1 00:00:19,687 --> 00:00:23,680 Welcome to the Old Head of Kinsale, here on the south coast of lreland, 2 00:00:23,767 --> 00:00:28,477 and a relaxing start to a great journey and some remarkable stories. 3 00:00:33,247 --> 00:00:36,876 Heading eastward, this coast is famous for its great ports, 4 00:00:36,967 --> 00:00:39,322 harbours and estuaries. 5 00:00:40,607 --> 00:00:44,839 On our Irish odyssey, AIice discovers the secrets of gIass-making. 6 00:00:45,207 --> 00:00:47,163 And it's starting to bubble now. 7 00:00:47,247 --> 00:00:48,726 Yeah, l've got them. Okay. 8 00:00:48,807 --> 00:00:52,846 OLlVER: Miranda seeks out a rare and speciaI visitor to this coast. 9 00:00:52,927 --> 00:00:56,442 And you can even hear the hum of the wings. This is just magical. 10 00:00:56,527 --> 00:00:59,485 OLlVER: Dick Strawbridge reveaIs how BruneI wrestIed 11 00:00:59,567 --> 00:01:03,321 with one of IreIand's toughest chaIIenges to buiId a raiIway. 12 00:01:03,407 --> 00:01:05,238 lt is a cracking ride. 13 00:01:07,967 --> 00:01:10,845 OLlVER: Hermione starts her own earthquake. 14 00:01:11,247 --> 00:01:12,282 (EXPLOSlON) 15 00:01:12,367 --> 00:01:14,517 -Oh, fantastic! -Excellent. 16 00:01:15,047 --> 00:01:16,480 lt's a snug fit. 17 00:01:16,567 --> 00:01:19,320 OLlVER: And I get to join the Irish Navy on manoeuvres. 18 00:01:19,407 --> 00:01:20,635 Action stations, action stations. 19 00:01:27,487 --> 00:01:31,480 This, from the southeast corner of lreland, is Coast. 20 00:01:58,807 --> 00:02:02,243 OLlVER: From the coast of South WaIes we've traveIIed to Southern IreIand. 21 00:02:02,327 --> 00:02:05,444 Our journey takes us to the great maritime city of Cork, 22 00:02:05,527 --> 00:02:10,965 to Waterford, RossIare, Wexford and aII the way up to DubIin. 23 00:02:12,167 --> 00:02:15,159 But we're teeing off here at the OId Head of KinsaIe, 24 00:02:15,247 --> 00:02:19,240 an exposed headIand and a goIf course with an infamous 12th hoIe 25 00:02:19,327 --> 00:02:21,795 that eats goIf baIIs for breakfast. 26 00:02:26,167 --> 00:02:30,604 They come from aII over to pIay here. Tiger Woods, me, of course, 27 00:02:31,207 --> 00:02:35,598 and someone eIse who's had a unique and spectacuIar view of this course. 28 00:02:36,247 --> 00:02:40,559 Have you ever imagined what it would be like to see the world as something small, 29 00:02:40,647 --> 00:02:44,435 like a golf ball, so you could almost reach out and touch it? 30 00:02:45,087 --> 00:02:48,443 Well, American NASA astronaut Dan Tani has done, 31 00:02:48,927 --> 00:02:51,202 and he comes here to play golf. 32 00:02:52,767 --> 00:02:55,565 I couId do with Dan's heIp pIaying the 12th hoIe, 33 00:02:55,647 --> 00:02:58,400 because not onIy did he marry one of the staff, 34 00:02:58,487 --> 00:03:01,638 he's photographed the entire course from space. 35 00:03:02,007 --> 00:03:05,795 And he's on the Iine now from NASA HQ in Houston, Texas. 36 00:03:06,927 --> 00:03:09,646 The Old Head is so easy to see 37 00:03:09,767 --> 00:03:13,646 because the Old Head is such a distinctive shape on the coast of lreland. 38 00:03:13,727 --> 00:03:16,116 Of course, you're moving at 17,000 miIes an hour. 39 00:03:16,207 --> 00:03:18,277 I have a piece of video to show you what it Iooks Iike. 40 00:03:18,367 --> 00:03:19,846 Then once you find the Old Head, 41 00:03:19,927 --> 00:03:24,921 you put the big telephoto lens on the camera and snap as many pictures as possible. 42 00:03:25,127 --> 00:03:28,085 I can onIy imagine what it's Iike standing there on the 12th tee. 43 00:03:28,167 --> 00:03:32,524 What a beautiful place, and l really envy you that you get a chance to be there. 44 00:03:32,607 --> 00:03:36,282 Well, l mean, l envy you. To change the subject just slightly, 45 00:03:36,367 --> 00:03:39,086 what advice would you give to a complete novice 46 00:03:39,167 --> 00:03:43,718 confronted by the apocalyptic horror that is the 1 2th tee? 47 00:03:43,887 --> 00:03:46,845 DAN: The advice on the tee is to stay right, more right than you think. 48 00:03:46,927 --> 00:03:50,636 There's an aiming stone there, and you're so tempted to bite off a IittIe bit 49 00:03:50,727 --> 00:03:55,084 of the dog leg and go left, but there's two or three hundred feet of cliffs. 50 00:03:55,167 --> 00:03:57,158 -l'm painfully aware of that. -l'm sure there are, yeah, 51 00:03:57,247 --> 00:03:58,726 a couple of million golf balls down there 52 00:03:58,807 --> 00:04:01,685 of people that thought they could bite off more than they can chew. l love that hole. 53 00:04:01,807 --> 00:04:05,163 lf l could play a hole over and over, that would certainly be one of them in the world. 54 00:04:05,247 --> 00:04:08,205 Well look, Dan, thanks very much for talking to me. lt's been a real treat. 55 00:04:08,287 --> 00:04:10,517 -Enjoy your stay there. Bye-bye, now. -OLlVER.; Thank you. Bye-bye. 56 00:04:12,567 --> 00:04:16,765 OLlVER: With the guidance of astronaut Dan Tani, NeiI OIiver steadies himseIf 57 00:04:16,847 --> 00:04:19,281 as he faces the dreaded 12th hoIe. 58 00:04:20,807 --> 00:04:22,798 Nerves of steeI, this man. 59 00:04:32,567 --> 00:04:36,526 From the OId Head of KinsaIe we traveI past KinsaIe itseIf 60 00:04:36,607 --> 00:04:39,041 and on to the great port of Cork. 61 00:04:49,367 --> 00:04:53,599 As Cork Harbour comes into view, one thing strikes you immediateIy - 62 00:04:53,687 --> 00:04:55,006 it's huge. 63 00:04:57,087 --> 00:05:00,716 It's aIso one of the finest naturaI harbours in the worId. 64 00:05:01,767 --> 00:05:04,759 For centuries it's been a haven for shipping. 65 00:05:05,287 --> 00:05:09,803 Even today, with its deep-water channeIs and proximity to the main shipping Ianes, 66 00:05:09,887 --> 00:05:12,640 ships come here from aII over the worId. 67 00:05:13,567 --> 00:05:15,956 At the harbour's heart Iies Cobh. 68 00:05:19,967 --> 00:05:23,482 Over the years, Cobh has pIayed host to many fine ships. 69 00:05:23,847 --> 00:05:27,965 Just recentIy the QE2 was moored here on her Iast voyage 70 00:05:28,207 --> 00:05:31,199 before being converted into a hoteI in Dubai. 71 00:05:32,287 --> 00:05:36,200 HardIy surprising, the pubIic were out in force with their cameras 72 00:05:36,287 --> 00:05:39,484 to capture this historic moment for themseIves. 73 00:05:42,527 --> 00:05:44,597 There's barely a news programme these days 74 00:05:44,687 --> 00:05:47,599 without so-called amateur footage of something or other, 75 00:05:47,687 --> 00:05:50,804 but it's not an invention of the modern media age. 76 00:05:50,887 --> 00:05:54,960 There's nothing new about amateur coverage of historical events. 77 00:05:57,927 --> 00:06:02,637 Many years ago on the quayside at Cobh, a unique set of photographs was taken. 78 00:06:02,727 --> 00:06:05,719 The date, 1 1th ApriI, 1912. 79 00:06:07,167 --> 00:06:11,160 Outside the White Star Line's ticket office, an excited crowd was gathered, 80 00:06:11,247 --> 00:06:15,798 waiting to board the White Star's Iatest and greatest Iiner on her maiden voyage. 81 00:06:15,887 --> 00:06:21,007 That Iiner was about to become the most famous ship in history, bar none. 82 00:06:21,807 --> 00:06:23,206 The Titanic. 83 00:06:26,767 --> 00:06:30,840 She'd aIready set saiI from Southampton, crossed the ChanneI to Cherbourg, 84 00:06:30,927 --> 00:06:36,285 and now her very Iast port of caII before crossing the AtIantic to New York was Cork. 85 00:06:37,367 --> 00:06:42,077 On board the Titanic, waiting to disembark as she moored out in Cork Harbour, 86 00:06:42,367 --> 00:06:47,282 was a young IocaI man, a keen photographer and theoIogy student, Frank Browne. 87 00:06:47,927 --> 00:06:51,636 His uncIe and guardian had forked out for Frank to traveI on the Titanic, 88 00:06:51,727 --> 00:06:55,686 first cIass, from Southampton to Cork, but no further. 89 00:06:57,247 --> 00:07:00,478 1 23 people joined the Titanic at Cobh. 90 00:07:01,087 --> 00:07:04,682 From that now neglected and decaying wooden jetty right over there, 91 00:07:04,767 --> 00:07:08,237 they got aboard two tenders that ferried them out to the liner herself 92 00:07:08,327 --> 00:07:12,206 further out in the harbour. Only seven people disembarked 93 00:07:12,287 --> 00:07:15,802 and a bitterly disappointed Frank Browne was one of them. 94 00:07:16,207 --> 00:07:19,358 On the way to Cork he'd been befriended by a wealthy American couple 95 00:07:19,447 --> 00:07:23,281 who'd offered to pay the remainder of his passage to New York. 96 00:07:23,367 --> 00:07:28,282 He'd sent a telegraph to his Jesuit superior at the college asking for permission. 97 00:07:28,567 --> 00:07:31,559 The reply he got was terse and unequivocal: 98 00:07:32,007 --> 00:07:35,158 ''Get off that ship,'' signed, ''Principal''. 99 00:07:38,927 --> 00:07:43,603 Of course, with hindsight, Frank Browne was one of the Iuckiest peopIe aIive, 100 00:07:44,647 --> 00:07:49,482 ordered off a ship that was about to saiI from Cork to an icy AtIantic grave. 101 00:07:52,447 --> 00:07:54,802 The images Frank Browne recorded on his camera 102 00:07:54,887 --> 00:07:56,639 as he watched the Titanic Ieave, 103 00:07:56,727 --> 00:08:00,163 instantIy made the front page of newspapers worIdwide. 104 00:08:00,567 --> 00:08:03,081 Today, they remain a priceIess record 105 00:08:03,247 --> 00:08:06,205 not just of the most famous ship in history, 106 00:08:06,287 --> 00:08:09,962 but aIso an evocation of the joy, the sadness 107 00:08:10,247 --> 00:08:15,401 and excitement of Titanic's passengers as they embarked on their tragic journey. 108 00:08:40,327 --> 00:08:45,447 Cork Harbour may have seen tragedy, but it's aIso witnessed a Iot of Irish fun. 109 00:08:45,967 --> 00:08:50,722 For starters, it's home to the RoyaI Cork Yacht CIub, founded in 1720. 110 00:08:51,287 --> 00:08:54,484 That makes it the oIdest yacht cIub on the pIanet. 111 00:08:54,847 --> 00:08:57,645 It's moved HQ severaI times over the centuries 112 00:08:57,727 --> 00:09:01,686 before anchoring in Cross Haven, on the western side of the harbour. 113 00:09:01,767 --> 00:09:05,316 Now, oId it might be, stuffy it isn't, 114 00:09:05,647 --> 00:09:08,684 and peopIe fIock here to be part of the bienniaI regatta 115 00:09:08,767 --> 00:09:11,201 known the worId over as Cork Week. 116 00:09:21,807 --> 00:09:24,560 My name is Eddie English. l run a sailing school in Cobh 117 00:09:24,647 --> 00:09:26,000 on the other side of the harbour, 118 00:09:26,087 --> 00:09:29,716 and I've been invoIved with Cork Week since its inception. 119 00:09:30,047 --> 00:09:33,357 I'm fortunate enough to have done regattas aII over the worId, 120 00:09:33,487 --> 00:09:35,796 and to me, this is the best one. 121 00:09:36,807 --> 00:09:41,961 My famiIy are from Cobh and my grandfather and father grew up with the water 122 00:09:42,047 --> 00:09:43,958 IiteraIIy Iapping onto the front door, 123 00:09:44,047 --> 00:09:47,278 and since l was very small, l went sailing. 124 00:09:49,527 --> 00:09:52,917 Since the earIy '90s I've saiIed with Oyster Catcher, 125 00:09:53,007 --> 00:09:57,603 and it's very much a sociaI thing as much as a saiIing thing with our crew. 126 00:09:59,007 --> 00:10:00,679 There's four brothers in the famiIy 127 00:10:00,767 --> 00:10:04,521 and there are three of us fuII-time invoIved in saiIing as a career, 128 00:10:04,607 --> 00:10:07,804 and our chiIdren have continued on that tradition. 129 00:10:08,207 --> 00:10:11,085 My own kids are very smaII, but they're invoIved in saiIing, 130 00:10:11,167 --> 00:10:13,362 so they'II be watching today. 131 00:10:14,847 --> 00:10:18,886 You can go to a footbaII match and there couId be 20,000 peopIe watching that game, 132 00:10:18,967 --> 00:10:21,356 but there's Iess than 30 peopIe out on the pitch. 133 00:10:21,447 --> 00:10:24,996 With Cork Week, you might have 20,000 peopIe invoIved, 134 00:10:25,087 --> 00:10:28,841 but there's going to be 8,000 people out there participating and racing, 135 00:10:28,927 --> 00:10:32,602 and everyone stays invoIved right the way through the week. 136 00:10:34,927 --> 00:10:36,997 OLlVER: As the great yachts cross the finishing Iine, 137 00:10:37,087 --> 00:10:39,203 they aIso pass the very first home 138 00:10:39,287 --> 00:10:42,597 of the RoyaI Cork Yacht CIub, on HauIbowIine IsIand. 139 00:10:42,927 --> 00:10:46,237 For centuries, HauIbowIine was a strategicaIIy vitaI base 140 00:10:46,327 --> 00:10:48,238 for the British RoyaI Navy. 141 00:10:48,327 --> 00:10:52,559 Then, in 1938, it became, and remains to this day, 142 00:10:52,887 --> 00:10:55,879 the command centre for the Irish NavaI Service, 143 00:10:56,247 --> 00:10:59,080 and I've been invited to join them on an exercise, 144 00:10:59,167 --> 00:11:02,637 on the fIagship patroI vesseI, the LE Eithne. 145 00:11:03,647 --> 00:11:05,000 (WHlSTLlNG) 146 00:11:08,527 --> 00:11:12,839 First off, I have a bit of a confession to make to Captain Hugh TuIIy. 147 00:11:14,127 --> 00:11:17,563 l must admit l didn't realise that lreland had a navy. 148 00:11:18,287 --> 00:11:21,120 Well, you wouldn't be the first person to say that. 149 00:11:21,207 --> 00:11:25,166 We're a relatively young navy, and l suppose we're sort of out of sight, out of mind. 150 00:11:25,247 --> 00:11:29,798 A lot of our time is spent way offshore, so it's difficult to have sort of a profile. 151 00:11:29,927 --> 00:11:33,203 OLlVER: What is the remit of the Irish NavaI Service? 152 00:11:33,287 --> 00:11:35,278 TULLY: Our main job is maritime surveiIIance, 153 00:11:35,367 --> 00:11:38,916 so that can be fishing protection, search and rescue, drug interdiction. 154 00:11:39,007 --> 00:11:41,567 OLlVER: With eight patroI vesseIs and one of the Iargest 155 00:11:41,647 --> 00:11:46,437 maritime zones in Europe to patroI, the Irish Navy is a serious proposition. 156 00:11:46,527 --> 00:11:50,122 -Find out what's happening... -Sir, if l can interrupt you there one moment. 157 00:11:50,207 --> 00:11:52,084 We've just received an intelligence report. 158 00:11:52,167 --> 00:11:55,443 A maritime surveillance aircraft has come across a commercial tug, 159 00:11:55,527 --> 00:11:58,724 with the description of an lrish vessel, the Oyster Bank. 160 00:11:58,807 --> 00:12:01,321 OLlVER: And as second-in-command Lieutenant OIan O'Keefe 161 00:12:01,407 --> 00:12:05,161 outIines the position of a suspect vesseI, something cIicks. 162 00:12:05,607 --> 00:12:08,201 When the NavaI Service invited me on an exercise, 163 00:12:08,287 --> 00:12:10,676 they didn't mean twice round the harbour and back to the officers' mess 164 00:12:10,767 --> 00:12:14,726 for a swift haIf. Their training Iooks deadIy serious. 165 00:12:15,007 --> 00:12:17,077 -Sir, if you'd like to join me there? -Excellent. Okay. 166 00:12:17,167 --> 00:12:18,964 OLlVER: As we go down to the Operations Room, 167 00:12:19,047 --> 00:12:21,436 OIan expIains we're about to conduct what they caII 168 00:12:21,527 --> 00:12:26,920 a ''compIiant boarding'' of the suspect tug, and I'm to be part of that boarding team. 169 00:12:27,047 --> 00:12:32,041 -l've a target bearing 040 degrees. -Target bearing is 040 degrees. 170 00:12:32,447 --> 00:12:35,245 O'KEEFE: From here, we have to positively track the Oyster Bank. 171 00:12:35,327 --> 00:12:38,046 Once we have him tracked on our radar, 172 00:12:38,127 --> 00:12:40,641 we have our weapons sensors directed on the vessel also, 173 00:12:40,727 --> 00:12:43,161 from there the gunnery officer will make a recommendation to the captain 174 00:12:43,247 --> 00:12:45,522 that we have the vessel in our sensors. 175 00:12:45,607 --> 00:12:48,565 So what capability have you got sat here? 176 00:12:48,647 --> 00:12:52,686 Well, l'm Gunnery Officer on board, so l'm in charge of all the weapons. 177 00:12:52,767 --> 00:12:56,123 This screen is giving me what the digital camera is actually seeing. 178 00:12:56,247 --> 00:12:59,205 FANNlNG: l've daylight TV and infrared systems. 179 00:12:59,287 --> 00:13:01,755 And at this point you're capable of 180 00:13:02,047 --> 00:13:05,596 doing really anything you want to that vessel, should the situation arise? 181 00:13:05,687 --> 00:13:08,838 Yes, should it arise and once we have everything confirmed, 182 00:13:08,927 --> 00:13:10,918 the captain can give the order once 183 00:13:11,007 --> 00:13:14,283 and we can controI the main weapons from here. 184 00:13:15,207 --> 00:13:21,043 Command WD, target confirmed. Target: merchant vessel, Oyster Bank. 185 00:13:21,447 --> 00:13:24,359 Neil, we'll join the captain and bridge team, as we close this vessel. 186 00:13:24,447 --> 00:13:26,915 That's our next stage. So if we make our way straight to the bridge now. 187 00:13:27,007 --> 00:13:28,725 OLlVER: Right 188 00:13:30,647 --> 00:13:33,241 -OFFlCER: Starboard 20. -Starboard 20. 189 00:13:34,407 --> 00:13:37,558 FANNlNG: Request close for visual confirmation. Over. 190 00:13:37,647 --> 00:13:41,083 OFFlCER: Roger. We're cIosing that position now. 191 00:13:43,927 --> 00:13:45,918 -O'KEEFE: Action stations? -Yeah, action stations. 192 00:13:46,007 --> 00:13:47,645 O'KEEFE: Roger. Action stations. 193 00:13:47,727 --> 00:13:49,126 (WHlSTLlNG) 194 00:13:50,327 --> 00:13:51,919 Action stations, action stations. 195 00:13:52,007 --> 00:13:54,316 Neil, we've just gone to our highest state of readiness there now, 196 00:13:54,407 --> 00:13:57,763 so the naval boarding team now are going to muster in the hangar, 197 00:13:57,847 --> 00:13:59,724 put on their kit and their weapons. 198 00:13:59,807 --> 00:14:02,367 The Boarding Officer is going to contact the Oyster Bank 199 00:14:02,447 --> 00:14:03,721 and ask it a series of questions. 200 00:14:03,807 --> 00:14:05,559 lf you'd like to join me now, we'll go to the hangar. 201 00:14:05,647 --> 00:14:07,080 OLlVER: Okay. 202 00:14:10,127 --> 00:14:12,402 O'KEEFE: Okay, Neil, we have your kit here. 203 00:14:12,487 --> 00:14:15,285 What is the lMO number of your vessel? 204 00:14:15,527 --> 00:14:19,281 MAN: Roger. My IMO is 172. 205 00:14:19,367 --> 00:14:22,279 -O'KEEFE: That's it. Okay, just... -lt's a snug fit. 206 00:14:22,367 --> 00:14:24,323 What is your next port of call? 207 00:14:24,407 --> 00:14:27,126 MAN: My next port of caII is Cork. 208 00:14:28,967 --> 00:14:32,721 OFFlCER: Sir, I intend to board your vesseI with a navaI boarding team 209 00:14:32,807 --> 00:14:34,843 and my team wiII be armed. 210 00:14:35,527 --> 00:14:39,520 We're gonna board on the port side, just far of this pier here. 211 00:14:39,647 --> 00:14:42,286 Weapons, the H&K 9mm pistol. 212 00:14:42,367 --> 00:14:46,155 Code words for today. Situation turning hostile is Catfish, 213 00:14:46,527 --> 00:14:48,563 and team withdrawing is Rebound. 214 00:14:48,647 --> 00:14:51,480 -And what should l do? -Just stick with me. 215 00:15:10,047 --> 00:15:12,277 When they see the men in balaclavas coming, they must know 216 00:15:12,367 --> 00:15:13,720 it's not going to be a good day, though. 217 00:15:13,807 --> 00:15:15,445 (LAUGHlNG) 218 00:15:26,767 --> 00:15:29,679 Did you tell the crew to be visible for your approach? 219 00:15:29,767 --> 00:15:31,758 O'KEEFE: Yeah, yeah, l tell them on the radio. 220 00:15:31,847 --> 00:15:34,122 OLlVER: Right. You want to be able to see them when you arrive. 221 00:15:34,207 --> 00:15:37,244 -O'KEEFE: Exactly, yeah. -SAlLOR: Okay, go. 222 00:15:37,807 --> 00:15:39,684 Keep your hands in the air. 223 00:15:45,447 --> 00:15:48,723 SAlLOR: What l would like you to do is to get down on both knees. 224 00:15:48,807 --> 00:15:51,275 OLlVER: l'm with you. l'm with you. 225 00:15:51,607 --> 00:15:55,156 SAlLOR: All right, put your hands in the air, put your hands in the air! Bridge clear! 226 00:15:55,247 --> 00:15:58,444 -Just get your log book, please, sir. -My log book? 227 00:15:58,527 --> 00:16:02,566 lt's amazing to me that this kind of work is going on day and night, 228 00:16:02,647 --> 00:16:06,322 year round, to try and make sure that the coast is as safe as possible. 229 00:16:06,407 --> 00:16:09,160 Now, this was just an exercise, there were no bullets in their guns, 230 00:16:09,247 --> 00:16:12,205 but there's something about seeing armed men, 231 00:16:12,327 --> 00:16:15,205 there's something about seeing guns being pointed at people. 232 00:16:15,287 --> 00:16:18,962 lt's intimidating and it's frightening - but l suppose it should be. 233 00:16:20,807 --> 00:16:23,275 OLlVER: Just days after I joined the boarding crew, 234 00:16:23,367 --> 00:16:26,803 a news report confirms the importance of the exercise. 235 00:16:27,887 --> 00:16:31,800 REPORTER: The hauI of cocaine discovered on board a yacht off the Cork coast 236 00:16:31,887 --> 00:16:33,400 was put on dispIay today. 237 00:16:33,487 --> 00:16:38,003 Much of it was almost certainly destined for the UK and mainland Europe. 238 00:16:38,727 --> 00:16:40,877 OLlVER: In a hazardous night-time operation, 239 00:16:40,967 --> 00:16:45,563 the Irish NavaI Service seized over 600 miIIion pounds worth of cocaine 240 00:16:45,647 --> 00:16:49,481 in a raid on a yacht - the biggest drugs hauI in Irish history. 241 00:17:13,207 --> 00:17:16,165 Heading east from Cork, we're brought to a sudden haIt 242 00:17:16,247 --> 00:17:21,037 by a massive 100-foot excIamation mark on the coast at Ardmore. 243 00:17:23,207 --> 00:17:27,120 One of IreIand's famous and mysterious round towers. 244 00:17:30,087 --> 00:17:32,043 That is just incredible. 245 00:17:36,807 --> 00:17:41,358 And it's just as much an icon of lreland as any shamrock or harp. 246 00:17:41,927 --> 00:17:46,205 There's about 60 of these round towers scattered through the lrish landscape, 247 00:17:46,287 --> 00:17:51,042 and over the years they've bred all manner of weird and wonderful theories 248 00:17:51,127 --> 00:17:54,005 as to exactly what they're for. 249 00:17:57,047 --> 00:17:59,720 The most popuIar expIanation is that the round towers 250 00:17:59,807 --> 00:18:03,004 were boIt-hoIes for priests in times of invasion. 251 00:18:04,647 --> 00:18:07,684 But there have been other Iess pIausibIe theories, 252 00:18:07,767 --> 00:18:11,442 everything from druidic observatories to, more recentIy, 253 00:18:11,527 --> 00:18:17,284 the idea that they concentrate para-magnetic energy from the stars to heIp the crops. 254 00:18:19,247 --> 00:18:22,603 The truth is probably a little more prosaic than that, 255 00:18:22,687 --> 00:18:26,202 and there's a big clue in that the little church just down the hill 256 00:18:26,287 --> 00:18:28,562 doesn't have a tower of its own. 257 00:18:28,647 --> 00:18:32,765 That's its bell tower, just like an ltalian campaniIe. 258 00:18:32,847 --> 00:18:35,805 And they were built from the 9th to the 1 2th centuries 259 00:18:35,887 --> 00:18:38,162 to call the faithful to prayer. 260 00:18:39,047 --> 00:18:41,720 But there's supposed to be something even more mysterious 261 00:18:41,807 --> 00:18:46,244 than the round tower here at Ardmore that's reaIIy sparked my curiosity, 262 00:18:46,327 --> 00:18:48,477 something that apparentIy dates back centuries 263 00:18:48,567 --> 00:18:51,559 before either the tower or the church were buiIt. 264 00:18:51,647 --> 00:18:53,842 What I want to see is a stone, 265 00:18:53,927 --> 00:18:57,636 and on it an ancient Irish way of writing caIIed Ogham. 266 00:18:57,887 --> 00:19:02,119 OrIa Murphy from Cork University is an expert in this ancient script. 267 00:19:02,687 --> 00:19:06,441 -This is the Ogham stone, then. -So that's writing? 268 00:19:06,527 --> 00:19:09,485 MURPHY: This is the earliest lrish writing. 269 00:19:09,847 --> 00:19:13,044 -ROBERTS: ls it runes? -MURPHY: No, it's like the runic 270 00:19:13,127 --> 00:19:15,595 in that it's incised in lines, 271 00:19:15,847 --> 00:19:19,396 but it's completely different in that the different shapes 272 00:19:19,487 --> 00:19:21,205 obviously mean different things. 273 00:19:21,287 --> 00:19:24,643 So here on this section, 274 00:19:24,887 --> 00:19:29,961 you have the name - L, and the three scores, U... 275 00:19:30,367 --> 00:19:34,519 G-U-D-E- 276 00:19:34,887 --> 00:19:38,482 C-C-A-S. 277 00:19:38,847 --> 00:19:41,486 So it's Lugudeccas all the way up, right, 278 00:19:41,567 --> 00:19:43,717 then unfortunately it got chopped 279 00:19:43,807 --> 00:19:45,877 at some point when it was being used for building. 280 00:19:45,967 --> 00:19:48,925 So what's the date of this? When did people actually start writing Ogham? 281 00:19:49,087 --> 00:19:52,159 lt dates from about the 5th century, 282 00:19:52,247 --> 00:19:55,637 maybe the 4th, but probably the 5th century, so it's very early. 283 00:19:55,727 --> 00:19:58,639 ROBERTS: And why do you think people started writing on stone at this time? 284 00:19:58,727 --> 00:20:01,036 MURPHY: l think probably that they met with Christianity, 285 00:20:01,127 --> 00:20:03,641 and with Christianity came writing, 286 00:20:03,727 --> 00:20:06,605 and perhaps they'd used stones as memoria before, 287 00:20:06,687 --> 00:20:12,398 but now they were able to translate that, using this new technology of writing, 288 00:20:12,567 --> 00:20:16,196 of matching sounds to visual symbols, 289 00:20:16,687 --> 00:20:19,645 and they've come up with something unique, 290 00:20:19,727 --> 00:20:23,117 and something that's lrish, and this is it, it's Ogham. 291 00:20:23,207 --> 00:20:27,246 Orla, l find it pretty remarkable that you can read this. Can you write it as well? 292 00:20:27,327 --> 00:20:30,046 Yes, we can, we can write it as well. 293 00:20:30,127 --> 00:20:32,595 -ROBERTS: Shall we go and try? -Yes. 294 00:20:33,847 --> 00:20:36,361 -Shall we just have a go in the sand, then? -Yes. 295 00:20:36,447 --> 00:20:40,963 So what's happening is we're going to write it either side of a stave, 296 00:20:41,407 --> 00:20:44,205 just like as if we were going to write on the edge of a stone. 297 00:20:44,287 --> 00:20:46,323 -On an upright stone? -On an upright stone. 298 00:20:46,407 --> 00:20:51,083 Or it's sometimes on the flat, but just on an edge is important. 299 00:20:51,527 --> 00:20:54,360 MURPHY: Okay, so, here we go. 300 00:20:55,207 --> 00:20:58,438 So reading from the bottom up, we're going to have 301 00:20:58,967 --> 00:21:00,923 a notch for your A... 302 00:21:03,487 --> 00:21:06,206 -Two lines for your L. -ROBERTS: Yup. 303 00:21:07,887 --> 00:21:11,516 MURPHY: One, two, three, four 304 00:21:12,647 --> 00:21:14,000 for your l... 305 00:21:16,727 --> 00:21:18,718 Five, actually, for your l, 306 00:21:18,807 --> 00:21:22,004 and one, two, three, four for your C, 307 00:21:24,287 --> 00:21:28,838 and one, two, three, four for your E. 308 00:21:30,327 --> 00:21:33,603 E. l wouldn't want to write a particularly long word with that, l have to say. 309 00:21:33,687 --> 00:21:35,166 No, you could be there for a long time. 310 00:21:35,247 --> 00:21:36,316 (LAUGHS) 311 00:21:36,407 --> 00:21:39,240 -You could. -l'm going to have a go myself. 312 00:21:39,447 --> 00:21:43,156 ROBERTS: So first of all the line which is the edge of the stone, then. 313 00:21:43,247 --> 00:21:44,566 -MURPHY: Yes. -A. 314 00:21:44,647 --> 00:21:45,682 MURPHY: Yup. 315 00:21:45,767 --> 00:21:49,442 ROBERTS: So voweIs are notches on the edge of the stone or stave... 316 00:21:49,527 --> 00:21:50,516 l. 317 00:21:50,607 --> 00:21:54,202 ...and consonants are Iines on the sides. I get it. 318 00:21:54,487 --> 00:21:55,476 C. 319 00:21:57,687 --> 00:21:59,325 -E. -MURPHY: Perfect. 320 00:21:59,407 --> 00:22:01,443 ROBERTS: My name in Ogham. 321 00:22:03,527 --> 00:22:06,041 MonumentaI masonry, graffiti, 322 00:22:06,367 --> 00:22:10,883 the idea of Iogging on to the Iandscape and Ieaving your name for posterity 323 00:22:10,967 --> 00:22:14,562 seems ageIess, but it aII started here in IreIand 324 00:22:14,887 --> 00:22:18,004 more than 1600 years ago with Ogham. 325 00:22:36,327 --> 00:22:40,445 OLlVER: The sea cIiffs here aren't massive, but they can be IethaI. 326 00:22:41,247 --> 00:22:43,044 On the headIand at Tramore, 327 00:22:43,127 --> 00:22:46,164 the MetaI Man was raised as a warning to shipping 328 00:22:46,247 --> 00:22:52,322 after the Sea Horse ran aground here in 1816, with the Ioss of aImost 400 Iives. 329 00:22:54,927 --> 00:22:59,443 Tramore. Most of the pIaces we've visited so far have had Irish names. 330 00:23:00,047 --> 00:23:02,766 Tramore is simpIy Irish for ''big beach''. 331 00:23:02,847 --> 00:23:04,166 Good name. 332 00:23:04,327 --> 00:23:08,115 But as we approach Waterford, the second of the great ports on our journey, 333 00:23:08,207 --> 00:23:10,038 things change drasticaIIy. 334 00:23:10,127 --> 00:23:14,996 Because Waterford isn't an Irish name, nor is it EngIish. It's Viking. 335 00:23:15,767 --> 00:23:21,080 It comes from the OId Norse ''Vradrafjordr'', meaning ''the haven from the windy sea''. 336 00:23:21,807 --> 00:23:24,605 SignaIIing the first in a chain of major trading ports 337 00:23:24,687 --> 00:23:29,203 estabIished by the Vikings in virtuaIIy every estuary from here to DubIin. 338 00:23:30,407 --> 00:23:35,322 Today, Waterford is virtuaIIy synonymous the worId over with Iead crystaI. 339 00:23:35,607 --> 00:23:39,805 GIass. And that's given AIice an idea. 340 00:23:44,607 --> 00:23:47,599 l'm just walking along the beach here picking up these 341 00:23:47,687 --> 00:23:51,441 really beautiful little water-worn pebbles of glass. 342 00:23:52,367 --> 00:23:54,278 But what is this stuff? 343 00:23:54,407 --> 00:23:57,843 l think most of us know it's got something to do with silica 344 00:23:57,927 --> 00:24:02,045 and that it could possibly be made by heating up sand, 345 00:24:02,647 --> 00:24:04,922 but is that all there is to it? 346 00:24:06,447 --> 00:24:09,837 In the interests of science and for the sheer fun of it, 347 00:24:09,927 --> 00:24:13,158 I've decided to see if we can make gIass from sand - 348 00:24:13,247 --> 00:24:15,556 oh, and try to do it on a beach. 349 00:24:15,687 --> 00:24:17,359 lf anybody's going to succeed, 350 00:24:17,447 --> 00:24:21,076 it's going to be Waterford Crystal's chief scientist, Richard Lloyd. 351 00:24:21,167 --> 00:24:23,362 -This bit? -That'd be perfect. 352 00:24:24,847 --> 00:24:26,599 So, Richard, would any old sand do? 353 00:24:26,687 --> 00:24:30,396 lt's got to have a component of quartz in it, which is a form of silica. 354 00:24:30,487 --> 00:24:34,765 Silica doesn't need any other ingredient to make glass other than heat energy. 355 00:24:34,847 --> 00:24:37,361 -But you think this looks all right? -This looks fine. 356 00:24:37,447 --> 00:24:40,757 -ROBERTS: Let's go and make some glass. -LLOYD: Hmm. 357 00:24:41,527 --> 00:24:43,995 This is Tony. He's the man that's going to provide the heat for us today. 358 00:24:44,087 --> 00:24:45,759 -ROBERTS: Hello, Tony. -TONY: Hi. 359 00:24:45,847 --> 00:24:48,520 So, exactly how much heat are we going to need? 360 00:24:48,607 --> 00:24:51,724 LLOYD: Well, in its present form we'll need 1800 Celsius to melt this, 361 00:24:51,807 --> 00:24:54,685 but what we're going to do is mix it with some potash, 362 00:24:54,767 --> 00:24:57,076 and this helps the sand to melt. 363 00:24:57,167 --> 00:25:01,285 So how much does the potash bring down the melting point of the quartz? 364 00:25:01,367 --> 00:25:03,198 LLOYD: By about 600 Celsius, 365 00:25:03,287 --> 00:25:07,200 so we can then achieve melting temperatures with Tony's burner. 366 00:25:07,487 --> 00:25:09,921 So we can pop it on there... 367 00:25:11,167 --> 00:25:12,600 ROBERTS: Wow! 368 00:25:14,407 --> 00:25:17,285 The crucible is already glowing bright red. 369 00:25:18,047 --> 00:25:20,083 Red heat is only 600 Celsius. 370 00:25:20,167 --> 00:25:22,840 -Red heat is 600? -LLOYD: Approximately. 371 00:25:26,167 --> 00:25:28,476 And it's starting to bubble now. 372 00:25:28,687 --> 00:25:32,441 LLOYD: Yeah, that's the potash releasing its carbon dioxide, 373 00:25:32,887 --> 00:25:37,005 and then it starts to react with the sand grains to form the glass. 374 00:25:39,607 --> 00:25:41,279 ROBERTS: So, Richard, how does this on the beach 375 00:25:41,367 --> 00:25:43,961 reIate to actuaIIy what goes on in the factory? 376 00:25:44,047 --> 00:25:46,083 LLOYD: EssentiaIIy, the technoIogy underIying aII the things 377 00:25:46,167 --> 00:25:49,842 we've done on the beach is exactIy the same as the factory. 378 00:25:51,527 --> 00:25:54,883 ROBERTS: And often this gIass is taIked about as being Iead crystaI - 379 00:25:54,967 --> 00:25:56,286 do you actuaIIy add Iead to it? 380 00:25:56,367 --> 00:26:00,485 LLOYD: We do, yeah, in the form of Iead oxide. This makes it sparkIe. 381 00:26:01,527 --> 00:26:05,566 It aIso aIIows the gIass to be worked over a Ionger temperature range, 382 00:26:05,647 --> 00:26:08,286 which Iets the bIowers do their magic. 383 00:26:13,967 --> 00:26:17,164 ROBERTS: It takes years to achieve this IeveI of skiII. 384 00:26:17,247 --> 00:26:20,603 BeIieve me, it isn't easy. I've just had a go myseIf. 385 00:26:23,487 --> 00:26:27,446 One way or another, gIass has been made here for hundreds of years. 386 00:26:27,527 --> 00:26:29,597 These skiIIs are ancient. 387 00:26:31,607 --> 00:26:36,635 This is Waterford Museum's famous Kite Brooch, of Irish-Viking design, 388 00:26:37,247 --> 00:26:41,843 exquisite goId fiIigree and the tiniest beads of gIass. 389 00:26:42,647 --> 00:26:47,243 It functioned as a cIoak fastener, and was very much Iike the Irish ring pins 390 00:26:47,327 --> 00:26:50,763 that became an essentiaI part of Viking haute couture. 391 00:26:51,407 --> 00:26:56,879 When this brooch was made 1,000 years ago, the gIass beads were treated Iike diamonds. 392 00:26:56,967 --> 00:27:00,323 GIass was a precious, hard-won materiaI. 393 00:27:01,167 --> 00:27:04,477 LLOYD: GIass is a very speciaI substance. It's not Iike other soIids. 394 00:27:04,567 --> 00:27:07,877 It's got no definite meIting point. It just gets softer and softer 395 00:27:07,967 --> 00:27:09,764 as it gets hotter and hotter. 396 00:27:09,847 --> 00:27:12,122 It has no crystaIs - that's why you can see through it. 397 00:27:12,207 --> 00:27:13,925 Once the quartz has formed the gIass, 398 00:27:14,007 --> 00:27:17,716 the moIecuIes can't rotate and orientate themseIves into reguIar patterns, 399 00:27:17,807 --> 00:27:21,277 which a crystaI is, you see, so they're trapped in irreguIar shapes, 400 00:27:21,367 --> 00:27:23,801 and that's what keeps the gIass cIear. 401 00:27:25,607 --> 00:27:28,440 l'll get it and you clear off that way, yeah? 402 00:27:28,647 --> 00:27:30,478 ROBERTS: Ooh... Oh, wow! 403 00:27:30,567 --> 00:27:33,035 LLOYD: There we have glass from the beach. 404 00:27:33,127 --> 00:27:38,281 There is just something really wonderful about being able to make glass from sand. 405 00:27:38,367 --> 00:27:41,325 -LLOYD: Yup. -ROBERTS: lt looks really green. 406 00:27:41,487 --> 00:27:44,604 That's because the sand we've used has got a lot of iron in it, 407 00:27:44,687 --> 00:27:46,086 which makes it brown. 408 00:27:46,167 --> 00:27:50,126 When it forms a glass, the iron changes chemically to form the green compound. 409 00:27:50,207 --> 00:27:54,644 Most sand on the beaches around the world will have iron in it. 410 00:27:55,207 --> 00:27:58,802 -So our beaches are rusty. -LLOYD: Our beaches are rusty. 411 00:28:00,007 --> 00:28:04,444 ROBERTS: What a great day. Not onIy have we succeeded in making gIass from sand, 412 00:28:04,527 --> 00:28:07,485 but the craftsmen of Waterford CrystaI have made something 413 00:28:07,567 --> 00:28:11,401 that harkens back to the very foundation of Waterford itseIf, 414 00:28:11,487 --> 00:28:13,159 a Viking ring pin. 415 00:28:13,527 --> 00:28:15,597 ROBERTS: That is beautiful. 416 00:28:17,407 --> 00:28:19,875 Oh, Richard, that really is lovely. 417 00:28:21,647 --> 00:28:24,480 And it's got designs all the way along it. 418 00:28:25,327 --> 00:28:28,319 And it's like a symbol of Waterford, isn't it? 419 00:28:28,407 --> 00:28:30,762 The Vikings and the glass. 420 00:28:35,407 --> 00:28:39,366 OLlVER: Leaving County Waterford, our journey continues to County Wexford, 421 00:28:39,447 --> 00:28:41,517 via the Passage East Ferry. 422 00:28:41,927 --> 00:28:44,361 On the far shore Iies BaIIyhack, 423 00:28:44,447 --> 00:28:49,567 base camp for the 140-miIe SIi Charman or Wexford CoastaI Path. 424 00:28:55,087 --> 00:28:57,806 TraveIIing up the peninsuIa towards Hook Head 425 00:28:57,887 --> 00:29:00,162 there's a IittIe inIet known as HerryIock, 426 00:29:00,247 --> 00:29:04,525 where beach and cIiff face are made up of Iayers of oId red sandstone. 427 00:29:06,487 --> 00:29:11,356 And aII over the beach, there are these strange reguIar bowIs in the rock. 428 00:29:14,967 --> 00:29:18,482 You could walk past this and think it was natural - you could just overlook it, 429 00:29:18,567 --> 00:29:20,922 think it was maybe cut by the sea or the wind. 430 00:29:21,007 --> 00:29:25,876 And if you look really closely you start to pick out strange marks, cut marks. 431 00:29:26,527 --> 00:29:30,805 These are the marks left by tools that were used to cut something out. 432 00:29:36,527 --> 00:29:41,203 Once you get your eye in, you realise they're all over the place around here. 433 00:29:44,247 --> 00:29:48,684 Now, l'm not going to pretend that l don't know why these holes are here. 434 00:29:48,847 --> 00:29:51,805 These are the remains left behind by quarrying for millstones 435 00:29:51,887 --> 00:29:55,846 which are used to grind flour, and right up until the end of the 19th century 436 00:29:55,927 --> 00:29:59,442 Herrylock was famous for the quality for its millstones. 437 00:29:59,887 --> 00:30:02,481 The incredibIy hard, gritty HerryIock sandstone 438 00:30:02,567 --> 00:30:06,845 was ideaI for miIIstones - so much so, they were soId aII over IreIand. 439 00:30:07,407 --> 00:30:11,446 But how did they manage to extract the stones intact from the rock? 440 00:30:11,527 --> 00:30:15,202 To find out, I'm meeting up with IocaI stonemason PauI O'Hara. 441 00:30:15,287 --> 00:30:16,845 -OLlVER: Hello, Paul. -O'HARA: Hello, Neil. 442 00:30:16,927 --> 00:30:20,522 OLlVER: PauI has a fascination with the oId stonemasons' techniques. 443 00:30:20,607 --> 00:30:24,156 l'm just working on a bit of the stone here. 444 00:30:24,847 --> 00:30:28,601 What is the process, then? How do you start with a piece of bedrock 445 00:30:28,687 --> 00:30:31,281 and end up with a millstone that's free? 446 00:30:31,367 --> 00:30:33,801 Well, initially you'd mark it out. 447 00:30:34,767 --> 00:30:38,157 Roughly a four-foot diameter is the stone that's been quarried here, 448 00:30:38,247 --> 00:30:40,681 then you score around your shape, 449 00:30:40,847 --> 00:30:45,602 skirting down along it and furrow the channel all the way around the circle. 450 00:30:45,687 --> 00:30:47,678 They would have gone down maybe 16 inches. 451 00:30:47,767 --> 00:30:50,076 And how long is that going to take with a hammer and chisel? 452 00:30:50,167 --> 00:30:52,317 l'd say roughly three weeks they would have taken... 453 00:30:52,407 --> 00:30:54,523 -OLlVER: Three weeks. -O'HARA: ...to take out. 454 00:30:54,607 --> 00:30:58,566 And once you've cut this gutter around the millstone, 455 00:30:58,887 --> 00:31:02,402 how do you get it off the bedrock? How do you get it free? 456 00:31:02,487 --> 00:31:05,206 O'HARA: You would bore a hole, again using your hammer and chisel, 457 00:31:05,287 --> 00:31:08,359 and then fit a timber wedge - and maybe a willow timber, 458 00:31:08,447 --> 00:31:11,723 'cause willow has a great absorption. The sea would have come on in, 459 00:31:11,807 --> 00:31:13,559 flooded the channel, 460 00:31:15,607 --> 00:31:18,963 the timber would then expand, and the stone would have lifted. 461 00:31:19,047 --> 00:31:24,644 So as the wood expands with the moisture, that is enough force to crack this? 462 00:31:24,727 --> 00:31:27,844 O'HARA: That would have been enough force, yeah. 463 00:31:28,327 --> 00:31:32,366 l dunno, l've got a lovely picture of the actual...the scene here. 464 00:31:33,207 --> 00:31:36,324 Up beyond there was 10 houses about. 465 00:31:36,407 --> 00:31:39,524 There must have been great comradeship between them, 466 00:31:39,607 --> 00:31:41,598 and then when the conversation went dead, 467 00:31:41,687 --> 00:31:44,076 the only thing you would actually hear would be maybe 468 00:31:44,167 --> 00:31:47,523 the clanging of the hammer and the stone. 469 00:31:47,927 --> 00:31:49,599 (HAMMER CLANGlNG) 470 00:31:52,167 --> 00:31:56,126 OLlVER: By the Iate 1800s, the HerryIock chiseIs sang no more. 471 00:31:56,567 --> 00:32:01,561 Cast iron repIaced oId red sandstone as the perfect materiaI for making miIIstones. 472 00:32:01,927 --> 00:32:04,885 Is it just me, but I feeI a IittIe sad 473 00:32:05,207 --> 00:32:08,040 that this ancient industry came to an end. 474 00:32:09,887 --> 00:32:11,479 Cutting a millstone like this one 475 00:32:11,567 --> 00:32:14,445 involved some of the hardest physical labour imaginable. 476 00:32:14,527 --> 00:32:16,995 But what makes this such a satisfying story 477 00:32:17,087 --> 00:32:20,204 is that the secret ingredient was human genius - 478 00:32:20,767 --> 00:32:25,716 using the power of wood swollen by water to break these free from the bedrock, 479 00:32:26,447 --> 00:32:30,963 so the final tool that they had in their armoury was the power of the sea. 480 00:32:40,087 --> 00:32:45,764 PIacid as it might appear, this peninsuIa has a terrifying reputation for mangIing ships. 481 00:32:48,207 --> 00:32:50,960 No surprise to find a Iighthouse, then. 482 00:32:51,527 --> 00:32:55,918 But it's perhaps the oIdest intact operationaI Iighthouse in the worId. 483 00:32:57,687 --> 00:33:03,557 In fact, historian and author BiIIy CoIfer beIieves it dates back 800 years. 484 00:33:04,887 --> 00:33:07,082 Now, this I've got to see. 485 00:33:08,287 --> 00:33:11,006 Well, Billy, it does look like it's taken a pounding over the years, 486 00:33:11,087 --> 00:33:13,726 but how do you know it's as old as you say it is? 487 00:33:13,807 --> 00:33:16,958 -Let's go inside, Neil, and l'll show you. -Okay. 488 00:33:24,327 --> 00:33:29,003 Now, Neil, if you look up, you'll get your first impression of a medieval building. 489 00:33:29,087 --> 00:33:33,603 OLlVER: Right, oh yeah, it's like a castle keep or a cathedral. lt's so massive. 490 00:33:33,687 --> 00:33:36,838 COLFER: Exactly. They used castle technology to build the place, 491 00:33:36,927 --> 00:33:38,679 that's the reason for the roof vaulting. 492 00:33:38,767 --> 00:33:41,565 -Castle technology. l like that. -Exactly. 493 00:33:41,847 --> 00:33:45,726 -OLlVER: And why is it black? -COLFER: lt's black with Welsh coal 494 00:33:45,807 --> 00:33:50,119 because for 500 years the light was kept burning mostly with coal, 495 00:33:50,607 --> 00:33:53,485 and this was the coal store. Okay? 496 00:33:57,647 --> 00:34:00,639 COLFER: The three chambers are similar, each vaulted. 497 00:34:00,727 --> 00:34:04,606 Obviously the stone vault can be seen as a fireproofing feature. 498 00:34:04,687 --> 00:34:09,715 lf you have a big fire burning on top of your building, you don't want wooden floors. 499 00:34:10,407 --> 00:34:14,082 OLlVER: Over 500 years, that big fire to create the Iight 500 00:34:14,167 --> 00:34:17,318 meant importing thousands of tons of WeIsh coaI. 501 00:34:17,407 --> 00:34:20,285 Whoever buiIt this pIace had a Iot of cIout. 502 00:34:20,367 --> 00:34:23,677 COLFER: Our first historic record of the buiIding 503 00:34:23,887 --> 00:34:27,277 comes from the Pembroke Estate Papers in the 1240s, 504 00:34:27,807 --> 00:34:30,924 when the monks of the monastery of Rinn Dubhain 505 00:34:31,047 --> 00:34:34,403 are given money for the maintenance of the buiIding. 506 00:34:34,687 --> 00:34:38,441 OLlVER: So was the tower built by a monastic order, is that whose idea it was? 507 00:34:38,527 --> 00:34:42,759 COLFER: No, they were financed by one of the most powerful knights in England, 508 00:34:42,847 --> 00:34:45,759 William Marshall, who controlled this area. 509 00:34:47,687 --> 00:34:49,996 OLlVER: Hook weather. Some view. 510 00:34:50,447 --> 00:34:53,519 William Marshall, the builder of this lighthouse, 511 00:34:53,607 --> 00:34:57,316 was one of the new breed of adventurers really who came to lreland, 512 00:34:57,407 --> 00:34:59,238 one of the Anglo-Normans. 513 00:34:59,327 --> 00:35:03,923 He had this lighthouse constructed at this extremity of the Hook Peninsula 514 00:35:04,367 --> 00:35:08,645 to guide his shipping up Waterford Harbour to his new port of Ross, 515 00:35:08,727 --> 00:35:11,844 which he was determined to make into a financial success. 516 00:35:11,927 --> 00:35:15,158 So this was a very practical addition to the landscape 517 00:35:15,247 --> 00:35:17,044 by a businessman on the make. 518 00:35:17,127 --> 00:35:19,880 Yes, it was highly practical and functional, 519 00:35:19,967 --> 00:35:24,961 but it was also a highly visible symbol of Marshall's power and status, 520 00:35:25,207 --> 00:35:28,643 which became an iconic feature in the lrish landscape. 521 00:35:34,007 --> 00:35:37,761 OLlVER: The Iighthouse's buiIder, WiIIiam MarshaII, had powerfuI connections. 522 00:35:37,847 --> 00:35:42,637 It was his father-in-Iaw, Strongbow, who first Ianded a Norman army on Irish soiI, 523 00:35:42,727 --> 00:35:46,276 just beyond the Iighthouse at Baginbun and Bannow Bay. 524 00:35:46,367 --> 00:35:50,758 The irony is the Normans first came here as mercenaries, not invaders. 525 00:35:51,087 --> 00:35:52,679 They were invited. 526 00:35:52,767 --> 00:35:55,156 But they Iiked what they saw. They settIed. 527 00:35:55,247 --> 00:35:58,364 And they dominated Irish history for centuries. 528 00:36:04,247 --> 00:36:06,283 This is Carnsore Point. 529 00:36:06,687 --> 00:36:10,566 From now on we're heading north. Next stop, RossIare. 530 00:36:13,407 --> 00:36:16,524 RossIare has thrived since the need arose for a harbour 531 00:36:16,607 --> 00:36:19,405 with a deep enough passage for steam ships. 532 00:36:19,487 --> 00:36:22,081 Yet it's so weII positioned facing the UK, 533 00:36:22,167 --> 00:36:25,398 you'd expect to find a far more ancient port here. 534 00:36:25,767 --> 00:36:30,283 And there is one. A coupIe of miIes up the coast, Wexford. 535 00:36:35,487 --> 00:36:39,605 To the Vikings ''Waiesfjordr'', a wide, shaIIow harbour. 536 00:36:40,007 --> 00:36:42,475 To another invader, OIiver CromweII, 537 00:36:42,567 --> 00:36:46,082 the town of Wexford was a CathoIic thorn in his side. 538 00:36:48,287 --> 00:36:52,838 In 1649 his New ModeI Army wiped out aII CathoIic resistance 539 00:36:53,087 --> 00:36:56,238 and repIaced them with a new wave of settIers, 540 00:36:56,327 --> 00:36:58,397 the so-caIIed New EngIish. 541 00:37:01,007 --> 00:37:05,603 The town is one thing, but he who wouId be master of Wexford's harbour 542 00:37:05,687 --> 00:37:09,965 must do battIe with a constant naturaI foe, sand. 543 00:37:13,927 --> 00:37:19,843 As the tide ebbs, the entire estuary is fiIIed with continuousIy shifting ridges of sand. 544 00:37:25,087 --> 00:37:29,842 Deep-drafted ocean-going vesseIs can't cope with the periIs of the sand banks. 545 00:37:30,367 --> 00:37:33,564 But there's a very ancient type of boat that can. 546 00:37:33,647 --> 00:37:37,117 FIat-bottomed and traditionaIIy with a pointed bow and stern, 547 00:37:37,207 --> 00:37:39,004 it's the Wexford cot. 548 00:37:40,247 --> 00:37:42,807 DUGGAN: Larry Duggan is my name, and I have been making 549 00:37:42,887 --> 00:37:46,118 Wexford cots for 60 years, of aII types. 550 00:37:48,527 --> 00:37:51,325 Our whoIe famiIy have been in it for hundreds of years. 551 00:37:51,407 --> 00:37:53,443 My father and my grandfather, and my great-grandfather, 552 00:37:53,527 --> 00:37:55,040 great-great-grandfather were making these 553 00:37:55,127 --> 00:37:57,516 way back in the early part of the 18th century. 554 00:37:59,087 --> 00:38:00,805 I suppose it's nice to be abIe to say 555 00:38:00,887 --> 00:38:03,879 that you're abIe to do something that comes naturaI to you. 556 00:38:03,967 --> 00:38:06,242 That's quite good now, Richard. 557 00:38:06,887 --> 00:38:09,037 Wexford's the onIy pIace that we get cots. 558 00:38:09,127 --> 00:38:12,278 lt's the estuary that makes the cots suitable for what it is, 559 00:38:12,367 --> 00:38:16,076 or the cot is suitable for the estuary, whichever way you want to put it. 560 00:38:16,167 --> 00:38:18,681 That boat wouId push out in six inches of water. 561 00:38:18,767 --> 00:38:20,803 That's the reason why the fIat bottom is stiII here. 562 00:38:20,887 --> 00:38:22,445 You wouIdn't get near the beach with a keeI boat 563 00:38:22,527 --> 00:38:26,202 because the keeI wouId be in the mud before you get near the shore. 564 00:38:26,287 --> 00:38:30,075 That's clinker - clinker is one board lapped over another. 565 00:38:30,167 --> 00:38:32,806 l think the Vikings brought that to this part of the country 566 00:38:32,887 --> 00:38:36,163 because all the Viking boats are all clinker-built. 567 00:38:36,807 --> 00:38:39,196 Apart from the cots l've made, shooting punts. 568 00:38:39,287 --> 00:38:40,720 l became an expert on building punts. 569 00:38:40,807 --> 00:38:44,243 No matter who wanted a punt, they came to Larry's yard. 570 00:38:45,367 --> 00:38:50,839 A traditionaI punt, that's onIy 10 inches high and she's 15, 16 or 17 feet Iong. 571 00:38:52,487 --> 00:38:56,446 You push it along with a pole. A good punter, he turns on his side this way 572 00:38:56,527 --> 00:38:59,280 and he's able to just glide along. 573 00:39:00,167 --> 00:39:03,876 It's Ioaded from the muzzIe, usuaIIy six ounces of shot 574 00:39:03,967 --> 00:39:05,958 to every ounce of powder. 575 00:39:07,687 --> 00:39:11,919 My big one takes four ounces of powder, 24 ounce of shot. 576 00:39:12,127 --> 00:39:13,446 (GUNSHOT) 577 00:39:14,127 --> 00:39:16,687 When it comes to the good shots, there have been good shots got 578 00:39:16,767 --> 00:39:18,246 and hellish good shots. 579 00:39:18,327 --> 00:39:22,400 l got 166 golden plover in one shot 580 00:39:22,487 --> 00:39:24,205 way back in 1952. 581 00:39:26,087 --> 00:39:29,397 There was a great market for them. I mean, aII during the war years 582 00:39:29,487 --> 00:39:31,125 you couIdn't get enough of them. 583 00:39:31,207 --> 00:39:34,802 That's England, that's where they were all going to feed them all over there in the war. 584 00:39:35,687 --> 00:39:37,040 (GUNSHOT) 585 00:39:38,847 --> 00:39:42,556 OLlVER: Shooting wiIdfowI using a punt can be IethaIIy effective, 586 00:39:42,647 --> 00:39:46,003 but it's aIso Iicensed and very strictIy controIIed. 587 00:39:47,007 --> 00:39:50,716 Out of range of ancient gunshot, on the north side of Wexford Harbour 588 00:39:50,807 --> 00:39:52,559 Iie the Wexford SIobs. 589 00:39:52,647 --> 00:39:55,764 Now, sIob is simpIy the Irish word for muddy Iand, 590 00:39:55,847 --> 00:40:00,762 which this entire area was untiI the 1840s, when it was drained and recIaimed. 591 00:40:01,447 --> 00:40:05,076 For the past 30 years or more, around 500 acres of sIobIand 592 00:40:05,167 --> 00:40:08,557 have become a wiIdIife reserve and over-wintering site 593 00:40:08,647 --> 00:40:11,081 for a huge variety of wiId birds. 594 00:40:12,207 --> 00:40:13,560 And as Wexford sIeeps, 595 00:40:13,647 --> 00:40:17,322 Miranda's going in search of one very speciaI species. 596 00:40:38,967 --> 00:40:41,162 lt's about an hour before first light 597 00:40:41,247 --> 00:40:43,886 and Paddy and l are setting off to a place called Raven Point, 598 00:40:43,967 --> 00:40:46,083 which is at the north end of Wexford Harbour, 599 00:40:46,167 --> 00:40:48,886 and if we're very lucky we might just catch a glimpse 600 00:40:48,967 --> 00:40:53,245 of a rare and very beautiful visitor to this part of the lrish coast. 601 00:40:53,327 --> 00:40:55,761 All set. Lights off. 602 00:40:57,647 --> 00:41:02,004 My guide out to Raven Point is wiIdIife warden Paddy O'SuIIivan. 603 00:41:02,087 --> 00:41:07,002 ApparentIy our success is going to reIy on keeping chat and movement to a minimum. 604 00:41:08,247 --> 00:41:10,636 I wish I'd bought a fIask of tea. 605 00:41:12,087 --> 00:41:15,523 SuddenIy, out of the darkness an unforgettabIe caII, 606 00:41:15,767 --> 00:41:17,485 ''NedIeck, nedIeck. '' 607 00:41:17,967 --> 00:41:19,685 (BlRDS CHlRPlNG) 608 00:41:19,767 --> 00:41:23,555 And against the earIy-morning sky, Iong strings of siIhouetted birds 609 00:41:23,647 --> 00:41:25,239 start to appear. 610 00:41:26,567 --> 00:41:29,286 KRESTOVNlKOFF: Magical. lt's brilliant. 611 00:41:35,807 --> 00:41:40,039 Fantastic. Just the sheer numbers of them and the beauty of the call. 612 00:41:40,807 --> 00:41:42,160 (CHlRPlNG) 613 00:41:49,047 --> 00:41:51,959 You can even hear the hum of the wings. This is just magical. 614 00:41:52,047 --> 00:41:54,959 This is probably the best spot to be, because right here 615 00:41:55,047 --> 00:41:58,722 you get over a third of the world's population of Greenland White-fronted Geese. 616 00:42:17,527 --> 00:42:21,361 KRESTOVNlKOFF: It's now 7.;30 and it's a reaI November morning. 617 00:42:21,727 --> 00:42:26,243 These birds have spent the night out on freezing coId, exposed sand banks. 618 00:42:29,607 --> 00:42:32,883 Now, in the safety of dayIight, it's time for a hearty breakfast 619 00:42:32,967 --> 00:42:35,162 in the nearby stubbIe fieIds. 620 00:42:38,207 --> 00:42:41,643 And for me, a day in the Iife of the GreenIand White-fronted Geese 621 00:42:41,727 --> 00:42:43,240 has just begun. 622 00:42:45,607 --> 00:42:49,885 Getting cIoser to them, one of the more obvious questions is answered - 623 00:42:50,327 --> 00:42:53,000 why they're caIIed White-fronted Geese. 624 00:42:54,607 --> 00:42:57,121 Their need to feed is paramount now. 625 00:42:57,367 --> 00:43:00,803 Each and every one of these birds has fIown here aII the way 626 00:43:00,887 --> 00:43:04,562 from their breeding grounds on the west coast of GreenIand. 627 00:43:05,007 --> 00:43:09,444 An incredibIe caIorie-busting journey of over 1800 miIes. 628 00:43:14,327 --> 00:43:17,399 For some years the WiIdIife Trust's scientific officer, 629 00:43:17,487 --> 00:43:21,605 AIyn WaIsh, has observed a marked decIine in GreenIand White-fronted Geese 630 00:43:21,687 --> 00:43:24,042 over-wintering on the Wexford SIobs. 631 00:43:24,127 --> 00:43:26,880 And there's onIy one way of recording the numbers. 632 00:43:26,967 --> 00:43:30,403 2,4,6,8,10, 2,4,6,8,10. 633 00:43:30,527 --> 00:43:32,199 20, 2,4,6,8,30... 634 00:43:33,087 --> 00:43:36,875 AIyn and the team are extremeIy anxious to monitor the decIine 635 00:43:36,967 --> 00:43:40,357 and they repeat this wiId-goose count time and time again 636 00:43:40,447 --> 00:43:43,564 during the winter months to coIIect accurate data. 637 00:43:43,687 --> 00:43:45,723 (KRESTOVNlKOFF COUNTlNG) 638 00:43:46,087 --> 00:43:51,286 It's a vast area, so we need to drive, and the cars aIso act as a mobiIe hide. 639 00:43:51,767 --> 00:43:54,156 The geese don't seem fazed by our vehicIe. 640 00:43:54,247 --> 00:43:57,842 But if we got out, the entire fIock wouId be airborne in seconds 641 00:43:57,927 --> 00:44:00,566 and we'd have to start counting again. 642 00:44:01,167 --> 00:44:04,364 l've noticed that several of the geese have got sort of neck collars - 643 00:44:04,447 --> 00:44:08,520 there was a K9Z and a K5U... Do we know anything about those birds? 644 00:44:08,807 --> 00:44:12,766 Yes, K9Z and K5U have been together for a number of years now. 645 00:44:13,127 --> 00:44:15,277 l don't think they've any goslings this year, 646 00:44:15,367 --> 00:44:17,517 but they probably will in a very short period of time. 647 00:44:17,607 --> 00:44:18,960 KRESTOVNlKOFF: So they're a breeding pair, are they? 648 00:44:19,047 --> 00:44:21,242 WALSH: They are a breeding pair, and that's sort of typical 649 00:44:21,327 --> 00:44:24,046 because we know that pairs are not producing young 650 00:44:24,127 --> 00:44:26,641 until at least their sixth year now. 651 00:44:27,487 --> 00:44:30,240 When you get to know the geese, you can see they're actually broken up 652 00:44:30,327 --> 00:44:32,761 into very discrete little family groups. 653 00:44:32,847 --> 00:44:35,122 lf we look at this group out here in the field, 654 00:44:35,207 --> 00:44:37,437 you can see there's a group there, they're almost certainly related 655 00:44:37,527 --> 00:44:38,516 in one way or another. 656 00:44:38,607 --> 00:44:40,996 KRESTOVNlKOFF: So both on the ground and in the air they tend to stay... 657 00:44:41,087 --> 00:44:42,679 -WALSH: They stay together. -ln the family group. 658 00:44:42,767 --> 00:44:45,725 Yeah. Normally if they fly from one area to another it's because they want water. 659 00:44:45,807 --> 00:44:49,322 lf they're grazing, they would definitely have to have water every two to three hours. 660 00:44:49,407 --> 00:44:52,001 They're shovelling in quite a lot of vegetative matter, 661 00:44:52,087 --> 00:44:55,045 and because their digestive system is extremely poor, 662 00:44:55,127 --> 00:44:57,357 they poop every three minutes. 663 00:44:59,047 --> 00:45:02,676 Now, l only came here to see the geese, but it's clear you've got a huge number 664 00:45:02,767 --> 00:45:06,043 of bird species that are travelling here from all over the place. 665 00:45:06,127 --> 00:45:08,766 WALSH: The White-fronted Geese don't have it all to themselves. 666 00:45:08,847 --> 00:45:12,920 Wexford is a very, very special place. lt's like an international airport, 667 00:45:13,007 --> 00:45:15,646 it's a hub for a huge range of species. 668 00:45:15,727 --> 00:45:19,197 We've got in excess of 200 species that come to Wexford. 669 00:45:19,287 --> 00:45:21,437 l think probably the most notable ones would be Brent. 670 00:45:21,527 --> 00:45:23,165 We have maybe three and a half thousand Brent 671 00:45:23,247 --> 00:45:26,080 that come from the high arctic of Canada. 672 00:45:27,527 --> 00:45:30,405 We have Hooper Swans coming in from lceland. 673 00:45:31,207 --> 00:45:35,041 We've got snipe, which again come from lceland and from Europe. 674 00:45:35,167 --> 00:45:38,318 We've got wigeon, which can come in from Siberia, 675 00:45:38,407 --> 00:45:42,639 Golden Plover from lceland and curlews, which come from Europe as well. 676 00:45:44,607 --> 00:45:48,486 KRESTOVNlKOFF: By Iate afternoon there's a change of mood on the Wexford SIobs, 677 00:45:48,567 --> 00:45:50,717 a new sense of anticipation. 678 00:46:01,407 --> 00:46:03,477 There's a stirring amongst the geese. 679 00:46:03,567 --> 00:46:06,798 A quick shake of the head mirrored by other famiIy or group members 680 00:46:06,887 --> 00:46:09,879 is a cIear indication of an intention to fIy. 681 00:46:17,087 --> 00:46:21,319 Soon famiIy after famiIy, squadron after squadron of geese 682 00:46:21,407 --> 00:46:25,195 from across the entire 2,000 acres of Wexford SIobs 683 00:46:25,287 --> 00:46:31,317 is airborne and heading back out to sea for the reIative safety of the Wexford sand banks. 684 00:46:44,847 --> 00:46:47,919 What an incredible end to the day. The sun's just setting 685 00:46:48,007 --> 00:46:54,003 and behind me the sky is absolutely black with geese coming in from every direction 686 00:46:54,087 --> 00:46:58,842 just to roost for the evening. lt's a truly unforgettable experience. 687 00:47:04,847 --> 00:47:08,965 OLlVER: From Wexford we head north aIong a huge Iong beach. 688 00:47:09,047 --> 00:47:10,719 This is CurracIoe. 689 00:47:10,967 --> 00:47:13,401 Because of its resembIance to the Normandy beaches, 690 00:47:13,487 --> 00:47:17,002 CurracIoe was chosen by Steven SpieIberg as the Iocation 691 00:47:17,087 --> 00:47:21,080 for the bIoody opening sequence of his fiIm Saving Private Ryan, 692 00:47:21,287 --> 00:47:24,723 which recreated the American assauIt on Omaha Beach. 693 00:47:27,047 --> 00:47:31,120 The actors have Iong since gone, but a battIe stiII rages. 694 00:47:35,647 --> 00:47:40,243 From here aImost aII the way to DubIin the coast is vuInerabIe, crumbIing, 695 00:47:40,327 --> 00:47:44,605 gIaciaI sediment that has been constantIy gnawed by the sea and weather. 696 00:47:44,687 --> 00:47:48,885 No wonder that there's IittIe trace of settIement, ancient or modern, 697 00:47:48,967 --> 00:47:51,765 untiI we get to ArkIow, then WickIow. 698 00:47:52,727 --> 00:47:56,515 Even here, for safe measure there have been three Iighthouses. 699 00:47:57,007 --> 00:48:00,477 Just to be sure, to be sure, to be sure. 700 00:48:08,487 --> 00:48:11,365 From WickIow we traveI north to Greystones, 701 00:48:11,607 --> 00:48:16,044 where the WickIow hiIIs dip a mountainous granite toe into the Irish Sea. 702 00:48:16,647 --> 00:48:20,845 Here, engineer Dick Strawbridge is expIoring one of the most remarkabIe 703 00:48:20,927 --> 00:48:24,283 but IittIe-known achievements of one of his heroes. 704 00:48:25,927 --> 00:48:29,044 Engineers don't get much greater than lsambard Kingdom Brunel, 705 00:48:29,127 --> 00:48:32,437 and one of Brunel's greatest challenges was right here on the lrish coast. 706 00:48:32,527 --> 00:48:35,564 lmagine trying to build a railway through that. 707 00:48:40,167 --> 00:48:42,078 STRAWBRlDGE: Bray Head. 708 00:48:43,367 --> 00:48:47,724 Precipitous granite cIiffs to tunneI through, deep gorges to cross. 709 00:48:50,567 --> 00:48:53,081 RaiIway engineer MichaeI Barry has no doubts 710 00:48:53,167 --> 00:48:55,761 as to the formidabIe obstacIes BruneI faced 711 00:48:55,847 --> 00:48:58,361 or to the briIIiance of his soIutions. 712 00:48:58,447 --> 00:49:00,881 BARRY: l would call it heroic engineering. 713 00:49:00,967 --> 00:49:06,439 We have ramparts out over the sea, which have to stand up to the heavy waves, 714 00:49:06,647 --> 00:49:10,879 the rock is extremely hard, it was extremely difficult to tunnel, 715 00:49:11,327 --> 00:49:17,084 but it also is unstable and you get rock falls from time to time. 716 00:49:17,767 --> 00:49:22,158 Digging through that kind of rock, it would be a really very difficult 717 00:49:22,447 --> 00:49:24,802 engineering job to do it today. 718 00:49:26,247 --> 00:49:30,001 STRAWBRlDGE: Since it opened in 1855, generations of engineers 719 00:49:30,087 --> 00:49:34,080 have re-routed, re-buiIt and aItered sections of the raiIway Iine 720 00:49:34,167 --> 00:49:36,123 through and around Bray Head, 721 00:49:36,207 --> 00:49:39,563 but you can stiII find evidence of the master's work. 722 00:49:39,727 --> 00:49:42,287 Down there you can just see some old stone piers. 723 00:49:42,367 --> 00:49:46,121 That's all that's left of Brunel's once-elegant bridge work. 724 00:49:47,447 --> 00:49:51,042 This was just one of the aeriaI bridges he buiIt to cross a void, 725 00:49:51,127 --> 00:49:53,925 giving passengers an aII-too-reaI sensation 726 00:49:54,007 --> 00:49:56,475 that there was IittIe between them and the sea beIow. 727 00:49:56,567 --> 00:49:59,639 This wasn't a raiIway, it was a roIIer coaster, 728 00:49:59,727 --> 00:50:02,525 and inevitabIy the thriIIs Ied to spiIIs. 729 00:50:03,127 --> 00:50:05,800 On 23rd April, 1865, 730 00:50:05,887 --> 00:50:09,118 the first-class carriage of the Dublin train simply left the rails 731 00:50:09,207 --> 00:50:13,200 and teetered on the edge of the viaduct 100 feet above sea level. 732 00:50:14,567 --> 00:50:19,277 The driver kept his nerve and pushed on, puIIing the carriages from the brink. 733 00:50:20,047 --> 00:50:24,518 But two years Iater, two passengers did die and 20 more were injured 734 00:50:24,607 --> 00:50:29,522 when three carriages Ieft the raiIs and feII 30 feet from one of BruneI's bridges. 735 00:50:30,007 --> 00:50:34,285 But the bridges weren't the onIy part of his Iine to take a battering. 736 00:50:34,407 --> 00:50:37,240 Bray Head's unstabIe rock feII so often, 737 00:50:37,447 --> 00:50:41,520 the company began seIIing it to contractors Iaying DubIin's roads. 738 00:50:41,967 --> 00:50:46,199 And the sea took its toII, too. Storm damage was aII too frequent. 739 00:50:55,167 --> 00:50:59,319 BruneI's raiIway through and around Bray Head proved so horrendousIy expensive 740 00:50:59,447 --> 00:51:03,838 to buiId, rebuiId and maintain, it's even been caIIed BruneI's FoIIy. 741 00:51:04,527 --> 00:51:08,805 But, in defence of my engineering hero, I have this one thing to say. 742 00:51:08,967 --> 00:51:10,798 lt is a cracking ride. 743 00:51:22,367 --> 00:51:24,881 OLlVER: As we emerge from the tunneIs we get our first gIimpse 744 00:51:24,967 --> 00:51:28,323 of what's been nicknamed IreIand's Bay of NapIes. 745 00:51:28,927 --> 00:51:31,441 Framing the scene is KiIIiney Beach, 746 00:51:32,287 --> 00:51:35,836 where Hermione is uncovering the story of a remarkabIe man 747 00:51:35,927 --> 00:51:38,202 and a revoIutionary experiment. 748 00:51:40,727 --> 00:51:45,482 ln the autumn of 1849, a group of workmen came down to this beach 749 00:51:45,567 --> 00:51:47,717 on an extraordinary mission. 750 00:51:48,047 --> 00:51:51,562 They'd been set the task of creating an earthquake. 751 00:51:52,047 --> 00:51:56,643 Now, this earth-shattering plan was the brainchild of Victorian businessman 752 00:51:56,727 --> 00:51:58,877 and scientist Robert Mallet. 753 00:52:00,807 --> 00:52:03,241 COCKBURN: Robert MaIIet was a DubIin-born scientist 754 00:52:03,327 --> 00:52:05,682 whose experiments on this tranquiI beach 755 00:52:05,767 --> 00:52:08,918 began to expIain the inner workings of the earth. 756 00:52:09,247 --> 00:52:12,717 MaIIet founded a science and christened it seismoIogy, 757 00:52:12,807 --> 00:52:14,798 the study of earthquakes. 758 00:52:16,527 --> 00:52:21,442 NearIy 160 years after MaIIet created an earthquake on this beach, 759 00:52:22,087 --> 00:52:24,521 we're going to try the same thing. 760 00:52:26,367 --> 00:52:30,280 At a time when no one reaIIy knew what caused tremors in the ground, 761 00:52:30,367 --> 00:52:33,564 MaIIet wanted to test his revoIutionary new theory 762 00:52:33,847 --> 00:52:36,680 that potentiaIIy devastating amounts of energy 763 00:52:36,767 --> 00:52:39,520 traveI as waves through the earth. 764 00:52:39,607 --> 00:52:43,486 In the experiment, he bIew up 25 pounds of gunpowder 765 00:52:43,567 --> 00:52:46,320 at one end of the beach. His earthquake. 766 00:52:46,887 --> 00:52:51,324 PreciseIy haIf a miIe away, he positioned himseIf with speciaIIy made equipment 767 00:52:51,407 --> 00:52:53,967 to see if shockwaves wouId register 768 00:52:54,047 --> 00:52:57,517 and how Iong they took to reach him from the expIosion. 769 00:52:58,007 --> 00:53:01,636 MaIIet's ambition was to pinpoint and map the epicentre 770 00:53:01,727 --> 00:53:05,515 of aII the worId's earthquakes, and, if possibIe, save Iives. 771 00:53:08,727 --> 00:53:12,163 Given there are severaI hundred smaII earthquakes every day 772 00:53:12,247 --> 00:53:15,125 and a major earthquake every 18 months or so, 773 00:53:15,247 --> 00:53:18,842 MaIIet's ambition is shared around the worId to this day. 774 00:53:20,607 --> 00:53:23,724 But in paying homage to MaIIet's originaI experiment, 775 00:53:23,807 --> 00:53:25,798 I've hit a few snags. 776 00:53:25,887 --> 00:53:30,199 Everyone's been IoveIy - the IocaI authority, the Garda, the Irish poIice. 777 00:53:30,287 --> 00:53:33,279 But, weII, they don't want their beach bIown to bits, 778 00:53:33,367 --> 00:53:37,963 so I've had to scaIe things down to two kiIograms of pIastic expIosive 779 00:53:38,047 --> 00:53:41,119 and retire to a safe distance of 100 metres. 780 00:53:41,207 --> 00:53:44,165 And there's another but, and it's a big one. 781 00:53:44,367 --> 00:53:47,837 As if explosives weren't enough for us to cope with today, 782 00:53:47,927 --> 00:53:50,316 we've also got to deal with this. 783 00:53:51,327 --> 00:53:52,555 Mercury. 784 00:53:53,447 --> 00:53:57,804 Now, mercury is wonderful stuff, but extremely poisonous, 785 00:53:58,007 --> 00:54:01,283 so that's why we've got it sealed inside this dish. 786 00:54:01,887 --> 00:54:06,881 Robert MaIIet's apparatus invoIved projecting cross-hairs onto a pooI of mercury, 787 00:54:06,967 --> 00:54:09,117 which he viewed through a microscope. 788 00:54:09,207 --> 00:54:13,246 If his theory was right, he couId time and record how Iong it took 789 00:54:13,327 --> 00:54:17,878 for energy waves from his earthquake to register as rippIes in the mercury. 790 00:54:19,767 --> 00:54:21,405 Rather like that. 791 00:54:21,727 --> 00:54:25,436 Now today, we're going to be standing a safe distance away from the blast 792 00:54:25,527 --> 00:54:29,520 and away from the mercury, so we've set up this video camera here 793 00:54:29,607 --> 00:54:34,556 in the hope that it will record any reaction that we get from our explosion. 794 00:54:35,207 --> 00:54:38,882 Whether or not it will work, well, that remains to be seen. 795 00:54:41,487 --> 00:54:45,275 That's the other thing. I'm reaIIy worried our expIosion won't be big enough 796 00:54:45,407 --> 00:54:49,002 to register the shockwaves in the mercury 100 metres away. 797 00:54:49,087 --> 00:54:50,964 So I've caIIed in some heIp. 798 00:54:51,047 --> 00:54:54,596 Scientists from the DubIin Institute, who wiII measure the expIosion 799 00:54:54,687 --> 00:54:57,884 using a sensitive 21st-century seismometer. 800 00:54:58,367 --> 00:55:03,725 Cheating? I don't think so, because this experiment by Robert MaIIet 160 years ago 801 00:55:03,807 --> 00:55:08,403 was the mother of the idea that Ied to the invention of seismometers. 802 00:55:08,487 --> 00:55:13,242 But does seismoIogist Tom BIake think our experiment using mercury wiII work? 803 00:55:13,807 --> 00:55:16,685 Yes, l am very confident that it will. 804 00:55:16,767 --> 00:55:20,237 We have the ghost of Robert Mallet behind us, l'm sure. 805 00:55:24,607 --> 00:55:26,996 MAN: Yes, we're ready to go, yes. 806 00:55:28,447 --> 00:55:31,757 Okay. Well, Dave, when you're ready, do the honours. 807 00:55:34,447 --> 00:55:35,880 (EXPLOSlONS) 808 00:55:37,047 --> 00:55:39,277 Oh, yes, look. lt's very good. 809 00:55:39,367 --> 00:55:42,598 -COCKBURN: Oh, fantastic! -Excellent. That's a very good shockwave. 810 00:55:42,687 --> 00:55:44,996 You missed the blast, though. lt was fantastic. 811 00:55:45,127 --> 00:55:46,640 (EXPLOSlONS) 812 00:55:49,007 --> 00:55:51,567 -So this is the modern technology working. -Exactly. 813 00:55:51,647 --> 00:55:54,798 -Now, what do you think about the mercury? -BLAKE: Let's go and check it. 814 00:55:54,887 --> 00:55:58,880 COCKBURN: Let's see what the camera shows us. Just go back a bit. 815 00:56:02,007 --> 00:56:03,884 BLAKE: Oh, yes. Wow! 816 00:56:03,967 --> 00:56:06,925 -That's the one! -That's really impressive, yes. 817 00:56:07,047 --> 00:56:08,321 l want to see it again. 818 00:56:08,407 --> 00:56:09,806 (BOTH LAUGH) 819 00:56:11,887 --> 00:56:13,639 -BLAKE: That's very good. -COCKBURN: The concentric rings. 820 00:56:13,727 --> 00:56:16,036 BLAKE: Exactly, yes. Very, very good. 821 00:56:16,127 --> 00:56:19,961 And from that Mallet basically kick-started seismology. 822 00:56:20,047 --> 00:56:21,765 Yes, he did his first measurements 823 00:56:21,847 --> 00:56:25,681 purely and simply with a simple mercury dish like this and a chronometer. 824 00:56:27,567 --> 00:56:30,764 COCKBURN: After his first experiment here on KiIIiney Beach, 825 00:56:30,847 --> 00:56:34,476 Robert MaIIet attempted to map the distribution and intensity 826 00:56:34,567 --> 00:56:36,876 of the worId's known earthquakes. 827 00:56:36,967 --> 00:56:39,322 He was within a whisker of a discovery 828 00:56:39,407 --> 00:56:42,444 which wouId take over a century to fuIIy reaIise - 829 00:56:42,527 --> 00:56:46,236 that the Earth's crust is made up of constantIy shifting pIates 830 00:56:46,327 --> 00:56:49,239 and that it's their movement that causes earthquakes. 831 00:56:49,327 --> 00:56:53,923 The germ of that understanding was formed in IreIand, on KiIIiney Beach. 832 00:56:55,047 --> 00:56:56,446 (EXPLOSlON) 833 00:56:56,887 --> 00:56:58,605 OLlVER: It's around 160 years 834 00:56:58,687 --> 00:57:01,679 since Robert MaIIet conducted his groundbreaking experiment. 835 00:57:05,687 --> 00:57:09,202 It's over 260 years since the Hallelujah Chorus 836 00:57:09,287 --> 00:57:13,803 was first heard here in DubIin at the worId premiere of HandeI's Messiah. 837 00:57:15,887 --> 00:57:20,278 From first footings by the Vikings, aImost 1,200 years ago, 838 00:57:20,687 --> 00:57:26,159 DubIin has grown into a vibrant capitaI city and a cuIturaI and commerciaI nerve centre. 839 00:57:27,007 --> 00:57:29,680 But, Iike aII the major ports we've visited on this coast, 840 00:57:29,767 --> 00:57:33,442 from Cork to Waterford, and from Wexford to WickIow, 841 00:57:33,527 --> 00:57:38,317 DubIin was founded and has fIourished by being connected to its neighbours, 842 00:57:38,607 --> 00:57:41,280 and the rest of the worId, by the sea. 843 00:57:43,607 --> 00:57:46,917 Next time, the coast as we've never seen it before. 844 00:57:47,527 --> 00:57:50,325 -Faster... -OLlVER: I'm definiteIy feeIing jiffy! 845 00:57:50,407 --> 00:57:51,396 Bigger... 846 00:57:51,487 --> 00:57:54,604 MAN: Wow, that is incredible. The scale of it. 847 00:57:54,687 --> 00:57:56,200 And smaIIer... 848 00:57:56,887 --> 00:57:58,843 KRESTOVNlKOFF: There's a whole hive of activity going on there. 849 00:57:58,927 --> 00:58:02,044 OLlVER: On a journey from AngIesey to BIackpooI. 850 00:58:03,007 --> 00:58:07,683 But for now, go n-eirigh an bothar Ieat - may your journey swift and easy. 851 00:58:08,287 --> 00:58:12,758 Until we met again on the next stretch of coast, sIan! Farewell.