do, absolutely. It's a beautiful air, the lyrics are beautiful.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47It still resonates today, particularly here.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49Any chance of hearing it through?
0:14:49 > 0:14:51- Yes, we'd be happy to. - Love to play for you.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53Ready? Three, four...
0:14:53 > 0:14:57THEY PLAY THE MEETING OF THE WATERS
0:15:00 > 0:15:03# There is not in this wide world
0:15:03 > 0:15:06# A valley so sweet
0:15:06 > 0:15:09# As the vale in whose bosom
0:15:09 > 0:15:12# The bright waters meet
0:15:12 > 0:15:15# Oh, the last rays of feeling
0:15:15 > 0:15:18# And life must depart
0:15:18 > 0:15:22# Ere the bloom of that valley
0:15:22 > 0:15:26# Should fade from my heart
0:15:26 > 0:15:29# Ere the bloom of that valley
0:15:30 > 0:15:33# Should fade from my heart. #
0:15:44 > 0:15:46Following my Bradshaw's to the letter,
0:15:46 > 0:15:50my stop for the night will be the Woodenbridge Inn, now a hotel.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57Good evening.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59Good evening, Michael. Welcome to Woodenbridge.
0:15:59 > 0:16:00Thank you very much indeed.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04My guidebook, which is 130 years old or thereabouts,
0:16:04 > 0:16:06says that tourists can spend the night here.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09- You've been here a while. - Woodenbridge Hotel dates back to 1608
0:16:09 > 0:16:13and would have been a stop on the main coaching route from Dublin to Carlow.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16- You'll have had some famous visitors.- We've had many famous visitors.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19We've had Eamon de Valera, a former president of Ireland,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22who would have fought in 1916 and the War of Independence,
0:16:22 > 0:16:26and Michael Collins, who turned out to be his arch nemesis in the end, also
0:16:26 > 0:16:28stayed here. And most famous of all,
0:16:28 > 0:16:33- John Redmond made his famous speech about Irish men joining the British Army.- 1914.
0:16:33 > 0:16:34- That's right, yeah.- Wow!
0:16:34 > 0:16:35What history. What politics!
0:16:35 > 0:16:39- Absolutely, yeah.- I thought the place smelt of politics. I feel very much at home here!
0:16:39 > 0:16:41- Good, well, enjoy your stay.- Thank you very much.
0:16:41 > 0:16:42Thank you.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06This morning, I'm returning to the mainline,
0:17:06 > 0:17:08continuing northwards in the direction of Dublin.
0:17:21 > 0:17:26My first stop today will be Wicklow. Bradshaw's is not very complementary.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29"A small town, the capital of the county,
0:17:29 > 0:17:32"made up of streets that are narrow and ill-built.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35"It stands on the little River Vartry."
0:17:35 > 0:17:39Unfortunately, Ireland in the 19th century suffered not only famine but
0:17:39 > 0:17:45also cholera and typhoid, and the little River Vartry played an important part
0:17:45 > 0:17:47in bringing clean water to the capital.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03During the middle of the 19th century,
0:18:03 > 0:18:07about a million Irish people starved to death, and close to two million more
0:18:07 > 0:18:11abandoned Ireland in waves of mass emigration.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16I'm making my way towards the Wicklow Mountains, where a grand Victorian
0:18:16 > 0:18:19project hoped to combat another threat from disease.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25I'm meeting plant engineer Ned Fleming.
0:18:26 > 0:18:30- Hello, Ned. I'm Michael.- Hello, Michael. How are you?
0:18:30 > 0:18:34Ned, how does it come to be that a tremendous reservoir is built here?
0:18:34 > 0:18:40Dublin in the 1850s needed a new water supply, and the main problem really
0:18:40 > 0:18:44was that cholera had appeared in Ireland in the 1830s and killed over
0:18:44 > 0:18:4950,000 people. And it was only during the 1850s that, due to the work of
0:18:49 > 0:18:54John Snow in particular in London, that they realised that water,
0:18:54 > 0:18:55contaminated water, spread cholera.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58Prior to that, the Victorians had the theory of miasma -
0:18:58 > 0:19:02that all fevers were spread by bad air.
0:19:02 > 0:19:07But with these new thoughts, a medical doctor in Ireland, John Gray,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10drove this idea of a new water treatment works
0:19:10 > 0:19:12and new water treatment supply for Dublin.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17John Gray was not only a medical doctor but a businessman who lobbied hard
0:19:17 > 0:19:20for a new, clean water system for Dublin.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24He believed that could be achieved by damming the River Vartry 25 miles
0:19:24 > 0:19:27from the city and piping water into Dublin.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32Why would they choose this particular location?
0:19:32 > 0:19:37This location was largely dictated by the prior building of the railway
0:19:37 > 0:19:42down to Wexford. The city fathers realised that the city would expand to
0:19:42 > 0:19:46follow the railway and hence the idea of building a waterworks in this
0:19:46 > 0:19:49part of the country because it could supply on the way back into Dublin.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54Work on the reservoir began in 1862.
0:19:54 > 0:19:59Digging to a depth of over 18 metres and creating a capacity of over 11
0:19:59 > 0:20:04billion litres, the scheme was a huge engineering feat.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06Using mainly picks and shovels,
0:20:06 > 0:20:10the navvies completed the project in just five years.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14These filtration beds that we see here,
0:20:14 > 0:20:17these are essentially what were built in the 19th century?
0:20:17 > 0:20:20Yes, seven of them were built in the 1860s.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24The scheme was so successful that three more were added almost
0:20:24 > 0:20:25immediately, within ten years.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27So now, where are all the levers?
0:20:27 > 0:20:29They are over in the valve house under the dam.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31We'll go across and look at it.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42Very beautiful machinery. Victorian?
0:20:42 > 0:20:45These are Victorian. They're the original valves and they control the
0:20:45 > 0:20:48amount of water that we take from the reservoir into the water works.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51- So, what is the system?- The system is simply gravity -
0:20:51 > 0:20:53water's stored in the reservoir,
0:20:53 > 0:20:57the pressure of that water drives it through the pipes underneath our feet,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00and these valves then, by opening or shutting,
0:21:00 > 0:21:02we control the amount of water that comes in.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04And so that gravity is sufficient to take it all the way to Dublin, is it?
0:21:04 > 0:21:07- It is, yes.- And how would you operate these things?
0:21:07 > 0:21:11It's very, very simple. I suggest we walk across and look at this valve here.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15And it's a matter of turning this wheel.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22As you turn, you are now opening the valve and, if you turn the wheel the
0:21:22 > 0:21:24other way, you're closing the valve.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26Surprisingly easy.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29Yes, because of good gearing, 25 turns,
0:21:29 > 0:21:32you will only open that tongue one inch.
0:21:38 > 0:21:43The Vartry water supply scheme still provides drinking water to around 15% of
0:21:43 > 0:21:48the Greater Dublin Area and today it's additionally treated with chlorine.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56Why do we have this tower and this bridge?
0:21:56 > 0:22:00This tower is called a draw-off tower, where the water's taken from here,
0:22:00 > 0:22:01it's like a vertical pipe.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04But, of course, in Victorian times, a pipe had to be beautiful.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08It did, yes, and they did it in the Victorian Gothic style.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11Beautiful. And how significant has this been for the people of Dublin?
0:22:11 > 0:22:16It's probably the most significant public health engineering project ever
0:22:16 > 0:22:22for Dublin because it supplied 200-300,000 people with clean water and,
0:22:22 > 0:22:24in doing so, it eliminated cholera.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50I'm gazing at the Wicklow Mountain district
0:22:50 > 0:22:54which, according to my guidebook, "no tourist should omit visiting.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57"It extends from Donnybrook to Arklow."
0:22:57 > 0:23:02I'm interested in that subset of Irish people whose view of it is always
0:23:02 > 0:23:07changing as they travel from place to place, never settling.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15Irish travellers have roamed the countryside for generations.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21Victorian writers romanticised their nomadic lifestyle and today, for a
0:23:21 > 0:23:23taste of life out on the road,
0:23:23 > 0:23:27visitors can hire traditional caravans from Dieter Clissmann.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32- Hello, Dieter.- Hello, Michael. You're very welcome.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34Thank you very much indeed.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37These beautiful horse caravans, would these be typical and historical?
0:23:37 > 0:23:39Yes, they are historical.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42We copied them from the pattern that we got from the old travelling people
0:23:42 > 0:23:46- themselves.- And how different are what you had today from the traditional
0:23:46 > 0:23:49- ones?- Well, obviously, we have a lot of modern conveniences that they
0:23:49 > 0:23:50didn't have in the old ones.
0:23:50 > 0:23:55The old ones had a potbelly stove, which was used for heating and for
0:23:55 > 0:23:59cooking. The travellers were famous for having lots of children and there
0:23:59 > 0:24:03would be sometimes up to a dozen children or more even, and they would
0:24:03 > 0:24:05start off life in the caravan,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08being minded by their mother and father, and then migrated to underneath
0:24:08 > 0:24:10the caravan,
0:24:10 > 0:24:12when they were getting a bit older!
0:24:13 > 0:24:15Is it possible to take a ride in one of these?
0:24:15 > 0:24:20Yes, we'll take a drive rather than a ride, and we'll just have to find
0:24:20 > 0:24:21ourselves a horse first.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23We certainly will. Where do we do that?
0:24:23 > 0:24:24Let's just do that.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30These barrel-top caravans flourished in Ireland at the turn of the
0:24:30 > 0:24:3220th century.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34A good pulling horse was essential.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38- Hello.- Hello, welcome.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40This is Neasa, my youngest.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43- I'm Michael.- I'm Neasa and this is Paddy.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45- Hello, Paddy.- He's going to be your horse for today.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50Would this be a typical horse from the travellers' days?
0:24:50 > 0:24:53Yes, it would be. They come in all shapes and sizes, in a sense.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56A lot of them would have been black and white and they were called piebald
0:24:56 > 0:24:58horses or brown and white are skewbald.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01They typically have this little moustache at the front and a little bit of
0:25:01 > 0:25:03a beard underneath.
0:25:03 > 0:25:04Big, friendly giants.
0:25:04 > 0:25:05- Very good.- OK.
0:25:07 > 0:25:08Come on, Pads. Good boy.
0:25:19 > 0:25:20All yours.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23- Thank you.- Left is left and right is right.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26And pull both and it is to stop and say, "Whoa!"
0:25:26 > 0:25:29Reins in hand and we're all ready.
0:25:29 > 0:25:30Come on, Paddy.
0:25:32 > 0:25:37Today, there are around 25,000 Irish travellers living in the Republic of Ireland.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43Dieter, what sort of relationship did the Irish travellers have traditionally with
0:25:43 > 0:25:45the settled people?
0:25:45 > 0:25:50Sometimes, they're regarded as being, if you like, outside normal society
0:25:50 > 0:25:52but, essentially, travellers, as we know them today,
0:25:52 > 0:25:57used to be called tinkers because they worked in tin and they used to make
0:25:57 > 0:26:00tin implements and tin containers and all kinds of things.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04Tin kettles. And they were a valuable part of the community.
0:26:04 > 0:26:05They were itinerants.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07So, if you had a kettle that sprung a leak,
0:26:07 > 0:26:10you waited until the next tinker would be passing by and you'd get it
0:26:10 > 0:26:13- repaired.- And what about the culture?
0:26:13 > 0:26:14What about the folklore?
0:26:14 > 0:26:18The horses have been a central part of the culture of the Irish traveller.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22And the horses that we use here, to a large extent, come from the
0:26:22 > 0:26:24travelling people, we buy them from them.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26And they're very good horse dealers.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30For the 19th-century tourist,
0:26:30 > 0:26:34horse-drawn transport was common and riding the new steam trains would
0:26:34 > 0:26:38have been the thrill. But for today's visitors, like me,
0:26:38 > 0:26:42seeing the country at the gentle pace of a horse and wagon is the treat.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59When the young John Barry emigrated to the American colonies,
0:26:59 > 0:27:04he was typical of Irish people who felt they had little future at home,
0:27:04 > 0:27:11although his success as Father of the US Navy was truly exceptional.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16The great hunger of the 19th century turned that emigration into a flood,
0:27:16 > 0:27:20many of them leaving from the port of Wexford.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23As political agitation also increased,
0:27:23 > 0:27:29writers like Thomas Moore sought to recreate an Irish national identity,
0:27:29 > 0:27:34hoping to create a society from which young Irish would no longer feel
0:27:34 > 0:27:37compelled to escape to find their fortunes.
0:27:45 > 0:27:50'Next time, I discover one of Ireland's greatest treasures...'
0:27:50 > 0:27:53This embodies the soul of the nation, this instrument.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55I don't think that's an overstatement.
0:27:55 > 0:28:00'..hear how the British tried to calm relations across the Irish Sea...'
0:28:00 > 0:28:02So, despite the political agitation,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05using the royal family is a good card to play.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07It's always a good card to play,
0:28:07 > 0:28:09especially if they're young and good-looking.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13'..and get involved in a bit of Dublin culture.'
0:28:13 > 0:28:16A few of them and you'll be having the craic all night!