BY INDER RAJ AHLUWALIA,
(AN INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED, MULTIPLE AWARD- WINNING TRAVEL JOURNALIST & AUTHOR)
NEW DELHI | 25 APRIL 2025
“Life is too important to be taken seriously.” So said the redoubtable Oscar Wilde!
A visit to Ireland illustrates this sentiment. Imbibing the taste of wild salmon and creamy Guinness at a seaside restaurant; or glimpsing ancient round towers and crosses in the early morning light; or perhaps an evening of fun and frolic in a village pub? It’s all part of the adventure.
My sojurn started off with a leisurely Dublin walk that got me face to face with literally half the city. Starting off at Dunnes Stores at St. Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre; then moving on to Grafton Street that offers top-end shopping; to the Saturday Temple Bar Farmers Market; along O’connell Street; past ‘The Spire’; and into the Dublin Writers’ Museum, before winding up my city tour at Trinity College.
Ireland’s oldest University, Trinity College’s main attractions are the Old Library and the Book of Kells. An ornately illustrated manuscript produced by Celtic Monks around AD 800, the Book of Kells is among the most lavishly illuminated books to survive from the Middle Ages.
The day after arriving, I found myself on the highway with Chauffeur Barry Hogan, on a jaunt across South-East Ireland. Exiting Dublin, we entered County Kildare, then County Tipperary, and felt the atmosphere of country life.
The Rock of Cashel loomed up on the horizon. A spectacular group of hill-perched medieval buildings in Ireland’s ‘Golden Vale’, the ‘Rock’ includes a 12th century Round Tower; High Cross and Romanesque Chapel; 13th century Gothic Cathedral; a 15th century Castle; and the Hall of the Vicars Choral.
After this, we entered County Cork, and enjoyed the truly wonderful delights of Ballymaloe House, Ireland’s most famous country house hotel that squats gracefully on a 400 acre farm. Came morning and it was time for the famed ‘Irish Artisan Breakfast’, a treat for the stomach and the senses.
This primed us for some ‘action’, that came in the form of a visit to Jameson’s Old Midleton Whiskey Distillery. The ‘Jameson Experience’ which includes exploring the Jameson Heritage Centre in Midleton, takes you back through time as you discover the history, and the magical taste of Irish Whiskey, perfected by Irish monks in the 6th Century A.D.
Duly fortified, we left the distillery and drove to Cobh, headed for the Cobh Heritage Centre.
Situated on Ireland’s southern shore, Cobh (or Queenstown as it was formerly known) is one of the world’s finest natural harbours. Between 1848 and 1950, over 2.5 million emigrated from Cobh. The town was also the last port of call for the ill-fated Titanic.
To get some ‘blessings’ before we left town, Barry took us to St. Colman’s Cathedral, a highly impressive structure with beautiful stained glass windows framing a giant organ.
A drive through scenic countryside deposited us at Cork, Ireland’s second city.
Now this is a city worth exploring. Start off at the The English Market, the famed local food shopping area, that features butchers; fruit and vegetable shops; fishmongers; cheese mongers; bakers and confectioners, and food products uniquely associated with Cork, such as ‘drisheen’ (a pudding made from sheep’s blood) and pig’s ‘crubeens’ (feet).
Leaving Cork, we backtracked to Ballymaloe Cookery School in Kinoith, Shanagarry , where I met its founder, Darina Allen, Ireland’s best known Cook, before hitting the road once again and driving along the sea face to Youghal, where Sir Walter Raleigh introduced the potato to Ireland, and where much of ‘Moby Dick’ was filmed.
We left County Cork and entered County Waterford, and bedded down at The Tannery Restaurant & Townhouse Boutique Hotel in Dungarvan.
Came morning and we left Dungarvan and arrived at Waterford Glass Factory – home of Waterford Crystal, in Kilbarry, Waterford, to see the world’s finest crystal, including their classic collections such as Seahorse, Lismore, Colleen and Dolmen. The Waterford Crystal experience is a journey that reflects 200 years of glass making history.
Thanks to the riches on offer, four days had flashed by. It has been a period of sheer bliss in a beautiful country, amidst genuinely friendly people.
I began to understand what Oscar Wilde had meant…1
Advertisement:
Add Comment