Mourne Mountains

Getting away from it all in the Mournes

A Pint of Plain is Your Only Man

A Pint of Plain is Your Only Man

By Flann O'Brien (Brian O'Nolan)

Recession Blues?

Read the words, then enjoy Eamon Morrissey reciting

'A Pint of Plain is Your Only Man'

When things go wrong and will not come right,
Though you do the best you can,
When life looks black as the hour of night -
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.

When money's tight and is hard to get
And your horse has also ran,
When all you have is a heap of debt -
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.

When health is bad and your heart feels strange,
And your face is pale and wan,
When doctors say you need a change,
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.

When food is scarce and your larder bare
And no rashers grease your pan,
When hunger grows as your meals are rare -
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.

In time of trouble and lousy strife,
You have still got a darlint plan
You still can turn to a brighter ,life -
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.

Flann O'Brien - 'At Swim-Two-Birds'

Eamon Morrissey's recites
A Pint of Plain is Your Only Man

Nancy's Pub, Ardara, County Donegal

Nancy's Pub, Ardara, County Donegal

This famous Irish pub is celebrated for its pint of Guinness, its great food and its lively music. Step into the shadows and step into delight.

"Sure, wouldn't you just know from lookin' at it?"

___________________

"We both sat down at a little table

We looked at each other a little while

We both sat down at a little table

And Nancy's whiskey it did beguile."

From 'Nancy's Whiskey' sung by Andy Irvine

'The Third Policeman' - Bicycle

The Third Policeman - Bicycle

In his comic novel 'The Third Policeman', Flann O'Brien reveals De Selby's 'atomic theory' of how a bicycle and its owner gradually become part of one another.

"The gross and net result of it is that people who spend most of their natural lives riding iron bicycles over the rocky roadsteads of this parish get their personalities mixed up with the personalities of their bicycle as a result of the interchanging of the atoms of each of them and you would be surprised at the number of people in these parts who nearly are half people and half bicycles."

Malahide, Dublin - Sunset

The Sun Sets on the Celtic Tiger

This photograph was taken in Malahide, County Dublin, in 2007. The crane (Ireland's thriving construction industry/materialism) is towering above the church (decline in religion/spirituality). The jet highlights the flourishing travel industry and Ireland's international aspirations.

Carrickfergus Castle, County Antrim

Carrickfergus Castle, County Antrim

"I wish I was in Carrickfergus

Only for nights in Ballygrand;

I would swim over the deepest ocean

Just to see my love before I die.

But the sea is wide and I cannot swim over

Nor have I wings so I could fly;

I wish I could meet a handsome boatman

To carry me over my love and I.

In Kilkenny it is reported

On marble stones as black as ink

With gold and silver I did support her

But I'll sing no more till I've had a drink.

Well, I'm drunk today and I'm seldom sober,

A handsome rover from town to town;

But I am sick now my days are numbered

Come all you young men and lay me down."

Traditional

County Wicklow - Ireland

The Wicklow Hills

Tranquillity and serenity among the Wicklow hills.

"Wicklow, where the fields are sharply green, where a wild beauty hides in the glens, where sudden surprising vistas open up as the road rises and falls." H.V. Morton 'In Search of Ireland'

"It was as if a wand had touched him; it was as if the solid land of Ireland about him had become unreal." Maurice Walsh 'Come Back My Love'

Among the Wicklow Hills

The Stag's Head, Dublin Pub

The Stag's Head, Dublin Pub

1 Dame Court, Dublin

The Stag's Head, a former haunt of James Joyce, has featured in a Guinness advertisement and in many films, including 'A Man of No Importance', 'Educating Rita' and 'The Treaty'.

Pass between the marble pillars and enter a world of polished wood and glass, confidential snugs and partitions, engaging conversation, great pub grub and peerless pints of Guinness.

Savour the atmosphere, the ambience of this quintessentially Dublin bar.

Phil Lynott - Thin Lizzy

Phil Lynott - Thin Lizzy

"I sure miss you ......

Now you're not around

You're not around

This old town."

'Old Town'

(Bain, Lynott)

The bronze statue of Phil Lynott in Harry Street (off Grafton Street) in Dublin attracts thousands of tourists and music fans from all over the world.

Philomena Lynott, his mother, said: "I'd like him to be remembered as a wonderful son, a kind and gentle soul, a great musician, poet, songwriter, lyricist. That's 'mother' talking, but I know he was great. That's why the fans are still there, and that's why they wanted him honoured."

Phil Lynott sings Old Town

Raglan Road, Dublin

Raglan Road, Dublin

"On Raglan Road on an autumn day ... "

The nostalgic words of Patrick Kavanagh that prompt "thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears".

Listen to Luke Kelly singing Raglan Road

Patrick Kavanagh Statue

Statue of Patrick Kavanagh

By the Grand Canal, Dublin

This statue of Kavanagh was inspired by his poem 'Lines Written on a Seat on the Grand Canal, Dublin':

"O commemorate me with no hero-courageous

Tomb - just a canal bank seat for the passer-by."

Temple Bar, Dublin

The Temple Bar at Night

The lights of the Temple Bar, one of Dublin's most popular drinking establishments, beckon customers on a frosty December evening.

McDaid's Pub

McDaid's Pub, Dublin

McDaid's Pub, Dublin, the surreal haunt of Patrick Kavanagh, Brendan Behan, Brian O'Nolan (Flann O'Brien), Brian Donleavy ('The Ginger Man'), Anthony Cronin and a host of other Irish literary giants.

In his book 'Dead as Doornails', Anthony Cronin writes: "McDaid's was never merely a literary pub. Its strength was always in variety, of talent, class, caste and estate. The divisions between a writer and a non-writer, bohemian and artist, informer and revolutionary, male and female, were never rigorously enforced; and nearly everybody, gurriers included, was ready for elevation to Parnassus, the scaffold or whatever."

Galway Street Musicians

Irish Traditional Music in Galway

"A piper in the streets today

Set up, and tuned, and started to play,

And away, away, away on the tide

Of his music we started; on every side

Doors and windows were open wide."

Seumas O'Sullivan

In Galway, as in Dublin's Grafton Street, you can expect an improvised musical street session at any moment.

Shop Street, Galway

Shop Street, Galway

An Ear for Music

"Age envisions a fiddler

While youth goes blindly by." C O'S

Seconds after this moment was captured, the elderly lady returned and placed money in the busker's fiddle case.

Galway Streets

Galway Street Mural

"O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,

How can we know the dancer from the dance?"

W. B. Yeats

Have the cyclists joined the musicians and the dancers? Who knows? Life and art are often indistinguishable in Ireland.

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Salmon Weir Bridge, Galway

View from Salmon Weir Bridge, Galway, Ireland

The Salmon Weir Bridge, constructed in 1818, crosses the Corrib from the courthouse to Galway Cathedral (The Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas). Pedestrians enjoy a spectacular view of the waters rushing through the weir and anglers casting for salmon in season.

"Salmon in the Corrib

Gently swaying

And the water combed out

Over the weir

And a hundred swans

Dreaming on the harbour;

The war came down on us here."

From 'Galway' by Louis Macneice

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Carlingford Lough - Artemis and Mourne Mountains

The Artemis in Carlingford Lough

The Artemis, a three-masted barque, sailing in Carlingford Lough against the backdrop of the legendary Mourne Mountains.

Built in Norway in 1926, the Artemis began her career as a whaler on the high seas. She was converted to an impressive sailing ship in 2001.

For the latest hotel deals and promotional offers, see Dublin Hotel Deals

Carlingford Lough, Ireland

Carlingford Lough, Ireland

Photographer : Gerard McLoughlin

Copyright 2008

Mystical Carlingford Lough in the shelter of the majestic Mourne Mountains. Looking out to sea, I recall the immortal words of Alfred, Lord Tennyson:

Crossing the Bar

Sunset and evening star,

And one clear call for me!

And may there be no moaning of the bar,

When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,

Too full for sound and foam,

When that which drew from out the boundless deep

Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,

And after that the dark!

And may there be no sadness of farewell,

When I embark;

For though from out our bourne of Time and Place

The flood may bear me far,

I hope to see my Pilot face to face

When I have crossed the bar.

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