Treading through Tipperary

by Roxanne Bowling (United Kingdom (Great Britain))

Making a local connection Ireland

I have been to Ireland before to visit Dublin and found that as unique as it was as a city, it was that, a city, so we took a drive in to the country and decided to see what Tipperary had to offer. We wasn't expecting much more than fields and beautiful Irish scenery, but wasn't expecting to meet 2 boys ages around 10 selling beautiful homemade lemonade and preseves and strawberries on the back of a horse cart, we stopped and bought some wonderful lemonade and lemon to possibly make a lemon meringue pie? It was such a beautiful vast scenery, green and never ending. Upon speaking to the lady in a bakery we find that land is one of the most cherished things to them, so important and engrained in their lives. One thing that is so wonderful about Tipperary is you only need to start talking to one person to feel at home and welcome. We met a lovely elderly gentleman by the name of Crocodile (due to the lacoste hat he had been wearing for many years, and we are sure he was not aware of the brand of hat) who was giving us ideas of what to do on our visit and he asked if we fancied a visit to Coolmore stud farm, which requires booking for a tour. I said we'd like to go have a nose but unfortunately didn't book a tour. He says not to worry about that and that he waves to the grounds keeper along the road from time to time and he'd be more than happy to accomodate us and show us around. We did think it was a bit of a wild goose chase and might result in us being chased off the land but went along with the gentleman and sure enough he got us in. The groundskeeper was very friendly, warm and welcoming and said any friend of Crocodiles was a friend of his. Whilst at this wonderful stud farm we learned so much about the breeding process and got to meet some of the most expensive thorough bred horses the world has to offer. At the time of our visit we was told that insemination can start at €100,000 a go for some of their residents. We also had the odd betting tip from other workers at the stud farm for a race the next day. The grounds were absolutely stunning and very well maintained, almost had a Disney feel to it. After saying many thanks for our wonderful free and exclusive tour we drove in to Kilkenny for some dinner, as was a small town alot was closed so we went to a pub for dinner and have to say have never felt more welcome anywhere and the bar man came and sat with us asking all about our stay. After having some lovely boiled bacon and cabbage we started our drive back in to Dublin city. The next morning we took a walk down O'connel street and over the Ha'penny bridge to see the urban legend of the women dotted around the city. (Statues). Speaking to locals I soon find they are not urban legends but very real statues of women around the city, and all have some very fun/ intriguing names. We found the one under water, cheekily named the "Whore in the sewer" with a Dublin accent it rhymes beautifully, the "hags with the bags" were some ladies on a bench with their shopping bags.. We sadly didn't find any more of these rumoured statues but heard there were more. Further in the City we find a block of social housing apartnents dedicated to writer Jonathan Swift with detailed depictions of Gulliver's tales dotted around the building. Another unexpected bit of history comes with the post office. Bullet holes all over the walls tell a dark story of the past. It is always a good idea to have a wonder in the shops and Grafton street, always live music. I was captivated by a crazy soulful rock band called captain magic, and they had all the attitude of Jimmi Hendrix. I had to purchase their CD immediately. I could stay forever.