0:00:03 > 0:00:05For Victorian Britons,
0:00:05 > 0:00:08George 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 > 0:00:20I'm using a Bradshaw's guide to understand how trains transformed
0:00:20 > 0:00:24Britain and Ireland, their landscape, industry, society
0:00:24 > 0:00:25and 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 > 0:00:57I'm completing my journey across Ireland,
0:00:57 > 0:01:01now on the rugged north-western Atlantic coast
0:01:01 > 0:01:03and I intend to take to the waters,
0:01:03 > 0:01:08but safely, because the sea has claimed many lives.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10Religion looms large in Irish culture.
0:01:10 > 0:01:15I'll investigate how a beatific nun tackled poverty and hunger,
0:01:15 > 0:01:20and I'll assume the high ground in search of Ireland's patron saint.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33I began my journey on the coast at Wexford
0:01:33 > 0:01:39and then travelled north to Dublin, the capital, before turning west.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41I crossed this beautiful country
0:01:41 > 0:01:46discovering an Irish identity stimulated by political struggles.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49I'll be ending my Irish travels on the Atlantic coast.
0:01:51 > 0:01:56For this final leg, I begin in Ballina, stopping next in Foxford,
0:01:56 > 0:02:00before concluding in Westport and the coast at Clew Bay.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07Along the way, things heat up, with an unusual Victorian health treatment.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13Steam is rising all around me.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20I learn of a terrible tragedy at Clew Bay...
0:02:20 > 0:02:22A lot of the young people got very excited,
0:02:22 > 0:02:24because they'd never seen a steamer before,
0:02:24 > 0:02:28and they all went to one side to have a good closer look
0:02:28 > 0:02:30and unfortunately, the boat capsized.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33..and stretch my skills at a woollen mill.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38I'm involved in a delicate industrial process!
0:02:38 > 0:02:39I'm on tenterhooks!
0:02:46 > 0:02:49My first stop today will be Ballina.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52Bradshaw's tells me it's probably more frequented by tourists than any
0:02:52 > 0:02:56other part of the district, with 40 miles of splendid cliff.
0:02:56 > 0:03:02The tourists might make excursions into the wild Tyrawley and Edis districts.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Despite the formidable reputation of the Atlantic,
0:03:05 > 0:03:07I do intend to take a dip.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10I don't want anyone to think me sea weedy.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21As Bradshaw's indicates,
0:03:21 > 0:03:24there was much to draw Victorian tourists to the region.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30Arriving by train from towns and cities inland,
0:03:30 > 0:03:34they would flock to the coast to take the air and waters.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39Along the coast in Enniscrone,
0:03:39 > 0:03:44a particular treatment has attracted visitors for over 100 years.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47It relies on a locally growing ingredient.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50I've come to meet Edward Kilcullen.
0:03:53 > 0:03:54- Edward.- Michael.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57What a very beautiful place, what a lovely day.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59I'm really awestruck by it.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01Well, you're very welcome.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03Can it be true that you bathe in seaweed here?
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Absolutely, Michael. And we have done for the last 104 years.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11- Why?- Because seaweed bathing and seawater and seaweed is good for you.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14Don't ask me to prove it scientifically, but tradition along
0:04:14 > 0:04:17the west coast of Ireland has it that if you bathe in
0:04:17 > 0:04:19seawater and seaweed,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22it's good to relieve the symptoms of rheumatism and arthritis,
0:04:22 > 0:04:24and years ago, that's why people took seaweed baths.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28- Which seaweed do you use? This stuff?- No, that is bladderwrack.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30It's not abundant enough for us.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34What we use is Fucas serratus, more commonly known as Flat wrack,
0:04:34 > 0:04:37which grows just a little bit further down the shore
0:04:37 > 0:04:39and we have to harvest that every day.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43So while the Prince of Wales in the 19th century is going to Bognor...
0:04:43 > 0:04:48- Yes.- ..here, you are developing seaweed bathing,
0:04:48 > 0:04:50also as a kind of genteel activity,
0:04:50 > 0:04:52- is that right?- Genteel activity, yes.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55The actual original bathhouse that was built in Enniscrone was built as
0:04:55 > 0:05:00a private facility by our local landlord, who was a fashionable gentleman.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03So he took a swim here in Enniscrone on the beach.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06The water's only about 12, 13 degrees, so it will be freezing!
0:05:06 > 0:05:09So he built a little bathhouse on the rocks
0:05:09 > 0:05:11and so somebody would have his bath ready for him when he came in,
0:05:11 > 0:05:13to warm him up.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15So that was the first seawater bath in Enniscrone
0:05:15 > 0:05:18and he was the one who did it.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21So because he did it, other people decided to do it.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25The seaweed is harvested by hand every day at low tide
0:05:25 > 0:05:28and then taken up to the bathhouse,
0:05:28 > 0:05:32which was opened for business in 1912 by Edward's grandfather.
0:05:33 > 0:05:34Ah, thank you so much.
0:05:37 > 0:05:43It still retains all the original porcelain baths, solid brass taps
0:05:43 > 0:05:45and panelled wooden cisterns.
0:05:45 > 0:05:50The process today is exactly as it was 100 years ago.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56Now, Michael. So, I'm going to fill your bath with warm seawater.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58As well, I'm going to pop the seaweed into it.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01But first of all, you'll sit into your steam box,
0:06:01 > 0:06:03so it opens your pores before your bath.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06Sit in, close your door and you'll pop your head up at the top.
0:06:06 > 0:06:07And you just lift the lever slowly.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11Then, your bath and there's also a cold seawater shower
0:06:11 > 0:06:13as well, yeah. Forgot to mention that bit!
0:06:13 > 0:06:15So that closes your pores after,
0:06:15 > 0:06:19so it's being pumped straight in from the sea, if you're brave enough.
0:06:20 > 0:06:26The bathhouse has many regular customers who take weekly seaweed soaks.
0:06:26 > 0:06:32The bath is filled with warmed seawater, then the seaweed is steamed,
0:06:32 > 0:06:33turning it from brown to green.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39- It's a completely different texture as well. It's oily and slimy.- Urgh!
0:06:46 > 0:06:48The steaming process releases oils,
0:06:48 > 0:06:51nutrients and alginate from the seaweed.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55So your bath's ready for you, Michael.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57- What do you think?- Er...
0:06:57 > 0:06:58unusual, I would say.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01So I'll just leave you to enjoy your bath, OK?
0:07:01 > 0:07:02Thank you, Lorna.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10Step one is to get inside the steam chamber.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14Oh! That is a very strange feeling!
0:07:14 > 0:07:20I have a little steam lever, here, which I'm going to operate rather gently.
0:07:25 > 0:07:26Steam is rising all around me.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33Actually, that's rather pleasant!
0:07:34 > 0:07:41The heat and the steam open up the pores, ready for the seaweed soak.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44Former politician involved in steamy scene.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49HE COUGHS
0:07:53 > 0:07:57Now, like Dracula rising from his coffin!
0:07:57 > 0:07:58Oh!
0:08:01 > 0:08:06I step into my seaweed bath.
0:08:08 > 0:08:09Ah!
0:08:13 > 0:08:18I can feel it all over my skin, sort of clinging to me.
0:08:19 > 0:08:24But now, I've sort of got over the yuck factor,
0:08:24 > 0:08:26it's actually rather nice.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32The amber tint in the water is caused by iodine.
0:08:32 > 0:08:37Seaweed is one of nature's richest sources of this therapeutic element.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39It's certainly very relaxing,
0:08:39 > 0:08:42but all good things come to an end.
0:08:42 > 0:08:47Now for the Lorna challenge - a shower in cold seawater.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51AH! AHHH!
0:09:20 > 0:09:25My next stop will be Foxford, which the guide tells me is a small
0:09:25 > 0:09:27place on the Moy, a good salmon river.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31In Victorian times, a river could mean a mill.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34A mill could mean work, rather than the workhouse.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45Foxford, a village with a population of around 1,300,
0:09:45 > 0:09:48is located in the western county of Mayo.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52The great famine hit County Mayo hard
0:09:52 > 0:09:55and nine workhouses were built for the destitute.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00I'm visiting a more cheerful vestige of those times -
0:10:00 > 0:10:03Foxford Wool Mill, run by Joe Queenan.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13- Hello, Joe.- Hello, Michael. You're very welcome.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Thank you very much. I must say, I love visiting a mill.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19And you've got some gorgeous-looking products here.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21There's not too many of us left operational in the world at the moment
0:10:21 > 0:10:24and this loom in particular is weaving Irish tweed
0:10:24 > 0:10:27using Shetland yarns.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29This is the sort of wool you use, is it?
0:10:29 > 0:10:32This is the wool, it's lamb's wool, 100% Merino.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35The mill, I suppose, was established by the river to use water power.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37You won't be using that today.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39No, we stopped using water power in 1965.
0:10:39 > 0:10:40We're using mains now.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45The mill dates back to 1892
0:10:45 > 0:10:49and it's surprising to find out that its founder was no rich
0:10:49 > 0:10:56industrialist, but a nun from the Irish Sisters of Charity, Mother Arsenius.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03Joe, it seems like we're in the historic part of the mill here.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05Tell me more about Mother Arsenius.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08She obviously had a passion about helping people
0:11:08 > 0:11:13and she visited Foxford and saw the destitution that existed in the area,
0:11:13 > 0:11:17and she wanted to do something and help her fellow mankind.
0:11:17 > 0:11:22This devout and driven nun secured a loan of £7,000 from the so-called
0:11:22 > 0:11:25Congested Districts Board.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29A mill race off the River Moy and mill buildings were constructed.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34The early years were a struggle, but by the turn of the century, the mill
0:11:34 > 0:11:39had begun to thrive and to employ much of the immediate population.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43She was effectively, then, an entrepreneur, which seems odd to me.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45I don't think of nuns as being entrepreneurial.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47No, she knew nothing about textiles, knew nothing about business,
0:11:47 > 0:11:50but she just had this vision and passion.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52What do you think drove her?
0:11:52 > 0:11:56She had a great faith in God and with that, a huge desire to help people.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00And if we look up here, Michael, at her motto and logo,
0:12:00 > 0:12:03"God's providence is our inheritance."
0:12:03 > 0:12:04What does she mean by that?
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Her attitude was you didn't just pray and hope things happened,
0:12:07 > 0:12:11you went out, did your 100%, and providence met you the other halfway.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13And what was her impact, then, on Foxford?
0:12:13 > 0:12:18Huge. If you imagine, this place employed 250 people of a population of 700.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22Today, the operation that Mother Arsenius set up
0:12:22 > 0:12:26remains an important part of the local economy.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29The workforce is much smaller, but the mill still employs
0:12:29 > 0:12:31around 70 people.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39This appears to be a delightfully colourful part of the process.
0:12:39 > 0:12:40What's going on here?
0:12:40 > 0:12:42This, Michael, is called a tinter.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45It's a very, very old form of drying.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48If you look at the two lines of chains with hooks on them,
0:12:48 > 0:12:50they're known as tenterhooks.
0:12:50 > 0:12:55So the expression under pressure or nervous comes from there.
0:12:55 > 0:12:56I had no idea about that.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58And what width are you using here?
0:12:58 > 0:13:00We're using 66.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02We need it to go out to 69.
0:13:02 > 0:13:03Pressing now.
0:13:03 > 0:13:04That's it.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09- Perfect. Well done.- 69 on the button.- On the button.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12And is there anything we should do while it's going through?
0:13:12 > 0:13:14No. It's important to keep it straight,
0:13:14 > 0:13:16so as the machine is moving, if you have to, apply some pressure,
0:13:16 > 0:13:18mainly at the edges, and keep it straight.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20- Well, let battle commence. - OK, Michael.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25Now, come over here and just watch that your lines are straight.
0:13:29 > 0:13:30It's perfect.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34Hot air circulates through the machine,
0:13:34 > 0:13:36which drives the fabric whilst it's being stretched.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43I'm involved in a delicate industrial process.
0:13:43 > 0:13:44I'm on tenterhooks.
0:14:03 > 0:14:08Foxford Station is on a branch line off the main Dublin to Westport line.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14In order to continue west, I'll need to make a most unusual change.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28Riddle - when can you neither enter nor leave a railway station?
0:14:28 > 0:14:32Answer - when it's called Manulla Junction,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35because, whilst you can change train here,
0:14:35 > 0:14:38there is no ingress and no egress.
0:14:38 > 0:14:43You cannot buy a ticket here, you cannot buy a ticket to here.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45Unique in my experience so far.
0:14:47 > 0:14:53Serving only a sparse population, the station closed in 1963.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57It reopened in 1988 as an interchange station only.
0:14:58 > 0:15:03The Dublin train has taken all the passengers, leaving me alone.
0:15:21 > 0:15:22Finally, my train arrives.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37My next stop will be Westport, County Mayo.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41Bradshaw says, "It's in a valley at the head of an inlet on the south
0:15:41 > 0:15:45"side of Clew Bay under Croagh Patrick.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48"A week might pleasantly be passed boating,
0:15:48 > 0:15:51"picnicking and bathing amid the islands."
0:15:51 > 0:15:53In the limited time that I shall have,
0:15:53 > 0:15:57I intend to study disaster and divinity.
0:16:07 > 0:16:13The planned Georgian town of Westport dates back to the late 18th century,
0:16:13 > 0:16:18when Lord Sligo of Westport House cleared a village of 700 people to
0:16:18 > 0:16:22make way for it to be built along the Carrowbeg River to Clew Bay.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33Now, this is interesting.
0:16:33 > 0:16:39The town before the railway was designated to be the port of the west of Ireland
0:16:39 > 0:16:43and stacks of now vacant warehouses were built.
0:16:43 > 0:16:49They might readily be converted into factories and ships run into
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Westport with cotton from America.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56In the 21st century, those warehouses were changed into hotels,
0:16:56 > 0:16:59cafes and seafood restaurants.
0:16:59 > 0:17:00Yummy.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12To end my day, I want to try a local speciality from this coast.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20Good evening. You're welcome to The Idle Wall.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24Oh, thank you very much. I was hoping for some fresh seafood
0:17:24 > 0:17:27- from Clew Bay.- Tonight, I have some really wonderful native clams.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29Sold. And a glass of white wine, please.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33- Absolutely, coming right up. - Thank you.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39Ah! Gosh.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41Fascinating clams, aren't they?
0:17:41 > 0:17:44This is the prayer clam, you see the beautiful pearlised inside.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47- I do. That's superb. - And this is a lighter shell one.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50It's a little bit more sweet.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52I'm going to try this prayer clam.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56Dip it in the white wine and the garlic.
0:17:58 > 0:17:59Mmm.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02Gosh, that's so fresh.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06Now try the native clam.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15What a delicious meal.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33This morning, I start on the coast at Clew Bay,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36looking out to the rugged Atlantic Ocean.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44"Clew Bay," says Bradshaw's,
0:18:44 > 0:18:52"forms an archipelago of 100 green islands popularly said to be 365,
0:18:52 > 0:18:57"varying in size from a few acres to a mile in length.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00"Mist and rain are the rule here."
0:19:00 > 0:19:04And, indeed, bad weather threatens today.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08Over time, the islanders have often had to close ranks
0:19:08 > 0:19:10and not just against the elements.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18One of the largest islands of the archipelago is Achill Island
0:19:18 > 0:19:22and I'm meeting one of its residents, historian John Sweeney,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24for a tour of the bay.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45How many of these islands is populated?
0:19:45 > 0:19:49Just four major islands with a decent population left.
0:19:49 > 0:19:54The rest of the 360-odd islands are down to maybe an odd house.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57What sort of communities do you have on the islands?
0:19:57 > 0:20:00Sadly it's a two-ended side to the community.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03We've the very young, up to 17 and 18,
0:20:03 > 0:20:06and after that they go off to college,
0:20:06 > 0:20:09emigrate usually after that and we don't see them again,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12and then we have the very elderly on the island,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15so we're a community of kind of two halves, the young and the very old.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21Emigration has long been a part of life for the islanders of Achill.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25During the famine of the 1840s, many left their homeland for good,
0:20:25 > 0:20:29whilst others travelled for seasonal work in other parts of the British Isles.
0:20:31 > 0:20:37In 1894, a terrible disaster would strike these migrant workers here in Clew Bay.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40It was a shocking tragedy,
0:20:40 > 0:20:44which consisted of migrants from Achill who were travelling to
0:20:44 > 0:20:46Scotland to pick the potatoes.
0:20:46 > 0:20:51They were on what they would call a hooker, that were a big carrying boat,
0:20:51 > 0:20:54and they were just outside Westport to meet the steamer here.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57It was picking them up and bringing them up to Scotland,
0:20:57 > 0:20:59and a lot of the young people got very excited to see the boat because
0:20:59 > 0:21:01they'd never seen a steamer before,
0:21:01 > 0:21:06and they all went to one side to have a good closer look
0:21:06 > 0:21:09and, unfortunately, the boat capsized and, as a result of it,
0:21:09 > 0:21:1134 young people were drowned.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18Tragic. Lost the whole island, as you can imagine.
0:21:18 > 0:21:23The bodies were returned to Achill by train from Westport.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27The line had just been completed and the very first train to run
0:21:27 > 0:21:29performed this sombre service.
0:21:34 > 0:21:40Sadly, the very last rail service into Achill would also be marked by tragedy.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46The tattie pickers were in Scotland,
0:21:46 > 0:21:51finishing up their contract for the year and they were locked in a barn
0:21:51 > 0:21:56and, unfortunately, a fire started during the middle of the night and
0:21:56 > 0:21:58ten of them lost their lives in this tragic fire.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06The dead were once again returned by train.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10It was to be the last rail service to the island before the line was
0:22:10 > 0:22:12closed for good.
0:22:20 > 0:22:26Leaving Clew Bay behind me, ahead is my last stop here in Ireland
0:22:26 > 0:22:28and it's one of the most breathtaking.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34Bradshaw's tells me that the tourist who neglects the ascent
0:22:34 > 0:22:40of Croagh Patrick will lose one of the finest sights of its kind in the
0:22:40 > 0:22:43British Isles and with such encouragement,
0:22:43 > 0:22:47will I be daunted by a little rain and swirling mists?
0:22:52 > 0:22:56The striking mountain of Craogh Patrick is the destination of
0:22:56 > 0:22:59one of Ireland's most popular Christian pilgrimages.
0:22:59 > 0:23:05The name is Irish for Patrick's Stack and is known locally as the Reek.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09Guiding me up its slopes today is historian Harry Hughes.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13- Hello, Harry.- Hello, Michael, how are you?
0:23:13 > 0:23:17You're very welcome to a bleak and wet, but wonderful Croagh Patrick.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19- You weren't put off by the weather, thank you.- Indeed not, indeed not.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22I'd like to present you with a stick for the Reek,
0:23:22 > 0:23:25traditionally the staff for climbing the mountain.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27Very nice. Thank you very much.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29We meet by a statue of St Patrick.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31According to my Bradshaw's guidebook,
0:23:31 > 0:23:34there is a hut on the mountain where, supposedly,
0:23:34 > 0:23:37the saint sojourned for a time.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39- Is that true?- It is true.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42We know from earlier references, particularly the Book Of Armagh,
0:23:42 > 0:23:44which is at Trinity College,
0:23:44 > 0:23:47written 200 years after Patrick's sojourn on the mountain.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49It clearly states that Patrick came here, we believe,
0:23:49 > 0:23:55in the year 441 and stayed on the summit for 40 days and 40 nights.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00- Who was Patrick?- Patrick, we believe, came from Wales, but he
0:24:00 > 0:24:05certainly came from Gaelic Britain and he was caught as a slave,
0:24:05 > 0:24:07enslaved here, herding sheep for a number of years.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10He eventually escaped, studied the Christian faith,
0:24:10 > 0:24:13eventually became a bishop and came back to Ireland with the intention
0:24:13 > 0:24:15of Christianising the Pagan Irish.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18This wonderful mountain,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21exceptional mountain with its deceptive conical shape,
0:24:21 > 0:24:26was that of importance to early man before the Christians?
0:24:26 > 0:24:31Hugely important. The archaeologists found early Roman jewellery, 500 BC,
0:24:31 > 0:24:35which is 1,000 years before Patrick's visit to this mountain
0:24:35 > 0:24:38and it would have been important for Patrick to conquer all the important
0:24:38 > 0:24:41Pagan ritual sites on behalf of Christianity.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44I'm not trying to get all the way to the summit today,
0:24:44 > 0:24:47- but shall we press on and get on the way?- We'll try, anyway. Come on.- OK.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55It rises to a height of over 2,500 feet.
0:24:55 > 0:25:01It takes around two hours to climb the peak and one and half hours to descend.
0:25:01 > 0:25:06It's become a tradition to climb the mountain on the last Sunday of July,
0:25:06 > 0:25:11known as Reek Sunday, when 20,000 people make the ascent
0:25:11 > 0:25:14and a priest celebrates mass on the summit.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19Bradshaw's tells me that around the patron saint's day,
0:25:19 > 0:25:24pilgrims doing penance climb on their bare knees.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28There probably were some who would have walked this mountain in their
0:25:28 > 0:25:31bare feet back then, but the vast majority of pilgrims would wear
0:25:31 > 0:25:35hardy boots and climb the mountain and walk up and will kneel at the
0:25:35 > 0:25:36summit, of course, to say their prayers.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39I suppose that around the time of my guidebook,
0:25:39 > 0:25:43pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick would have become a national phenomenon in Ireland.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Yes, the train companies got on board and many trains brought
0:25:46 > 0:25:51pilgrims to this mountain and they built a new church on the summit in 1905.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53So we know for quite a number of years after this,
0:25:53 > 0:25:57the main mode of transport coming to Croagh Patrick was by rail.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00What do you think is the significance of Croagh Patrick to
0:26:00 > 0:26:02- the Irish people?- This is a hugely important site.
0:26:02 > 0:26:07This is the interface between the mother Earth and the spiritual world.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10And this, to Irish people, is the holy mountain of Ireland.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15Today, the mountain attracts pilgrims and hikers from all over
0:26:15 > 0:26:17Ireland and around the world.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21- Hello.- Afternoon, sir.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25I see that you are climbing Croagh Patrick on a pretty inclement day.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29- Why are you doing it?- I heard it's one of the best mountains in Ireland
0:26:29 > 0:26:32and hiking is what I do, what I love,
0:26:32 > 0:26:35and I heard the legends about St Patrick climbing the mountain,
0:26:35 > 0:26:38the penitant climbing the mountain and all that,
0:26:38 > 0:26:40and that's something I had to see before I left.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42Do you have any religious views or feelings?
0:26:42 > 0:26:46- I'm a Catholic, sir.- You're not going to get much of a view today.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48- Does that make a difference? - No, not at all.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50- Why do you say that? - It's the journey.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52It's the journey that makes the experience.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58As I end my journey in Ireland, I couldn't agree more.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06Take an island separated from other land,
0:27:06 > 0:27:11inhabited since the dawn of history, with its powerful myths and
0:27:11 > 0:27:14distinctive language, heat with religion.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18Whipped together, these ingredients produce a national emotion.
0:27:19 > 0:27:26Add songsters and poets inspired by this verdant landscape and flavoured
0:27:26 > 0:27:31with the fiddle and the harp and the emotion becomes a hope.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34Stir with colonial repression and a terrible hunger,
0:27:34 > 0:27:38and the hope becomes a determination to be free.
0:27:38 > 0:27:43At the time of my Bradshaw's guide, Ireland was approaching boiling point.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55Next time - through breathtaking scenery,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58where I'll encounter magnificent beasts,
0:27:58 > 0:28:03mimic fearless explorers and witness distinctive customs.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06I'll travel 1,500 miles,
0:28:06 > 0:28:10recapturing the excitement and promise of the American frontier.