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00:03I've been lucky enough to travel the world playing music but there's one
00:10place that's calling me back I mean just look at this it's perfect
00:18the glorious west coast of Ireland on the edge of the wild Atlantic Ocean
00:25summer holidays were here in these magical places I haven't been back in a
00:31long time it's 40 years since I've been out on this lake and after the tragic
00:35death of my oldest brother Kieron dad was proud of you he was so proud of you I
00:43want to discover what made this place so special for him I'll be reconnecting
00:51with old friends we were like West life what yeah better than boys singing some
00:59songs and getting involved with the unique Irish culture I was 16 when I left
01:10Ireland there was so much of the Atlantic Coast I hadn't seen now I'm coming home
01:35we're in County Cork West Cork it's one of the most magnificent landscapes in the world
01:41I mean just look at that so peaceful so beautiful I wrote a lyric in a song a few
01:49years back I have been to many places but none I've truly ever seen I was packing
01:55empty cases that others carried around for me I mean I've lived a privileged life
01:59I've seen the world and this was right here waiting for me the whole time
02:07Cork is the southernmost and largest county in Ireland and the locals here will tell you this
02:13is Ireland's real capital the Beara Peninsula where I'm starting my journey is wild rugged and
02:21unpredictable while I'm here I'll be throwing bowls in an ancient sport you do call it the world
02:31Atlantic way there you know why I'm picking the freshest ingredients for a rustic feast it was
02:38like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory all these different flavors but first I've arranged to meet
02:45my nephew Rory who's a professional footballer with Cork City in the League of Ireland thank
03:01you hey Rory's dad my big brother Kieron is the main reason why I've decided to come home and take
03:09on
03:09this journey oh it's nice to be in the West back in the West forget you know just how green
03:16and lush and
03:16beautiful it is especially I got some photos here I am God put some stuff together that we have here
03:25we
03:29are oh will you look oh this is a great photo man this is backstage at Wembley boys on did
03:36Wembley a lot we were
03:37always there and was always a family out and when we played Wembley the whole family came over
03:48those Wembley shows in 1996 were the biggest gigs boys on had done at the time
03:55and it was great to have the whole clan backstage celebrating our success special memories
04:05um Linda your mom everyone's in it yeah mom's there dad me and Connell and you and Connell yeah
04:12that's brilliant okay this is my 18th birthday I think in swords in the Lord Mayor's pub
04:20and uh and there you go I mean you that's that's me and your dad one of the first birthday
04:26gifts he
04:27gave me was it now that's what I call music five right I think we're at about 90 now something
04:32like
04:32that I think I got my my musical education from your dad yeah the musical education Kieron gave me
04:40set me up for a life on the road with boys on and in those early years he joined me
04:45and we traveled
04:46the world together before he decided to move to the west of Ireland to raise a family and live a
04:51different life two years ago he was killed in a car accident and our lives have never been the same
04:59since oh man it's hard enough for us as siblings but I can't imagine where you are and uh you
05:10know
05:11I've kind of parked my emotion for the last two years yeah uh I haven't been able to really
05:19deal with it I I haven't been able to deal with it with with the loss you know he he
05:25made the decision
05:25to to make a life for his family he left Dublin and he and he went to the west and
05:32I think this
05:33journey that I'm on you know coming here and doing this is me trying to understand more Kieron's choice
05:41why and so that I can somehow grieve and let go because I found it very hard to it I
05:51suppose me
05:51playing football too I always look up and I you know I still think I can you know I still
05:56see him
05:56there you know he always the hardest part as well it's you know after games I used to check my
06:01phone
06:01first thing I'd see was my dad's name looking at my phone and not seeing that anymore it's just you
06:06know it's it's it's really hard yeah it's tough like but I know he can I know he can see
06:13me and I
06:13know he's watching and yeah just gotta keep he's so proud of you he was so proud of you and
06:18he's
06:18will still be so proud of you and everything that you're doing all of you kids yeah you were his
06:24world yeah you know pride and joy yeah showed us a lot didn't he come on I never get to
06:34say it but
06:36like I was the baby he was my older brother eldest brother and he's me hero
06:49yeah and uh I always looked up to him you know yeah it's really hard and I joined the band
07:06and I
07:06had to kind of grow up very quickly and I missed I missed stuff between us because of that
07:19uh I lost a lot I lost a lot of mail and a lot of sacrifices
07:27it's very hard I'm sorry I'm sorry I don't want to get upset
07:34um
07:41Ciaran's death has left a huge void in our lives
07:45but knowing him like I did he wouldn't want us to dwell on the sadness he was a hugely positive
07:51person and I cherish the memories of all the great times we had together
07:57I'm excited about taking this time here in the west yeah um and spent time here in a place that
08:07he loved most yeah I loved it absolutely loved it I think we should go do something fun now yeah
08:12I
08:12think yeah yeah 100 yeah one thing about us Keatings is our love of sport Rory is a professional
08:21footballer and a long time ago I was all-ireland under 13 sprint champion before I took up singing
08:31and here in Cork there's a unique Irish sport that's thriving
08:40road bowls played out on open but quiet rural back roads two competitors go up against each other
08:47over a set distance usually about three kilometers whoever throws the least number of shots to the
08:52finish line wins 23 year old Hannah is one of the game's rising stars a local girl she's been throwing
09:01bowls and she could walk wow technique hello there hi hi Ronan nice to meet you Rory nice to meet
09:14you
09:14what were you throwing so that was a vowel so yeah about so I have a road bell here for
09:21you so here here
09:23now so it's 28 ounces of iron so just pure iron now it's a cannonball into yeah mold it into
09:30a cannonball
09:31and shot out like a cannonball when it's thrown when you hold a bow now you're gonna hold it between
09:37like your thumb and your middle finger right um just to get direction okay so like yeah yeah no so
09:45it's just kind of it falls into the the little cup I suppose you make a little cup yeah yeah
09:50and then yeah
09:51thumb and keep your hand other fingers kind of wrapped around well look we didn't come all this
09:55way to not give it a go okay so beautiful piece of road here yeah the goal is to get
10:00the barrel as far
10:02down the middle of the road as possible yeah well it all depends on with the way the road is
10:06falling
10:07see the bow now when I shoot it down to Christy yeah Christy who's Christy Christy my road shower so
10:13he
10:13put down my sop what's a sop so the sop is the piece of grass in the middle oh I
10:18was wondering what
10:19that was yeah okay yeah so you're you aim for your sop that's your line okay and then I'd have
10:24my mom
10:24or I have other my mom down there now below she has a metal detector yeah what's the metal detector
10:30for
10:30any bow that goes hops into the ditch unfortunately that's her job she goes no metal detector what a
10:36brilliant idea how you map she's brilliant okay right lads who's off first age before beauty I'll
10:42go yeah okay right Mary get that metal detector ready low and fast low and fast low and fast like
10:49myself
10:49okay right show me what you got okay low and fast straight here try me best we're going in the
10:56ditch
11:00oh it's a good one Christy look at that line oh no it's gone left oh get a bounce oh
11:05a nice bounce
11:06got a rope does that count or does it oh that counts don't you get involved out of here you
11:12mark
11:12and then yeah Mary hasn't marked now she'd have it she's chalk so that'd be that's Ronan's tip
11:17Rory do you think you're going to beat that one that wasn't very far it's harder than you think I
11:22don't have very far to beat now do I wait good luck okay you ready for me Christy come on
11:27way drive it on low and fast come on let it go
11:32oh that's a good throw oh it's a big one that's down to the corner oh you oh that's around
11:40the corner
11:41it's gone wow well done what a throw I'm backing him ah no beginner's luck well that was impressive
11:56where were you again I'm in the ditch where did I have to be you're gone poor little Mary's in
12:01the
12:01village she's gone she's gone we won't see her for a week I might take this up I'm telling you
12:06you'll be down here every Sunday
12:18scores or matches as they're called take place almost every weekend during the summer here
12:23and there's one on today it's Tim Young against Tim McDonough my money's on Tim not sure which one
12:33though for the spectators who follow the action well you've got to have your wits about you
12:45they do call it the wild atlantic way there you know why
12:51and is this a big game it's a big game here yeah is there a few bow in this game
12:55yeah nine thousand
12:55eight hundred aside aside yeah yeah big bucks plenty of wasos okay with almost 20 000 euros as
13:06the prize for winning I can see why they take it so seriously it's incredibly exciting who knew this
13:27what's going on it's brilliant
13:32come on boy look at you it's very it's very intense isn't it very intense it's getting heated
13:39the elbows are out this score has come down to the very last shot whoever throws furthest wins
13:49oh geez that's a good one
13:54good luck how serious
14:00this is it
14:04he's got it he's got it he went over on his ankle
14:10great to watch thank you for allowing us watch it that was that was a very impressive it was hard
14:14far all right you went over in your ankle there actually okay the wind leaves the pain that was
14:19amazing do you know that was a big game
14:23well i'm not up to pro standard just yet but after a practice session earlier
14:28i think i'm ready for a proper throw oh yeah i'm not sure of my technique just yet
14:32right lads ronan against rory and the longest shot wins
14:39oh
14:39let's go right i wouldn't stand there if i were you
14:51oh in the hedge in the hedge
15:00oh it's a good oh it's gone
15:07oh nice nice 100 quid was it 100 quid was that what you said 200 200 yeah i won
15:15all right maybe we'll call it a draw will you do it again i'd love to do it again yeah
15:20we'd have to
15:20come back i think so oh delighted you're here it was uh it was really special to to share this
15:25with you yeah it was nice really happy yeah i really enjoyed it yeah very cool what a day
15:30enjoyed it look great sorry i beat you next time i'll let you in
15:3980 of ancient ireland was blanketed in forest the natural climate here is actually suited to
15:45temperate rainforest but native tree cover is now down to a mere one percent
15:52in a 280 acre site on the cork kerry border the wood family are cultivating a wilderness
15:59bringing back native woodlands and wetlands and encouraging nature to blossom
16:06how are you great to see you chloe is a farmer and a forager
16:11dishing up wild food beside the wild atlantic have you done any bit of foraging before
16:17no well you're in the right place yeah i'm really excited it's going to be lots of tasting and smelling
16:23and then we're going to be preparing a bit of lunch together with what i am hungry so come on
16:28let's get
16:28going great all right lovely okay so we're going to be starting on the forest floor and we have some
16:34incredible wild plants some of which you might recognize already so this plant here do you
16:39recognize the leaves at all well i do i do i've seen them before to put a name on them
16:45i don't know
16:46hideous moncidious or something what what is it so these are wild strawberries and they literally
16:53carpet the woodland around here you can just see some of the um the places where the fruit have just
16:59finished so we're just coming to the end of the season but i want to get your eye in right
17:03from the
17:03outside it's in it's in so this one looks very familiar to me this is a shamrock yeah and it's
17:10an edible shamrock would you believe so this is a plant called um wood sorrel and it's got this
17:17incredible zingy fresh flavor absolutely and the flavor really builds as you munch on the leaves it
17:24gets more and more intense and you'll get that real zing oh wow yeah yeah that's crazy isn't it amazing
17:32wow it's like willie wonka's chocolate factory you know when they were pulling them off the walls
17:37all these different flavors this is madness
17:42with a basket of freshly picked herbs and leaves it's time to get into the woodland kitchen
17:49and today pizza's on the menu one of my favorite foods but something i usually order in it's a
17:55pretty magical space up here so this is built completely from materials within about 30 meters
18:02of this woodland clearing i love that come on in let's get cooking yeah we've got some really nice
18:08fresh ingredients now to turn into some delicious lunch so the first thing we're going to be making
18:14is of wild pesto using the greens that we've collected and the first step is to put your
18:20arm into action yes doing some um down of some cashews so this is going to be a really nice
18:26base for
18:27our pesto this is going to be your pesto made to your palette so if you like it a really
18:33smooth kind of
18:34paste you're going to have to put a bit more uh effort in but if you like it kind of
18:39crunchy i don't mind
18:40a bit of crunching my pesto yeah and these pestles and mortars are also from the land of course they
18:45are wow the stones were gathered in the river that runs through the site and the pestles using some
18:52beech wood now that's looking great that's coming along beautifully so i'm now going to give you some
18:59of those wild greens that we've gathered and you're going to make a real mess doing this and that's great
19:05yeah it smells fantastic already some cheese a bit of salt and then do you like garlic i love garlic
19:12right answer we're actually using some elephant garlic that we've grown so you'll see they're kind
19:18of super sized cloves oh that smell that vibrance in that garlic is incredible super fresh give it a
19:25little try see what you think oh wow that's amazing good well that's better than good top well done
19:33thank you next step okay so now our pizza base okay
19:45perfect and you're going to start stretching it it's looking good that's looking nice i'm going
19:51for a square pizza today folks no matter what the shape is i'm assured it'll taste just the same
19:57this is three-cornered leek nice crunch oh wow yeah
20:05how are we looking looking fabulous this is proper fast food just a couple of minutes in the wood
20:12fired oven and this will be ready to eat good job perfect oh look at that absolutely gorgeous wow
20:23there we go we did that that's amazing now for some eating yes please so if you want to come
20:27over it
20:28we'll slice away see how we get on here look at that look at that indeed oh it smells amazing
20:35i tell you
20:36you've done a great job well thank you oh well done i tell you absolutely majestic
20:46good great team hey love that thank you well done that is amazing
20:53after that incredible food in the forest i'm heading back towards the wild atlantic coast
21:00in search of some nourishment for the soul
21:05over 50 years ago peter and harriet cornish bought 150 acres of this rugged cliff top farmland
21:12with dreams of turning it into a spiritual oasis for people dealing with sickness grief or stress
21:20wow would you look at that
21:25who would have thought you'd find something like this on the west coast of ireland
21:37now it's home to ireland's first and only tibetan buddhist temple
21:43retreats have been ongoing here for decades but the temple itself was only opened a year ago
21:52pascal is a chant master someone who leads prayers and rituals
21:57thank you for allowing us to be here this is this is remarkable um i mean so much to take
22:04in but
22:04i have to start by asking so you're a chant master an umze what exactly does that mean
22:10that means it's person in the monastery usually it's not like a lay person like me most of this
22:15chanting have been done in monasteries with monks yes so either you're leading with the voice
22:20or you're leading with the symbols okay and then you all the musicians are kind of you kind of the
22:27music conductor like directing the music with the symbols so you're always leading in
22:33in one way music or change it's incredible to think that this magnificent temple sits here in ireland
22:41you know i grew up in catholic ireland which was you know it was a lot we've obviously opened up
22:50our
22:50arms to the universe and to see this temple sit in this country that i love so much to know
22:56that it is
22:57it can accept and understand other people's beliefs it's it's remarkable for me i feel very proud
23:03i was charmed from the beginning the landscape is already remarkable there's so much harmony so much
23:09love in the way people work together in this place and just when you arrive sense of peace yeah and
23:14care
23:17over the last 30 years i've been very interested in spirituality pascal is going to guide me in the
23:23art of chant and meditation which buddhists believe can help us deal with stress sickness and grief
23:29yes beautiful thank you okay so so you wanted to know a little bit about mantra
23:37yes in tibetan buddhism that was a tradition of chanting mantras and the mantras we could say
23:44very simply that's a way to protect your mind so we can say protect from what protect from your own
23:51negativity all the negative emotions boiling inside so just to recite the mantra could be just a wonderful
23:57way to just suddenly feel more peace i lost my brother
24:05two years ago in a terrible terrible car accident in on the west coast of ireland
24:12and i've spent the last two years blocking that energy
24:18and i haven't been able to open up to the loss and accept my grief is there a way in
24:30buddhism that you
24:31can approach grief and try and understand it and deal with it many things could have i think the most
24:40important is to really to take the time to really be in touch with how you feel to really not
24:49to block
24:50it yeah and this omanipemiungri is also wonderful mantra you can recite for your brother i have blocked
25:00blocked blocked blocked blocked it so much i'm actually quite scared that when it it does
25:09show itself that i'm not going to be able
25:14you know so why don't we take a moment to just chant this mantra for your brother what his name
25:22uh kiran i'll try it i'll give it a go because i need i need to let go somehow let's
25:33just pray for him
25:34wherever he is may we may receive all the love all your love may be well may be happy
25:56oh
26:06oh
26:07oh
26:08oh
26:15OM HAN NIM BEMEHURI
27:18I know what I believe in, and I know my brother Ciarán is out there somewhere.
27:25This moment in meditation and chanting has been a real education about how I can start to deal with my
27:31own grief.
27:41They say you don't realise how much you miss something in your life until you have it back.
27:48And being back here in Ireland, I realise how much I have missed the land, this place.
27:58What a day, what a day today.
28:01Hanging out with Rory, the laughs that we had, the tears that we shared.
28:08You know, I think I'm ready for this journey.
28:11I'm ready to be back home in Ireland.
28:15On we go.
28:20You know, I'm ready to be back home in Ireland.
28:47You
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