IRELAND of the WELCOMES
Ireland is also known as The Emerald Isle due to the variety of greenery which is to be seen at a
glance in its pleasant scenery of fields, meadows, trees, flowers, pastures, hills, valleys, plains and
leaves. It is why international sporting teams from Ireland wear the green jersey.
Johnny Cash, the legendary country singer from the USA, once on his way to tour Ireland with his
band, composed his famous tuneful song during his flight across the Atlantic, entitled, yes: ‘The
40 Shades of Green’ in anticipation.
Now, while numerologists and other pendant-wearing pedants might argue with the precise number
of shades – some of whom might even argue that 50 is the new 40 – there is no gainsaying the
sentiments expressed in the country hit;
I close my eyes and picture
The emerald of the sea
From the fishing boats at Dingle
To the shores of Donaghadee.
Johnny C’s first glimpse from his metal bird high in the sky would have been the Wild Atlantic
Way which is a new name for the West Coast of Ireland and which stretches from Dingle to
Donegal.
Now while one of Ireland’s biggest tourist attractions for the past 20 years has recently gone
missing – Fungi the Fun Dolphin of Dingle bay – it does not mean that the Wild Atlantic Way has
been too seriously depleted. As the video shows you can still enjoy the awesome view of Europe’s
highest maritime cliffs – Slieve League in Donegal and The Cliffs of Moher – both of which which
have been arguing the toss with the other for countless millennia as to which are the higher !
I miss the river Shannon
And the folks at Skibereen
The moorlands and the meadows
With their forty shades of green.
Of course not everyone approaches Ireland from the West: for the majority of those who enter the
country from the east will do so via Dublin the capital city.
Dublin is deservedly coupled with an adjective beginning with d: delightful. It is, for instance,
delightfully compact and its center is easily traversed on foot. There one can view such delights as
the quaint Halfpenny Bridge which forms a metal arch across the River Liffey to the grandiose 18th
century Bank of Ireland which looks across at the facade of Trinity College where such literary
luminaries as Oliver Goldsmith, Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett were educated. St. Patrick’s
Cathedral is where Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels (one of Victoria’s favourite books!)
once served as the Dean.
The globally renowned Guinness Brewery at St. James Gate on the Liffey is but a stone’s throw
away from the largest enclosed public park in Europe, the Phoenix Park where one can visit one of
the world’s oldest zoos, photograph the herd of deer which reside there and gaze in awe up at the
astounding Wellington Monument. Two stone’s throws away is Kilmainham Jail, where one can
stand in silence at the yard where the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916 were executed.
Dublin is derived from the original Irish (aka Gaelic) words: Dubh Linn, meaning Black Pool.
Appropriately Dublin have been the reigning All Ireland champions in Gaelic Football for the past
five years, even if they do play in blue and bluer jerseys. Croke Park, the third largest stadium in
Europe, is the home of Gaelic Football and Hurling. There is no Irish border in Gaelic Games.
Little wonder therefore that Johnny C. sang:
I wish that I could spend an hour
At Dublin’s churning surf
Well, if time is short for the visitor one can still emulate the singer without difficulty:
I’d love to watch the farmers
Drain the bogs and spade the turf
Once can easily accomplish that wish by taking a short trip to the celebrated bijou city of Kilkenny
which is the home of Ireland’d dominant hurling team in recent times, as it happens. No wonder
they are known as The Cats, due to their appetite for lapping up the cream of glory. There, one can
visit the splendid Castle of Kilkenny which dominates the city on the River Nore.
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