Ireland in all it's greenery (but no pictures)

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After nearly 3 weeks in and round the northern half of Ireland we have formed a few impressions we thought you might like to reflect on. Ireland is a beautiful and hospitable country with magnificent scenery and an absorbing past. We have met some wonderful people and are having a great time but it is flying past too quickly. Next week we head across to Galway.

In country areas every second person has a sister, brother, cousin, auntie or uncle who has lived in Australia for one year, many years or even generations and they all want to visit their relatives and our country. However in Belfast and Dublin everyone we met has just returned from Oz after doing the 2 years as a backpacker or else they are planning to go and want to know how expensive it is there. We met one girl who had lived in Coffs Harbour for 3 years and another who had been fruit picking in SA and Qld and was desperate to return. On the other side of the coin we met an Aussie guy who met and married a Derry girl and now lived heer permanently and a waiter whose parents own a restaurant in Petersham. It seems as if our countries are joined by some invisible thread that goes back as far as the convicts!

With all this talk of linkages I checked out my Irish connections. Edward McCristal (my great, great grandfather on my mother's side) was tried in County Tyrone in 1833 for a minor crime and transported in 1834. He must have liked what he found as his brother emigrated in 1841. We heard many similar stories from the times of trouble and round the great famine of the 1840's. So we drove to Cookstown and found the old court house where Edward was tried. Val will be proud of me!

Another thing about Ireland is that the weather is a constant source of discussion- they go on about the rain and soak up the sunshine in every park and open space when it comes. However after a week of sun the farmers are whinging because they need to rain to grow the silage (grass to us) to feed the cows, to make the milk etc. We have had all seasons in our our time here -often all in one day. As an offshoot of the rain the green of the fields and countryside is unbelievably beautiful - the colour is so soft and the grass so lush that it grows right down the hills to the edge of the sea.

HISTORY - After visiting Derry and Belfast, hearing lots of history, reading papers and hearing news broadcasts and talking to people we feel that the troubles are unfortunately not definitely behind in N Ireland. In Derry we met a woman who had been in the Bogside on Bloody Sunday with her Da, our friend Orla, whilst training as a nurse in Belfast, hid under the bed when the riots were outside and yet this summer there will be 4000 apprentice group marches across N Ireland where any little spark can start things up- like the recent riots over the English flag. Many people of goodwill want permanent peace but you sense that they are not always confident that it is a certainty. Fixed opinions, beliefs and old enmities haven't gone away. The Unionist Shankill murals are very in your face and the Peace wall (whilst not closed) still separates Falls Road.

Yet you can move freely between Ireland and the North. Their economies are closely tied but the currency and mileage differ. How frustrating to move from Euro's to pounds and back again during a quiet country drive! I discovered we had strayed into N Ireland at Enniskillen when I went to a cash machine and it dealt only in sterling. It did explain why in the previous village just outside Enniskillen I had annoyed the motorist behind me greatly as I tried to drive through town at what I thought was 30 kms an hour!

The English - in Roscommon, Ballina, Stroketown and across N Ireland we heard ofj the British landlords treatment of their tenant farmers which led to wholesale evictions and forced resettlement of thousands in the US or Australia. Whilst on a tour of 4 stately homes we visited Clonalis, the ancestral home of the O'Connors, direct descendants of Ireland's last High King. They have lived on that one estate for more than a 1,000 yrs and can trace their lineage back much further. The historian O'Connor who spoke to us told a fascinating story of the religions and the politics which had shaped his country. At each of the houses we visited we heard a fascinating but turbulent history and at the National Irish Famine museum at Strokestown Park we heard a very grim story of the devastation caused by the potato blight and the bad governance from England.

Once you leave the motorways the roads are much as I remember them from the 70's and it takes a bit of getting used to, on how long it takes to drive what looks initially like quite a short distance. Even so we managed to drive over 3000 kms in the first 2 weeks - mostly on back roads. It's a great country to wander through- fascinating towns with local fairs and festivals, beautiful loughs and parks, beaches and coastal cliffs etc. We are glad that our bucket list included a visit to the Giant Causeway. Being there close to sunset, when we could wander and sit in awe well after all the tour buses and hordes had left, created an unforgettable memory for us both.

Churches and music must get a mention. There are a few churches (the understatement of the year) as you can imagine and many are grand and beautiful and we chanced on a concert at the Cathedral in Sligo one night where a choir from the University of New Hampshire was singing. It was a beautiful concert but their resident conductor was one William Kempster, ex Sydney music teacher who worked with Ros and sang with the Sydey Uni Grad Choir Ross! Small world -we always seem to meet someone somewhere with a connection and he wasn't even Irish ( I don't think!). We have been to a couple of evensong services and attended a great jazz concert in Ballina with the Dublin City Jazz Orchestra and David O'Rourke. This Friday night we are going to a Bloomsday evening of readings, singing, poetry etc based on the chapters of "Ulysses" but unfortunately we leave Dublin before Bloomsday itself (on Sunday).

Finally there aren't any photos this time as the computer I am working on is password protected and I can't install Flash to upload my photos through it. Bye for now and I hope this blog finds everyone well.

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