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