NATIONAL EXCHANGE PROGRAMME 2007 – Ireland
Linda Sloan
On Thursday 9th of August I flew to Cork and was met by Flor O’Gorman and
the other Scottish exchange delegate, Donna Watson. Donna had arrived
earlier in the week and from this point onwards we spent the fifteen days
travelling around the country together visiting many Macra na Feirme clubs
and local tourist attractions. Flor is a member of the Ballynoe Club in Co.
Cork and Vice-president of the Munster district which covers the Southwest of
Ireland incorporating the counties of Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Tipperary,
Limerick, Clare.
The first visit of the trip was to the Jameson Old Midleton Distillery where we
were given a tour of the distillery which houses the World’s largest Pot Still
and afterwards were treated to a sample of Jameson whisky! From here Flor
took us out for dinner in Midleton then back to his house near Tallow
(Co.Waterford) to get ready for a night out in Cork.
In Cork we met Mary O’Neill who was to be my first host. Mary is a member
of the Innishannon Club and a National Council Representative. After
experiencing a bit of the cork nightlife we headed back to Mary’s house.
The next morning the chairman of the Innishannon Club, Brian O’Mahony
came to collect us and take us into Kinsale. Although it was raining we had a
wander round the town and were given a tour of Charles Fort, one of the largest
military forts in the country. Brian kindly took us back to his house for lunch
where we met his parents and were given a farm walk.
In the afternoon we went into Clonakilty to meet Sean Ronan who is a member
of Clonakilty Club and Carbery Regional Chair. Sean took us for a tour along
the coast visiting many seaside towns and villages including Glandore,
Unionhall and Baltimore. We stopped at Lough Hyne which, situated on the
coastline is the largest salt lake in Europe before returning to Sean’s near
Skibbereen for tea. As Sean was an Irish teacher we also got the chance to
learn a few of the Irish words and phrases. That night we went out in
Skibbereen and met many of the other members of both Sean and Mary’s club.
On Saturday it was time to leave the Munster district so Mary drove us up to
Abbeyleix to meet our next host, Tom Quirke. Tom is a member of
Abbeyknockmoy Club in Co.Galway and is also the Vice-president for the
Northwest district. After spending the afternoon in Abbeyleix we drove back
to Tom’s for a night out in a local pub which is run by his brother. Here we
met some of the other members of the Abbeyknockmoy club and Donna and I
were given the chance to pour a proper pint of Irish Guinness! This turned into
a great night of singing Irish songs long after the pub had closed!
On the Sunday we were due to attend the Tullamore Show which is the biggest
one-day show in Ireland however this was cancelled as the showground was
flooded. So, after a hearty Irish breakfast back in the pub we had left only a
few hours before we travelled south to the neighbouring county of Clare to
spend the afternoon watching the hurling game on television with Tom’s
girlfriend Agnes. Afterwards we met some of the other Macra members from
Kilcora Macra Club and in the evening we went out for dinner with Tom,
Agnes and Agnes’ friends.
The following day Tom, Donna and I were given a tour of the McHale factory
in Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo. As it was a public holiday in Ireland the factory was
not in operation so we were shown the production line and learned a lot about
the history of the company and the plans for the future. It was very interesting
to see how a factory such as this operates and the work involved in making sure
each machine is at a satisfactory standard.
At night we went to another local pub with two of Tom’s sisters, Mary and
Caroline, and met more of the Abbeyknockmoy club members.
The weather the on Tuesday was very wet therefore instead of going
sightseeing Tom’s youngest sister, Caroline, took Donna and I shopping in
Galway. A few Euros less and a good soaking later Tom took us to his eldest
sister, Bridie’s house for dinner.
On Wednesday Tom took us to his ‘home house’. This was the farm on which
he grew up and his father, two brothers and youngest sister still live there.
Caroline gave us a tour of the farm showing us the animals and the areas they
used to play in when they were younger. Being one of seven siblings it was
clear that there was always someone there to play with! In the evening we
went to the local town called Athenry. Athenry is known for its history and
religious connections and as this was the 15th of August (a marked day in the
town’s history) there was entertainment including an open-air band in the
street.
It was an early start on the Thursday as Tom had a Macra meeting in Dublin so
he had arranged to drop Donna and I off at the Liffey Valley shopping centre
on the outskirts of Dublin. On the way we stopped in Mountbellew to see the
statue of BobbyJo who won the Aintree Grand National in 1999 becoming the
first Irish winner of the race in 24 years. After another hard days shopping we
had a rush to get back to Galway in time for the Northwest district Macra na
Feirme Leadership Award interviews, which Tom was taking part in.
Following the interviews we went ten-pin bowling in Galway with some of the
other interviewees.
As the weather had not improved over the week on Friday we spent the day
touring the Connemara region of Galway in Tom’s car. We stopped at a craft
centre in Spiddal which sold various local crafts and Irish gimmicks then took a
back road passing through the bogs before stopping for lunch in the fishing
village of Oughterard. Donna and I had never worked on a bog before but in
Ireland this is a job which people do regularly, especially as children.
On our last evening in Galway Tom took us to watch a local hurling game
which was being played between Abbeyknockmoy and Athenry. Despite the
rain this was very entertaining and well worth watching. Later we went to a
local jigs and reels night. This was a night which was being held in the village
for charity and was a bit like an Irish version of Strictly Come Dancing. Here
we met again many of the people we had been introduced to during the week
and had a great time.
Saturday was change-over day again so we packed our bags and bundled all
our things into Tom’s car for the last time. We then drove down to meet
Tommy Dolan and his sister Caitriona in Mountrath, Co. Laois. Tommy is the
National Council representative for Co. Carlow and Caitriona is the County
Secretary. After lunch we said our goodbyes to Tom and headed with Tommy
and Caitriona up to the Irish National Stud and Japanese Gardens near Kildare.
We toured the stud and learned some of the history before undertaking the
enlightening ‘journey of life’ through the gardens. Tommy and Caitriona then
took us to meet our next host, Mairead Sutton and her parents. Although
Mairead lives in Co. Wicklow, Tommy and Caitriona and Mairead are all part
of Co. Carlow Macra na Feirme. Mairead is a member of Tullow Club and is
Development Chairperson for Carlow County. On the Saturday night they took
us for a lively night out in Carlow where we met some of the other Carlow
Macra members before returning to Mairead’s house for toast and cheese!
The next morning Tommy returned and took Donna, Mairead, Caitriona, her
boyfriend Mick and I to Brownshill Dolmen, a megalithic tomb which has the
largest cap stone in Europe. After a lovely Sunday lunch back at Mairead’s we
went to see one of the local cathair raths (a fortified settlement prominent in
Ireland, dating from the Early Medieval period).
Tommy then took us to meet Dara Kavanagh who is a member of Co. Wexford
Macra and chairman of Macra’s Agricultural Affairs Committee. Dara took
Donna and I back to his house while he did the milking then in the evening we
went to the amusements in Courtown where we met some of the other Wexford
Macra members. That night we stayed with Anna Doyle near Tullow.
On Monday morning Anna showed us round her farm where the animals were
predominantly horses and her mother explained how horse sales work in
Ireland. She then took us to meet Henry Alexander who is Wiklow County
Secretary. With Henry we visited Avoca, Ireland’s oldest mill and Avoca
village which was the setting for the TV series “Ballykissangel”. We stopped
at the ‘Meeting of the Waters’, an Irish landmark which is featured in poetry by
Thomas Moore. We also toured Avondale House in Rathdrum which was the
birthplace and home of Charles Stewart Parnell, one of the greatest political
leaders of Irish history. Here we were met by Amanda Mooney who is the
County Mentor for Wiklow. Amanda took us to Wicklow’s Historic Gaol
where we learned about the 1798 Rebellion, the transportation of many Irish
people as convicts to Australia and the prison reforms. After which Amanda
took us to Glendalough on our way to meet our next host Gail Shannon who is
the Wexford National Council representative. That night we stayed in to watch
the Rose of Tralee festival (an annual event held in Co. Kerry).
Feeling refreshed, after our first night in since we arrived in Ireland, the next
morning Gail gave us a farm walk. Later that day Gail and her mother took us
for a tour round what is said to be a haunted castle, Huntingdon Castle. Gail’s
mum also pointed out the Carlow fencing on our way to meet our next hosts,
the Daniels family from Kilmoganny, Co. Kilkenny with whom we stayed for
two nights. Rebecca Daniels met us in Callan and took us back to the family
home where we met Rebecca’s brother Bryan and the rest of the family. Due
to the location of the family farm it was primarily dairy with some beef and
they had recently built a new parlour. That evening we helped Daniel and his
father move an electric fence before returning to the farmhouse for dinner.
Later we watched the second half of the Rose of Tralee festival with Rebecca.
The next morning Rebecca took us to Woodstock Gardens and Arboretum and
Kilfane Glen and Waterfall. Both places were lovely and luckily the weather
had improved so we walked through some of the trails. Rebecca was an ideal
tour guide as she was a horticulturist at a local garden centre. After lunch back
at the farm we went into Kilkenny for a walk round some of the shops. Before
dinner we helped Bryan bring the cows in for milking. Bryan cooked for us
that evening as his parents had left on holiday that day. It was strange to see
them leaving as normally it was us who said goodbye to the hosts before we
left – not the other way round! At night we all went to a club farm-skills
practice as the team, which Bryan was part of, had a competition the following
weekend. This was good fun to watch as it was quite different from the farmskills Young Farmers do at home. We met some of Bryan and Rebecca’s club
members and all went for a drink in the pub in Callan afterwards.
The next morning I had offered to get up early to help Bryan with the milking
however when the morning came this didn’t seem like such a good idea! After
a long lie, Donna and I packed our bags and after saying our goodbyes to
Daniel and Rebecca we were collected by Mick, the Leinster Development
Officer. Mick took us for a lovely lunch in Kilkenny before visiting the
Dunmore Cave at Ballyfoyle where we were given an interesting tour of the
limestone cave which was the site of a Viking massacre in 928. Since it was
such a sunny day we then travelled south to the beach at Tramore. This is a
popular tourist town on the south coast. In the evening there was a Leinster
meeting in Portlaoise which Mick was going to so here we met many of our
hosts from that week and also our final host, Sylvie Mehigan. Sylvie is the
National Council representative for the Dublin district and she is also the
National Treasurer. That night we stayed in Dublin so it was convenient to get
our planes home the next day.
In the morning Sylvie took us into Trinity College in Dublin where she worked
as a researcher. She kindly gave us a tour of the labs and took us to the Trinity
College library which is one of the world’s great research libraries and houses
the ‘Book of Kells’. After the exhibition Donna and I walked along Temple
Bar before catching a bus to the airport. Later that day I arrived back at
Prestwick airport.
I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Ireland and truly believe there would have
been no better way to have seen the country. I would recommend an exchange
to anyone who is considering it. My thanks goes to all the hosts and others
who helped to make my stay enjoyable and to the International Trust, SAYFC
and Macra na Feirme for making it possible.