IRELAND FROM A TO Z: PART II

I hope you brought your appetite with you this morning because my second course of all things Ireland is more a smorgasbord than a single serving. 

N is for Number 46 Fitzwilliam Square, allegedly the most photographed door in Dublin. Yep, I snapped my picture right along with the rest of the passengers on the tour bus following the driver’s commentary, adding yet another to the numbers of photographs of this particular door. The architectural style (the only double-door of its kind that I saw in Dublin) can be spotted throughout the city; it dates from 1714 through 1840 during the reign of King George I of Great Britain & Ireland.  The Georgian door is the most iconic symbol of this particular style of building.  The best examples can be seen in the leafy terraced rows of buildings in Fitzwilliam Square, Baggot Street and Merrion Square.

O is for Daniel O’connell, Ireland’s Great Emancipator.  At a time when English Penal Codes prohibited Irish Catholics from running for public office, much less voting, Daniel O’connell waged a five-year campaign to get elected to the British House of Commons.  As a new Member of Parliament in 1828, Daniel refused to follow the letter of the law and swear allegiance to the head of the Church of England (the monarch).   Eventually the law was repealed, ultimately emancipating Daniel and every other Irish citizen in Ireland.  You go, Danny boy!

P is for Pub, that most Irish of institutions dating back to medieval taverns, the cornerstone of community, culture and craic (pronounced crack, the Irish word for fun).  Pub is short for public house, that place where smart travelers can eat, drink, get out of the rain and make new friends, as long as you follow tradition and buy your table a round and learn to speak some Gaelic, as in Slainte (SLAWN-chuh), the equivalent of cheers.  Sounds like a good plan to me.

Q is for Quiet Man, the 1952 romantic comedy starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. This quintessential portrait of life in the Emerald Isle, from the lush photography of the Irish countryside to the long, climactic, semi-comic fist fight scene was shot on location in Ireland, in and around County Mayo on the lush grounds of the luxurious Ashford Castle.  It's a must if you haven't seen this classic!

Photo courtesy of tvtropes.com

R is for Riverdance, the contemporary interpretation of Irish dance that originated as a seven-minute interval piece during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin. While the full-length theatrical show  produced by husband-and-wife team John McColgan and Moya Doherty didn’t always sit well with traditionalists, the combination of modern Irish music, high-kicking  dancers, outstanding choreography, and sexy lead dancers, including Michael Flatley and Jean Butler, made the show an international sensation during its fifteen-year run.  

S is for Saint Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint.  Born Maewyn Succat to wealthy English parents Calpernius and Conchessa, St. Patrick was kidnapped at the age of sixteen by Irish pirates.  He spent six years in captivity in Ireland as a herdsman before hearing voices encouraging him to escape.  He did just that (escaped), covering two-hundred miles before boarding a ship bound for England.  He was kidnapped a second time, spent 60 days in captivity in Tours, France before finally making it home (I’m not making this stuff up!).  After a second vision convinced him he should return to Ireland as a missionary, he spent the next fifteen years studying to be a priest before heading back to Ireland as a missionary for the Catholic faith.  
 
Legend has it St. Patrick used the shamrock to illustrate the mystery of the Holy Trinity as one single entity, easily converting the nature-based Irish pagans to his Christian beliefs. 

T is for Titanic, the infamous ship built at Belfast’s Harland & Wolff shipyards under the  direction of Irish-born naval architect Thomas Andrews. Thomas Andrews perished along with two-thirds of those on board when the unsinkable turned to the unthinkable just before  midnight on April 14, 1912. 

The discovery of the ill-fated shipwreck in 1985 by oceanographer Robert Ballard spurred renewed interest in the Titanic.  Twelve years later James Cameron’s movie, Titanic, brought  interest to a fever pitch (the love story portrayed by actors Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio certainly left movie goers feverish). It was the highest grossing film of all time in its day, which helped offset the $200 million that went into producing the blockbuster.  

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia.

U is for U2, drummer Larry Mullen’s Irish rock band.  The foursome, Paul Hewson (BONO), Dave Evans (EDGE), Adam Clayton and Mullen specialize in melodic instrumentals, highlighted by the Edge’s  timbrally varied guitar sounds and Bono’s expressive vocals.  With 22 Grammy Awards to their credit and 150 million records sold worldwide since they began playing in Dublin in 1976, one might be inclined to overlook their philanthropic efforts, like campaigning for human rights and reducing poverty and AIDS in Africa.

Photo courtesy of musicfeeds.com.au

V is for Viking, those seafaring Teutons, Danes, Swedish, and Norwegians who came looking to Ireland for land and livelihood in 795.  They pillaged and plundered for two thousand years. Those that did not go to their death at the Battle of Clontarf eventually succumbed to the charms of bashful Irish colleens and settled down to make love rather than war.  
 
The boisterious, bearded Vikings are credited with founding several key cities in Ireland, among them Dublin, Waterford and Limerick. 

W is for Waterford, crystal so divine it sings sweetly at the tap of a finger, feels soft and warm to the touch even as its intricate and stunning designs belie its strength and durability. Imagine if brothers George and William Penrose had set up shop one-hundred-thirty years ago along Ireland’s western coast in Clonakility or Dungarvan rather than Waterford; somehow the two cities don’t seem to offer the same ring of royalty for the world’s finest crystal as does the city of Waterford.  

Founded in 914, the city of Waterford is older than all the Northern European capitals with the exception of Paris and London.  It is the only Irish city to retain its Viking place name - Vedrarfjordr - an Old Norse word which means 'haven from the windy sea' or 'winter port.'

X is for Exile, historically the emigration of hundreds of thousands of Ireland’s youth and much of the country’s vitality.  One such exodus in 1691, called the Flight of the Wild Geese, involved fourteen-thousand Irish soldiers and ten-thousand more family members, women and
children.  As per conditions of the Treaty of Limerick following their defeat in the Williamite War (1688-91) in Ireland, those same soldiers, led by Patrick Sarsfield, were called to serve in French armies during the Nine Years War against the Dutch.  
 
The worst of the emigration hemorrhage though occurred during the Potato Famine of 1845-1849 when a million Irish left for the U.S., Canada and Australia.  Another million Irish died during the four years of famine.  By 1900, the population of Ireland had been cut in half, to just under 4.5 million people.   The largest of those exiled Irish headed for Boston, Chicago and New York City, which is why the Irish have become such a force in U.S. politics; and why the Chicago River is dyed green every St. Patrick’s Day.

Y is for Yeats, none other than Ireland’s famed poet and playwright. William Butler Yeats was born in Dublin in 1865 into the Anglo-Irish landowning class.  His lyrical poetry and soulful,  evocative imagery earned him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.  Among his best works are The Wild Swans at Coole, Easter 1916, To a Child Dancing in the Wind, and The Lake Isle of Innisfree.  When conveying his appreciation for the recognition his life’s work had brought, he said “this honor has come to me less as an individual than as a representative of Irish literature.”

Photo courtesy of Jon Sullivan at www.public-domain-image.com.

Z is for zigzag, that narrow winding road in southwest Ireland called the Ring of Kerry, where switchbacks carry you past beautiful bays and majestic mountains, past ancient churches and castles, past the seashore and Connemara and into Killarney National Park.  In fact, you'll think you've stepped into the past in all its glorious, unspoiled splendor.