Wild Ireland with Christine Bleakley – Episode 4 – 2015 HD
I’m Christine blickley and I’m going home to make a very special Journey let me take you on an adventure through a landscape full of natural wonders it’s the longest continuous coastal route in the world it’s a place you might think you know but it’s full of surprises oh wow look at this welcome to Wild Arland it just takes your breath away [Music] Ireland’s wild Atlantic way is one long continuous road 1500 M long at the very western edge of Europe I started in Dan in the north and I’ll be finishing in County Cork in the south on this leg of my journey I’m looking at how the weather affects the way people make a living along Ireland’s West Coast I’ll be visiting a farm in a strange Barren land and visiting the inhabitants of a remote island but first i’m meeting some sailors I’ve come to the western edge of Berra boy bay in konam Mara to the most Charming Little Village called rhinestone now I’ve traveled far along the Atlantic coast so far and I’ve dipped in and out of the water but this will be my first chance to actually sail a boat in this Irish speaking Community they still make use of a classic Irish Sailing Boat the gway hooker flan Kelly is going to tell me all about these boats [Music] welcome to Roundstone thank you so much thank you perfect day for sailing isn’t it just so F what makes the hooker so special and unique to this area well the gallway hooker is unique to South Kara the boat you’re going to go out on today was built in 1895 so you’re looking at what nearly 120 years old wow the gway hookers they were a working boat they would have applied trade mainly between South Kara and the Aon Islands as you can see from the hugely indented Coastline of South Kara boths were vital for people to get around though everybody really had to have a boat back then why is it so important then to keep the tradition of the hooker alive here it’s usually important to the people of South K you know they’re they’re trying to maintain their boats it’s a tradition they don’t want to lose touch with the past and I suppose it’s just nice that they’re preserved in the state that we see the boat that we’re going to go out on today of course so now let’s hit the high seas yes let’s do it life jacket there well K it out the first Adventure is getting over to the boat the red brine sails of the goway hooker are easily seen from a distance the sails were traditionally covered in butter and tree bark as preservatives and eventually turned this rust red color the boat Skipper is Fergus who is from a long line of salty [Music] dogs cargus you’ve been doing this all your life pretty much yeah how long has this this openen in the family really my father bought it in um 1968 as a fishing boat that time though there was no sale on it so he fished her then until the 1980s they put sale back on her then again for the rat just on the weekends see this to watch the yeah I was just really close to the water there it does yeah it gets like that yes that’s all part of it isn’t it this gets heavy if you want to feel the pressure on that now yourself and you can feel free to do it anytime you can put your back to this to help me gosh yeah Fergus has decided that it’s time for me to take control oh you you’re actually moving Oh I thought I was going to help you on this side right oh no goway hookers wear fishing vessels they also carried cargo like Turf and seaweed the rudder is heavy and pushes back against me and the wind and spray from the ocean make it feel fast and a little dangerous we’re not doing for bad now seems like you’ve done this before St trying to be nice Fus no we approach approaching St macdara’s Island St macdara is the patron saint of fishermen and sailors in the area every 16th of July we have a mass here it’s M’s day they call it so we have mass here on the island and in the Riata and we race them around the the island a couple of times it’s a little marker every time you sail pass it I guess it is yeah and there’s a tradition that we drop the or Sailing Boat will drop her head sail three times dip it three times just as a mark of respect for MATA you know there are less than a hundred of these boats left but Josie remembers when the black boats and their red sails were a more common sight Josie you’re not wearing this cap for uh any other reason other than you own these days don’t you exactly exactly how long have you been uh sailing for I suppose I started sailing with my father when I was about you could say eight or nine or 10 years he had a smaller version of this boat we on now back in the early 50 and what is it about the hooker that you love so much and a nice breeze like today now it’s time it’s relaxing this is a nice relaxing B though everyone else is doing the work at the minute isn’t it oh yeah absolutely this is when we’re on our way in the home we buy there a cup of tea [Laughter] abely well a bit wet and wind beaten I leave my Shipmates and take to the road again what’s really unique about the wild Atlantic way route is the diversity of Landscapes you pass through along the way and I’m visiting the famously Rocky Terrain in County Clair called the Buren when you think of Ireland you tend to think of miles and miles of green fields but of course it’s not all like that and I’m heading now to a more Rocky Teran whose appearance has been massively affected by rainfall over millions and millions of years I’ve come to meet John Connelly part of his farm is set amidst the vast gray Vista of the burin Irish for rocky place the bur cover s almost 100 square miles of Countryside in County Clair it often appears gray Barren and lifeless but Farmers have been making a living here for hundreds of years adapting to the unique [Music] conditions it’s an ecological Wonderland Arctic Mediterranean and Alpine plants all thrive in the gaps between the rocks called gries gorgeous as it all is around here on a day like this certainly there’s a bit of mist it feels quite desolate it does yeah but the exciting thing is once we go a little bit up into the mountains you’ll see how much color and life there is that from a distance you can never expect and that’s probably one of the more beautiful things about the burn we’ll just go up this way here up this way okay it’s a really special place even on a foggy daylight today it kind of makes you feel like you’re the only person in the world here doesn’t it that’s true yeah you kind of expect a Kel to walk out just little spots of color all over the place here though isn’t there something for example if you look here um know that this beautiful plant here is called Devil’s bit scabies and so beside it you’ll find the Heather the Ling Heather and then probably everybody’s or one of everybody’s favorite plants is this which is the Juniper you probably know what the berries on Juniper help to make yes Jin isn’t it yeah Jin yeah so yeah but it’s that it’s like little pops of color isn’t it in among sort of the the greyness certainly of today yeah exactly and once we continue on up into the Rock you’ll see that that you have this gray rock that’s punctuated with this beautiful bright colors and that’s one of the more beautiful things about the burn that from a distance it appears so Barren but once you go up there it’s really alive with color okay and we’ll see that when we go great there’s lots of that you over there there is yeah so this is the start this is the start of excitement ah Christine look at the Juniper looks fantastic so if we pick a berry and take a moment to to squeeze it oh they’re tough little things oh yeah just smells like chin little bit of pine leaves mixed in as well obviously yeah no it’s it’s it is really beautiful and that’s a great thing about the burn is uh to come up and to not only see the beautiful color in amongst the gray rock but also take a moment to smell and to taste and I think that’s it’s a nice way to become more interconnected with the landscape yes we’ll go now a little bit higher and we’ll explore the Rock and you can see all the action in life that’s up there okay perfect pretty soon as is often the way in Ireland it’s time for a cup of tea what is this contraption John I’ve never seen the like of it this fantastic Kettle cine it’s uh called a volcano or Kelly Kettle so it’s Hollow all the way through the center and the water goes around it so we’re going to light a fire we picked some Heather dried Heather and so we’re going to light a fire now we’ll have a quick cup of tea and we’ll enjoy our beautiful surroundings okay what do these come from these are originally from mayo and uh originally called a Kelly Kettle we I just call it a volcano Kettle so now you can see we’ve got the fire going with our Heather and we’re going to put our water in here so it boils really quickly so it’s about as fast as uh your electric kettle back home that is incredible so what do we know about the burn what is it what is it made of it extends for about 250 square kilm it’s the west of Ireland’s only UNESCO geop Park and 96% of it is privately owned so all the mountains are all owned by farming families and there’s a very deep rooted farming tradition here so this is the only place in Europe that in the winter time all of the farmers will move their animals from the lowlands up into the mountains the cattle come up to these high places for the winter and feast on the rich plant life that’s been growing all all year the people here have adapted the way they Farm to their unique environment and changeable weather and that’s something I know all about doesn’t get more traditional than that does it in very very traditional Irish weather oh well this will keep us warm soon the weather lifts and I’m off on my bike [Music] again I’m visiting the Kesh Corin caves in County Sligo which are set at the bottom of limestone Cliffs on the west side of Kesh Cor Mountain it’s a short but arduous climb 2/3 of the way up a,t Mountain this strange site in a remote location became an important venue for religious events and inspired [Music] legends that is quite a walk oh this is Kesh curan and there are seven tin caves along the foot of this Limestone Cliff Legend has it that cormack mcart the king of Ireland was born and raised here by a She Wolf nonetheless now they’re quite dark they’re very forboding looking caves but um I might hang about in there too long excavations have found bones of bears goats reindeer and elk in the darkness animals lived here but we’re not sure if humans ever did the site was often used for ritual purposes so it may have been taboo to set up home here this is fairly Eerie there’s water dripping been down from the ceilings here as well it’s very cold very dark exactly what you’d expect I guess slightly Mucky and messy here but above me is porous Limestone over thousands of years rainwater has continuously seep through the rock to form these caves wow look at that it’s like the most incredible natural sort of corridor and it looks like it goes the whole way through and verges off to the left that’s just amazing wow this seems to go on and on forever mind you it’s getting slightly more narrow and even darker and the potential for creepy crawlies is increasing oh might be be oh my goodness there are huge spiders in here oh no I don’t like this it’s no surprise that uh people have never ever lived here at the minute though I think it’s these massive spiders that have managed to take over which is a big enough reason for me to get out of here immediately and leave them to it I make my Escape out of the darkness and head towards the vast stunning Cliffs of M I’m journeying along the full length of Ireland’s Wild Atlantic way route to explore the diversity of a unique Coastline carved by the Atlantic Ocean this whole area is a UNESCO geop Park which means it’s internationally recognized for its important geological Heritage and I’m going to take you to a world famous spot that we just have to visit these are the Cliffs of Mo at 5 mil long and 702 ft tall they are quite a sight to see Paula HW works at the cliffs and knows all about the geology well Paula this is as dramatic as it can be it’s stunning up here I can understand why so many people want to come and visit here every single year when you focus in on the cliffs there you can see the various layers which obviously tell a story throughout the geological history of the cliffs it’s almost like a book so if you take a single layer it would give you an indication of what geological force was happening at that point in time this whole landscape was once under sea over 300 million years ago Rivers would have flown over the landscape and this River in its lower course would have deposited and dumped Sands and silts which would have entered a very warm shallow tropical sea here not the Atlantic Ocean and these Sands and cills would have built up and formed over millions of years eventually The Cliffs of moh as you see them today what sort of evidence do we have then of what life would have been like here all of these millions of years ago so the fossils that you would see here are actually the tracks of worms that would have traced their way through silks and Sands um at the bottom of a Delta and is it that I could show have just clocked that as well on our thing those squiggles are actually unicellular animals that would have lived millions of years ago in this region um and over time they were compressed and compacted upon and formed this sedimentary Limestone Rock and you talk about this effort changing landscape and that is what I mean you’re being battered by the Atlantic Ocean obviously the forces of the water itself they will combine to erode and narl away at the Rock and give us these really distinct features such as stacks and sea caves in great numbers so walking along here you will see every type of the erosion feature and I suppose the fact that you can walk right along the ocean there uninterrupted views for 8 kmers you can really get a little bit of peace and Tranquility for yourself with Mother Nature that is part of the attraction isn’t it for so many people that want to come visit here lots of tourists would never have seen a dramatic Coastline like [Music] this you can walk for five miles along the cliff edge here and it is amazing to think that these Cliffs are older than the old ocean that crashes into them but my final destination today is all the way over there it’s a group of three islands known as the Aon Islands now they are completely secluded from the mainland they are constantly battered by the Atlantic Ocean but they’re just some of the reasons I think why both the people and the landscape there have their own unique rugged Beauty and we’re going to be heading to inish Moore which is simply the Big Island I’m taking the ferry out to the Aaron islands where I’ve arranged to meet Tomas who’s going to bring me on a unique Pony and trap tour of inish Moore his family have been Islanders for [Music] Generations so almost you were born and raised here yeah about seven if not eight generations of our family here on the island and what was it like to grow up here it’s it’s it’s really nice it’s really nice there’s a lot to do it’s a great place to to bring up kids and stuff for a small island the first thing you notice is an abundance of stone walls the island is about 9 M long by 3 Mi wide and they tell us there’s over 7,000 Mi of these stor walls really 7,000 mil 7,000 miles yeah these walls were first built by Stone AG families they separate individual farms and provide shelter for crops and animals from driving wind and rain and what is the the heritage of the island I mean what do we know of the history as well Fork that we’re heading over to now on the West Side here it’s called dunas and that over 3,500 years old on the way to the dramatic Cliffs at dangus Thomas wants to show me a spectacular local attraction known as The Wormhole it’s a naturally occurring rectangular pool at the bottom of the cliffs and this is it this is the Wormhole here now for you others call it the Serpent’s Lair and Legend has it that sea monster lives here no sightings today though it’s absolutely extraordinary this is completely natural so the sea is coming from in underneath the rock here so is there there’s almost like a little private tunnel I on that’s right there’s a tunnel you can dive outside and just go underneath and come in some guys do it scuba diving and you can see the lobster swimming around there and the crayfish and stuff wow that is absolutely beautiful I’ve never ever seen anything like that how deep is it even at low TI there’s still 7 and A2 meters there it’s got that welcoming drawing nature isn’t it you kind of feel like you just want to go div in it that’s right yeah yeah it’s so specific here as well isn’t it you can see the layers in quite detailed form it’s like a different planet isn’t it it’s like we’ve gone to the moon or something here a lot of people are bring up here and they say the same thing exactly they say looks like I’m at the Moon here another planet you know it is another planet another person in absolutely it is that’s what makes it so incredibly unique I think yeah leaving Thomas I trk toward towards the ruins of a large structure on top of the cliffs in the distance it’s dangus an ancient Fort sitting here overlooking the Atlantic since 1500 BC local historian siril o flery knows everything about this site and the people who live alongside it today thank you so much for coming to meet me oh my gosh this is just glorious isn’t it isn’t it it really is what is this exactly then it’s an early Bronze Age fortification you because of its setting on top of a 400 foot high cliff but it’s Unique also in it type of Western Europe you’ll only find these in Galan Northern Spain you they’re all over Ireland but you’ll also find them you along the Iberian Peninsula down into North Africa areas of that where the culture would have originated initially coming up here hun gatherers firstly and then moving on to be to be uh farmers and then building these fortresses for protection against other tribes you know of course yeah so what do we know about the history of the Fortress here sah it’s 1,500 years BC is when the first construction was was built up here it’s a 16 Acre Site also because of its Heights and its elevation if you look where it’s positioned it’s right up as I sometimes say to people you could have the lunch eaten and the dinner eaten by the time they’d come up to fight you you know so it was preparation was there it was specifically chosen for that purpose okay but it was a defensive Fortress whoever lived here they were wealthy and they were powerful people because to build a structure this big you had to have power what are you most pride of to come from Aon and to say that you’re from this part of the world that’s a very good question why because were different and and it takes a a special kind of person to live eek out in existence in in an island like this island people are different necessity you know as the mother invention I’ve seen inventions on these islands because you can’t just run into a shop on the mainland and say oh je I forgot my whatever you know you have to plan and it takes that it so I think what makes us here is is the island itself the landscape shapes you you don’t shape it it it makes you yeah [Music] this is as close as I can get to the edge because we’re incredibly high up and it makes it unbelievable to think that an entire Community used to live here reluctantly I take my leave from this unique Island this is the most westerly point of Ireland out there just blue ocean until you hit New Finland and what I’ve discovered firsthand is just how the elements manag to change the geography and how us humans have had to constantly adapt and who knows how we may have to adjust in the [Music] future next time I meet a local celebrity a journey inside a m so this lady is is currently sitting in Westminster and mo is heading that way and mapping the heavens friendships conflicts and heartaches the first episode of Home Fires is on ITV play now coming up is it farewell to David and the kids coronation streets next then in half an hour Michael’s closing in on the family it’s Thriller Safe House [Music]
On the fourth leg of her journey, Christine learns to sail on a classic fishing boat, the Galway Hooker, and visits Ireland’s most popular natural attraction – the Cliffs of Moher in Co Clare, which tower above the Atlantic. She also travels by ferry to the Aran Islands, where she explores the landscape riding a traditional pony and trap.