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Tramore
Ireland: south east
Paul Coates22/11/2008
IT was the moment things clicked into place for nine-year-old Christopher – the link between something he read in a book and real life.
New Ross, the working town on Ireland's River Barrow in County Wexford was the place of his epiphany.
We were about to look around a replica of a 'coffin ship' which transported the starving Irish away from the famine in the 1840s and to the brave new world of the Americas.
On the giant audio visual display screen, up popped footage of President John F Kennedy's visit to New Ross – homestead of his clan – just months before he was assassinated.
“That's JFK that is – he got shot in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald who was then shot by Jack Ruby,” said Chris. “Some people say it was a plan by the American government and secret agents.”
For a history buff, it was a proud moment. (Before reading about JFK, Chris had devoured a biography on Adolf Hitler – who needs Harry Potter).
But that's one thing you can't escape in Ireland, the past. My mother's Irish and my childhood saw many trips across the sea. She's from the wild west, Derryhillagh in County Mayo.
On this trip, we were headed to the sunny south east, where you stand the best chance of seeing some rays, as opposed to rain. It proved a great choice, the sun shone every day.
Exploring
We were staying on the coast at Tramore. A wide sweeping bay with lovely beaches, the town is a little microcosm of a traditional kiss-me-quick resort.
The kids couldn't believe their luck when they saw the funfair from the lounge window of our bungalow in the large Pebble Beach holiday village.
You could even hear the screams from the roller coaster. Ground rules were very quickly laid – one ride per night. The days were spent exploring – and so it was we fetched upon New Ross, more by luck than judgment. But the Dunbrody famine ship – 'where the Irish American Dream began' – proved a little gem of a day trip.
The Dunbrody is a magnificent replica of a ship originally built in Canada in 1845 for a New Ross merchant. The 458-tonne, three-masted barque carried thousands across the ocean to escape starvation as the potato crops were wiped out by blight, a terrible situation made only worse by English indifference.
Ireland at the time had a population of eight million. Almost double what it is now. A million died in the famine, while more than a million took the only chance left open to them – escape.
After the JFK moment on the pre-tour video, we were aboard the ship. Actors and actresses act out the roles of real passengers. The entrance tickets are replicas of those issued to the people who scraped together every last penny to gamble on a new life and salvation.
For the then huge sum of £3 each, you received one bunk per family, half-an-hour on deck (weather permitting) and a daily cup of oats.
Fantastic views
A normal load was 176 people but it sometimes sailed with 300. Amazingly, only eight passengers died on The Dunbrody, but they included poor Mrs White and her husband. An actress, playing Mrs White, told us of her woe. Their five children arrived in America as orphans and to three weeks in quarantine.
We heard the captain's rules for his crew. There was a day's pay fine for not shaving or not going to the Sunday service – and the ship's cook was walloped with the same levy for not having a crew member's meal ready when he came off duty.
After a very hearty snack in the ubiquitous visitor centre's cafe, we jumped in the car and headed nowhere in particular. We saw a sign for the John F Kennedy Arboretum. We were intrigued – A: Because we had developed Kennedy fever; and B: None of us knew what an arboretum was. Trees, of course, trees.
What the link is with JFK, I'm not sure, but it was a huge area of parkland containing species of trees from around the world. It was about the only time during our week in Ireland, we were out of sight of water. A good deal of our time was spent exploring the Hook Peninsula.
The saying 'By Hook or by Crook' is said to have derived from military attempts to seize the city of Waterford – by Hook, in the east, or by Crook, a village on the west side of the harbour.
A lovely little ferry ride across from the fantastically-named Passage East saved us a good half-hour of driving and deposited us close to Duncannon, where we stopped off at the fort.
Built in 1558 to fend off an attack by the Spanish which never came, the British controlled it until the Irish War of Independence in 1919. The IRA set it ablaze in 1922 and it limped on until the early 1990s when Wexford County Council took it over. It now offers a little cluster of craft shops, museums and a cafe within its walls, as well as some fantastic views.
Great food
Right at the tip of the peninsula is the Hook Lighthouse. This is a real treat for boys and my lads loved the trip to the top, and even listened to the guide as he told us its colourful history while we climbed its squat structure.
It's the oldest working lighthouse in the British Isles (a geographical, not a political term, of course) and dates back 800 years, the light can be seen 35 miles away, and it was built by the Norman William Marshall.
Three families used to occupy its three storeys, with the lighthouse keeper enjoying the relative luxury of the top floor. A well-paid job at the time, but not much use if you can't get to sleep with the light on. Or if your wife insisted on curtains.
The brownish marks on the walls, we were informed, was the ox blood that had been mixed with the lime to make a solid bond, seeping through, eight centuries on. And so our week, leisurely rolled out. Day trips and evenings at Tramore.
The candy floss and dodgems provided a contrast to the rest of the day, but a trip round the headland quickly transported you to another place. The huge Tinman – an Angel of the North minus wings – stands a watchful guard to serve as a warning of the treacherous rocks below which have claimed scores of ships down through history.
And great food was always on offer at the nearby Rocketts pub, where Christopher and Andrew worked their way through the menu, discovering colcannon and white pudding.
It takes a brave man to go on a roller coaster after a huge meal and a few pints. Still, I managed it, seven times.
Factfile
We travelled with Irish Ferries Holidays, spending a week at the Pebble Beach Holiday Village in Tramore in County Waterford. We crossed on the Jonathan Swift high-speed ferry in 1hr and 49 minutes from Holyhead to Dublin. For an extra £14, you can travel Club Class where you get priority boarding, reserved seats in the Club Class lounge, and complimentary drinks and snacks.
www.irishferries.com
Irish Ferries Holidays 08705 17 17 17
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