Joseph Rosendo’s Travelscope

-Welcome to "Joseph Rosendo's Travelscope," where you join us as we accept the world's invitation to visit.

-[ Chuckles ] Come with me.

Slinte.

Today on "Travelscope," I celebrate Patrick, Ireland's patron saint, and travel in his footsteps to sacred sites, natural wonders, and cultural celebrations.

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-In my experience, Saint Patrick's Day is a time of music, dance, and lots of toasting.

While I'm sure I could find all of that in Ireland, I intend to follow a different path to the saint's celebration.

Yet, to begin at the beginning, let's begin with the familiar.

So this pub, Tomney's pub, it's like a house.

-It is a house.

Yeah, it was my grandmother's.

You know, when we grew up -- -This was your grandma's house?

-You're in her living room, you know?

-Was it a pub during that whole time?

-This was the living room, and behind us was the kitchen.

-You know, there are some people that think every house in Ireland is a pub.

You're, like, proof of that.

And you have a lot of Saint Patrick memorabilia.

Tell me something.

What does Saint Patrick mean to you?

-Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, yeah, you know what I mean, so... -How about Saint Patrick Day?

-Saint Patrick's Day, yeah, It's a big celebration, and everybody's just having the crack and supposes a bit of a release after a long winter.

You know what I mean?

-By the way, you heard him say "crack."

Well, "crack" means a good time.

-It's just fun and banter.

You know what I mean?

-Well, slinte.

Thank you very much for having us in your home.

-You're welcome.

You're welcome.

Make it your home, you know?

-[ Speaking Irish ] -Excuse me.

Is that Irish?

-Yeah, it's Irish, yeah.

So we learned Irish at a really young age, and then we just, like, kept speaking it as we grew up.

-That's wonderful that you kept your culture alive.

-Yeah, we still speak it, like, basically every day.

-Fabulous.

How do you say "thank you"?

-Go raibh maith agat.

-Go raibh maith agat?

-Yeah.

-Hey!

-Yay!

-I'm speaking Irish.

-Slinte.

-Slinte.

-Slinte.

-Slinte.

-[ Chuckles ] -[ Chuckles ] Impressive, isn't it?

I'm traveling on Saint Patrick's Trail, and while I'm following in his footsteps, one of the benefits are the villages and towns that you get to explore along the way.

Armagh is considered the ecclesiastical center of Ireland, mostly because, in 445 A.D., Saint Patrick established his first stone Christian church here.

Today, the Anglican Church of Ireland is on that site.

Now I'm in the first public library of Armagh, established in 1771 by Richard Robinson.

He donated the building and the first 8,000 books.

There are now 46,000 books.

-Here in the 1776 American atlas, there's a wonderful example of one of the maps, and it's of Pennsylvania.

And we love this idea of showing this to American visitors because, obviously, it's of interest.

Sometimes we have to apologize and say that their state is not covered and they are understanding of that.

-So you won't California there or New Mexico?

-Exactly.

And what's lovely is, particularly with Pennsylvania, you can see names of towns and cities from Ireland, from England, and from other European countries, and they're depicted here.

-Now, Carol, for people like me or traveling on the Saint Patrick's Trail or following Saint Patrick's Trail, is there anything here at the library and museum that's specific to Saint Patrick?

-We're very fortunate.

We have a reproduction of the "Book of Armagh," and within it is actually the Saint Patrick's confession where he is saying, "I, poor sinner," and he goes on to say what a wretched man he is and how the Lord needs to help him.

-That's where we get a lot of our information about Patrick.

He talks about himself.

-He does.

And the struggles that he has, and I always think it can help people equate and feel, "I'm feeling that.

I know what that's like."

He did, as well, all those centuries ago.

[ Bell tolling ] -Armagh's place as the ecclesiastical center of Ireland is reinforced by the two cathedrals on the hills, the Saint Patrick Church of Ireland Cathedral and the Saint Patrick Roman Catholic Cathedral.

On the eve of Saint Patrick's Day, there is a procession between the two churches which links the major religions of Ireland and illustrates Saint Patrick's position as the patron saint of all Irish people.

The Pilgrims Walk.

Saint Patrick's Way.

It has many names, and here at Navan Fort, you can pick up a Saint Patrick's Way passport.

The way itself is 82 miles long, and along the way, you'll stop in picturesque villages, exciting cities, and, in many of the stops, there are places where you can get a stamp which proves that you were there.

Perfect.

I'm on my way.

Excuse me, sir.

Excuse me, sir.

-Yeah?

Hello, friend.

-I don't want to interrupt you, but I'm here in the area following Patrick's footsteps, and they told me to come here.

Where am I exactly?

-Well, this is the land of Eamhain Mhacha or, as travelers tend to know it as, Navan.

-How would you describe your people?

What are you?

Are you Celts?

Are you Druids?

-You would describe us as Celts, yes.

We would describe ourselves as the Ulaid or, as you would say, the people of Ulster.

-Okay, so this Patrick has been coming around and talking to you, I understand.

What is he talking to you about?

-Well, he has these crazy notions of their only being a single God.

-Hmm.

-A single God, but somehow he is split into three, like the shamrock, the shamrock.

It's very strange.

Traditionally, we believe in a great many Gods.

We have our beliefs.

He has his.

Though, again, he's a Roman by birth, so we don't really like them.

-What do they know?

-Exactly.

Well, do you know what the Romans call this land?

-No.

-They call it Hibernia, "land of eternal winter."

[ Both chuckle ] I mean, our weather's bad, but it's not that bad.

[ Chuckles ] -Thank you.

What's -- What's your real name?

-My real name is Adam.

What do you think about working here, and what's your experience with -- with visitors coming?

-It is an excellent job.

I meet people from all across the world.

They come here to, really, experience life as a Celt as it stood.

What you see about here would be really similar to what would have been here when Patrick arrived and began spreading Christianity to Ireland.

-Well, welcome to our hearth.

-Now, I've been following in the way of this Patrick.

-Ugh.

-Has he been around?

-Yes, but he is not a friend of mine.

-No?

-No.

-Why?

-Well, he does not like the woman healers.

He calls us snakes, and he wishes to get rid of us.

-Mm.

-So... -I can see why you'd have mixed feelings about him at best.

-Well, they're not really mixed.

[ Laughs ] -No, they're not mixed.

Thank you.

Carolyn is the actress here, and, Carolyn, what's it like introducing people to this time?

-To me, this is a sacred site.

So Macha is the goddess of the area, and I still believe that, and I love this place.

The energy of this place, very important.

-Talk to me about that.

What is the energy here?

-Back in the Celtic times, they were very much connected to their environment, to nature.

Part of their spirituality was the importance of trees.

The word for Druid comes from the old Irish word for oak, and oak was their most sacred tree.

-It's called Navan Fort by some, but it wasn't really a fort.

It was a ceremonial place that they built here around 90 A.D.

The mound was used in this ceremony.

They believed that they were talking, as route to the sun god perhaps, to bring back the sun.

-Yeah, we could use that.

-Yeah.

-How long have people been living in what we now call Ireland?

-Oldest is recorded about 7000 B.C., and that's along the banks of the River Bann.

-What do you think -- that long history of people being here, what do you think that has given the present-day Irishman?

-There's a resilience beyond measure among the Irish that we only realize when we come against adversity.

And I think when we see other places, other locations, other civilizations coming up against the brick wall or are coming up against difficulty, and we hopefully can share that resilience is there for all of us.

"Yes, resilience is possible here.

Take some experience from us," as it were.

-Thank you so much.

During the run-up to Saint Patrick's Day, Ireland turns greener than usual.

In Armagh, both Catholic and Church of Ireland Cathedrals take on a verdant tint, and, as part of the Saint Patrick Festival, become the site of many cultural entertainments.

-[ Singing in native language ] -Like all of us, Saint Patrick needed a little help from his friends in order to accomplish his goals.

And he got that from the man who would become the Saint McCartan when he was helped across the Blackwater River nearby here, and brought here to what is now the town of Augher.

Then, he told McCartan to build a church here.

Well, there's a chapel here now, and it's noted for these amazingly beautiful stained glass windows devoted to Saint McCartan, devoted to Saint Patrick, and devoted to very important families and personages here in Ireland.

And by the way, when you're on your Saint Patrick's way, there are other ways and other excursions you can take off of the Way that will bring you to places like this.

And so you should take them.

And also another tip for you is when you're traveling in Ireland, be sure to bring your umbrella and a raincoat.

They say several things about the rain here in Ireland.

One is, if you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes, it's sure to change.

Secondly, it wouldn't be called the Emerald Isle if it wasn't for all the water.

And finally, they say, if it wasn't for the rain, there wouldn't be rainbows.

[ Water rushing ] Ireland is a land of stories, legends, and myths.

And this one-mile path is taking me to a couple of them -- Saint Patrick's Chair and Saint Patrick's Well.

Patrick was a clever man.

He was a diplomat, he was a negotiator.

And he knew, rather than destroy the religion of the people, and the beliefs of the people who lived here, he needed to incorporate their beliefs into the new beliefs that he was presenting to them.

And while he was converting people, he was also converting sites -- their religious and their ceremonial sites.

For instance, down at the bottom of these steps is Saint Patrick's Well, which always seems to have water in it.

Back in the day, this, I'm told, was used by the priest or the the king or the higher-ups as a place to cleanse themselves before the ceremonies that took place up above.

During Patrick's time, it was a place to baptize people.

And nowadays the site has evolved to where the legend surrounding it is that if you have any skin problems and you put your hands in the water, you can cure them.

Now, right up here is Saint Patrick's Chair.

Although I've been told that back in the day, before Saint Patrick, this could have been used by the priest overseeing the ceremonies that could be taking place on this stone over here.

So Patrick turned that stone into an altar, which evolved later into what is called a mass rock, which was used during the time when the Roman Catholic religion was suppressed in Ireland, and under penalty of death, people came from near and far to celebrate mass here.

But... Saint Patrick's Chair was called the Bishop's Chair.

And Saint Patrick was the first bishop of Ireland.

But now that's evolved, too.

And if I sit here and make a wish, it will come true.

Myths are truths told in story form, in order to entertain and therefore educate.

There are lots of myths and legends still in Ireland that you can discover.

How about the Shamrock?

Did Patrick use the shamrock to illustrate the Trinity -- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost?

Could be.

Makes a good story, doesn't it?

Ireland is rich with stories, legends, and myths, and that's what makes it such a wonderful place to visit.

Neither rain nor sleet nor hail nor freezing winds will keep us from exploring our destinations when we're on a shoot.

And I'm with Anthony.

And, Anthony, we're going to take a walk out on the Giant's Causeway.

-Yep.

-So we're following in Saint Patrick's footsteps, and now we're following the giant's footsteps.

It certainly looks like a causeway fit for a giant.

-It is.

-In fact, this one is fit for two giants.

-Two giants.

One is for our Irish giant, Finn MacCool, who used to live up there to the right.

You can see the chimneys of his house.

-I can see his chimney, yeah.

-And then the Scottish giant, who lives, obviously, over in Scotland, which is just over there, directly in front of us.

-The story is, the Scottish giant wasn't a smart enough to not get fooled by the Irish giant.

-No, he wasn't.

-So he went back angry enough to break up the causeway, and that's why we can't walk over to Scotland right now.

-Yeah, that's correct.

-Well, it's quite a dramatic geological site.

How long has it been here, and how was it formed?

-Well, it was all formed around 60 million years ago, and was all down to volcanic activity.

We didn't have the big massive volcanoes that people traditionally think of.

But we're in the middle of a deep riverbed or a valley.

-Right.

-And the lava would start to ooze out of it, coming out of one of the Earth's cracks.

If it hardens under the right conditions, cracks will start to form.

And for these cracks, when formed correctly or properly, or even, will give you a six-sided pattern.

-So that's how you get your hexagon column.

-It is.

-It's amazing.

And how many of them are there?

-Well... -Do you know?

-Most people say that there's around 40,000 columns.

But working here, I can tell you this -- there's 41,366 columns.

-[ Laughs ] That's pretty specific.

Do you count them?

-We have to count them every year.

-Oh, you don't want to lose one.

-We don't.

-One of those giants might come back and steal one.

-You never know.

-And the Giant's Causeway is kind of in the middle of a larger coastal route up here in Northern Ireland.

-It is.

So, the Giant's Causeway is Northern Ireland's only World Heritage site, and it sits basically almost in the middle of what we call the Causeway Coastal Route.

And of course, this is a dramatic northern coast of Ireland, so the weather is variable, we should say.

-It is.

It think the way the forecast is going to work out today, it's going to be wet in the morning and we're going to have sun in the afternoon.

So you'll actually see sun down here during the afternoon.

-Okay, wonderful.

Certainly a destination worth coming to when you're in Northern Ireland.

And thank you for bringing me here.

-You're welcome.

-The other thing they say about the weather in Ireland is that it's a good excuse to enjoy a dram of its famous whiskeys.

Hey, Laura.

-Hello.

Welcome to Bushmills Distillery.

Ready for whiskey?

-I am.

-We pour this specifically for you.

-Look at this.

This is like a wine thief.

I'm more familiar with wines.

Except this is copper?

This is copper.

So we actually love copper in the distillery.

We use copper for our pot stills, as well.

-So how do you sample whiskey?

-Well, the first thing is you have a good smell.

Use your nose.

-Mm.

Sounds familiar.

-Does it smell good so far?

-It does.

-It should smell quite fruity.

-It does.

Smells fruity, but a little spicy, too.

-Yeah.

So this one is matured in our bourbon barrels.

Has a lovely light color.

And then, if you want to take a little sip, the first sip might shock your palate.

-[ Laughs ] -That's okay.

You just need to persevere.

-Okay.

-And then more flavors will come through in the second and third.

So you're looking out for honey, caramel, vanilla, lovely, and sweet.

-It does shock the palate.

-It does.

That's normal.

-Oh, yeah, then it kind of starts softening up.. -Yeah.

-...mellowing out.

-What's the process?

-So we use three main ingredients -- malted barley, water, and yeast.

We get our malted barley, grind it down into fine flour, add in water, and we get the natural sugar.

-Okay.

-Bring it to fermentation, add in yeast, and that's how we get our alcohol.

And then we bring it in to distillation, and we separate the alcohol from the water.

We distill here in Bushmills three times to give you a lovely, smooth finish.

-Does the liquid mature any more?

Like with wine, it'll age in the bottle.

Does it age in the bottle with whiskey?

-No, as soon as you take it out of the barrel, into a bottle, that is fully matured.

-That's it.

-It doesn't take on any more flavor or any color.

-So you don't need to keep it around.

You can just drink it.

-You can just drink it.

Depends how long you want to keep it for.

-What else do you have to show me today?

-Come on over, and I'll give you another little drink.

-Okay.

-So I'm going to pour you in a fresh glass.

-Okay, good.

-This one is the Black Bush.

You have a little nose of this one.

I'll pour myself one, too.

You should feel it at the top of your nose.

Quite spicy character.

-The top of your nose.

-Just around the ridge of your nose.

This one will have more of a nutty texture, more dried fruit.

So, what you can do is, if you find it's a little harsh, I actually have some water and what we -- a little pipette.

-Okay.

-What you can do is, you can get a couple of drops of water.

You get your glass and you tilt it.

You want to put a couple of drops in.

And what happens is, the natural oils come out.

Have a swirl of your glass like you would with wine.

Have another little nose.

It's known as breaking your whiskey.

Have another little sip.

And some people find, by adding a little drop with water, it actually makes it a little bit easier for your palate to get used to it.

-It does.

Not as much of a shock.

-Not as much as a shock.

-It's nice.

It's very, very, very nice.

Now, when they talk about single malts, are these single malts?

-So, this one is a blended whiskey.

-Oh, okay.

-It is made of 80% of our spirit from here and 20% grain from Midleton Distillery in Cork.

-Okay.

-And then it's mixed.

The one we had before, our 10-year-old, is single malt, and that is what our distillery is known for, using only malted barley spirit.

-Well, slinte.

-Slinte.

[ Glasses clink ] -[ Gulps ] Happy Saint Patrick's Day.

-And to you.

-There are dozens of walks, trails, and drives in Ireland.

The Causeway Coastal Scenic Drive stretches 130 miles along the rugged coast of Northern Ireland and offers natural... ...and manmade attractions to visit along the way.

It ends in Belfast, the capital and largest city in the North, which, at the very least, is worth a wee look around.

Ah, well, there's Queen Victoria scowling down at us.

-You'd think she'd be an awful lot happier, because this was a city contributed massively to her wealth, because the turn of the 20th century, this was the third-richest port in the United Kingdom... -Wow.

-...after London and Liverpool.

-And wasn't this building kind of dedicated to her?

-It was planned during her reign and built during the reign of her son.

It's where Belfast Council sits.

They're responsible for the management of the city of Belfast.

-I'm with Billy Scott, my driver and guide.

But his greatest credentials is that he's Belfast-born, -bred, and... battered.

-Battered.

-[ Laughs ] Okay, let's keep going.

-Okay.

-So besides being an amazing-looking building, this place has a smell of books.

-It's Queen's University, too.

-Queen's University.

-Opened here in 1845.

It's Tudor style.

It's quite similar to University College Cork and Galway.

They're all built in response to Trinity in Dublin... -Okay.

-...because Trinity was open only to members of the Anglican Church.

These were open to everybody, even women.

-Even women.

Oh!

-Well... as long as they were formally attired in hat and gloves.

-Where do we go next?

-We'll head to a shipyard, do Titanic.

-Oh, Titanic, of course.

Let's go.

Well, this is obviously one of the most popular attractions here in Belfast.

-Titanic Belfast tells the story of Titanic.

This was the biggest shipyard in the world.

They built over 2,000 ships.

Titanic was just one of those ships.

-Yeah, 2,000.

Look.

How high it was.

-The building itself represents the bows of three ships -- Titanic, Olympic, and Britannic -- breaking through the water.

Yeah, that would have been the height of the bow of the ship.

-You know, it's amazing to me that we have such a large attraction like this for a ship that sank.

-Wasn't our fault, Joe.

-Wasn't?

-She was alright when she left Belfast.

[ Both laugh ] -Well, this is the most popular attraction, but if you really want to know Belfast, we need to go to the next spot.

Now, this is the famous mural walls.

Billy, you mentioned you were born, bred, and battered.

-Yeah, when I grew up in Belfast in the 1960s and '70s, we had what we called the Troubles.

So we were under siege for a long time.

And also, at the same time, then you've got the worldwide growth of the civil rights movement.

-Frederick Douglass.

-He actually came to Ireland and seemingly he wrote the narrative of the slave when he was in Ireland.

Then, the first thing about this, Joe, is, this painting was actually done by loyalists and republicans working together.

So we must learn from life's experiences.

-Good crack, a fun time, is easy to come by in Ireland, Slinte.

And since it's close to Saint Patrick's Day, a a Belfast pub crawl is in order.

There are more than 20 pubs in the Cathedral Quarter alone for you to enjoy.

-Happy Saint Patrick's Day from Ireland!

-Agnus!

-Dei!

-Part two of my journey through Ireland in the footsteps of Saint Patrick, I celebrate Irish history... food... -[ Laughs ] -...music... [ Irish music plays ] ...dance.

and have great crack with new friends on Saint Patrick's Day.

-Slinte.

-Slinte.

-Till next time, this is Joseph Rosendo reminding you of the words of Mark Twain, "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness."

Happy traveling.

-"Joseph Rosendo's Travelscope" is made possible by... EVA Air connects eight North American cities to Taiwan, where, with one stop, travelers can fly on to destinations throughout Asia.

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-From travel tips and destination explorations, to exotic adventures and intimate tales, "Musings: The Short Happy Pursuit of Pleasure and Other Journeys," is a collection of entertaining, humorous, and inspirational stories drawn from my travel and life experiences.

For a copy of "Musings," call 888-876-3399, or order online at travelscope.net.

Now that we've traveled in Saint Patrick's footsteps together, learn more at travelscope.net, where you can follow my worldwide adventures through my e-magazine, blog, podcast, and on social media.

Stay in touch -- 888-876-3399 or [email protected].

What does Saint Patrick mean to you?

-It is a beginning of the spark of change that would eventually reach across the island and, of course, across the world as Christianity begins to spread further and further.

-It's a day when we celebrate all that is Irish.

-For me, there's not one single day that is, or should be, attributed to Saint Patrick.

You know, it should be a timeless event, really, because he's brought so much to this country.

-He's always been something that we celebrated ever since I was little.

An excuse to dress up in lots of different colors of green.

[ Laughs ] And I can drink -- having some drink in the morning because it's Saint Patrick's Day.

-There's a celebration of culture, a certain amount of the religiosity of it, but just the idea of being Irish, and that was lovely.

-"The bricks, they may bleed; the rain, it may weep; That damp Lagan fog lulls the city to sleep.

It's to hell with the future, we'll live in the past.

May the Lord in His mercy be kind to Belfast."

-Alright!

[ Laughs ] [ Applause ] -[ Chuckles ]