1 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:07,920 For Victorian Britons, George Bradshaw was a household name. 2 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:10,080 At a time when railways were new, 3 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:13,520 Bradshaw's guidebook inspired them to take to the tracks. 4 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:19,760 I'm using a Bradshaw's Guide to understand how trains transformed 5 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:21,480 Britain and Ireland - 6 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:25,880 their landscape, industry, society and leisure time. 7 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:28,800 As I follow its routes 130 years later, 8 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:31,880 it helps me to discover these islands today. 9 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:58,680 I'm approaching the halfway mark of my journey from southeastern 10 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:01,080 to northwestern Ireland. 11 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:06,520 On this leg, I hope to find earthy evidence of early civilisations, 12 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:08,920 investigate a fishy history, 13 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:12,440 discover induction at a Catholic seminary 14 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:14,600 and beat the drum for Ireland. 15 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:25,200 I began my journey on the coast at Wexford 16 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:26,760 and then travelled to Dublin, 17 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:29,440 where I beheld the soul of the nation. 18 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:30,760 Now I turn west, 19 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,840 hoping to discover more of Ireland's rich cultural identity 20 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:39,840 as I cross this country and end my peregrination on the Atlantic coast. 21 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:45,760 Today's route begins at Navan, I then travel to Leixlip, 22 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:50,640 make a stop in the university town of Maynooth and end in Mullingar. 23 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:57,040 Along the way I get up to speed with modern archaeology... 24 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:00,520 - That was excellent. - HE SIGHS 25 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,720 - That was perfect. - Do you really go at that pace? 26 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,320 ..discover a glorious hidden wonder... 27 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:10,640 This is the best chapel in Ireland by a long shot. 28 00:02:10,640 --> 00:02:13,440 You can't come to Ireland and not see this, can you? 29 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:15,160 No. 30 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:17,040 ..and get my marching orders. 31 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:20,200 If you're going to join them, beat. 32 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:32,000 I'll be leaving this train at M3 Parkway, 33 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:34,320 which was evidently added to the rail network 34 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:35,720 after my Bradshaw's Guide 35 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:40,000 was published. The book directs my attention to the Hill of Tara 36 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:43,480 on which several mounds mark the site where kings 37 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:46,520 were crowned on a coronation stone. 38 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:48,000 Rock and royal. 39 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:57,880 I'm now in Navan, County Meath, 40 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:01,440 which is rich in both beautiful landscapes and mythology. 41 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:06,520 The Hill of Tara is considered one of the most important 42 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:08,520 archaeological sites in Ireland. 43 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:14,040 According to tradition, it was the seat of the High King of Ireland 44 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:19,600 in the pre-Norman era, when five clans held sway over the country. 45 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:23,560 Tara was a sacred site associated with kingship rituals. 46 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:28,920 Guiding me through the site is cultural historian 47 00:03:28,920 --> 00:03:31,600 and archaeologist Mairead Carew. 48 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:36,360 Mairead, immediately this open and very tranquil space, 49 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:38,800 with its mounds, seems very special. 50 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:40,600 Very ancient, very spiritual. 51 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:45,200 Yeah, well, it has been a sacred site for over 5,000 years. 52 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:49,320 The earliest tomb was built about 3500 BC. 53 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:54,240 - What is this, Mairead? - This is the Mound of the Hostages. 54 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:56,560 - Why hostages? - Because King Cormac Mac Airt 55 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:59,480 was said to have exchanged hostages there. 56 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:02,680 There's a passage tomb in there, 57 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:06,440 which means there's chambers where the dead were buried. 58 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:09,480 The mound has been used for high status burials 59 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:11,760 since around 3000 BC. 60 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:14,680 The highlight awaits me. 61 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:18,680 Is this the Coronation Stone? 62 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:23,000 Well, this stone is known as the Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny, 63 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:27,680 and it was believed to play a role in the inauguration of kings. 64 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:29,960 The tradition was that the god Lugh, 65 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:32,320 you would hear his voice coming through the stone 66 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:34,680 if you were the rightful king. 67 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:38,240 And those origins, whether mythological or not, 68 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:39,880 can they be described as Gaelic 69 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:42,160 and how important are they to Irish people? 70 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:44,960 During the cultural revival in the 19th century, 71 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:48,960 scholars and writers and artists took a huge interest in the history 72 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:51,680 and mythology of places like Tara. 73 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:54,200 Sounds like it was getting quite political at that time. 74 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:58,280 Yeah, certainly it was because you have the cultural nationalists 75 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:01,360 beginning to become really interested in their history 76 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,360 and their language and their culture 77 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:07,280 and using that in terms of their identity. 78 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:11,920 The Irish Nationalists were not alone in sensing 79 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:14,960 the spiritual importance of the site. 80 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:18,400 'In the late 19th century, an organisation from Britain staked 81 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:20,360 'its claim on the land.' 82 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:24,360 This has a different feel to it, the contours are not as clear. 83 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:28,400 Yeah, well, you see, it was destroyed by a group in 1899. 84 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:30,720 Between 1899 and 1902, 85 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:34,160 a group known as British Israelites came to the site, 86 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:36,880 they were convinced the Ark of the Covenant was buried here 87 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:40,720 and they dug two big trenches across the enclosure 88 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:43,080 and they had no archaeological supervision, 89 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,240 they were just intending on finding the Ark of the Covenant. 90 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:52,560 The Ark of the Covenant is a chest said to contain the Ten Commandments 91 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:54,800 inscribed on stone tablets. 92 00:05:54,800 --> 00:06:00,880 The British Israelites believed that it was buried at the Hill of Tara. 93 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:04,560 The end of the 19th century, a terribly delicate time 94 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:06,960 in Anglo-Irish relations, 95 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:09,440 the British come here and dig up the most sacred site in 96 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:11,640 Ireland. What was the reaction? 97 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:14,200 Well, there was a very strong reaction. 98 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:16,200 The poet WB Yeats, 99 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:19,840 the nationalist Arthur Griffith, founder of Sinn Fein, 100 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:22,720 and Maud Gonne all came here to protest 101 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:25,080 and there was a media campaign. 102 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:26,920 They wrote to The Times of London, 103 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:30,840 and they said that the site has been desecrated and it was probably 104 00:06:30,840 --> 00:06:33,320 the most consecrated spot in Ireland. 105 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,080 'Those highly controversial excavations 106 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:40,720 'offended cultural sensitivities and 107 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:43,560 'would have affronted today's principles of archaeology, 108 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:49,720 'which emphasise getting information before digging begins.' 109 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,720 Rosanne Scott is part of a research project that's been surveying 110 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:56,640 the site since the 1990s. 111 00:06:56,640 --> 00:06:59,360 - Roseanne. - Hello. - Hello, I'm Michael. 112 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:00,840 How are you? Nice to meet you. 113 00:07:00,840 --> 00:07:03,040 What on earth are you doing? 114 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:06,000 So we're doing an archaeological survey of the Hill of Tara 115 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,960 and we are using geophysical prospection methods to find out more 116 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:11,880 about what lies beneath the surface of the ground. 117 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:13,600 What sort of things are you looking for? 118 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:17,120 Well, this type of instrument is very good at picking up the remains 119 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:19,880 of features like ditches, pits, gulleys, 120 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,400 things that have been cut into the surface of the ground 121 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:26,040 and we can find, for example, enclosures and burial monuments, 122 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:31,560 - graves. - You've obviously marked out the ground here with your strings. 123 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:33,960 So, what, you've established a kind of grid, have you? 124 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:37,760 Yeah, so we work on a 20 by 20 metre grid system, 125 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:41,000 it's very important, of course, when we're collecting this kind of data 126 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:43,560 to know exactly the position on the ground 127 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:46,720 - that we collect each measurement. - What you're doing looks... 128 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,240 A, rather bizarre but, B, rather fun. 129 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:50,840 - Could I have a go? - You can, of course. 130 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:52,720 Yeah, you're more than welcome. 131 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:58,960 The magnetic gradiometer collects geophysical data to create digital 132 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:01,080 images of what lies beneath the surface. 133 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:04,560 The instrument must be walked at a fair speed. 134 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:07,800 INSTRUMENT BEEPS 135 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:16,480 That was excellent. 136 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:17,880 - HE SIGHS - That was perfect. 137 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:19,520 - Do you really go at that pace? - Well done. 138 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:21,680 - Yeah. - Wow, you must be exhausted. 139 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:23,640 Yeah, it's good. It's the only exercise we get. 140 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:34,400 The findings of the project are displayed in the deconsecrated 141 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:39,600 19th-century church next to the Hill of Tara. 142 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,120 This is one of the number of different types of imagery 143 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:44,080 we have of the Hill of Tara. 144 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:46,800 The aerial photo's very useful for getting a better understanding 145 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:48,400 of the topography of the hill. 146 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:51,560 We also have some more detailed imagery, 147 00:08:51,560 --> 00:08:53,760 like this, taken from a helicopter. 148 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:57,880 What that does is allows us to create a very detailed 3-D modelling 149 00:08:57,880 --> 00:08:59,960 of the hill. So, for example, 150 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:03,280 some of the archaeological features that weren't known to exist before 151 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,800 - can now be seen. - And what has it led you to discover 152 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:09,000 that you might not have known without this technology? 153 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:13,320 OK, well, I think the most significant discovery is that of 154 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:16,760 a very large enclosure, which came as a complete surprise, 155 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:22,440 and we can see the image of it here and what it is is an oval ditch 156 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:25,240 and on either side of that is a ring of posts, 157 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:28,400 which would originally have held large timber uprights. 158 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:31,880 It probably dates from around 2500 BC or so. 159 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,440 It's a henge-type monument and it can be compared 160 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:36,840 to similar monuments, the landscape of Stonehenge, 161 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:39,840 and also elsewhere in Ireland, such as a Newgrange. 162 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:41,360 Have you found the Ark of the Covenant? 163 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:43,880 No, we haven't yet and I expect we never will. 164 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:58,000 Because this station is on a branch line 165 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,280 I need to make a short double-back towards Dublin. 166 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:14,040 At Clonsilla, I change trains to get onto the mainline heading west. 167 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:20,080 My next stop will be Leixlip. 168 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:23,040 Bradshaw's tells me it's situated on the Liffey, 169 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:25,760 close to the famous salmon leap. 170 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:28,720 In the 20th century a barrage was built across the river 171 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:34,360 and a reservoir created. I wonder what happened to the dammed salmon. 172 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:52,200 The name Leixlip comes from the Old Norse lax hlaup, 173 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:54,400 which means salmon leap. 174 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:58,320 It's located just ten miles outside Dublin and when the railways opened 175 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:03,400 in 1848, Victorian day-trippers came here to take in the waterfalls 176 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:06,000 and the spectacle of the athletic fish. 177 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:10,640 Today it's home to the Leixlip Hydroelectric Power Station. 178 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:15,480 And it's where I'm meeting fisheries biologist Dennis Doherty. 179 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:21,400 Well, Dennis, I find the dam a kind of classic piece of industrial 180 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:25,840 architecture, but my first question is why do salmon leap? 181 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:30,360 Salmon leap to gain access over obstacles and in most cases that'd 182 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:33,960 be a natural obstacle like a waterfalls or a tree across a river. 183 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:35,520 Where are they headed and why? 184 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:39,800 They spawn in freshwater and spend their adult life at sea, 185 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:43,720 so they're going upstream to spawn in the month of December. 186 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:46,440 Then those eggs will hatch in around Saint Patrick's Day, 187 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:48,640 or slightly after, and about two years later 188 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:51,040 those young fish would go to sea. 189 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:54,040 They would spend one year at sea and they would then come back here to 190 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:57,200 Liffey and go upstream to spawn again. 191 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:00,680 The fish know to go back to where they were born? 192 00:12:00,680 --> 00:12:03,920 Yes. A Liffey salmon will not only come back to the Liffey, 193 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:06,920 he or she would actually come back to the particular stretch of river 194 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:09,920 that they actually spawned in above the station here. 195 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:10,960 Extraordinary. 196 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:16,840 The Leixlip hydroelectric dam was completed in 1952, 197 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:21,240 designed to generate electricity and to provide flood protection 198 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:22,680 and drinking water for Dublin. 199 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:29,000 Now, the day that this was built was not good news for the salmon, 200 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:31,240 at least in principle. What thought was given to them? 201 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:32,600 Yeah, quite a lot of thought. 202 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:35,040 In fairness to the powers that be at that time, 203 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:38,560 they built a fish lift for adult salmon moving upstream. 204 00:12:38,560 --> 00:12:42,880 Also one of the spillway gates is adapted for downstream lowering. 205 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:46,040 - And they come over the top? - They come over the top, that middle gate there, 206 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:50,080 which is lowered, and we spill water over that and the fish go down 207 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:51,960 on the plume of water and out to sea. 208 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:54,160 That must be a ride to remember for the salmon. 209 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:56,800 Yes, certainly, yeah, must be exciting for them, I suppose. 210 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:02,720 Salmon can leap up waterfalls to a height of around 12 feet but the 211 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:08,520 Leixlip dam poses an insurmountable barrier, nearly 80-foot high. 212 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:11,720 In order to allow the Liffey salmon to return to their breeding grounds 213 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:14,760 further upstream, a fish lift has been built, 214 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:17,240 which works in a similar way to a canal lock. 215 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:24,120 So, here we are at the top of the dam. 216 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:26,800 Where would a salmon that was headed upstream be now? 217 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:30,800 So, a salmon is located in the downstream chamber here below us. 218 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:32,840 The bottom gate is closed. 219 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:35,360 The middle gate is open, filling the chamber. 220 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:38,320 The water levels come up until it meets the reservoir level, 221 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:40,440 at which point the salmon merely swim out 222 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:42,040 through that chamber and out. 223 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:48,200 It takes around 20 minutes for the lock to fill up and the salmon 224 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:50,000 to reach the top. 225 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:53,720 It's not peak season for fish migration but any activity through 226 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:57,400 the lift is monitored by Nigel Bond of the Marine Institute. 227 00:13:59,560 --> 00:14:04,040 Hello, Nigel, I'm Michael. Now, you're counting salmon. 228 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:05,640 What's the importance of doing that? 229 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:08,240 The importance of counting salmon is so that we know what the state 230 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:12,000 of the river is at the current time and we have data that goes back 231 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:14,640 for many years so we can see if there's any fluctuations 232 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:16,800 in the numbers of fish that are appearing in the river. 233 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:19,160 Could you show me a fish that you've seen move through? 234 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:23,000 Sure, sure. There's a fish going through in June. 235 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:27,320 That's a salmon and he passes all three electrodes, 236 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:30,520 he generates a count and we record that on our equipment. 237 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:34,720 Water quality is essential for salmon to thrive, 238 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:37,920 so keeping accurate track of population numbers 239 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:40,760 can tell marine scientists a lot about the waterway. 240 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:44,480 With the data, and frankly speaking, 241 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:46,960 what is the state of the Liffey at the moment? 242 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:50,000 Well, at the moment the Liffey is operating below 243 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:52,440 its conservation limit, 244 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:55,040 so, like a lot of other rivers in the country, 245 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:58,160 care has to be taken not to take fish from a river that's operating 246 00:14:58,160 --> 00:14:59,640 below its conservation limit. 247 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:01,080 So, at the moment, 248 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:04,320 no-one is allowed to put their rod into the Liffey for a salmon? 249 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:06,800 At the moment, that's correct, yeah. 250 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:09,000 Well, let's hope that one day it all changes. 251 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:10,480 Please, yeah. Hopefully, yeah. 252 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:20,240 This stop by the river Liffey marks the end of today's travels. 253 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:23,160 Time to take a rest and to begin again tomorrow. 254 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:42,280 This morning I'm taking the train from Leixlip station as I continue 255 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:43,480 to journey west. 256 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:49,680 My next stop will be Maynooth. 257 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:53,080 Bradshaw's recommends Saint Patrick's Roman Catholic College, 258 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:58,560 a quadrangular edifice containing "a noble library of 18,000 volumes. 259 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:03,720 "Founded in 1795, it has a parliamentary grant 260 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:06,080 "of £30,000 per year." 261 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:11,040 Interesting, given that England had an established Protestant church. 262 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:13,960 But now that Catholics had the vote, they had to be won over. 263 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:21,920 Maynooth is a university town 16 miles from central Dublin. 264 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:24,760 It grew around its 13th-century castle, 265 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:26,480 which in the late medieval period 266 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:29,960 was the centre of Irish political power and culture. 267 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:35,440 I'm making my way to Saint Patrick's College, mentioned in my Bradshaw's. 268 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:38,480 The seminary, where students train for the priesthood, 269 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:42,120 today shares the campus with Maynooth University, 270 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:46,080 where I'm meeting Dr Niall McKeith, curator of the college's museum. 271 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:52,640 Niall, when were Catholic educational establishments 272 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:53,960 first permitted? 273 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:58,560 They were first permitted in 1795 and this is because it was only 274 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:03,120 in 1791 that the penal laws were actually removed from the statute 275 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:05,840 books in the Palace of Westminster. 276 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:10,360 Westminster gave a small donation to the bishops in order to purchase 277 00:17:10,360 --> 00:17:12,880 a building for the commencement of the seminary. 278 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:16,440 Given that England and Scotland were Protestant, 279 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:20,160 why did the government agreed to give a grant to a Catholic college? 280 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:23,360 Well, because up until that time there was no Catholic seminary within Ireland, 281 00:17:23,360 --> 00:17:25,800 so if anybody who wanted to become educated to become a priest, 282 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:29,120 then they had to either go to France or Salamanca or to Rome. 283 00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:32,360 At that time we're talking about revolution in France and those 284 00:17:32,360 --> 00:17:35,240 priests who were being educated in Paris were then coming back 285 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:37,280 to Ireland with the revolutionary ideas, 286 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:40,320 so it was in the interests of the British government for there 287 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:44,120 to be a seminary built in Ireland for the education of priests. 288 00:17:44,120 --> 00:17:46,160 There was a fear of radicalisation? 289 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:47,200 There was, of course. 290 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:52,440 Concerned about links between Catholics in Ireland and France, 291 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:55,040 and seeking to improve its own popularity, 292 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:58,600 in 1845 the British government tripled the money granted 293 00:17:58,600 --> 00:17:59,680 to St Patrick's. 294 00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:07,120 The college expanded rapidly, employing Augustus Pugin, 295 00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:09,760 famed architect of the Palace of Westminster, 296 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:12,920 to design new buildings, including a large refectory... 297 00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:16,320 ..and a new library, 298 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:20,440 which now houses the college's collection of pre-1850 books. 299 00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:25,640 At the heart of the seminary is its chapel. 300 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:33,000 Well, this is truly spectacular and huge. 301 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:35,840 Victorian Gothic at its very best and it reminds me 302 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:38,040 of the Palace of Westminster. Was it Pugin? 303 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:39,560 No, it was a pupil of Pugin's 304 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:41,960 or an apprentice of Pugin's who designed it 305 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:47,280 and that was one JJ McCarthy, and it is the largest choral-type chapel 306 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:51,200 in the world where all of the stalls are all facing each other 307 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:54,640 and you have the absolute magnificent rose window 308 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:56,080 there at the end. 309 00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:57,480 Fabulous organ. 310 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:02,840 And then down the sides of the church facing each other in carving 311 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:06,640 and relief, all of the coats of arms of the various bishops. 312 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:10,120 This is the best chapel in Ireland by a long shot. 313 00:19:10,120 --> 00:19:13,120 Well, I mean, really, you can't come to Ireland 314 00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:15,200 - and not see this, can you? - No, no. 315 00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:20,120 The chapel is one of the most impressive I've seen. 316 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:24,480 And there's another unexpected treasure here at St Patrick's. 317 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:29,440 The National Science Museum of Ireland is on the campus. 318 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:37,960 Niall, I'm astonished to find a physics museum in what I thought was 319 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:40,600 a seminary. Now, what is the explanation for that? 320 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:43,840 The explanation is that when the college was originally set up 321 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:45,960 in 1795, 322 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:48,520 that they brought over seven professors from the Sorbonne 323 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:51,840 to start it off. One of those professors was a professor 324 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:54,080 of natural philosophy, or physics, 325 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:58,320 so physics has been taught in the seminary here since the foundation 326 00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:02,040 - of the estate. - And in your early days, who would have been your most outstanding scientist? 327 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:05,280 The most outstanding would have been Reverend Nicholas Callan. 328 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:09,360 He was a seminary student here, he was ordained, 329 00:20:09,360 --> 00:20:13,760 he then went to Rome to do his divinity and while he was there 330 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:18,120 the initial interest that he had in physics was reinforced when he met 331 00:20:18,120 --> 00:20:20,360 Alessandro Volta and Galvani. 332 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:26,560 It was an important moment in our understanding of electricity. 333 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:30,760 The Italian scientists had invented the battery and discovered animal 334 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:35,240 electricity, transforming theories into practical applications. 335 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:40,720 Nicholas Callan returned to St Patrick's as Professor of natural 336 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:44,560 philosophy and made an important breakthrough of his own. 337 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:48,880 Now, I assume this is a very important object. 338 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:51,000 What was it that Callan did? 339 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,360 Callan invented the induction coil. 340 00:20:53,360 --> 00:20:58,600 The induction coil is a device to take a low voltage and step it up 341 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:00,600 to an extremely high voltage 342 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:03,800 of the order of hundreds of thousands of volts. 343 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:06,680 So, they already knew how to generate some electricity 344 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:09,600 from a battery but this was about getting more voltage. 345 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:11,800 Exactly. In 1840, 346 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:17,880 he was able to generate voltages of the order of 600,000 volts. 347 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:21,920 He didn't have the nice digital voltmeters that we have today, 348 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:24,800 but what he did have was clerical students 349 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:28,240 and he used to make 15 clerical students hold hands 350 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:30,560 and then the last two would have to put their hands on 351 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:32,840 the output of the secondary coil 352 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:36,000 and he determined the voltage by how high the students jumped. 353 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:38,800 What a story! 354 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:42,000 The induction coil was the first type of transformer. 355 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:48,400 The X-ray, radio transmission and the ignition coil in cars are all 356 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:52,680 inventions which owe their origins to Father Callan's work. 357 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,440 Your own personal assessment of Callan, what would that be? 358 00:21:57,120 --> 00:21:59,160 I have been known to say that 359 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:01,600 Faraday was the father of electricity 360 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:03,520 and the Reverend Nicholas Callan 361 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:06,840 would be the Reverend Godfather of electricity. 362 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:18,000 I'm leaving Maynooth to take the train onwards west. 363 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:24,280 It gives me a chance to question my fellow travellers about Britain 364 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:26,920 and Ireland's difficult history. 365 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:29,320 Hello, ladies, may I join you for a moment? 366 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:34,200 I'm using a 19th-century guidebook here 367 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:36,480 and it's all about conflict, really, 368 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:39,200 between the Irish and British, 369 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:41,680 the Hunger and rebellions and executions. 370 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:44,600 Just wondered, you know, does that still stick in the Irish mind? 371 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:48,160 Yeah, when we were in secondary school we learned an awful lot about 372 00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:51,040 the Famine. You know, it's only three or four generations ago, 373 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:52,400 so it's not that long ago, 374 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:55,400 so it is definitely still, kind of, in our minds. 375 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:58,440 There was a lot of talk about "Oh, you know, 376 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:00,880 "the English aristocracy and the English landlords 377 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,000 "were living perfectly normal lives 378 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,280 "while people were starving all around them." 379 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:08,440 I mean, it was very raw when we were...well, when I was a child. 380 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:11,280 - And now? - Trying to think, you know, it's more holistic, 381 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:13,040 that they're shown both sides, 382 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:16,400 but I still think there wasn't really another side. 383 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:22,320 And would you say this harrowing 19th-century history 384 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:26,000 still affects Irish views of the British today? 385 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:30,200 Probably as recently as the last decade or so I think the views 386 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,640 of the British in Ireland has changed. 387 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:34,080 Time has been a great healer. 388 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:46,320 My next stop will be Mullingar. 389 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:49,840 The guidebook tells me that the population is employed in the wool 390 00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:51,200 and butter trades. 391 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:55,080 But I'll find there the ruins of two castles and a large 392 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:58,080 infantry barracks for 1,000 men. 393 00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:01,680 It seems I won't be the first Briton to march into Mullingar. 394 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:18,560 Today, the wool and butter trades are long gone, 395 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:20,680 but the barracks still stands. 396 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:26,640 The British built the huge military compound in the early 19th century. 397 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:30,240 Irish military forces took it over, 398 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:33,280 and used it until 2012 when it was closed. 399 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:40,680 BRASS BAND PLAYS 400 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:42,200 Not far from the barracks, 401 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,280 I can hear what sounds like a regimental band. 402 00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:01,600 - Bravo. Kim, I'm Michael. - Hi, Michael. 403 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:04,360 So, is there a connection between the Mullingar Town Band and 404 00:25:04,360 --> 00:25:06,360 the military barracks that used to be in the town? 405 00:25:06,360 --> 00:25:09,760 There is, yeah. While we were officially formed in 1879, 406 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:13,480 we actually can trace our roots as far back as the 1800s. 407 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:17,960 A lot of the British soldiers were involved in the British barracks 408 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:21,920 settled here in Mullingar and they had just civilian bands. 409 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:23,720 We're a marching band, we're a concert band 410 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:26,680 and we provide music education in our junior bands as well. 411 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:29,400 I suppose it's kind of like a mini music school. 412 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:33,960 Today, there are over 200 members, starting from the age of eight, 413 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:36,800 and this community band has won some top awards 414 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:38,960 in Ireland and the United Kingdom. 415 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:42,480 Are you in fine form today? 416 00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:45,800 - Yeah. - I see you got the trombone there, 417 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:47,480 when did you learn to play the trombone? 418 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:49,120 - About 11 years ago. - Really? 419 00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:51,680 - I started in the band. - You must've been tiny! 420 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:53,880 - Yeah, quite little! - HE CHUCKLES 421 00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:56,520 And do you get much pleasure out of playing for the band? 422 00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:58,040 I love playing for the band. 423 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:01,000 - You love it. - I've been playing here most my life. 424 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:04,800 The band is open to experienced players and beginners. 425 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:09,640 I've been invited to arm myself with a bass drum. 426 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:16,520 If you're going to join them, beat. 427 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:23,200 HE LAUGHS Thank you. 428 00:26:24,360 --> 00:26:26,160 You look like me, so it must be here. 429 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:28,520 Is it the left foot first? 430 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:30,600 And then the right hand first. 431 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:31,640 Left foot, right hand. 432 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:33,000 OK, rolls. 433 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:13,200 That was terrible! 434 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:23,840 The salmon knows where it comes from 435 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:26,400 and returns to the place of its birth. 436 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:28,800 At the end of the 19th century, 437 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:32,760 nationalists felt the need to explain the origins of the Irish 438 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:38,640 people and drew inspiration from the Gaelic legends of the Kings of Tara. 439 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:42,720 That left only the question of in which direction to march 440 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:44,680 and who would call the beat? 441 00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:02,480 Next time, I have a go at traditional Irish cuisine... 442 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:03,680 How's that looking, Timmy? 443 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:05,040 You wouldn't be selling it now. 444 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:06,960 Very lumpy, you know what I mean? 445 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,920 ..see the landscape that inspired one of the 20th-century's 446 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:12,400 greatest poets, WB Yeats... 447 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:16,000 It gave him a sense of where Celtic man had come out of the landscape 448 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:19,720 and that drove him to believe that Ireland should have an independence. 449 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:20,800 Heel, toe... 450 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:23,720 ..and step in time, Sligo style. 451 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:25,160 One, two, three. 452 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:27,200 Michael Flatley better watch out!