0:00:17 > 0:00:19This is Coast!
0:00:23 > 0:00:25One small sea
0:00:25 > 0:00:27lies at the heart of our islands...
0:00:28 > 0:00:30..and touches us all.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36We've been crisscrossing it for centuries
0:00:36 > 0:00:38to connect with coastal neighbours.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44Bounded by Scotland in the north,
0:00:44 > 0:00:46England in the east,
0:00:46 > 0:00:48Wales in the south
0:00:48 > 0:00:50and Ireland in the west,
0:00:50 > 0:00:52I'm on the Irish Sea.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57And this is no solo venture.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59As I head across the sea to Ireland,
0:00:59 > 0:01:04we're also exploring other shores around the Irish Sea.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08Mark's digging up shared Celtic connections in Cumbria...
0:01:08 > 0:01:10I'm on a quest to discover
0:01:10 > 0:01:13why this outpost of the Roman Empire
0:01:13 > 0:01:16was so important as a religious centre.
0:01:17 > 0:01:22..Cassie and Miranda are diving into a shipwreck mystery...
0:01:24 > 0:01:27There are just eerie bits of wreckage lying around.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32..and Tessa's investigating how one small yacht
0:01:32 > 0:01:35determined the future of Ireland...
0:01:35 > 0:01:38On-board is an illegal cargo.
0:01:38 > 0:01:39900 of these...
0:01:40 > 0:01:43..Mauser single shot rifles.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45..all aboard the Irish Sea.
0:02:12 > 0:02:13SEAGULLS CALL
0:02:20 > 0:02:2440,000 square miles of water
0:02:24 > 0:02:27touching the shores of all four nations
0:02:27 > 0:02:29that make up the British Isles.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44For thousands of years people have traversed the Irish Sea
0:02:44 > 0:02:46from coast to coast,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49creating a special shared culture.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53I want to find the many ways
0:02:53 > 0:02:56this swirling sea touches our isles
0:02:56 > 0:02:58and connects our coast.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01This passage of water is awash with stories
0:03:01 > 0:03:03I'm itching to explore.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05I'm starting my journey
0:03:05 > 0:03:08on a crossing that has long linked our islands.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11Holyhead in Wales to Dublin.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13From there,
0:03:13 > 0:03:14I'll head north for Belfast
0:03:14 > 0:03:16and then Larne,
0:03:16 > 0:03:18where I'll hop on another ferry
0:03:18 > 0:03:20to Cairnryan in Scotland.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26Over five million people cross the Irish Sea each year,
0:03:26 > 0:03:30but how many know where it starts and ends?
0:03:31 > 0:03:34I asked some fellow passengers before we set sail.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38I think, actually, it goes right, right up.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41- Right up to top of Ireland? - Yeah.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43I would say it stops round about here.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46- Across there?- Yup.- In the north, yeah?
0:03:46 > 0:03:48And how far down do you think it goes?
0:03:51 > 0:03:54- Probably down...down about here, I suppose.- So all the sea...
0:03:54 > 0:03:56It joins the Channel down there.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58All the sea that's between mainland Britain and Ireland,
0:03:58 > 0:04:01- you think is the Irish Sea? - I think so, yeah.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04On sea charts,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07the Irish Sea is demarcated in the south
0:04:07 > 0:04:10by a line from Nose of Howth here
0:04:10 > 0:04:13across to Carmel Head here,
0:04:13 > 0:04:17and to the north by a line from Ballyquintin Point here
0:04:17 > 0:04:19across the Mull of Galloway here.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25But these waters don't recognise boundaries.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29Most people count the channels at its top and tail
0:04:29 > 0:04:32as part and parcel of it.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35This is a small sea, bursting to break out.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46I've washed into Dublin on its tumultuous tides,
0:04:46 > 0:04:50caused by the very formation of the Irish Sea.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55Over 250 million years,
0:04:55 > 0:04:59tectonic plates have caused subsidence of the seabed
0:04:59 > 0:05:01between Ireland and mainland Britain.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06The sea as we know it today
0:05:06 > 0:05:08was formed by rising sea levels
0:05:08 > 0:05:10as major ice sheets melted
0:05:10 > 0:05:12over 10,000 years ago.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18If we look at my chart again,
0:05:18 > 0:05:20we can see the effects
0:05:20 > 0:05:23of the Irish Sea's glacial history.
0:05:23 > 0:05:27Its waters are trapped in a deep basin...here.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Twice daily tides flood in from the south,
0:05:32 > 0:05:35pulled by the drag of the moon,
0:05:35 > 0:05:39but the narrow passage of the north channel prevents the waters from escaping.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42So they do a circuit of the Irish Sea,
0:05:42 > 0:05:44before trying to escape southwards again,
0:05:44 > 0:05:49where they collide head-on with the next incoming tide.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53The result is a complex tidal swirl.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58And, there's another side-effect,
0:05:58 > 0:06:01a unique seasonal phenomenon.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07It's called the Irish Sea gyre,
0:06:07 > 0:06:10and it's the lifeblood of these waters.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16I want to find out what this phenomenon is and how it works.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21'I'm meeting Dr Martin White and Dr Glenn Nolan
0:06:21 > 0:06:24'from the University of Galway and Marine Institute.'
0:06:25 > 0:06:27I think that's about 15 rpm.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29That's about what we want.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32'They've promised to demonstrate an oceanic gyre
0:06:32 > 0:06:34'on dry land...'
0:06:34 > 0:06:37- Hi.- Hello, Nick.- Very good to meet you.- Nice to meet you.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39This is one of the strangest contraptions
0:06:39 > 0:06:42I've ever seen set up on a beach.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44What exactly is a gyre?
0:06:44 > 0:06:45OK, Nick.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49A gyre is a term, a common term, we use
0:06:49 > 0:06:53to describe an enclosed circulation pattern of ocean currents.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55In the case of the western Irish Sea,
0:06:55 > 0:07:00this is a circulation pattern which goes around a dome of dense cold water
0:07:00 > 0:07:03sat in the deep part of the western Irish Sea here,
0:07:03 > 0:07:04between us and the Isle of Man.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07The idea to have this spinning is,
0:07:07 > 0:07:09if you think about the earth,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12everything is spinning around at the same rate,
0:07:12 > 0:07:14so we need to set that up first.
0:07:17 > 0:07:18As the earth turns,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21so does everything on it -
0:07:21 > 0:07:23including our oceans.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27We see this effect when water drains down a plughole.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31This circular flow is known as the Coriolis effect.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36How is your contraption going to demonstrate how the gyre works?
0:07:36 > 0:07:39The green dye contained in the cylinder is dense water
0:07:39 > 0:07:43and swimming around in the main bowl we have fresh water.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45So when we release this,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48we'll create that dense dome in the middle
0:07:48 > 0:07:50and a cyclonic circulation around that.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52- Can we try it? - I think we can try it now.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01The green dye is the cold dome of water,
0:08:01 > 0:08:05warmer clear water is swirling around it.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07At the boundary where the two meet,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10a current is generated,
0:08:10 > 0:08:12creating an invisible barrier.
0:08:14 > 0:08:15That is the gyre.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20Martin adds red dye so we can see the gyre current.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28The red dye's hanging like a curtain wrapping itself around the dome.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32This is small scale.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35Out in the deepest basin of the Irish Sea,
0:08:35 > 0:08:39the gyre spans 3,600 square miles.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45This invisible current creates a unique eco-system...
0:08:46 > 0:08:49..an enclosed feeding ground,
0:08:49 > 0:08:51where fish and shellfish thrive.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58This sea's gyre creates rich pickings,
0:08:58 > 0:09:00and not just fish.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08Swirling currents can also bring tides of change.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11Religions,
0:09:11 > 0:09:12beliefs,
0:09:12 > 0:09:14cultures,
0:09:14 > 0:09:16carried around the Irish Sea...
0:09:17 > 0:09:21..transforming our isles over thousands of years.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28The Romans were no strangers to these waters,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31for them a conduit to coastal conquest.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36In the first century, they reached Maryport, Cumbria
0:09:36 > 0:09:39and named it Alauna.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42It became a key garrison of the Roman Empire.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50Mark first came here ten years ago,
0:09:50 > 0:09:55when archaeologists discovered a huge military fort and settlement.
0:09:57 > 0:09:58Now he's back
0:09:58 > 0:10:01because an astonishing addition to the story
0:10:01 > 0:10:03has been unearthed -
0:10:03 > 0:10:05Roman temples.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11Maryport wasn't just a military fortress.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13It had a spiritual side, as well.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15I'm on a quest to discover why
0:10:15 > 0:10:18this outpost of the Roman empire
0:10:18 > 0:10:21was so important as a religious centre.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28Archaeologists here
0:10:28 > 0:10:32have uncovered two spectacularly rare temples,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35one round, probably a mausoleum
0:10:35 > 0:10:38and another intriguing rectangular structure.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42Tony Wilmott of Historic England
0:10:42 > 0:10:45is co-director of the project.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47This is the so-called rectangular temple.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49We've just got this end exposed.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51You've just got this side wall running there,
0:10:51 > 0:10:53then it comes out into this little square projection,
0:10:53 > 0:10:57then the facade was just about under the edge of grass area over there.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00- Facing the same way as the other one? - They're both facing the same way.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02We found, on excavating it properly,
0:11:02 > 0:11:04that there were four column bases.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06Gosh, that's smart. Would it have had a pediment?
0:11:06 > 0:11:09It would have had the lot - columns, pediment, the whole business.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12- That's really unusual. You don't get classical temples.- Not very often.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Actually this is the furthest northwest classical temple in the Roman Empire so far.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20It's a staggering discovery.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23This was no everyday temple.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25It's size and quality
0:11:25 > 0:11:29suggests Maryport was a cult centre,
0:11:29 > 0:11:33drawing people from far and wide to worship.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38And there's stunning evidence to back this up
0:11:38 > 0:11:39in the local museum.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47In this museum
0:11:47 > 0:11:50is the largest collection of Roman altars in Britain,
0:11:50 > 0:11:5218 in total
0:11:52 > 0:11:55and all found here at Maryport.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02As pagans, the Romans worshipped many gods and spirits.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06These exquisite altars were dedicated
0:12:06 > 0:12:09to Jupiter Optimus Maximus,
0:12:09 > 0:12:11I-O-M,
0:12:11 > 0:12:14the king of the gods.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17They probably would have stood in front of the temples.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25But these altars were dug up 100 metres away from the temples.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27At some point,
0:12:27 > 0:12:29they had been moved to an area
0:12:29 > 0:12:34where the team discovered a series of mysterious pits.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37Professor Ian Haynes of Newcastle University
0:12:37 > 0:12:39is the dig's co-director.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42These pits were actually dug
0:12:42 > 0:12:45to allow for a large timber structure
0:12:45 > 0:12:47to be built on this spot.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50Timber posts set up to 1.3 metres into the ground
0:12:50 > 0:12:52and packed around with stone,
0:12:52 > 0:12:55including sometimes altars.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58So they reused the altars as packing.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01Absolutely. So if we look at this one,
0:13:01 > 0:13:03you can actually see the packing stone
0:13:03 > 0:13:06that's gone into one of these pits.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09And at the bottom of it, there, you can see the top of another altar.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12Once that's been taken away,
0:13:12 > 0:13:13yet again there it is -
0:13:13 > 0:13:15Jupiter Optimus Maximus.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19'What was this extraordinary structure
0:13:19 > 0:13:22'that used Roman altars as building material?
0:13:23 > 0:13:26'Clues were revealed by the excavations.'
0:13:26 > 0:13:28What's that at one end?
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Well, absolutely, this is key here, as you rightly point out.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34We've got an apse here, there's no doubt about it.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37There is a very clear semi-circular feature
0:13:37 > 0:13:40as one would find on the end of certain types of basilicum buildings.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Well, basilicums can be churches.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44They can be, indeed.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49'This is another astounding discovery.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52'It seems the Roman altars
0:13:52 > 0:13:54'had become the foundations
0:13:54 > 0:13:57'for a colossal Christian church.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01'In the 1st century,
0:14:01 > 0:14:05'the Romans invaded Britain as emphatic pagans.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08'Yet, within 300 years,
0:14:08 > 0:14:10'they would destroy the symbols of that belief
0:14:10 > 0:14:13'and embracing a brand-new faith.'
0:14:15 > 0:14:18Christianity spread throughout the Empire
0:14:18 > 0:14:21and by the beginning of the 3rd century AD
0:14:21 > 0:14:23it may well have reached Roman Britain.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28Not that the Roman authorities approved.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31The faith of the first English martyr,
0:14:31 > 0:14:32St Alban,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35sealed his fate in the late 3rd century.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40In 314 AD,
0:14:40 > 0:14:44the Emperor Constantine adopted Christianity
0:14:44 > 0:14:47as the official religion of the Roman Empire
0:14:47 > 0:14:50and the first public churches were built.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00This extraordinary building unearthed at Maryport
0:15:00 > 0:15:04dates to the late 4th or early 5th century,
0:15:04 > 0:15:07one of the earliest churches ever discovered in Britain.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15We now realise that Maryport sits in the centre of a whole cluster
0:15:15 > 0:15:18of early Christian sites.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21Across the Solway was Whithorn,
0:15:21 > 0:15:23just behind the wind farm over there.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26Across the Irish Sea, we have the Isle of Man.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Then beyond that, Nendrum in Northern Ireland
0:15:29 > 0:15:31and Iona in the Scottish islands.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36The emergence of Maryport
0:15:36 > 0:15:38as a Christian powerhouse
0:15:38 > 0:15:40in the north of England
0:15:40 > 0:15:42adds serious weight to a theory
0:15:42 > 0:15:45that's intrigued me for years.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47Because just 30 miles from here,
0:15:47 > 0:15:49a famous saint was born.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55This man - Saint Patrick,
0:15:55 > 0:15:57the apostle to the Irish.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04According to his own life,
0:16:04 > 0:16:07a document known as the Confession,
0:16:07 > 0:16:12Patrick says that he was born in a town called Bannaventa,
0:16:12 > 0:16:14which I think is this place,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16which the Romans called Glannaventa.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22Glannaventa is so close to Maryport
0:16:22 > 0:16:24it raises the possibility
0:16:24 > 0:16:27that St Patrick had a physical connection
0:16:27 > 0:16:30with this spiritual stretch of the Cumbrian coast.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35If St Patrick was indeed from this place,
0:16:35 > 0:16:39it may well be from this very spot that he set off
0:16:39 > 0:16:43and took Christianity across the Irish Sea to the Irish.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49Romans established a pagan centre of worship
0:16:49 > 0:16:52here at Maryport
0:16:52 > 0:16:54on the edge of the Irish Sea.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59With the arrival of Christianity and St Patrick,
0:16:59 > 0:17:02there came a new sea of faith,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05creating fresh sites of pilgrimage
0:17:05 > 0:17:06on our isles.
0:17:18 > 0:17:19The Irish Sea.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24Awash with opportunities
0:17:24 > 0:17:26that connect our coasts
0:17:26 > 0:17:28and our fishing ports.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33New Quay in Wales...
0:17:34 > 0:17:36..Whitehaven in England...
0:17:38 > 0:17:40..Portpatrick in Scotland...
0:17:42 > 0:17:47This small sea binds together a big industry.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52Dublin Bay is famous for one particular catch...
0:17:53 > 0:17:55..the Dublin Bay Prawn.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00A product of the swirling gyre current.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03Over 16,000 tonnes are landed in Ireland each year...
0:18:05 > 0:18:10..but this crunchy crustacean knows no boundaries.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13Stocks are spreading throughout the Irish Sea...
0:18:13 > 0:18:15and have reached Belfast Lough.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21It's where I've come to find out more about this delicacy,
0:18:21 > 0:18:23exported and eaten on our shores.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27But the name's a bit of a red herring.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33Because these prawns are also known as scampi and langoustine...
0:18:36 > 0:18:39..which is less of a mouthful than their scientific name,
0:18:39 > 0:18:41Nephrops norvegicus.
0:18:43 > 0:18:48I'm heading out with the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute,
0:18:48 > 0:18:52whose experts monitor Nephrops stocks for the Government.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55Principal scientist Richard Gowen
0:18:55 > 0:18:59has plotted on a chart how far the gyre spreads them.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01The main population is retained here
0:19:01 > 0:19:03because of the physical environment,
0:19:03 > 0:19:05but, as these arrows show,
0:19:05 > 0:19:07when the Nephrops larvae are in the surface waters
0:19:07 > 0:19:10they will be dispersed elsewhere.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12There's a population here in the eastern Irish Sea,
0:19:12 > 0:19:14there's a population in the Clyde,
0:19:14 > 0:19:19and the general flow through the Irish Sea is from the south, through,
0:19:19 > 0:19:24so the small populations like the one here in Belfast Loch are spin-offs
0:19:24 > 0:19:26from the main population centres.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28Cousins of the gyre population.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30Yes.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34'The gyre is the optimum environment
0:19:34 > 0:19:36'to nurture newly hatched Nephrops.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41'It retains most of the larvae and the plankton they feed on.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45'When larvae reach a certain size,
0:19:45 > 0:19:47'they drop back to seabed burrows
0:19:47 > 0:19:50'to metamorphose into adults.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57'Until now, I've never been up close and personal with a Nephrops...
0:19:58 > 0:20:01'..unlike senior scientist Steven Beggs.'
0:20:01 > 0:20:03Wow, they're enormous!
0:20:03 > 0:20:07Yes, these are big Dublin Bay prawns, Nick.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10Dublin Bay prawns or Nephrops
0:20:10 > 0:20:13can live up to 15 years.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15These feisty examples are about five.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19Ooh!
0:20:19 > 0:20:20They're dangerous, aren't they?
0:20:20 > 0:20:22Yeah, they can give you a nasty nip.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25- Would you like to feel the weight of it?- Sure.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27Oh, right.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29Absolutely stunning.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31Translucent pinks and oranges,
0:20:31 > 0:20:35with these very fine, fine fronds on the back of the tail,
0:20:35 > 0:20:39and this overlapping exoskeleton down the back here.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42- It's like armour plating on an armadillo.- Yes, indeed.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46And they're very muscular - I've noticed that, flicking around,
0:20:46 > 0:20:48they've got a lot of power, very beautiful.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50I'm going to put him back in. There you go.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54And just take me through their very complicated bodies.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56Yeah, they have this triple-fanned heel,
0:20:56 > 0:20:59which they use for propulsion.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02They are decapods - they have ten legs
0:21:02 > 0:21:05and they have these large front claws,
0:21:05 > 0:21:09which they use for scavenging and protecting themselves.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16But their claws are little protection against one predator -
0:21:16 > 0:21:18man.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20To prevent overfishing and to set quotas,
0:21:20 > 0:21:24it's vital the team know how many of these colourful crustaceans live
0:21:24 > 0:21:25in the Irish Sea.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30A camera sledge records them.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32Towed behind the ship,
0:21:32 > 0:21:36it's designed to slide over the soft sea floor.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38On the bottom!
0:21:38 > 0:21:41'Pictures are fed to the ship's computers,
0:21:41 > 0:21:45'where principal scientist Matt Service has the unenviable task
0:21:45 > 0:21:47'of counting each burrow.'
0:21:47 > 0:21:50So this is a live feed from the seabed
0:21:50 > 0:21:52and the sledge shot we've just deployed.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55There's no way that I'd be able to spot a burrow in that!
0:21:55 > 0:21:57It looks like green soup.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59Can you show me a picture of a burrow close-up
0:21:59 > 0:22:02- so I know what to look for?- Yes. If we go over here to the computer.
0:22:02 > 0:22:03Here we are.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06Classically it's got this crescent shape at the front
0:22:06 > 0:22:09and then an escape entrance at the back.
0:22:09 > 0:22:10That must be so difficult.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14That means you can't count an escape entrance, only the front door.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16That's easy - you've got one or two burrows,
0:22:16 > 0:22:18but it's not all that easy.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21So if we just click through a few slides...
0:22:21 > 0:22:23Here's a shot from the middle of the Irish Sea,
0:22:23 > 0:22:25and you can see it's a lot of burrows, not so easy now.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29This is a bit like breaking open a chocolate bar
0:22:29 > 0:22:31and seeing all the bubbles.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33'And to make things more complicated,
0:22:33 > 0:22:35'not every hole is a Nephrops burrow.'
0:22:38 > 0:22:40- So can I have a go at counting, Matt?- On you go.
0:22:41 > 0:22:42- Is that one?- Yes.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44OK. One, two, three...
0:22:44 > 0:22:46- four...- Yeah.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49- Just missed one there, I think. - Oh, dear.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51Five...
0:22:51 > 0:22:53There you go, six, seven! That was one, wasn't it?
0:22:53 > 0:22:56Oh, my eyeballs are getting tired already. Nine...
0:22:56 > 0:22:59- It's really difficult. - It's really difficult.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01We would do this for maybe five minutes on a go,
0:23:01 > 0:23:04but you're getting the point, it can be done.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06How many burrows have you counted in a single shift?
0:23:06 > 0:23:09I guess probably...oh, certainly thousands.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12But if you look at the Irish Sea as a whole,
0:23:12 > 0:23:14we reckon that in 2013,
0:23:14 > 0:23:16the figure was 4.3 billion Nephrops burrows.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19- 4.3 billion burrows in the Irish Sea?- Yes.
0:23:21 > 0:23:22That's mind-boggling.
0:23:24 > 0:23:29The burrows are complex structures offering protection from predators.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33Each one a bio-engineering marvel
0:23:33 > 0:23:36that oxygenates the sediment and regenerates minerals.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39They're also a natural work of art.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46Although it's flat boring mud on the surface,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49when you get below it, it's a bit of a complex.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53So although the camera is seeing lots and lots
0:23:53 > 0:23:55of little burrow entrances,
0:23:55 > 0:23:57beneath those entrances,
0:23:57 > 0:23:59the entire Irish Sea is sort of excavated
0:23:59 > 0:24:01- by these tiny little prawns.- Yeah.
0:24:01 > 0:24:02Absolutely amazing.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07In the depths of the Irish Sea,
0:24:07 > 0:24:09the humble Nephrops
0:24:09 > 0:24:12is a crucial part of a vibrant eco-system,
0:24:12 > 0:24:14the gyre its lifeblood.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18Thanks to the burrow counters,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21the flourishing future for Nephrops is one we all share.
0:24:31 > 0:24:36Life thrives in the whirling currents of the Irish Sea.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40And so do stories.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43As people cross from coast to coast,
0:24:43 > 0:24:45they swap songs and traditions...
0:24:47 > 0:24:49..tales and superstitions.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55These wild waters create legends of their own.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00They swirl around the sea's Celtic heart,
0:25:03 > 0:25:05..the Isle of Man.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12Singer and story teller Ruth Keggin
0:25:12 > 0:25:15recalls the tale of the mythical monarch
0:25:15 > 0:25:19of this magical place, the Sea God Manannan.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23# Manannan Beg Mac y Leir
0:25:23 > 0:25:28# Manannan Beg Mac y Leir
0:25:28 > 0:25:32# Bannee orrin as nyn maateyn
0:25:32 > 0:25:36# Manannan Beg Mac y Leir. #
0:25:36 > 0:25:38Manannan Mac y Leir was a sea god,
0:25:38 > 0:25:41a king, a warrior,
0:25:41 > 0:25:44known in the Celtic nations of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46And, legend has it,
0:25:46 > 0:25:49he was the first ruler of the Isle of Man.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53Manannan lived in a castle at the summit of South Barrule,
0:25:53 > 0:25:56which is one of the high peaks of the Isle of Man
0:25:56 > 0:25:58in the south of the island.
0:25:58 > 0:25:59And, standing up at the top,
0:25:59 > 0:26:02you really get a sense of the island, with the sea all around you.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20Some of the people of the Isle of Man
0:26:20 > 0:26:24would travel up to the top of South Barrule on Midsummer's eve
0:26:24 > 0:26:27in order to pay a straw tax to Manannan of rushes.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33Part of what really appeals to me about Manannan
0:26:33 > 0:26:37is the idea that he was a shape-shifter, a magician,
0:26:37 > 0:26:39he was able to protect the island,
0:26:39 > 0:26:41not just with a sword,
0:26:41 > 0:26:44but by making one man appear like 100 men
0:26:44 > 0:26:48and by sending down a cloak of mist to shroud the island to defend it.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05Manannan's very name is associated with the sea,
0:27:05 > 0:27:07and you can think of it as his realm.
0:27:07 > 0:27:12He was supposed to have had a great horse named Embar of the Flowing Mane,
0:27:12 > 0:27:15who was able to ride just as well
0:27:15 > 0:27:18over the waves as over the land.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31I think the story of Manannan has to have travelled across the Irish Sea.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35When you think about it, the sea was a pathway.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38We know this because Manannan is known in other places
0:27:38 > 0:27:40apart from the Isle of Man.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42According to the myth,
0:27:42 > 0:27:45Manannan no longer resides on the summit of South Barrule,
0:27:45 > 0:27:48but instead lives on an underwater island
0:27:48 > 0:27:5315 or 16 miles off the most southerly tip of the Isle of Man.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56And who knows, perhaps he's there still...
0:27:56 > 0:28:00# Manannan Beg Mac y Leir
0:28:00 > 0:28:04# Bannee orrin as nyn maateyn
0:28:04 > 0:28:10# Manannan Beg Mac y Leir. #
0:28:19 > 0:28:24Coast is exploring how the Irish Sea touches us all
0:28:24 > 0:28:27and shapes our islands' story.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40Cargoes carried across these waters have built cities.
0:28:43 > 0:28:47Granite from the Mountains of Mourne paved Liverpool...
0:28:48 > 0:28:50..today a megaport.
0:28:51 > 0:28:5630 million tonnes of freight sails in each year,
0:28:56 > 0:29:01while leviathan cruise ships docking at Holyhead have made this place
0:29:01 > 0:29:03an unlikely tourist trap.
0:29:08 > 0:29:13The Irish Sea is a highway connecting our shores.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15But sometimes what washes in
0:29:15 > 0:29:18can change the bonds between our coasts.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22In Ireland's capital,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25Tess is investigating a troubled relationship...
0:29:27 > 0:29:32Dublin, a coastal city linked to Britain by the Irish Sea.
0:29:32 > 0:29:34But when it comes to politics,
0:29:34 > 0:29:36things haven't always been plain sailing.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42After generations of demands for Irish independence,
0:29:42 > 0:29:46the pivotal event that would eventually achieve it erupted here,
0:29:46 > 0:29:49on Easter Monday, 1916.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56At noon, a group of Irish nationalists seize a number of official buildings.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00They call on fellow Irishmen to resist the bonds of British control
0:30:00 > 0:30:03and establish an independent Irish Republic.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06After six days of fighting,
0:30:06 > 0:30:09450 are dead and thousands injured.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11Dublin is brought to her knees.
0:30:15 > 0:30:20The General Post Office became the nationalist rebels' target and HQ.
0:30:22 > 0:30:26Here they hoisted the Republican flag and proclaimed independence.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31Riddled with bullet-holes, it's where I'm meeting
0:30:31 > 0:30:34Dr Conor Mulvagh from University College Dublin.
0:30:36 > 0:30:40So this is the spot, where we're standing, where it all kicked off?
0:30:40 > 0:30:42Absolutely. The Republic, in 1916,
0:30:42 > 0:30:44was declared right in front of us here.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46So what we have here is a bullet hole.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49We can see the clear entry point, and then the wide exit point.
0:30:49 > 0:30:51This would've come from the south and travelled north,
0:30:51 > 0:30:53so we can see a large shattering.
0:30:53 > 0:30:54They're shooting from over there?
0:30:54 > 0:30:57This was the British forces shooting from the south.
0:30:57 > 0:30:59It was the British who eventually won,
0:30:59 > 0:31:04but they executed the rebel leaders making them martyrs.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08So this was a catalyst for independent southern Ireland.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11Irish nationalism probably has its most transformative,
0:31:11 > 0:31:13it's most immediate shift,
0:31:13 > 0:31:15in the weeks after the 1916 rising.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19The Easter Rising was a watershed moment.
0:31:19 > 0:31:25A bloody armed battle, between rebel volunteers and British forces.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32But how had a war of words over the so-called Irish question
0:31:32 > 0:31:34become a war with weapons?
0:31:35 > 0:31:38And where had the rebels got their guns?
0:31:41 > 0:31:44To find out, I need to go back two years in time,
0:31:44 > 0:31:47and head for Howth, just north of Dublin.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54It's the 26th of July, 1914,
0:31:54 > 0:31:57a 49-foot pleasure yacht named Asgard
0:31:57 > 0:31:59sails into this harbour.
0:31:59 > 0:32:05On board is an illegal cargo - 900 of these...
0:32:05 > 0:32:08Mauser single-shot rifles
0:32:08 > 0:32:11that went on to arm the rebels at the Easter Rising.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15I want to know where the guns came from.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17Come aboard, come aboard.
0:32:17 > 0:32:19I'm meeting local sailor Pat Murphy.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23He's studied the Asgard's gun-running mission,
0:32:23 > 0:32:26codenamed Picnic.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29So, Pat, tell me about their journey.
0:32:29 > 0:32:30It was a 23-day journey.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32They left from North Wales
0:32:32 > 0:32:34on the 3rd of July,
0:32:34 > 0:32:35and they headed down the Irish Sea
0:32:35 > 0:32:38and then across the Bristol Channel,
0:32:38 > 0:32:40around Land's End,
0:32:40 > 0:32:42and they rendezvoused with the German tug the Gladiator
0:32:42 > 0:32:44off the Belgium coast.
0:32:46 > 0:32:48They picked up the guns off the German tug.
0:32:48 > 0:32:50Asgard took 900.
0:32:50 > 0:32:51I mean, that must've been a challenge -
0:32:51 > 0:32:53getting that many guns onto a sailing boat.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56Yes, it was. They, in fact, had to unpack them all
0:32:56 > 0:32:57from the bales of straw.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00They were stowed up to two-and-a-half feet high,
0:33:00 > 0:33:01all over the boat.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04This was just weeks before the outbreak of the First World War,
0:33:04 > 0:33:07The sea must have been chock-a-block with naval vessels.
0:33:07 > 0:33:09Wasn't there a fear they'd be spotted?
0:33:09 > 0:33:11It was a big fear.
0:33:11 > 0:33:13In fact, as they were sailing passed Devonport,
0:33:13 > 0:33:16they sailed right through the British Navy on exercise.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20- Well, did nobody sort of think this is a bit odd?- Nobody, nobody.
0:33:20 > 0:33:22We have a picture taken from Asgard.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24- Here we are.- Right.- Look at that.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26That's very menacing, isn't it?
0:33:26 > 0:33:28- Yes!- You've got the warships in the background,
0:33:28 > 0:33:30and the gloom, the sense of foreboding.
0:33:30 > 0:33:31Exactly. Yes.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37They arrived into Howth harbour just outside Dublin,
0:33:37 > 0:33:39in broad daylight.
0:33:40 > 0:33:45Awaiting them, 1,000 volunteers to unload the illegal haul.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48But it wasn't the martyrs of the Easter Rising
0:33:48 > 0:33:51who were delivering these guns.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54The ring leaders weren't obvious revolutionaries,
0:33:54 > 0:33:57they were well-connected pillars of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy,
0:33:57 > 0:34:01but they were still whole-hearted supporters of home rule for Ireland.
0:34:03 > 0:34:08Erskine Childers, an English-born veteran of the Boer War,
0:34:08 > 0:34:11he'd had spectacular success a decade earlier
0:34:11 > 0:34:16as author of the first-ever spy novel Riddle of the Sands.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19Ironically, in it, he warned of the threat to Britain
0:34:19 > 0:34:22from an increasingly powerful Germany.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25Now he was skippering his own yacht,
0:34:25 > 0:34:27bringing weapons from Germany
0:34:27 > 0:34:30to overturn British rule in Ireland.
0:34:33 > 0:34:38His conversion was due in no small part to his wife, Molly Childers -
0:34:38 > 0:34:40an American-born writer,
0:34:40 > 0:34:42she was a staunch Irish nationalist
0:34:42 > 0:34:45with a distaste for Imperialism
0:34:45 > 0:34:46and England.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52But the linchpin in the whole operation was Mary Spring Rice,
0:34:52 > 0:34:56a liberal Anglo-Irish aristocrat,
0:34:56 > 0:34:59born and bred in County Limerick,
0:34:59 > 0:35:02and a passionate advocate of Irish culture.
0:35:03 > 0:35:05I'm meeting Mary's nephew,
0:35:05 > 0:35:07Charles Spring Rice, to find out
0:35:07 > 0:35:10how a landed lady of the gentry took centre stage
0:35:10 > 0:35:13in this revolutionary operation.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18What part did she play in the mission itself?
0:35:18 > 0:35:21She was partly to do with organising the money
0:35:21 > 0:35:23to fund the guns that they were going to collect,
0:35:23 > 0:35:25and she, also, was the person who first thought up the idea
0:35:25 > 0:35:27of using private yachts.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30Because she felt they're more likely to escape detection
0:35:30 > 0:35:31if they took it in private boats -
0:35:31 > 0:35:35particularly, in Cowes Week, as they were going to be going passed that.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37One of her letters here talks about
0:35:37 > 0:35:39how she worked at finding the right boat.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42"I've heard from someone in Berlin who might be helpful.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45"We have a bigger boat which might go under Childers' captaincy."
0:35:45 > 0:35:48Right, so here she is sending off missives to all her contacts
0:35:48 > 0:35:51- trying to get her... - All her contacts she's working,
0:35:51 > 0:35:54internationally, to try and find a solution.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56- And succeeds. - Yes.
0:35:57 > 0:35:59Mary Spring Rice's hard work
0:35:59 > 0:36:02drummed up £1,500 -
0:36:02 > 0:36:05the equivalent of £150,000 today.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09Enough to buy the guns, and fund the trip.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14Republicans weren't the only ones arming themselves.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18Just months earlier Loyalist volunteers in Northern Ireland
0:36:18 > 0:36:21had also landed guns from Germany -
0:36:21 > 0:36:2325,000 of them.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25The clock was ticking.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30Asgard and her cargo lit a touchpaper
0:36:30 > 0:36:34that put the burning Irish question centre stage.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41Two years elapsed between the arrival
0:36:41 > 0:36:42and the firing of the guns
0:36:42 > 0:36:44at the Easter Rising.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47because nine days after the weapons came to this coast
0:36:47 > 0:36:50World War One was declared.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58And under cover of war, the rebels had time to plan their strike.
0:37:01 > 0:37:07So what did Asgard mean to those fighting for an independent Ireland?
0:37:07 > 0:37:10Was her role forgotten in the passage of time?
0:37:12 > 0:37:13To answer that,
0:37:13 > 0:37:15I've come to Kilmainham Gaol.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20Here Easter Rising rebels
0:37:20 > 0:37:22were held and executed.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26Oppressive cell walls are covered
0:37:26 > 0:37:28with political-prisoner graffiti.
0:37:28 > 0:37:30It's just this cell here.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33Archaeologist Dr Laura McAtackney
0:37:33 > 0:37:36has unearthed one extraordinary scribbling.
0:37:36 > 0:37:38It's very, very small,
0:37:38 > 0:37:39and very faint.
0:37:39 > 0:37:41It's a little bit of pencil under whitewash.
0:37:41 > 0:37:43So what do you think this is?
0:37:43 > 0:37:45If you look at this picture here...
0:37:45 > 0:37:48We think it's probably supposed to be the Asgard.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55Yes. And, actually, now you come to mention it,
0:37:55 > 0:37:58it does have the sort of flamboyant double-sail sketched on the wall.
0:37:58 > 0:38:02- Isn't it?- It's very specific looking to the Asgard, we think.
0:38:02 > 0:38:04It could've even had a picture that it was replicating,
0:38:04 > 0:38:06because it's very detailed.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09And if it is the Asgard, what does that actually tell us?
0:38:09 > 0:38:11Well, it links into the idea
0:38:11 > 0:38:14that Kilmainham Gaol was already becoming a nationalist icon.
0:38:14 > 0:38:18So this is tying into that with another kind of nationalist icon
0:38:18 > 0:38:21linking to the gun-running in Howth.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25For the people imprisoned and killed in their fight for independence,
0:38:25 > 0:38:29Asgard had become the symbol of their struggle.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33She's now at the National Museum of Ireland.
0:38:39 > 0:38:43It is incredible to finally see this 28-tonne yacht,
0:38:43 > 0:38:46named the Harbinger of Liberty by Republicans.
0:38:55 > 0:38:59For some, Asgard started and epitomised
0:38:59 > 0:39:01a bloody conflict
0:39:01 > 0:39:03that rumbles on to this day.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06For others, this vessel is the symbol of independence
0:39:06 > 0:39:08and the struggle to achieve it.
0:39:08 > 0:39:10Either way,
0:39:10 > 0:39:12this is an exquisite yacht
0:39:12 > 0:39:15clearly not built for military purposes,
0:39:15 > 0:39:20but which facilitated a mission with revolutionary intent.
0:39:20 > 0:39:22One voyage, one boat
0:39:22 > 0:39:26that changed the course of Irish and British history.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38Coast is exploring the Irish Sea...
0:39:41 > 0:39:44..a small body of water that touches
0:39:44 > 0:39:46and binds our nations.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54Ferries ply a profitable trade across this sea...
0:39:56 > 0:39:57..Dublin to Holyhead...
0:39:59 > 0:40:01..Cairnryan to Larne...
0:40:04 > 0:40:08..but some have found novel ways to cross from coast to coast.
0:40:16 > 0:40:18It's nothing new.
0:40:18 > 0:40:22This sea has long-inspired creative thinking.
0:40:23 > 0:40:24In the 18th century,
0:40:24 > 0:40:28plans were afoot at the tiny town of Whitehead,
0:40:28 > 0:40:30to permanently bridge the gap.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37Without the haze, Scotland would be clearly visible
0:40:37 > 0:40:41across this 25-mile gulf between here and the Mull of Galloway.
0:40:41 > 0:40:46Linking these two coasts must surely have seemed possible.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52I'm meeting Exeter University Professor Nick Groom.
0:40:52 > 0:40:55He's studied some of the more eccentric ideas
0:40:55 > 0:40:57to bring our coasts together.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01In 1722, an anonymous satirist published a pamphlet
0:41:01 > 0:41:04called Thoughts of a Project for the Draining of the Irish Channel.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07- Drain the Irish Sea? - Drain the Irish Sea.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09What do you think Britain and Ireland would have gained
0:41:09 > 0:41:11had we done away with all this water?
0:41:11 > 0:41:14The suggestion was to recover treasure from shipwrecks,
0:41:14 > 0:41:17also the seasoned timbers from shipwrecks
0:41:17 > 0:41:19that could then be used to build fishing traps
0:41:19 > 0:41:22for some of the larger sea creatures that are there.
0:41:22 > 0:41:23And what sea creatures would we find?
0:41:23 > 0:41:27Well, we're talking about "Sea-Goats, Kids, Apes, Baboons,
0:41:27 > 0:41:30"Sea-Bitches Babies, Foxes and their Cubs."
0:41:30 > 0:41:33So you'd lose the sea and gain a land of opportunity.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35That's one of the implications of this pamphlet.
0:41:35 > 0:41:39It's to get its readers thinking about the definition of Britain,
0:41:39 > 0:41:40its relationship with Ireland.
0:41:40 > 0:41:44So the Irish Sea isn't necessarily something that separates,
0:41:44 > 0:41:47it's something which actually brings the isles together.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54The notion was tongue-in-cheek,
0:41:54 > 0:41:58but the desire to connect was deep-rooted.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01It emerged again during the 1890s
0:42:01 > 0:42:04in another idea to link Britain and Ireland.
0:42:04 > 0:42:09It would've made little Whitehead the mighty gateway to the Irish Sea.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14If I'd been sitting here in the early 1900s,
0:42:14 > 0:42:17I might have been right beside the railway tunnel entrance
0:42:17 > 0:42:19of a steam railway line
0:42:19 > 0:42:22emerging from beneath the Irish Sea.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25This is the front cover for a proposal for four railway tunnels.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27They hadn't yet decided which one they wanted to build.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30One of them went from Donaghadee to Portpatrick,
0:42:30 > 0:42:32the second one from Whitehead - where I'm sitting now -
0:42:32 > 0:42:34across to Portpatrick.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37A third one, from Whitehead across to Stranraer,
0:42:37 > 0:42:40and a fourth one further north from Cushendun
0:42:40 > 0:42:42across the Mull of Kintyre.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48The tunnels were the brainchild of civil engineer
0:42:48 > 0:42:50Luke Livingston Macassey.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54Recognising the Irish Sea's importance to trade,
0:42:54 > 0:42:59he wanted to tap into the ever-expanding railways.
0:42:59 > 0:43:03This proposed line was linking places that were further afield,
0:43:03 > 0:43:06through trains between Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester,
0:43:06 > 0:43:08Belfast and Londonderry.
0:43:11 > 0:43:13Pros and cons were debated in Parliament.
0:43:13 > 0:43:18Unfortunately, the grand plans came with a hefty price tag -
0:43:18 > 0:43:22up to £200 million.
0:43:22 > 0:43:25The scheme was reluctantly shelved,
0:43:25 > 0:43:27so no tunnel.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30But generations have still made the crossing.
0:43:36 > 0:43:40The Irish Sea is not so much a gulf,
0:43:40 > 0:43:44more a bridge connecting neighbours.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49It's long been a route to new shores,
0:43:49 > 0:43:54from those fleeing famine in 19th century Ireland,
0:43:54 > 0:43:56to those escaping further afield.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02But these waters are tinged with tragedy.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07Lambay, off the coast of Dublin.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12A sleeping giant whose Gaelic name is Island of the Shipwrecks.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17It's lured Miranda and Cassie
0:44:17 > 0:44:19to investigate a coastal calamity
0:44:19 > 0:44:21that shocked Victorian society.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26Behind me, looming out of the water,
0:44:26 > 0:44:30are the sheer and jagged cliffs of Lambay Island.
0:44:30 > 0:44:34A 150 years ago, these rocks claimed an unsuspecting prey -
0:44:34 > 0:44:38a ship that was heralded as a symbol of the modern era,
0:44:38 > 0:44:41a ship that was on her maiden voyage,
0:44:41 > 0:44:44and a ship were hundreds of people died.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46This was the Royal Mail ship Tayleur,
0:44:46 > 0:44:49the Titanic of the Victorian age.
0:44:53 > 0:44:57And like Titanic, the RMS Tayleur was hailed as the biggest,
0:44:57 > 0:44:59finest vessel in the world -
0:44:59 > 0:45:02pride of the White Star Line.
0:45:03 > 0:45:06She was one of the first iron-hulled ships.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12On-board for her maiden voyage in the winter of 1854,
0:45:12 > 0:45:16were 700 excited travellers -
0:45:16 > 0:45:20entire families immigrating to a new world, Australia.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26But eager hopes for a new life were dashed.
0:45:27 > 0:45:32The Tayleur now rests in a watery grave 18 metres below the waves.
0:45:34 > 0:45:38The murky details of her fateful voyage have never been
0:45:38 > 0:45:40fully pieced together.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43So I'm going to be heading into the water to investigate
0:45:43 > 0:45:46this enigmatic wreck to find out how much of her is left
0:45:46 > 0:45:49and see if I can find any clues as to why she sank.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54Helping me by scrutinising the evidence on land
0:45:54 > 0:45:56is Cassie Newland.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58I want to trace the ship's maiden voyage,
0:45:58 > 0:46:00so I'm starting where RMS Tayleur was built.
0:46:01 > 0:46:05An unlikely spot for ship-building, Warrington,
0:46:05 > 0:46:0619 miles up the River Mersey.
0:46:08 > 0:46:10It's where I'm meeting historian Gill Hoffs,
0:46:10 > 0:46:13who's spent years researching the story.
0:46:17 > 0:46:19- Hiya, Gill. How you doing? - Hello.- I'm Cassie.- Nice to meet you.
0:46:19 > 0:46:21So what's the Tayleur like?
0:46:21 > 0:46:24She's glorious - look.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27Can you imagine this beauty sailing down here?
0:46:33 > 0:46:36She was enormous, she was luxurious,
0:46:36 > 0:46:38and she was revolutionary.
0:46:38 > 0:46:41She was one of the first iron clippers
0:46:41 > 0:46:44and she was meant to be the fastest, the safest
0:46:44 > 0:46:46and most splendid vessel afloat.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49- She had two flush toilets. - In the 1850s?
0:46:49 > 0:46:50- In the 1850s.- Oh, very posh!
0:46:52 > 0:46:55The Tayleur made her way down the Mersey to Liverpool.
0:46:55 > 0:47:00The burden of expectation on this supposedly safe ship, immense.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05She and her eager passengers left the coast
0:47:05 > 0:47:08amid great fanfare on the 19th of January, 1854.
0:47:11 > 0:47:12Just 48 hours into her maiden voyage,
0:47:12 > 0:47:14she was enveloped in thick mist
0:47:14 > 0:47:18and veering drastically off course,
0:47:18 > 0:47:20heading for Lambay.
0:47:22 > 0:47:23"SAILOR": Land-ho on the lee bow!
0:47:25 > 0:47:27Swept towards the island,
0:47:27 > 0:47:29winter winds caught the sails.
0:47:30 > 0:47:34Ropes jammed around the rigging and the mast.
0:47:34 > 0:47:36The crew were unable to pull in the sails
0:47:36 > 0:47:38against the power of the wind.
0:47:38 > 0:47:40The rocks rose like a mountain
0:47:40 > 0:47:41out of the middle of the sea,
0:47:41 > 0:47:43as the tide pushed them inland.
0:47:45 > 0:47:47The captain ordered the anchors to be dropped,
0:47:47 > 0:47:49the chains snapped like glass.
0:47:51 > 0:47:53The mid-section smashed into the rocks,
0:47:53 > 0:47:57and she started sinking by the stern within minutes.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00At this time the scene was one of the most appalling description,
0:48:00 > 0:48:03people ran wildly to-and-fro
0:48:03 > 0:48:05uttering the most piercing cries of distress.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09One man convinced hope was lost,
0:48:09 > 0:48:10wrote a message in a bottle.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15"Many passengers and crew are now drowning before my eyes,
0:48:15 > 0:48:17"and there's no assistance.
0:48:17 > 0:48:19"My wife is also lost."
0:48:19 > 0:48:23Around 380 passengers and 30 crew perished.
0:48:26 > 0:48:29Cassie's got hold of the ship's plans and cargo list
0:48:29 > 0:48:31to investigate the disaster.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34I want to find out why the Tayleur sank
0:48:34 > 0:48:36when she's supposed to be a cutting-edge ship.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39And I'm hoping my interest in Victorian engineering
0:48:39 > 0:48:41is going to help me do that.
0:48:42 > 0:48:45Weaknesses are clear immediately.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47The wide gap between the masts
0:48:47 > 0:48:50would affect the centre of gravity and, therefore, handling.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54The tiny rudder is built for speed not sharp manoeuvre.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58But I think the key factor is what the boat's made of -
0:48:58 > 0:48:59it's an iron hull,
0:48:59 > 0:49:02and we know that that can disrupt your compass readings.
0:49:04 > 0:49:06To work out how much,
0:49:06 > 0:49:08I'm doing a little experiment.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11Now this is a compass as we know it - it points north.
0:49:11 > 0:49:13But it's a very simple system.
0:49:13 > 0:49:17All you need is a magnetised needle like this one,
0:49:17 > 0:49:19on a freely rotation axis
0:49:19 > 0:49:21which we can make like this.
0:49:21 > 0:49:22And with any luck...
0:49:22 > 0:49:25Yeah - it's really simple -
0:49:25 > 0:49:26it's now pointing north.
0:49:26 > 0:49:28The iron in our magnetised needle
0:49:28 > 0:49:31is drawn to the strongest magnetic force.
0:49:31 > 0:49:35In this case, that is the natural magnetic force created by the Earth.
0:49:35 > 0:49:37So, now, if we take these chains
0:49:37 > 0:49:40and pretend that they are the iron hull of the boat
0:49:40 > 0:49:43and wrapping it around the bowl...
0:49:43 > 0:49:46the needle moves. It's not pointing to the north any more.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49Instead, it's drawn to the iron that its nearest to it,
0:49:49 > 0:49:51and if you think about the hull of the Tayleur -
0:49:51 > 0:49:54that is 1,750 tonnes of iron,
0:49:54 > 0:49:57the deflection can be quite substantial,
0:49:57 > 0:49:58and that's very dangerous.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01It was a well-known issue,
0:50:01 > 0:50:05and iron-clad ships usually re-set their compasses to compensate.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10But the Tayleur had an additional problem.
0:50:10 > 0:50:14More iron was loaded into the ship in the form of cargo -
0:50:14 > 0:50:18things like great coils of barbed wire,
0:50:18 > 0:50:20plough shears, pots and pans...
0:50:20 > 0:50:23And most importantly for our disaster,
0:50:23 > 0:50:25a full-sized river ship.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29The compass, vital on the boat,
0:50:29 > 0:50:30is no longer pointing north.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34It might only be a few degrees out,
0:50:34 > 0:50:36but when you're crossing the Irish Sea
0:50:36 > 0:50:39it's the difference between going down here,
0:50:39 > 0:50:41or ending up on the rocks here.
0:50:47 > 0:50:49We've got special permission to dive the wreck
0:50:49 > 0:50:52and I'm hoping that I can find out just a little bit more about her
0:50:52 > 0:50:54by getting a bit closer.
0:50:54 > 0:50:57Today the wreck is a protected site,
0:50:57 > 0:51:00so nothing can be removed or disturbed.
0:51:05 > 0:51:07It's so eerie down here.
0:51:07 > 0:51:09Very poor visibility.
0:51:11 > 0:51:13Oh, I see the first bit of wreckage.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20The ship's obviously lying on her side.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26This is the site of one of the portholes.
0:51:31 > 0:51:34Is this the chain here? Yes, look at this.
0:51:34 > 0:51:37This is the anchor chain.
0:51:38 > 0:51:40Look at the size of the links there!
0:51:42 > 0:51:46Something that thick, actually snapped.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49That is how powerful the winds and the waves and the tides were
0:51:49 > 0:51:50on the day she was wrecked.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57This ship was carrying hundreds of young families,
0:51:57 > 0:52:01who'd eagerly packed all their worldly goods.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05Can you see these stacked one on top of another?
0:52:05 > 0:52:08These are roof slates, believe it or not!
0:52:08 > 0:52:10So they were travelling with all the equipment they'd need
0:52:10 > 0:52:13to set-up a new life.
0:52:13 > 0:52:16Chillingly, they even took their own gravestones.
0:52:19 > 0:52:20And it feels very spooky.
0:52:23 > 0:52:25Oh, my God, there's a bit of pottery!
0:52:26 > 0:52:28Look at this!
0:52:28 > 0:52:30It's just here...
0:52:30 > 0:52:32I can't touch it, but just here...
0:52:32 > 0:52:35you can see the white of a piece of pottery.
0:52:37 > 0:52:38Now, that's some sort of bowl
0:52:38 > 0:52:40or maybe the top of a jug.
0:52:42 > 0:52:44It's all just coming alive now.
0:52:49 > 0:52:52Underwater I can only get tantalising glimpses of the cargo,
0:52:52 > 0:52:56so local diver Harry Breslin
0:52:56 > 0:52:59who was among the first ever to explore the wreck,
0:52:59 > 0:53:02has brought some stunning artefacts to show me.
0:53:04 > 0:53:06SHE GASPS Yeah, so this is, erm...
0:53:06 > 0:53:07Oh, my goodness!
0:53:07 > 0:53:09A little pepper canister.
0:53:09 > 0:53:11Look at that...! That's absolutely beautiful.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14- And it's perfectly intact. - Yes, indeed.
0:53:14 > 0:53:18I like to feel it's something special, you know, and, er...
0:53:18 > 0:53:21It's a real personal thing, isn't it? A personal item.
0:53:21 > 0:53:25- It sat on their table, this is what they used to flavour their food with.- Indeed.
0:53:25 > 0:53:26Oh, look at that.
0:53:26 > 0:53:30I mean, that looks like you've just bought it from the shop, doesn't it?
0:53:30 > 0:53:32That is absolutely beautiful.
0:53:32 > 0:53:34There's not a chip or a scratch on it.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39These incredible finds are a direct connection
0:53:39 > 0:53:42with the ordinary families on board,
0:53:42 > 0:53:45all with their own stories.
0:53:45 > 0:53:47But one statistic baffles me.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50Just 3% of women and children
0:53:50 > 0:53:51survived this tragedy,
0:53:51 > 0:53:54compared with 70% of men.
0:53:54 > 0:53:55Why?
0:53:56 > 0:53:59Author Gill Hoffs has a theory.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02The clothing that women wore at that time was very heavy,
0:54:02 > 0:54:04it was incredibly restrictive,
0:54:04 > 0:54:06and they could wear at least 16 layers, easy.
0:54:06 > 0:54:08- 16 layers?!- 16 layers.
0:54:08 > 0:54:11And you'd be very constricted.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14- So are these the clothes that they would've worn?- These are similar.
0:54:14 > 0:54:20This is a very, very heavy velvet overskirt.
0:54:20 > 0:54:22- If you feel the weight of that. - Oh! Yeah!
0:54:22 > 0:54:24If you can imagine that drenched in water.
0:54:24 > 0:54:27And the thing is, on board the ship you'd maybe get
0:54:27 > 0:54:30to access your clothing maybe once a fortnight.
0:54:30 > 0:54:32Once a week if it was excellent weather.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35- And it's January.- Yes. - And it's freezing.
0:54:35 > 0:54:36- Yes. - And it's damp.
0:54:36 > 0:54:38- Yes. - I'd be wearing everything.
0:54:39 > 0:54:44Passengers were advised to stitch valuables into their undergarments.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47One corset had 200 sovereigns sewn into it.
0:54:49 > 0:54:50Must weigh an absolute ton!
0:54:50 > 0:54:53A sovereign is, what, eight grams? Something like that?
0:54:53 > 0:54:54It's quite a hefty coin, isn't it?
0:54:54 > 0:54:57- It is a hefty coin. Yes.- It's like wearing a diver's weight belt.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00One woman had £3,000.
0:55:00 > 0:55:02Yes. She perished.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05These tragic losses appalled a Victorian society
0:55:05 > 0:55:10which championed the notion of "women and children first".
0:55:10 > 0:55:12But even if they had gone first,
0:55:12 > 0:55:15did their clothing condemn them to their deaths?
0:55:17 > 0:55:20I've volunteered to test the theory.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23My Victorian dress is heavy
0:55:23 > 0:55:27and layered, and I've added a weight-belt.
0:55:27 > 0:55:29But I'm wearing a wetsuit underneath
0:55:29 > 0:55:31and have two lifeguards on standby.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34That said, I'm still petrified!
0:55:42 > 0:55:44Actually, moving anywhere,
0:55:44 > 0:55:47in a direction, is really hard
0:55:47 > 0:55:49cos you're just a giant sail.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54I always think of myself as a very strong swimmer,
0:55:54 > 0:55:58but when it starts getting caught around your feet it makes you panic
0:55:58 > 0:56:02cos you can't do what you'd normally do to save yourself.
0:56:03 > 0:56:05It's like dragging an anchor.
0:56:05 > 0:56:07It's really knackering.
0:56:09 > 0:56:11As time ticks by,
0:56:11 > 0:56:13it's ever harder to stay afloat.
0:56:13 > 0:56:16I wouldn't be able to keep this up for more than a few minutes.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25You really feel for them as humans and families,
0:56:25 > 0:56:30because there is so little you could possibly do to rescue the situation,
0:56:30 > 0:56:33and some of them are travelling with 12 kids, and there's...
0:56:33 > 0:56:34there's no way in hell...
0:56:37 > 0:56:40There's no way in hell you can physically do it - you're beaten.
0:56:40 > 0:56:41It's awful.
0:56:46 > 0:56:48Less than half the passengers
0:56:48 > 0:56:50managed to scramble ashore.
0:56:50 > 0:56:53Only three women survived.
0:56:54 > 0:56:58An inquest concluded the ship was under-crewed,
0:56:58 > 0:57:02and White Star had made fatal mistakes.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05But it now appears there were many more reasons for this shipwreck,
0:57:05 > 0:57:07and her tragic death toll.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11A combination of factors sealed her fate -
0:57:11 > 0:57:14tides, winds, engineering...
0:57:14 > 0:57:17But whilst the wreck of the Tayleur remains on the seabed,
0:57:17 > 0:57:20at least the story is raised from the depths.
0:57:28 > 0:57:34I've reached the end of my journey up the western Irish Sea coast.
0:57:34 > 0:57:37But it's not quite the end of my time on this sea.
0:57:39 > 0:57:43I'm catching a ferry back to another coast connected by this water.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46I've visited Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland -
0:57:46 > 0:57:48I'm finishing bound for Scotland.
0:57:55 > 0:57:59The Irish Sea touches us in surprising ways,
0:57:59 > 0:58:02and defines our island story.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06A sea that takes
0:58:06 > 0:58:09as it provides
0:58:09 > 0:58:13people and ideas still carried
0:58:13 > 0:58:16on the tides and currents of these waters.
0:58:23 > 0:58:25Like the gyre,
0:58:25 > 0:58:27the Irish Sea continues to swirl
0:58:27 > 0:58:29with identities and connections
0:58:29 > 0:58:32supporting life old and new -
0:58:32 > 0:58:36produce, culture, tragedy and change
0:58:36 > 0:58:39have all washed across the Irish Sea from coast to coast.
0:58:39 > 0:58:42Perhaps we're not so much a collection of different countries
0:58:42 > 0:58:44sharing the Irish Sea,
0:58:44 > 0:58:46but, rather, people OF the Irish Sea.