Irish idyll

By ROBERT N. JENKINS, Times Travel Editor

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 2, 2000

Southern Ireland has many charms among its craggy shorelines and rolling terrain, not the least of which is its people.

GRAIGUENAMANAGH, Ireland -- The people or the land, the land or the people? Which is it that so quickly charms the traveler in southern Ireland and makes him think that any trip there is too soon ended?

Rolling hills rise inland to become modest mountains, or they melt into pasture grazed by countless sheep and far fewer cows. A patchwork quilt, the farmland does not always flatten before it becomes craggy shoreline buffeted by the tides of St. George's Channel and the Celtic Sea.

Irish idyll Southern Ireland has many charms among its craggy shorelines and rolling terrain, not the least of which is its people. 'All the seasons in one day' There's more to Cork than its capricious weather. Which way do you go? In Ireland, the signposts won't help much, even if you're driving on the correct side of the road. Be prepared to be confused by them -- if you can even see them. Getting to know the Irish You'll find out more about the Irish if you visit their "locals" -- the corner pubs that toast their sociable nature. Quiet stones tell a story Ireland's ancient past whispers from its ruins, fallen remnants of war and religion, fragments of communities that flourished centuries ago. Riding an economic boom Unemployment is down and incomes are up as industry invades Ireland. Drinking in the culture A personal pilgrimage to the pubs of Dublin.

The coastal panoramas inspire visions of fierce Norman armies, immigrants' poignant final views of the native land and the rollicking folk song about St. Brendan setting sail to discover most of the rest of the world centuries before Columbus.

But the locals can match nature's splendor with their warmth.

On narrow country lanes, drivers raise a finger or two from the steering wheel to acknowledge pedestrians, cyclists and motorists headed in the other direction. Salespeople want to discuss your purchases, not merely ring them up. Hotel desk clerks and restaurant staffs are eager to make suggestions.

At a pub in seaside Youghal, even a visiting American was encouraged to sip the whiskey-and-lemonade brew from the Ballyrandall Cup, a gleaming trophy passed around to celebrate the amateur rugby team's rare victory that night over the lads from rival Dungarvin.

"Drink, Bob, and remember this night," advised former rugby player John Fitzgibbon, as his spritely wife, Katie, danced nearby to the live music. "You're not likely to see this cup again this century, because you're a visitor. But I'm not likely to see it either, and I live here!"

History? Just choose your era

"Ireland is made up of invasions," suggests a smiling Pat Tynan as he leads a tour past Kilkenny's medieval walls. "The invaders came the first time for free. Now we charge them and call it tourism.

Chief among the invaders were the Normans, for their conquest in the 1160s of the Celtic people who had been here about five centuries. Attuned even then to the power of symbolism, the Norman leader was known far and wide as Strongbow.

The remnants of massive Norman fortifications vie now with the graceful ruins of the great monasteries and abbeys of the early Christians.

Locals seem to have their favorite set of ruins they are eager to share with visitors. The towers, city walls and chapels are scattered about Ireland like so many granite sprinkles atop a green-frosted cake.

To reach many of these rural sites, you must drive narrow, snaking asphalt paths that suggest the straight line was anathema to road engineers.

The quest for history or landscapes winds through countless crossroads villages and towns that look the same.

In smaller communities, buildings typically have whitewashed stucco walls but front doors painted a brilliant red or green or blue.

Bigger towns show block upon block of centuries-old buildings, the fronts painted the full palette of colors: royal blue, bright yellow, lavender, rose, neon orange, sand, chocolate brown -- sometimes on buildings side by side.

But rural villages, set amid forested hills, have their lure, even for citywise Irish folk.

Hard on the placid, dark River Barrow is this village of Graiguenamanagh. The name is pronounced gray-guh-nuh-MAN-ah, and its translation from the ancient Gaelic means village or grange of the monks, who founded a large Cistercian abbey here in the 13th century.

Horseback riders meander through a morning fog as they leave Feathard on the Sea.

There are no monks among the 1,600 or so current residents. But the village is home to big-city refugees Brian and Brigid Roberts, who operate a 130-year-old former corn warehouse as the 10-room WaterSide hotel and restaurant. The Robertses moved here a couple of years ago after living in Dublin, about 80 miles distant, and Kilkenny, 17 miles to the northwest.

Brian Roberts is eager to leave the front desk of the WaterSide to lead guests on a fast-paced tour of this hilly village.

That means climbing little-used stairs on the outside wall of reconstructed Duiske Abbey, strolling canal-side alleys, sliding back a factory door to buttonhole Phillip Cushen. Cushen proudly notes that since 1690, his family-owned Cushendale Woolen Mills has used the same, slightly acidic river water the abbey's monks used to "keep the colors pure in the wool."

Roberts, too, knows about industry: His father was an executive in the Clark's shoe corporation. From nearby Kilkenny, Roberts says with a smile, "We sent 23-million pairs of Wallabies to the U.S."

Though he has lived in big cities, "I was raised in the country, hunting and fishing," Roberts says. "When I was a kid, I loved to hunt rabbits with terriers. My parents would blow a foxhorn when it was dinner time.

"Here, I can walk outside (the hotel) and go 100 yards in that direction and be in the woods. I can go 100 yards in that direction and be in the pubs. I can go 10 yards there and be on the river.

"I don't miss Dublin, but if I moved away from here, I'd miss it."

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