Original subtitles

(upbeat music)

- Our journey begins

at the dramatic Cliffs of Moher,

one of the top sites on west coast of Ireland.

From there we head south to the city of Limerick

famous for giving its name to humorous, short poems.

On the southern shore of the Shannon Estuary is Glin Castle

with a history stretching back hundreds of years.

Back on the coast we explore

the beautiful and dramatic Dingle Peninsula

before taking a look at the historic town of Dingle itself,

once one of the most important ports in Ireland.

We then cross the bay to the Iveragh Peninsula,

part of the world-famous Ring of Kerry,

before making our way out into the Atlantic Ocean

and the island of Skellig Michael,

home to a remote Christian monastery

founded over a thousand years ago.

The west coast of Ireland has some of the most beautiful

and most dramatic landscapes in the country.

It's visited by millions of people each year

and many come to see one the most visited

places in the country, the Cliffs of Moher.

These awesome cliffs rise up around 200 meters

and stretch for about eight kilometers.

The cliffs were formed over 300 million years ago.

The sea stack, Branan Mor,

stands over 70 meters above the sea,

which, luckily for us, is calm today.

In stormy weather, massive waves roll in

and pound the cliffs in a dramatic display.

The Cliffs of Moher are not the highest cliffs in Ireland,

but they are the sheerest.

It's as though a giant sea creature has bitten chunks

out of the landscape.

Today, over 30000 birds call it home,

including Atlantic puffins and razorbills.

Standing on Hag's Head is Moher Tower.

It was built in 1808 as a signal station

during the Napoleonic War.

It offers one of the best views along the cliffs.

All over Ireland are small castles

from the country's turbulent past,

many of which stand in ruins,

but not Ballyportry Castle.

It was built in the late 15th century

and remained occupied throughout

the 16th and 17th centuries

before falling into disrepair and disuse.

Miraculously, its four walls were intact,

although open to the sky,

when the ruin was acquired in the 1960s

by New York architect Robert Brown.

Over the next decade, he researched and restored the tower

back to its original condition.

Today, it's a very popular holiday let

for families wanting a castle experience.

To the south is the city of Limerick.

The city was founded by the Vikings in the 10th century

and built up by the Normans

following their invasion in the 12th century.

In around 1200, a magnificent castle was built on the site

of the original Viking settlement.

Over the centuries, the castle has been both besieged

and used as a barracks.

In the 1990s, it was extensively restored

into a visitor attraction.

Limerick, in the 16th and 17th centuries,

was often called the most beautiful city in Ireland.

With its opening to the sea,

Limerick became an important port,

which brought wealth in the 18th century

and also the current look of the city.

But for many people, the name Limerick

is synonymous with the nonsense poems

created in the late 19th century

and said to have an association with local poets.

They have five lines

with the first, second, and fifth rhyming,

as well as the third and fourth together,

like this early tongue-twister limerick.

There was a young lady called Bright,

who traveled much faster than light.

She set out one day in a relative way

and came back the previous night.

Ahead of us is Bunratty Castle,

which has a history stretching back over 800 years

to the days of the Viking Age.

Its name in Gaelic means, basin of the river Ratty,

which flows alongside the castle

as it empties into the Shannon Estuary.

The castle we see today is the fourth one on the site

and built in the early 15th century.

It was a formidable stronghold,

but as with most castles, it's importance gradually declined

and by the early 19th century it had fallen into disrepair.

At the end of the century,

the roof of the Great Hall collapsed

and it looked like the end for Bunratty Castle.

But in 1956, the castle was purchased

by a wealthy Anglo-Irish peer

with assistance from the Irish state.

He re-roofed the castle and saved it from ruin.

It was then slowly restored,

and in 1960, opened to the public.

The Shannon Estuary is a peaceful and beautiful place,

but it was once the landing strip

of one of the biggest civilian airports in Europe.

During the late 1930s and early 1940s,

land-based planes lacked sufficient flying range

for Atlantic crossings.

Shannon Estuary was the last port of call

on its eastern shore for sea planes

and must have been a welcome sight through the clouds.

A study for flying boat operations

was made by the famous aviator, Charles Lindbergh, in 1933,

and the first trans-Atlantic flights started in 1937.

Of course, once airplanes could travel greater distances,

sea planes became obsolete

and the airport closed in 1947.

Few Irish homes have been owned by one family

for as long as Glin Castle,

seat of the Knights of Glin for seven centuries.

The present-day castle was built between 1780 and 1790.

Although it's called a castle,

it's actually a very fine stone Georgian house.

By 1798, the majority of the interior was finished,

but, unfortunately, the FitzGeralds

were about to become bankrupt,

so the craftsmen downed tools and left the castle.

In many ways this saved Glin

as a great example of a relatively untouched

18th century country house.

The last knight poured money into buying antique furniture

and paintings for the house,

as well as installing modern plumbing, electricity,

and a new roof in the 1990s.

With the last Knight of Glin's death

and the enormous cost of running a large estate today,

the future of the castle is in doubt

and it has been put up for sale.

Continuing south towards the coast is the town of Tralee,

which takes its name from the River Lee

and is the county town of County Kerry.

It stands on the northern side of the Dingle Peninsula,

a very popular tourist route and where we are headed next.

The town is perhaps best known for

the Rose of Tralee International Festival,

which has been held annually since 1959

and takes its inspiration from the 19th century ballad

of the same name.

The festival bills itself as a celebration

of the aspiration, ambitions, intellect,

social responsibility, and Irish heritage

of modern, young women.

The River Lee flows into Tralee Bay at Blennerville,

which acted as the port for Tralee,

and in 1800, a local investor built a windmill.

In fact, Blennerville Windmill was Europe's tallest

at just over 21 meters.

The windmill was used for grinding corn

for both the local population and for export to Britain.

However, after 50 odd years of successful production,

business gradually fell away

due to the introduction of steam power,

the silting of the river channel,

and the opening of the Tralee ship canal.

The windmill then fell into ruins

and remained like that for over a hundred years

until, in 1981, Tralee Council purchased it

and began restoring it back to its working condition

and opened it to the public.

Blennerville Windmill is now Ireland's

only commercially operated windmill in existence.

Ahead of us is the Dingle Peninsula

and a very popular driving route for visitors

to take in some dramatic scenery as well as ancient sights.

It's part of the Wild Atlantic Way,

which stretches for two and half thousand kilometers

along the whole west coast of Ireland.

The scenery is outstanding

and the beaches are some of the finest to be seen anywhere.

Sadly, the one thing that cannot be guaranteed in Ireland

is the weather.

Today, it's glorious, but more often than not

it rains with thick clouds rolling in

off the Atlantic Ocean.

As a result, the landscape is green and lush

giving rise to the country being known as the Emerald Isle.

But even in bad weather, the landscape does not disappoint

as people can walk for miles along pristine beaches.

The country is famous for its friendliness,

and, in small villages, visitors are sure of a warm welcome.

This is a Gaeltacht region

where the Irish language is spoken by everyone,

an area rich in language, music, and dance.

This part of Ireland has an abundance of flora

with Arctic-Alpines growing near the mountain peaks

and many seaside flowers growing

on the sandy shore of the bay.

And in this beautiful part of the peninsula

is the colorful village of Cloghane

overlooked by Mount Brandon,

the highest mountain on the Dingle Peninsula.

The name Cloghane means stone hut,

and the village is full of stone houses,

many of which go back centuries.

The village has several traditional pubs

where local seafood is served

followed by music and dance,

which local people refer to as having the craic.

On the last weekend in July

the Festival of Lunasa takes place.

This is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning

of the harvest season with sheep shearing,

dog trials, dancing, and poetry readings.

The highlight of the weekend is the ascent of Mount Brandon

with a picnic at its peak, the world at your feet,

and music and poetry to listen to as you soak up the views.

Brandon Point is a popular spot for watching bird

and sea life on the peninsula

or for people taking a clifftop walk.

The car park is right on the cliff edge

and not for the nervous driver.

The strong northwest winds in autumn

will funnel birds into this bay,

and so it is a perfect spot to view them.

Great, Arctic, and Pomarine skuas turn up annually

as well as large numbers of Cory's and sooty shearwaters,

gray phalaropes and Sabine gulls.

And on a day of no birds,

there's always the possibility of spotting

whales and dolphins from the cliffs.

At the end of this sheltered bay,

by another pristine beach, is a small building,

which is obviously very old, but of uncertain origin.

It was named Gallarus Oratory in 1756

when it was discovered by an antiquarian

who suggested it was a very early

9th century Christian church.

And for the next two centuries this became accepted fact.

But in 1970, an archeologist argued

that it might well have been built

as late as the 12th century

due to the particular design of the small window.

However, in the 1990s, the same archeologist

changed his view of its use

and claimed that the name Gallarus

meant the house or shelter of foreigners.

This would mean pilgrims from outside the peninsula.

The debate continues, but most people accept

that this stone, boat-shaped building

is a very rare and beautiful early church

built from stone taken from the local Dingle seashore.

It's been so well constructed,

that it has has needed virtually no restoration

over the ages.

Just off the west coast of the Dingle Peninsula

are the Blasket Islands.

The main island was inhabited until 1953

by a completely Irish-speaking community

who was struggling for existence

with a declining population and, ultimately,

were forcibly evacuated to the mainland.

The island remains uninhabited today,

but visitors can travel by a small ferry

over to this remote and wildly beautiful place

and spend several hours or all day

marveling at its natural beauty

and what remains of years of human endeavor.

Dunmore Head and Slea Head in the distance

are the western-most points of Ireland.

In stormy weather, they bear the full brunt

of the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1982, the Spanish container ship, Ranga,

was wrecked close to Slea Head

after losing power in a storm.

Here, the Dingle Peninsula route

follows the coast around the promontory

where a memorial stands commemorating all the fishermen

who have lost their lives at sea.

It's also a place to pause and take in

the stunning views along the coast.

This is one of the 157 discovery points

along the Wild Atlantic Way,

which is one of the longest defined coastal routes

in the world, stretching from Donegal in the north

to Cork in the south.

From start to finish, it takes in the wonders of nature

and the power of the sea,

and as we can see here, the road winds around the cliffs

in a thrilling drive where every bend

opens up a new discovery.

The Atlantic Ocean with its unrestrained and untameable

tides and storms has continuously been molding

the west coast of Ireland.

Over thousands of years,

it has created the beautiful Ventry Bay

with its almost perfect, curved sandy beach.

Unsurprisingly, the principal town of Dingle Peninsula

is Dingle itself.

The town is one of the most visited in Ireland

and also one of its most charming.

Over the years, it has received many awards.

Its narrow streets are dotted with restaurants,

art galleries, craft shops,

and clothing made from hand-woven cloth.

Like so many Irish towns, there's no shortage of pubs

where musicians can just wander in

and join in the evening's entertainment.

On a fine day, people can sit by the harbor

eating local fish and chips

and watch the fishing boats come back with their catch.

Back in the 19th century, Dingle was a major fishing port,

but the harbor itself has a much longer history

going back to the Normans in the 11th century

who made Dingle into a busy trading point

dealing in wool, fish, meat, and butter.

By the 18th century it was one of Ireland's

most important ports.

Today, Dingle's economy is largely based on tourism,

and it's population of two and a half thousand

swells in the summer months as it becomes

a successful seaside resort.

We now head south across Dingle Bay,

which was the first place Charles Lindbergh saw

during his 1927 record-breaking flight

across the Atlantic from New York to Paris.

On the other side of the bay is the Iveragh Peninsula,

which is better known for the Ring of Kerry,

which runs for 180 kilometers around the coast.

It's a worldwide favorite with tourists

and not without reason as the scenery is both beautiful,

full of history, and dramatic.

Across the water is Valentia Island,

which can be seen from the Ring of Kerry route.

And on its eastern end is Knight's Town,

one of the few town-planned villages of Ireland.

The village was laid out and built by a Scottish engineer,

Alexander Nimmo, in the early 1840s

when a quarry was started close by.

The village was planned in a grid pattern

like many European towns.

Two of the main streets were named Jane and Peter

after the Knight of Kerry and his wife

who commissioned Knight's Town.

Valentia Island also has a special place

in the history of communication

because it was here in this beautiful landscape

that the first commercially viable

trans-Atlantic telegraph cable

was laid to Newfoundland in 1866.

It operated for a hundred years

until Western Union International

closed its cable operations in 1966.

The only crossing to Valentia Island

is the bridge at Portmagee built in 1971.

It was a notorious 18th century smuggler,

Captain Theobald Magee, who gave his name to the village.

Thanks to the intricately-shaped coast around the peninsula,

his trade in contraband, spirits, textiles,

and tea and tobacco was extremely hard to police

and, therefore, very profitable.

On a clear day with the sun out and the sea calm,

it all looks beautiful,

but when mist and storms roll in

the picture is very different,

and these cliffs become very dramatic indeed.

In this good, clear weather

we're able to get to our final location,

the Skellig Islands, 11 kilometers out in the Atlantic Ocean

from Bolus Head on the mainland.

These two small, rocky islands

are known as Skellig Michael and Little Skellig.

The smaller of the two islands is Little Skellig

and it's closed to the public

as it's part of a large bird sanctuary.

As well as being Ireland's largest northern gannet colony

with almost 30000 pairs, it's also one of

the world's largest and is of international importance.

Birdwatchers can take one of the many licensed boats

to get a closer look at these stunning birds

cruising around above the cliffs.

This barren and jagged-edged island is 134 meters high

and is approximately one and a half kilometers

from its bigger neighbor, Skellig Michael.

Towering 218 meters high,

this huge rock stands like a sentinel guarding the coast.

So it's no surprise to find two lighthouses,

which were built on the west side in the 1820s.

In 1837, it was written that the erection of the lighthouses

has been a means of preventing

much loss of life and property.

Scarcely a winter previously elapsed

without frequent and fatal shipwrecks.

By the 1870s, the highest had been abandoned

and left as a dramatic ruin.

The lower was automated in the 1980s

and still keeps shipping safe today.

But the real importance of Skellig Michael

can be found on the top of the rock,

a 7th century monastic complex

that is so important it's now a UNESCO World Heritage site

as it illustrates the incredible Spartan existence

of the first Irish Christians.

Since the extreme remoteness of Skellig Michael

has, until recently, discouraged visitors,

the site is exceptionally well-preserved.

The beehive dwellings are attributed to St. Finnian

and located close by is a medieval chapel

dedicated to St. Michael, the patron saint of high places.

The approach is from a small key

on the south side of the rock.

From there, it's a steep climb up 600 or so steps

to the monastery.

The stone for the foot path as well as the building

was probably cut from the surrounding rock.

It's thought that monastic life here

ended during the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.

The island was then abandoned for hundreds of years

due to its remoteness until the lighthouses were built.

Today, a large number of tourists

make a one-day pilgrimage during the summer months,

weather permitting, to this rare and beautiful monastery,

which seems to be on the edge of the world,

a perfect place to end this journey.

(angelic choir music)

(upbeat music)