I enjoyed very much this journey in Ireland and Northern Ireland: there are so many interesting aspects: the Ierish emigration, the Irish litterature, the transforming of the churches, the horse breeding in Ireland, the gardens and Belfast and the story of the Titanic.
About 80 millions of Irish people emigrated (about 16 tims the population of the country): they took part in the construction of buildings, roads and railways : The genealogist Helen Kelly helps the Irish people from abroad to trace their ancestors.
Ireland is a country of story tellers: the nature has inspired many Irish writers: we follow Sinéad Moriarty who has written some best-sellers:Besides the government helps the writers and other artists (no income taxes).
Ireland has a heritage of many churches who has been abandonned and now there are som original projects of transformation: The Bar and Restaurant "The Church" (the architect Colman Colman O'Donoghun) explains the transformation of the church. Or the Presbyterian church of Dublin which has been transformed into the Dublin Mosque.
I appreciate the visit of the Irish National Stud and the story of the Irish Cob with its Stud Book: we meet also Flore Ryan , a Irish Cob breeder and also judge for the Irish Cob stud book: the exportation of the Cob Irish horse brings many incomes to the breeders.
Some words now about the garden in Ireland: the renewal of the gardens (Brian Quinn and Meeda Downey harvesting potatoes in a former British garden, the Bloom festival of Dublin (to promote the urban gardens) or Paul Doyl , the garden designer who uses Celtic elements like the circle for his garden.
In Belfast we see the Titanic Belfast , a new museum where the story of the Titanic is presented: in the shipyards where the Titanic was built Ricky Cobb explains the huge work of the construction of the Titanic. Finally a¡t the Titanic Memorial Garden Susie Miller talks about the people who were traveling on the Titanic (Irish, but also Scandinavian and Italian people,).
I enjoyed verymuch the nice encounters of Sacha with Christophe Redondo, the French street musician, with Mick Kinahan, the guide of the Grand Canal nmd the Liffey River, with Rachael , the student of Dramatic Arts (the lecture club, the statue of Oscar Wilde, the Trinity Coillege and its library and the literary pub), with Cédric , the fishing guide (the Irish folk dance, the pike fishing, the visite of the monastery of Clonmacnoise, the pub with the singer and the Irish folk siongs), with the bookmaker of Bellewstown and the spectators of the horse races, with the family at the Giant's Causeway near Ballycastle, with Ken, the taxi driver in Belfast (the peace line, the closed doors, the meeting with Danny DEvenny, the muralist and with Jackie White the dance professor of Catholic and Protestant youngs) and with Jonny DJ (the cultural center, the "Hyeah" music center and the the evening of the fifties in a discotheque: very pleasant moments with kind Irish men and women.