0:00:03 > 0:00:08For Victorian Britons, George Bradshaw was a household name.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10At a time when railways were new,
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Bradshaw's guidebook inspired them to take to the tracks.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18I'm using a Bradshaw's Guide
0:00:18 > 0:00:21to understand how trains transformed Britain and Ireland,
0:00:21 > 0:00:25their landscape, industry, society, and leisure time.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29As I follow its routes, 130 years later,
0:00:29 > 0:00:32it helps me to discover these islands today.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56I'm moving northwest across Ireland,
0:00:56 > 0:00:59on a rail journey that began in Wexford.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03Discovering how, in the 19th century, a surge of pride
0:01:03 > 0:01:07in Irish culture accompanied a growth of nationalism.
0:01:07 > 0:01:12On this part of the journey, I hope to unearth a use for the potato,
0:01:12 > 0:01:15reveal Irish on the fiddle,
0:01:15 > 0:01:19and I will arise and then go then, and go to Innisfree.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30I began my journey on the coast at Wexford
0:01:30 > 0:01:34and then travelled up to the capital, Dublin,
0:01:34 > 0:01:35before turning west.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39Crossing this beautiful country, I'm uncovering Irish identity,
0:01:39 > 0:01:42forged in a time of political strife.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46I'll be ending my cultural exploration on the Atlantic coast.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52Today, I begin in the town of Dromod, County Leitrim,
0:01:52 > 0:01:56before travelling north to the county and coastal town of Sligo.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03Along the way, I try my hand at traditional Irish cuisine...
0:02:03 > 0:02:06- How's that looking, Timmy? - You wouldn't be selling it now.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08You don't think a lot of customers would come and buy mine?
0:02:08 > 0:02:10Yours was very lumpy, you know what I mean?
0:02:10 > 0:02:12..see the landscape that inspired
0:02:12 > 0:02:16one of the 20th century's greatest poets, WB Yeats...
0:02:16 > 0:02:19It gave him the sense of where Celtic man, Irish man,
0:02:19 > 0:02:23had come up, off the landscape, and that drove him to believe that
0:02:23 > 0:02:26Ireland should have an independence.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28..and step in time, Sligo style.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30One, two, three...
0:02:30 > 0:02:33Michael Flatley had better watch out!
0:02:41 > 0:02:43I leave this train at Dromod.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45Bradshaw's says, "Where the railway projects
0:02:45 > 0:02:48"into the counties of Leitrim and Cavan,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52"its character varies, and the surface becomes rugged and uneven."
0:02:52 > 0:02:56I'm looking forward to some spectacular scenery.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59Despite the hunger and poverty of the mid-19th century,
0:02:59 > 0:03:03the railway boom in Ireland was as intense as it was in Great Britain.
0:03:03 > 0:03:09And in the 20th century, the closure of underused lines was as drastic.
0:03:13 > 0:03:14I'm alighting at Dromod,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18a stop on the old Midland Great Western Railway mainline
0:03:18 > 0:03:20from Dublin to Sligo.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26At the time of my guide, it was also the first station
0:03:26 > 0:03:29of the now-defunct Cavan and Leitrim Railway -
0:03:29 > 0:03:32a branch line that connected to Ireland's mining region.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44It's been one man's mission to restore part of the railway,
0:03:44 > 0:03:45Michael Kennedy.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55- Hello, Michael.- Hello, Mike.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58What was the history of the Cavan and Leitrim railway?
0:03:58 > 0:04:02The Cavan and Leitrim Railway was built in 1887 and lasted until 1959.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04It ran all the way from Dromod, in the south,
0:04:04 > 0:04:05through Mohill, Ballinamore,
0:04:05 > 0:04:07Bawnboy, Ballyconnell and into Belturbet,
0:04:07 > 0:04:10with a branch from Ballinamore all the way to Drumshanbo and out to
0:04:10 > 0:04:11Arigna, where it met the coal mine.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Coal mines are not very common in Ireland, are they?
0:04:13 > 0:04:15There's only two small coal mines in Ireland.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18One in Castlecomer, in County Kilkenny, and one up in Arigna.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22- Was the track always narrow gauge? - Always narrow gauge.
0:04:22 > 0:04:23It was light railway.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30Running for almost 50 miles, the Cavan and Leitrim Railway
0:04:30 > 0:04:35opened up the coal and iron districts of Arigna and Lough Allen.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38And passengers made use of the same trains.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45The train left here with one carriage and a load of wagons
0:04:45 > 0:04:48and the steam engine on the front. It went to Mohill, it stopped,
0:04:48 > 0:04:50the engine came off the front, went round the back,
0:04:50 > 0:04:53shunted the wagons from the station that were to go on further
0:04:53 > 0:04:55and shunted the ones off that were to be left at the station.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59And took three hours to go from here to Belturbet, 35 miles.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02So, it wasn't a brilliant experience for the passengers.
0:05:02 > 0:05:03No, it took all day.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07It was obviously a very special railway.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Yes, and it was all run by the locals,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13who drove the trains and were the crews.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15But the management were Anglo-Irish,
0:05:15 > 0:05:18so by the time the War of Independence came, they didn't get on with each other.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20There was a lot of friction between them.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23Queen Victoria was one of the smaller Stevenson locomotives,
0:05:23 > 0:05:27and the men didn't like driving this engine called Queen Victoria, so they took the name plates off
0:05:27 > 0:05:28and put them underneath a wood stack.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31The management found the name plates and put them back on again,
0:05:31 > 0:05:34so the lads drove the engine out to Drumshanbo, where the line went, took the name plates off
0:05:34 > 0:05:38a second time and put them down a deep well, where they're still supposed to be there to this day,
0:05:38 > 0:05:41and painted the engine green, white and orange and called it the Sinn Fein engine.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44Oh, my goodness.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47The line outlived most Irish narrow-gauge railways,
0:05:47 > 0:05:49running until 1959.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52Being the last steam tramway in Ireland to close.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58And that's a very natty bicycle you've arrived on,
0:05:58 > 0:05:59tell me about that.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02Yeah, well, that's our railway bicycle.
0:06:02 > 0:06:03A very smart machine.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06Now, this is all a nice bit of fun, but they had a serious purpose once?
0:06:06 > 0:06:07Yes, they were inspection cycles.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09There was a seat clipped onto the front,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12and the inspector sat on the seat and two men cycled along the line.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14And he would inspect the track as they went along.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16Well, I don't think there are any trains coming.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18- Shall we give it a go?- Yes.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21# Daisy, Daisy,
0:06:21 > 0:06:23# Give me your answer, do...
0:06:23 > 0:06:26These bicycles fell out of use in the 1960s,
0:06:26 > 0:06:28as steam gave way to diesel
0:06:28 > 0:06:33and it became simply too dangerous to ride the rails.
0:06:33 > 0:06:38# ..of a bicycle made for two. #
0:06:38 > 0:06:42# Are you right there, Michael, are you right?
0:06:42 > 0:06:46# Do you think we'll get to Ballinamore tonight?
0:06:46 > 0:06:48# Oh, there's passengers for Creagh
0:06:48 > 0:06:50# And more from outside Fenagh
0:06:50 > 0:06:54# Still we might now, Michael, so we might. #
0:06:54 > 0:06:55Excuse me interrupting.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58It sounds like a song about late trains?
0:06:58 > 0:07:01It is, it's a song by the great Irish composer Percy French.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05He was scheduled to appear at a concert in Kilkee in County Clare.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07Unfortunately, when he arrived,
0:07:07 > 0:07:09and due to the poor way the train operated,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12by the time he arrived, all the people had gone home.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15So, he sued the railway company for loss of earnings
0:07:15 > 0:07:17and was awarded ten shillings.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21He composed the song, Are You Right There, Michael, Are You Right?
0:07:21 > 0:07:23immediately after the court case.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27But when it was published, the West Clare Railway Company
0:07:27 > 0:07:29actually sued Percy for libel.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33And the morning of court, Percy arrived late.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36The judge was very, very annoyed, and when he arrived in, he said,
0:07:36 > 0:07:38"You're late, Mr French."
0:07:38 > 0:07:43Percy duly explained, "I travelled by the West Clare Railway."
0:07:43 > 0:07:45So they say, "Case dismissed".
0:07:46 > 0:07:49A good story. And is that song still known in Ireland today?
0:07:49 > 0:07:52- It is indeed.- It'd be one of the well-known Irish ballads
0:07:52 > 0:07:55that sung the length and breadth of Ireland in every house in Ireland.
0:07:55 > 0:07:56How does it continue?
0:07:56 > 0:07:59# You may talk of Columbus' sailing
0:07:59 > 0:08:02# Across the Atlantical Sea
0:08:02 > 0:08:05# But he never tried to go railing
0:08:05 > 0:08:08# From Ennis as far as Kilkee
0:08:08 > 0:08:11# You run for the train in the morning
0:08:11 > 0:08:13# The excursion train starting at eight
0:08:13 > 0:08:17# You're there when the clock gives the warning
0:08:17 > 0:08:21# And there for an hour you'll wait
0:08:21 > 0:08:25# And as you're waiting in the train
0:08:25 > 0:08:30# You'll hear the guard make this refrain
0:08:30 > 0:08:34# Are you right there, Michael, are you right?
0:08:34 > 0:08:38# Do you think we'll get to Ballinamore tonight?
0:08:38 > 0:08:41# Oh, there's passengers for Creagh
0:08:41 > 0:08:43# And more from outside Fenagh
0:08:43 > 0:08:48# Still we might now, Michael, so we might. #
0:08:48 > 0:08:51Well, I'm all right, after hearing that song.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53- Thank you.- Thank you very much.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00I'm staying in Dromod,
0:09:00 > 0:09:03a town surrounded by lush, green countryside.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07Talking of the soil around here,
0:09:07 > 0:09:11Bradshaw's says it partly consists of good tillage ground
0:09:11 > 0:09:14and partly of mosses and bog.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18In the boggiest of years, the potato crop would rot in the ground,
0:09:18 > 0:09:20or be affected by blight.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22But in a good year,
0:09:22 > 0:09:26the potato could be mixed with a few modest ingredients
0:09:26 > 0:09:29to make a dish that could stave off starvation.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36I'm intrigued by a dish called boxty, a kind of potato pancake.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42It's associated with the counties around Leitrim
0:09:42 > 0:09:44and originated in the 1800s.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47The family-run Dromod Bakery
0:09:47 > 0:09:51supplies much of north and western Ireland with its boxty.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55I've come to meet the Faughnan family at their home bakery
0:09:55 > 0:09:57in the hope of getting a taste.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01So, I have come here to talk about boxty.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03Well, you've come to the right place, anyway.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06Boxty is made of raw potatoes and flour
0:10:06 > 0:10:09and salt and milk and a drop of water.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11And how did you learn to make it?
0:10:11 > 0:10:14I learned from seeing me mother making it.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17The minute she had it fried in the pan,
0:10:17 > 0:10:20we were like little pups, getting up after her, taking it off the plate.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24Apart from your mother making it,
0:10:24 > 0:10:27do you know what the older origin of it is?
0:10:27 > 0:10:30The older origin would have been back in the famine times
0:10:30 > 0:10:33when the people had nothing to eat, only potatoes.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37That is where boxty, I think, originated from.
0:10:37 > 0:10:38How do you like to eat it?
0:10:38 > 0:10:40You can have it in a number of different ways.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43You can use it as a wrap, like, to put stuff in.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45Use it that way. You can use it as part of a fry,
0:10:45 > 0:10:47so like with bacon and sausages and egg.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50Timmy, maybe enough talking about it, would you like to show me
0:10:50 > 0:10:52- how it's made?- Sure, Michael. Right.
0:10:52 > 0:10:57- Get up there, your apron is there.- Thank you.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00Now, Michael, this is the ingredients of the boxty.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03So, just need to grate the potato, presumably very finely?
0:11:03 > 0:11:05Yeah, that's grand. Ah, you've done this before.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10- Now we'll put in the flour, OK? - Yes.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13- Mix this in fairly gradually, I suppose?- Yeah, yeah.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15And a drop of water to make it...
0:11:15 > 0:11:16Bind it in.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19And there's the drop of milk.
0:11:19 > 0:11:20A pinch of salt.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25- How's that looking?- That's good.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27That will come out more lumpy
0:11:27 > 0:11:29or a rougher boxty than we make ourselves,
0:11:29 > 0:11:34because our liquidiser cuts it down very fine, you know.
0:11:34 > 0:11:35That's made the real, traditional way.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37Does this remind you of your mother then?
0:11:37 > 0:11:39Oh, it does remind me, yeah.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41You think she's here now.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43Only difference, she's not here now with a stick
0:11:43 > 0:11:44to keep you away from taking it.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48Now, that's ready for the pan.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50We'll bring it up to the bakery.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52In the tradition of a cottage industry,
0:11:52 > 0:11:56the commercial kitchen is attached to the family home.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58So, there's the hotplate.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01- Yeah.- So will I just pour it on there, will I?- Yeah.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08How's that looking, Timmy?
0:12:08 > 0:12:10You wouldn't be selling it now.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12Yours is very lumpy, you know what I mean?
0:12:12 > 0:12:15- You don't think a lot of customers would come and buy mine?- No, no.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17It might be nice when you're eating it.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20- Timmy, have we got to flip that, have we?- You have, yeah.
0:12:20 > 0:12:21Just a flick of the wrist.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25Wahey!
0:12:25 > 0:12:29- That is smelling brilliant, Timmy. - Yeah.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32It just needs a couple of minutes on each side to cook.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36Hello, Angela. Hi, Niall.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39We're back. And that is my effort.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43It's not a bad effort, but you tend to let the flavours come out
0:12:43 > 0:12:47a bit more after a couple of hours, so here's one we made earlier,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50so it might just taste a little bit better. But good effort.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52I feel slightly crestfallen, but...
0:12:52 > 0:12:56So that is what it is meant to look like?
0:12:56 > 0:12:58- Yeah.- Well, let's have a go at that.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04Wow, that is good.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07So, even though it sadly came out of the famine, it's a very good food,
0:13:07 > 0:13:09- isn't it?- A very good food, yeah.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12There's a rhyme that goes with boxty.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15There's boxty on the griddle, boxty on the pan
0:13:15 > 0:13:18If you never eat boxty, you'll never be a man.
0:13:18 > 0:13:19Well, I've come of age today.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55Bradshaw's tells me that Sligo is the capital of a county.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58"The River Garavogue runs through the town,
0:13:58 > 0:14:01"carrying off the surplus waters from Lough Gill
0:14:01 > 0:14:03"on a plain among fine hills."
0:14:03 > 0:14:08And certainly the high ground here is more muscular, more rocky,
0:14:08 > 0:14:13and somehow, Ireland's universal green is even more intense here.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24Located between the mountains and the Atlantic Ocean,
0:14:24 > 0:14:28the town of Sligo marks my arrival on the western coast.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36During the great famine of the mid-19th century,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39over 30,000 people emigrated through its port.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44When the railway from Dublin arrived in 1862,
0:14:44 > 0:14:46the town could grow once again.
0:14:50 > 0:14:51Sligo, Bradshaw's says,
0:14:51 > 0:14:55has several public housings dotted about its outskirts,
0:14:55 > 0:14:59the county infirmary, fever hospital, soldiers barracks,
0:14:59 > 0:15:04workhouse and this, the district lunatic asylum.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08For 140 years, it housed up to 1,000 patients,
0:15:08 > 0:15:13pioneered some relatively enlightened new techniques,
0:15:13 > 0:15:17was so solidly built by the Victorians that today,
0:15:17 > 0:15:20it makes a capacious and fine hotel,
0:15:20 > 0:15:22and my asylum for the night.
0:15:41 > 0:15:46It's a new day, and this morning, I'm taking a walk through Sligo,
0:15:46 > 0:15:50a place famed as much for its cultural and literary associations
0:15:50 > 0:15:51as for its beauty.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Sligo occupied an important place in the heart
0:15:55 > 0:15:59of Ireland's outstanding 20th-century poet, WB Yeats,
0:15:59 > 0:16:03who drew great inspiration from its landscape.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09I'm making my way to the Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery to find out more
0:16:09 > 0:16:13about him from Yeats enthusiast and guide, Damian Brennan.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17Here we are in Carrowmore, and you could believe yourself to be very
0:16:17 > 0:16:21remote, but actually, we are just at the edge of the town of Sligo.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23Yeats had the opportunity to come here when?
0:16:23 > 0:16:26During the early years of his life, he was born in 1865.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29He lives largely in London, but he comes to Sligo
0:16:29 > 0:16:32to his maternal grandparents frequently.
0:16:32 > 0:16:33And roves out into this landscape
0:16:33 > 0:16:36and discovers all of this ancient space.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40So, in his early days, he's inspired by landscape like this -
0:16:40 > 0:16:43who would not be? - and what sort of poetry does he write?
0:16:43 > 0:16:45In the beginning, he's writing ballads,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48but much of it inspired by the whole folklore
0:16:48 > 0:16:49and fairy lore of this landscape.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52For instance, he's inspired by Queen Meave,
0:16:52 > 0:16:54the legendary Queen of Connaught -
0:16:54 > 0:16:56buried on Knocknarea, behind us here -
0:16:56 > 0:16:58and he writes, The wind has bundled up the cloud
0:16:58 > 0:17:00High over Knocknarea
0:17:00 > 0:17:02And thrown the thunder on the stones
0:17:02 > 0:17:04For all that Meave can say.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06Angers that are like noisy clouds
0:17:06 > 0:17:07Have set our hearts abeat
0:17:07 > 0:17:09But we have all bent low and low
0:17:09 > 0:17:12And kissed the quiet feet of Cathleen
0:17:12 > 0:17:14The daughter of Houlihan.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16So, what did this ancient history mean to Yeats?
0:17:16 > 0:17:20It gave him a sense of where Celtic man, Irish man,
0:17:20 > 0:17:23had come up out of the landscape and had lived in the landscape
0:17:23 > 0:17:25for all that length of time.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29And that drove him to believe that Ireland should have an independence
0:17:29 > 0:17:34and should have its own art and drama and poetry and literature.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38Yeats belonged to the Protestant Anglo-Irish minority
0:17:38 > 0:17:42who ruled Ireland, yet he strongly identified with Irish nationalism.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46The call for Irish nationhood and independence
0:17:46 > 0:17:52was subliminal within his poetry, and emerged through his evocation
0:17:52 > 0:17:54of a rich Celtic past.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58Ireland gallops towards independence over a very short number of years
0:17:58 > 0:18:00at the beginning of the 20th century.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03Can you say what kind of role literature and maybe Yeats
0:18:03 > 0:18:05play in that process, in your view?
0:18:05 > 0:18:09Well, he himself asked after 1916,
0:18:09 > 0:18:12"Did that play of mine send some men out to die?"
0:18:12 > 0:18:17He worries about that, because he was part of a romantic group
0:18:17 > 0:18:20who coalesced with the left-wing
0:18:20 > 0:18:26and had the very unlikely but very pivotal 1916 uprising.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31The Easter Rising of 1916 was a six-day armed rebellion
0:18:31 > 0:18:35by Irish Republicans against the British in Dublin.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39The rebels failed to establish an independent Ireland.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41Hundreds were killed in the fighting.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45Much of Dublin was destroyed and ringleaders were executed.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51How does Yeats feel about the 1916 Rising when it happens?
0:18:51 > 0:18:54Well, he's taken by surprise. He doesn't anticipate it.
0:18:54 > 0:18:55He's in London at the time.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59He writes his great poem, Easter 1916,
0:18:59 > 0:19:00and suppresses it for three years,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03because he's not quite sure how it'll work out.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07He refers to the Easter 1916 as, "A terrible beauty is born."
0:19:07 > 0:19:11Yeats' contribution to Irish self-consciousness and independence?
0:19:11 > 0:19:13He's absolutely central.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15He called for it.
0:19:15 > 0:19:16He wrote about it.
0:19:16 > 0:19:21He's the towering figure behind even the military movement, because it's
0:19:21 > 0:19:24his voice and his words that stand the testimony of time.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32When Ireland established its right to self-government in 1921,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35WB Yeats joined the Irish Senate,
0:19:35 > 0:19:37where he argued for artistic freedom
0:19:37 > 0:19:41and against the social conservatism of the Catholic administration.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45Time and again, he returned to this landscape.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53Time for me to go to Innisfree,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56to the lake isle that inspired his most quoted verse.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09Guiding me across Lough Gill, George McGoldrick.
0:20:16 > 0:20:17George.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20- Hello.- Hello, Michael. You're very welcome.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23Innisfree, what does it mean?
0:20:23 > 0:20:26Inis Fraoigh is the Gaeilge, the Irish.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28It means "heathery island".
0:20:28 > 0:20:31Heathery island. And do you know the poem?
0:20:31 > 0:20:34- I do indeed.- Would you mind saying it for me today, please?
0:20:34 > 0:20:35I'll give it a go for you, surely.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39I will arise and go now
0:20:39 > 0:20:41And go to Innisfree
0:20:41 > 0:20:44And a small cabin build there
0:20:44 > 0:20:46Of clay and wattles made
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Nine bean rows will I have there
0:20:50 > 0:20:52A hive for the honeybee
0:20:52 > 0:20:56And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00And I shall have some peace there
0:21:00 > 0:21:04For peace comes dropping slow
0:21:04 > 0:21:07Dropping from the veils of the morning
0:21:07 > 0:21:09To where the crickets sing
0:21:09 > 0:21:12There midnight's all a glimmer
0:21:12 > 0:21:14And noon a purple glow
0:21:14 > 0:21:17And evening full of the linnet's wing.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21I will arise and go now
0:21:21 > 0:21:23For always night and day
0:21:23 > 0:21:25I hear lake water lapping
0:21:25 > 0:21:28With low sound by the shore
0:21:28 > 0:21:31While I stand on the roadway
0:21:31 > 0:21:33Or on the pavements grey
0:21:33 > 0:21:37I hear it in the deep heart's core.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42A poet in distant London, yearning for his beloved island.
0:21:43 > 0:21:44Indeed.
0:21:47 > 0:21:52It's extraordinary to me that, out of this natural beauty,
0:21:52 > 0:21:56an emotion could be born that became an idea,
0:21:56 > 0:22:00the idea of an Ireland, independent of Britain.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06And that was expressed in language, in poetry,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09which inspired men to take up arms,
0:22:09 > 0:22:14to be willing to die, and which led to an independent Ireland.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19Extraordinary, the power of an idea.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23As Yeats said, "A terrible beauty is born."
0:22:32 > 0:22:37Sligo's rich cultural associations extend further.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40World famous Irish fiddler Michael Coleman
0:22:40 > 0:22:44was a Sligo-born musician who exerted a huge influence
0:22:44 > 0:22:47on traditional Irish music.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50A FIDDLE PLAYS A REEL
0:22:55 > 0:22:58I'm visiting the Coleman Heritage Centre
0:22:58 > 0:23:00to meet renowned fiddler Oisin Mac Diarmada
0:23:00 > 0:23:04and traditional Irish dancer, Samantha Harvey.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14Hello. That was delightful.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17Now, I imagine the fiddle must have been part of Irish music
0:23:17 > 0:23:19- for a very long time? - It certainly was, yeah.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22It came out of 17th-century Italy primarily, the instrument,
0:23:22 > 0:23:25but it very quickly spread over to Ireland because there were so many
0:23:25 > 0:23:27fiddles, violins being made.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30And fortunately, they were not that expensive to purchase.
0:23:30 > 0:23:31Some people could even make their own.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34And so it became very quickly one of the most popular instruments
0:23:34 > 0:23:35on which traditional music was played.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38I'm following a guidebook around Ireland from the late-19th century.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41What was the state of fiddling music by then?
0:23:41 > 0:23:45Fiddle would have been a very strong instrument at that time.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47It would have been played stylistically quite different
0:23:47 > 0:23:51in various parts of Ireland, predominantly because people didn't
0:23:51 > 0:23:54travel very much outside a five to ten mile radius.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57So you had very distinctive voices, styles,
0:23:57 > 0:24:00a little bit like regional dialects of speech.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03This, I believe, is a replica of the cottage of Michael Coleman.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06What part did he play in all this?
0:24:06 > 0:24:08He's very much the god of Irish fiddling.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11He played the most amazing fiddle music,
0:24:11 > 0:24:15that we still learn from and aspire to play like now, 100 years later.
0:24:18 > 0:24:23Born in 1891, Michael Coleman journeyed across the Atlantic
0:24:23 > 0:24:25to America at the age of 23.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28He joined the vaudeville circuit in New York,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30playing to audiences of thousands.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33And was the first Irish fiddler to make recordings of his work.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41What was it that he did that was new or striking?
0:24:41 > 0:24:43He took what were fundamentally simple dance tunes
0:24:43 > 0:24:46and he put a lot of musical detail into that music.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50One of the first tunes he recorded was a tune called Reidy Johnson's,
0:24:50 > 0:24:51it's a reel.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54If you take the structure of a tune like that...
0:24:54 > 0:24:55A JAUNTY REEL
0:25:00 > 0:25:04What Michael did with the tune is he filled in a lot of details
0:25:04 > 0:25:06and ornamentation in those notes and variations.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09THE SAME REEL WITH MORE NOTES
0:25:18 > 0:25:19And on and so forth.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22He's reputed not really to have ever played the tune the same twice.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29His recordings travelled back to Ireland and around the world.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33His fast bowing technique became known as the Sligo style
0:25:33 > 0:25:36and has come to dominate traditional Irish music.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42Sligo must be rather proud of its place in Irish music history?
0:25:42 > 0:25:45It certainly is. This area is often known as Coleman Country,
0:25:45 > 0:25:49and it reflects not only Coleman's genius, but the magical music
0:25:49 > 0:25:52that so many people played in this particular area.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56Well, Michael, I hear you've danced all over the world.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59You could hardly come to Ireland and not do a step.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02I have made a fool of myself all over the world.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04- Will you show me, Samantha? - I sure will.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06Heel, toe,
0:26:06 > 0:26:07one-two-three,
0:26:07 > 0:26:09and heel-toe-heel,
0:26:09 > 0:26:10one-two-three.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12And heel, toe,
0:26:12 > 0:26:14one-two-three.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16And heel-toe-heel,
0:26:16 > 0:26:17one-two-three. Excellent!
0:26:17 > 0:26:21- And what do I do with my arms? - You can keep them down by your side.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23They sometimes keep them very stiff, don't they?
0:26:23 > 0:26:25- They sure do!- Right.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27- Maestro, some music.- That's it.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29MID-PACED REEL
0:26:31 > 0:26:33Five, six, seven, eight.
0:26:33 > 0:26:34Heel, toe,
0:26:34 > 0:26:35one-two-three.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38Heel-toe-heel, one-two-three.
0:26:38 > 0:26:39Heel, toe...
0:26:48 > 0:26:49Perfect!
0:27:00 > 0:27:02Michael Flatley had better watch out!
0:27:13 > 0:27:17The failure of the potato crop in the 1840s was a cause of the famine
0:27:17 > 0:27:21which gave an enormous boost to Irish nationalism
0:27:21 > 0:27:24and was blamed on Anglo-Irish landowners.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28Ironically, a poet who didn't speak Irish,
0:27:28 > 0:27:32from a middle-class Protestant family, William Butler Yeats,
0:27:32 > 0:27:35gave the Irish nation its voice,
0:27:35 > 0:27:39as surely as the fiddle gave it its music and dance.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42A LIVELY REEL
0:28:00 > 0:28:01Next time...
0:28:01 > 0:28:05Things heat up with an unusual Victorian health treatment...
0:28:06 > 0:28:09Steam is rising all around me.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12..I learn of the terrible tragedy at Clew Bay...
0:28:12 > 0:28:16A lot of the young people got very excited because they'd never seen a steamer before
0:28:16 > 0:28:20and they all went to one side, and unfortunately the boat capsized.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22..and stretch my skills at a woollen mill.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26I'm involved in a delicate industrial process.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28I'm on tenterhooks.