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The Banshees of Irish-own

29th September 202429th September 2024 funtime65

With apologies to Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson but every Irish family has one, they’re the Banshees of Irish-own.

My Dear Old Mum’s family, the McNulty/McGlincheys were the pre-eminent clan of their townland Brockagh of their time, the early 20th century.

And so when matters of import for the dynasty occurred the community heard about it.

And when one of the 15 (yes, f-i-f-t-e-e-n) children fell in The Great War the banshee was the first to alert the McNulty Matriarch.

Even before the Man from the War Office arrived with the commemorative pot and the document confirming one of her sons had died in Flanders.

The spirit of Ireland

Their spirit still blows through the Co. Donegal hamlet.

And you might feel their presence all the more at this time of year as the ghosties gather for Halloween.

Which is, as we all know, is a Celtic feast the Irish exported to the New World and which we imported back from Hallmark.

Now, we’re contractually obliged to say that other banshees are available.

Farrell’s phantom

And if you want to follow in the phantom steps of the Banshees of Inisherin from the film.

Then the good people of Achill in Co. Mayo in the west of Ireland are happy to oblige with the Banshees of Inisherin trail.

Now our old pals at Tourism Ireland have access to everyone and anyone to help promote their island.

And here are some of the banshees they recommend you seek out when you visit.

The scary mother-in-law

The Banshee of Duckett’s Grove, Co. Carlow: And, of course, what would Halloween be without a mother-in-law?

Not strictly a mother-in-law here… more the vengeful ma of the plaything of the lord of the manor who died under a horse.

Ma has had the last word though returning to haunt William Duckett ever since.

Clare-raising tales

The Bunratty Banshee, Co. Clare: Bunratty has seen it all in the 770 years that a castle has stood in these grounds.

Our favourite tale surrounds a guest of the O’Brien clan who awoke in the night to the sound of a woman wailing.

Out of her window, a pale, red-headed girl floating outside.

The next day, a member of the O’Brien family was found dead.

Not, of course, to put you off visiting the Castle and Folk Park… although maybe not look out of the window.

O’Neill in the coffin

The Banshees of Shane’s Castle, Co. Antrim: Now those who know their history will know of the Flight of the Earls, well this is the Flight of the Ghouls.

In the early 1800s, Earl O’Neill’s Lough Neagh house party ended in tragedy when he requisitioned the room set aside for the banshee.

Only for her to set it on fire in anger with guests noticing her floating above the flames.

All of which spooky spectres will make you want to keep your wits about you when you visit.

Because the Banshees of Irish-own are always hovering.

Countries, UK

Glasgow’s Necropolis is pure dead brilliant

8th June 2022 funtime65

Well, if it’s good enough for The Batman… aye, Glasgow’s Necropolis is pure dead brilliant.

Oh, by the way and ‘a that… that’s Glasgow speak.

Now you can live all your young life in a place and never visit its historic sites even when you are a historian.

Dear Green Place: Glasgow from the Necropolis

And Glasgow’s Necropolis atop the hill above Glasgow Cathedral is where they buried the Great and Good and the Merchants.

So you’ll see The Tobacco Lords who made Glasgow the Second City of Empire.

And the Merchants after which the Merchant City district is named.

The Titans of Protestantism

Opportunity Knox: John Knox at the Necropolis

And the titans of Protestantism, credited for giving the citizens the Protestant Work Ethic.

Which they used to create wealth and prosperity.

Chief among them, of course, is the floppy capped, long of beard John Knox.

You might know him from the movie Mary Queen of Scots.

Or his page-turner, The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women aimed at the aforesaid Catholic Mary.

Knox stands defiantly above all the other monuments in the Necropolis at 12ft and 58ft in total, taking in the podium.

It is a gift during the Victorian Age from the people of Glasgow.

With a glowing inscription on its base describing his many achievements.

A disciple of Luther

Knox, of course, was a disciple of Martin Luther’s who stands proudly in front of the Frauenkirche in Dresden in his native Saxony.

But as is the way with his disciple Knox now larger in death, or at least in my home town.

As too is King William III, aka of Orange, or King Billy, who is immortalised in bronze down from the Necropolis.

To mark the Tercentenary of the Glorious Revolution.

When he rid Scotland of Catholicism, King James VII, and II of the United Kingdom.

A Catholic riposte

Family ties: With the Son and Heir at the Gates

In a touch of irony in this divided city, a bastion of Catholicism rises from the East End where the Irish Immigrants gathered.

They have nicknamed Celtic Park, home of Glasgow Celtic, Paradise because it is built next to a graveyard too.

And it spells it out on the stadium when you turn from the downtown shot of the city centre.

We Glaswegians have come to learn to wear different hats when needed.

And so to the story of an Irish immigrant from nationalist Co. Donegal who was only intending to stop here to nurse for six months.

But who fell for the charms of a Glaswegian medical student and stayed for 65 years.

An adopted Scot

Here she is wearing the colours of an adopted country but retaining the thickest Irish brogue.

All of which may be the type of random thoughts that run through your mind.

When you’re standing with your home city under your feet.

Aye, Glasgow’s Necropolis is pure dead brilliant.

Countries, Ireland

A walk through old Ireland

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My Dear Old Mum was always at her freest when she was in her beloved Donegal taking a walk through old Ireland.

And, of course, being a popular native of Ireland’s northernmost county she would be noticed even in the wilds of the Monian Road, Glenfin.

Mary Huoney (and forgive the spelling as I never did get to grips with all those fadas) revelled in spotting Mum skipping on the stony path.

Donegal life

It is the uninhibited nature of Donegal life which marks it out as special.

If you are lucky enough to have spent childhood days in the Irish valley of the River Finn you will have rich memories of…

Ned and his donkey, old Eddie (my grandpa) with the twinkling eye, the racing paper and the pipe filled with spearmint tobacco.

And Johnny and Cundie Nora and their horse and cart.

The best folk

You could (and should) experience it all on a four-night walking and hiking holiday in Donegal with TD Active Holidays.

Glencolmkille Folk Village will take you back to an Ireland of the history books and themed Irish pubs.

But this is not Oirish but authentic and worth walking through.

Mount Errigal rises like an ancient Celtic sentinel from the Finn Valley inviting you on to climb it.

Park life

Glenveagh National Park is 16,000 hectares of walking harmony with nature, the Derryveagh Mountains, the Poisoned Glen (intriguing) and Errigal.

And if it’s a range of cliffs you like then it’s the old pilgrims trek to Slieve League you’ll be wanting.

And you know how much I love an oul’ pilgrims walk… be it Santiago or Rome.

Last port

Reflect too on being at the very edge of Europe.

And imagine St Brendan the Navigator setting out to discover America.

TD active Holidays (that’s our pals Travel Department) is offering a four-day break, departing August 19, from €659pp.

With Donegal Town as your base..

Department shopping

You’ll get three guided walking days in Donegal with packed lunches thrown in.

Trust me you’ll be glad you’ve taken your walk through old Ireland.

And if you see an old Irish woman skipping along the road tell her I say: ‘Hi’.

Countries, Europe, Ireland, UK

My Father’s Day

21st June 202021st June 2020 funtime65

What’s captured my Dad’s attention has been lost in the mists of time as has he and Dinky the Donegal dog.

But Shovlin’s Guest House is still there on the Portnoo beach.

And my Mum, my Auntie and myself were back there a few years ago. And, yes, I needed my drink that night.

Donegal www.govisitdonegal.com, my Mum’s heartland, was where my Dad looked most relaxed, away from the phone and his work.

Donegal for ever

Donegal links: Portnoo. www.donegalcottages.com

So, it’s good to know that he chose to spend eternity up near Ballybofey… with my Mum’s family.

Being a late child and having formed a bond with my Irish cousins my parents farmed me over there for summer holidays when I was 12.

So my holiday memories consisted mainly of playing on the beach while they sunbathed.

But there were vacations abroad, usually alternating years with going to see my grandparents in Donegal.

Ibiza beezer

One year the family split with my brother staying home with my Dad and me, my Mum and my other brother going to Ibiza http://ibiza.travel/en/.

My mum must have sold it to my Dad because we went back as a full family where waiter Pepe made a fuss of me.

And where I got to have a half of glass of red wine with my dinner.

I obviously took to the taste.

The Balearic Islands were the go-to package holiday destination for Seventies families.

Menorca corker

And we broadened our horizons to take in the Balearics’ second biggest island, Menorca http://www.menorca.es/portal.aspx?IDIOMA=3.

Where I got to have wine poured into my mouth from a porron out on a boat trip… a bit of a theme going here.

My early Bakearic Adventures has instilled a love of those islands in me, and I never pass up the opportunity to visit.

Magic Majorca

The last occasion being Majorca, with work on a stop-off from a cruise ship https://www.google.ie/amp/s/jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2020/01/21/smooth-sailing-around-the-western-med/amp/ and on a family holiday.

It wasn’t always plain sailing though and our trip to Portugal almost didn’t happen.

When we got to the airport and we found out that Dad’s passport had expired.

Gentler days then, and I don’t know how, but he managed to get it renewed and we got on the flight.

And, yes, I’ve been going back to Portugal regularly since… https://www.visitportugal.com/en and Secret Portugal.

I’m not judging you Dad over our passport with my details in it. I’ve had more than my fair share of scrapes in airports myself.

I guess the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY, JAMES G.

Countries, Food & Wine, Ireland

Hungry and Thursday – The Irish pub worth every €9 a pint

18th June 202018th June 2020 funtime65

The worst thing is I didn’t even balk when I read of the €9 Irish pint… I know Temple Bar well Raising the Bar.

This though is the fall-out from the Irish Government plan to get their greatest asset, their pubs, reopened.

Punters will be allowed back in but will only get their favourite pint of plain (that’s Guinness to you and me) if they sit down for a meal.

The Irish drinker

Yes, it’s not the Irish pub experience you might have heard of, the heaving mass of humanity packed in like sardines.

But, in truth, Irish pubs have adapted more than any other country across my five decades.

And the Irish have often been leading while others have merely followed.

Remember it was the Irish who were the first country in the world to ban smoking in pubs.

And they said that wouldn’t work!

Mother’s pride

Irish pubs may be different from the one my Mum was brought up in with her Daddy, Masssey (or Mammy) and five sisters and four brothers in Co. Donegal.

No Sky TV, no jukebox… instead a haze of smoke, a sing-song and a roaring fire.

And a counter where you could buy every grocery or hardware item you might need in an Irish hamlet (or downland).

The roaring fire is still there at my mum’s hotel/bar, the Ramblers Inn in Brockagh, and welcome from Con who doffs his hat to my Mum’s family with a noticeboard of pictures from her childhood.

And puts out a giant teapot, doorstep sandwiches and home-made brack cake.

And some fuel for the fire

The last time we visited was on the eve of Arthur’s Day, a national branded exercise which ran from 2009-2013

And drew thousands to pubs around the country with live entertainment.

It was quiet the day we dropped in on my Mum’s old pub with the only other customer propped up on a barstool, Guinness in hand.

I asked him what he’d be doing for Arthur’s Day when Con piped in… ‘Same as every other day, eh?’

Irish Country pubs is what people come here for.

It doesn’t have to be so different post-Covid.

Just order your pint, loaf of bread, cheese, milk, needle and thread, peat briquettes and kindling.

See https://www.govisitdonegal.com, www.failteireland.ie and www.tourismireland.com.

And where is your favourite Country pub. Tell me and we’ll share the love.

America, Countries, Europe, Ireland, UK

A big Squeezy for Mother’s Day

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I kid my Dear Old Mum that she IS Nan, the Catherine Tait character who is as sweet as pie one minute and then lays into that person the next.

I came up with the nickname ‘Squeezy’ Teasy (short for Teresa) for her after one incident.

She had let one young family through in the ice cream queue in the local park.

Only to then turn on them a second later. I knew it was coming when she raised her hand to give me a squeeze on the shoulder.

And on this occasion she was regaling that woman from the poorer side of the park and their accent… ‘Brendan, stay away from the wahhhhter!’

We’ve had our moments, me and Mum and on this Mother’s Day when I’m not allowed in to see her at her Nursing Home…

Here are some of our adventures…

Home for the holidays

Ireland: My mother’s homestead and more adventures than clumps of peat in her beloved Donegal www.govisitdonegal.com

Of course she always gets bold when she’s back among her own people.

Like the time we were staying in our go-to hotel Jackson’s In Ballybofey.

And my Mum turned to my cousin and said: ‘I have four brothers and three sons and James (my Sunday name) is the most selfish of the lot.

All within earshot of me… me who had brought her all the way up from my home in Co. Wicklow www.visitwicklow.com.

Star in stripes

America: The Oo Es of Eh was always the Promised Land for my Mum.

Whose aforementioned four brothers had emigrated there in the late Fifties.

She only abandoned me when I was just 13 for three weeks so she could go out to see them.

Never mind that she cooked three weeks of meals for us… the cleaning woman who came in to look after us while Dad was at work made off with half of them.

We went back, Mum and me, together ten years ago for my cousin’s wedding in New York… www.nycvb.com and www.visitusa.com.

Where she insisted on paying for every meal (a very Irish trait) and treating me like a wee boy) – see above.

We had promised to get down to see Fave Cousin in Washington, and I did… Easy DC. Mum had been there before and the National Guard remembered her!!!

Viva Espana

Spain: One year it was Ireland the next it was Spain, that was how it was with summer holidays as a kid.

My Mum is more than likely Black Irish, a descendant of Spanish Armada sailors who were washed up and intermingled with the locals.

And she liked little better than tanning herself on a Spanish beach.

When she wasn’t trying to stop my elder brother teaching me to swim by throwing me in the deep end.

And, of course, it has left me with a lifelong love of Spain… visit https://www.spain.info/en_GB/.

And walk this way A pilgrim’s prayer and A walk through the ages… Tenerife with www.CaminoWays.com and www.CanariaWays.com

Scotland the motherland

Scotland: And she has been repeating her desire to come home to Ireland, and that Scotland isn’t her place despite being 70 years away.

There’s been a lifetime of experiences from her rearing me in Scotland where I’ve now returned to to live.

But as I’ve relocated to Scotland’s Golf Coast then here’s one from when I took her to the Open at St Andrews.

And my Mum sent a randomer into the Portaloos because I was taking too much time.

I got my own back by giving her the slip at the Swilcan Burn when I rushed with the crowd to the apron of the 18th to see Tiger Woods sink the winning putt.

See www.visitscotland.com and My Sporting Weekend – Golf and social distancing

HAPPY MOTHER‘S DAY TO ALL OUR MUMS

And remember…#DontCancelPostpone.

Countries, Europe, Ireland, UK

Thirteen years an Irishman – My five Irish homes

6th February 202012th February 2020 funtime65

Growing up in Scotland to an Irish mother, and father with Irish roots, I was tagged Irish, or at least Irish-Scots.

Even after 13 years in Ireland I’m still seen as Scottish. I don’t know why, was it the accent, the kilt…?

But, in truth, I will always have two homes.

So, on the day we move out of the home we have filled for 13 and a half hours here are my five Irish homes:

Co. Wicklow: The Son and Heir and Daddy’s Little Girl both agree that growing up by the sea in Greystones was a privilege.

And you can ALWAYS get a coffee or hot chocolate. Some happily queue for veggies’ heaven Happy Pear https://thehappypear.ie.

Me? I prefer the eccentric Tomasso and Caffe Delle Stelle https://greystones.ie/caffe-delle-stelle/.

Greystones is framed by Bray Head and the town harbour. Great cliff walk and train ride through the Brunel tunnel.

Also Glendalough, the Meeting of the Waters, Avoca. the inspiration for Ballykissangel, and the spectacular Powerscourt with its waterfalls.

Visit http://visitwicklow.ie, https://www.irelandsancienteast.com and when we stayed… Flowerscourt.

Brill in Belfast City

Belfast: The aforementioned Son and Heir has relocated to Belfast, another excuse to go up north, as if I needed any.

Myself and the Scary One have obviously been up to see him.

And also the Game of Thrones door, the tapestry in the Ulster Museum https://www.nmni.com/Home.aspx and the Titanic Museum https://www.titanicbelfast.com.

We stayed and can recommend the https://www.fitzwilliamhotelbelfast.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxO6shb615wIVArDtCh0Zyw_DEAAYASAAEgJ_LvD_BwE.

While when I get the chance to zip up there for, say The Open at Royal Portrush, with Discover Northern Ireland https://discovernorthernireland.com/about-northern-ireland/19-reasons-to-visit-northern-ireland/, or Van Morrison at the Europa http://europa-belfast.hotel-rv.com/index.htm?lbl=ggl-en&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7taG1L615wIVFODtCh0c2Q-dEAAYAyAAEgKsnPD_BwE and staying at the Grand Central Hotel https://www.grandcentralhotelbelfast.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjvK297615wIVR7DtCh3wmA7kEAAYASAAEgIb-fD_BwE.

Also check out https://visitbelfast.com and Belfast Chilled.

Monaghan country life

Teamwork? I find the destination and I leave Herself to organise us getting there, so is it my fault if I give her the wrong dates?

So when we turned up in Monaghan one week early we had to rely on the kindness of the townfolk… Justin Asian Street Food, Monaghan County Museum and Brehon Brewery.

We did make our high tea meeting a couple of weeks later at Castle Leslie where Paul and Heather Mills got married. Let It Be!

Visit https://monaghantourism.com and read Monaghan’s country roads.

Donegal land of my mother

I’ve been going to Donegal all my life… to visit my grandparents, my auntie, and doing an annual pilgrimage with my Mum since.

We always stay in the hotel in the nearest town to her Brockagh homestead, Jackson’s http://www.jacksonshotel.ie in Ballybofey where the Irish Coffee was born.

My mum was the first intake of the Brockagh school which is now home to the patriot Isaac Butt Heritage Centre https://www.discoverireland.ie/Arts-Culture-Heritage/isaac-butt-heritage-centre/10716.

Where photos of her and her family is up on the boards.

While we also love to visit Portnoo with its deserted island and The Flight of the Earls Memorial and Doon Well holy site in Rathmullan.

Visit https://www.govisitdonegal.com.

My rare oul’ times in Dublin

Flagging it up: Temple Bar

Twelve and a half years of it I spent in a soulless, friendless office… but thankfully my pal Nicky runs the iconic InterContinental next door… The InterCon… what a Ledge!

Temple Bar is where the tourists come but you can pick and choose and get away from it all at the Gibson Hotel https://www.thegibsonhotel.ie/?nst=0&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwoCdtd615wIViLTtCh0WCwqCEAAYAiAAEgLDsfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds.

I’ve spent many of the best days of my life in Dublin…

Mary’s Bar and Hardware Shop off Grafton Street https://marysbar.ie/?utm_source=maps&utm_campaign=gmb is the pick of my pubs although I’d be shot if I didn’t mention The Workshop Gastro Pub http://www.theworkshopgastropub.com.

Chapter One https://www.chapteronerestaurant.com does the best steaks while Chai Yo Teppanyaki https://www.chaiyo.ie the best Chinese while Wendy Wu Tours http://www.wendywutours.ie the best Chinese New Year spread.

You want museums? Yes, there are the obvious attractions, the Book of Kells in Trinity College Dublin and Dublin Castle.

But I give you The Little Museum of Dublin https://www.littlemuseum.ie/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5-2-u_y15wIViKztCh2XGQ6dEAAYASAAEgJYS_D_BwE, the Hugh Lane Gallery http://www.hughlane.ie with Francis Bacon’s recreated studio.

And Kilmainham Jail http://kilmainhamgaolmuseum.ie where the 1916 leaders were executed including the gangrenous Scot James Connollly, strapped to his chair.

And for more on Dublin, visit https://www.visitdublin.com and https://www.tourismireland.com.

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