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Tracks and Trails - Season 13 Episode 4 -
Kildare
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Kildare
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FunTranscript
00:03Today's walk is a day trip for me.
00:05I'm travelling an hour from Dublin by train to discover some of the hidden delights that County Kildare has to
00:10offer.
00:13I'm just off the train of Baila Aagha Clia go Baila Aagha I and today I am on a canal
00:18bank walk from Athai towards Monster Evan.
00:21And I'm very excited because my guest today is a man who's known very well in this part of the
00:25world and all over Ireland of course for his fantastic music.
00:28And he's going to teach me all about the rich history of Kildare.
01:04Aagha is a market town situated at the meeting of the River Barrow and the Grand Canal in southwest County
01:10Kildare.
01:11It dates back to the 12th century and was firstly an Anglo-Norman settlement before becoming an important stronghold in
01:17Ireland.
01:18Over the years it has seen a lot of different types of history from wars to creative history.
01:24It's been a centre for Ireland's oral and musical traditions.
01:27So it's no coincidence that my guest today is one of Ireland's well-known musicians.
01:33Jack Lukeman, known as Jack L, was born and bred in this part of the world.
01:37He has since toured and travelled afar with his music and has always returned to County Kildare.
01:43Jack is taking me on a walk to discover some of the more hidden parts this county has to offer.
01:50Jack, how are you?
01:51Welcome to Athai.
01:53Go on, Margaret.
01:55So excited to be here with you in Athai.
01:57Well, welcome to the fair town of Athai.
01:59Welcome to the People's Park given to Athai in the 1800s by the Duke of Leinster.
02:03Lots more to see.
02:05Beautiful scenery on the canal walk and so forth.
02:09Fantastic.
02:10Well, you're the man.
02:10Let's do it.
02:11Let's do it.
02:11With all the facts and the right messages on this journey.
02:13You're going to do some singing for me, I hear.
02:15It depends on how fast we're walking.
02:21We're starting our walk in Athai and heading out into the countryside to walk along the Barrow Blueway.
02:27The walk takes us from Athai along the watersides to end at Vicarstown,
02:31a Grand Canal grand total of around 12 kilometres.
02:37Jack, where are you from exactly in relation to here at the People's Park?
02:41Well, just outside of Athai on the Kilkenny Road, there's a place called Lockman's Garage,
02:46which is my great-grandfather started.
02:49And he won the plowing championships somewhere in the early 1900s.
02:54And he was a famous man with a horse and plow.
02:57And that became him with steam engines.
02:59And then my grandfather took that over and my father and his two brothers kept going.
03:04And my brother still has it going to this day.
03:08And it's still in the family name.
03:10So I'm a Thai through and through.
03:12But I just come from just outside of Thai.
03:22This is absolutely beautiful.
03:24Yes, this is the town hall and the square.
03:27It was built in 1730.
03:30And it was the moment where a Thai became from being a village.
03:32It became a town because of the town hall.
03:35But now it's the Shackleton Museum, which is Ernest Shackleton, the great Antarctic explorer,
03:41who did several expeditions to the Antarctic.
03:45He came from out the road in Kilke.
03:48So he's one of the most, I suppose, world-known Thai people.
03:53And also, I mean, you've got lots of beautiful stuff around the town,
03:56like the Maid of a Thai plaques.
03:57You've got Johnny Mars from the Smiths.
03:59His people came from the Thai.
04:00He's got a plaque over here.
04:01Manny from the Stone Roses.
04:02I'm lucky to have a plaque on Garter Lane over there,
04:05which I wrote a song about over by the castle.
04:07On the ground, you've got here this beautiful,
04:10it mimics the running of the barrow and the shape of the barrow.
04:14Coming from New Ross, St. Mullins, all the way down along.
04:19Running up to Carlow and through Carlow.
04:23The barrow is, of course, part of the Three Sisters.
04:25The barrow, the Noor and the Shure.
04:27And running up Milford all the way along.
04:32Bestfield Lock, all locally famous Levitt's Town.
04:36And, of course, to the town of a Thai and the Barrow Line just over here.
04:42God, it's fantastic, isn't it?
04:43I love how it's such an enduring power, isn't it?
04:46Cutting through all the townlands and how the goddess Barrow's energy endures here.
04:52The river has been here longer than anybody can remember, you know, before any of us were here.
04:56So, it's just lovely to have all these ancient history and modern history all in one spot.
05:04The Queen of Kings here, huh?
05:06Yes, indeed, yeah.
05:08Isn't it a beautiful mural?
05:09Isn't it gorgeous?
05:15Just a few short steps and we're out into the countryside and onto the river Barrow.
05:20Tell me about walking.
05:22What does walking do for you?
05:23I've always found walking and just rambling and just going out into nature is a great way of stimulating that
05:31fountain of creativity.
05:34And there's been many songs over the years that have been spawned from that or little just kernels of ideas,
05:41you know.
05:42So, that's what walking does for me.
05:45What's your favourite song you've ever written?
05:47Oh, Rooftop Lullabies is one of those songs that came to me just from nowhere.
05:55When you're writing a lot of songs, you kind of get into a flow state where songs just start coming
06:00to you and you're not overthinking it.
06:03And I find it very hard to write when I'm touring.
06:06You might get an idea, but it is something you need to sit down and kind of let the mind
06:10wander and let the creativity flow.
06:17So, this is where the Barrow meets the Grand Canal.
06:20Where the Barrow and the Canal takes off over here, yeah.
06:23The Grand Canal navigation from Dublin to the River Shannon has many access points to and from rivers along the
06:30way.
06:31Here at the Horse Bridge, the Grand Canal joins the River Barrow, which is also the access point for us
06:37for our canal walk.
06:39So, this is the famous local place, local landmark, the Horse Bridge, where the horses who were dragging the barges
06:47and they would cross over.
06:49And as you can see, the wall is curved along here so that the rope could run along it.
06:53And they were able to go over here to the canal and continue up that way.
06:57Fantastic.
06:57So, it's a famous landmark.
07:00Back in the day, people would come here in the hot weather and go swimming here.
07:04I'm sure health and safety doesn't allow that anymore, but it did.
07:07Were you ever brave enough to jump in?
07:08No, I was good at looking at people doing it, but my brother used to do it all right.
07:12Too much sense, huh?
07:13Too much sense.
07:14I was never a great swimmer, but it's a famous old spot.
07:16You might jump in yet?
07:18You never know.
07:18The day is young and the sun is out, so who knows?
07:29So, as you can see, we're approaching Rockfield Road.
07:32You have the old hospital over yonder and the old pauper's graveyard is over here.
07:39Hospital dating back the famine times.
07:42And you have this here where you have the marks of the rope from the horses dragging the barges along.
07:50And it's ingrained into the actual stone, which shows you how much work must have went on.
07:56That over time, it actually was able to do what an angle grinder would do today,
08:00but just with rope that it was able to cut into the stone.
08:03Isn't that amazing?
08:04Quite stunning, yeah, yeah.
08:06It's a great mark of time.
08:11I love the canal because it almost slows everything.
08:14It has a very kind of passive feel to it.
08:17It slows time down a bit.
08:24So, how do you know when a song is finished?
08:27Well, as they say, a song is never finished, it's abandoned.
08:31You kind of have to know when something is cooked.
08:34I suppose it's like being a good chef.
08:37You know when not to overcook something and when it's just fresh enough to take and record.
08:44That only comes from doing it for years and knowing, I suppose, when something is cooked.
08:49But then when you take it on the road and you play it in front of an audience,
08:52you kind of go, why didn't I do this or why didn't I do that?
08:56But that's just the nature of it.
08:57But I have recorded albums with kind of an audience in the room
09:00to try and bring more out of the songs in that kind of way.
09:05But ultimately, live and studio are just two very different things.
09:11And usually the first couple of takes of a song are as good as the 50th take in a studio.
09:18Just because it has a freshness to it, especially when musicians maybe are playing it for the first time.
09:22A lot of the great recordings are like that.
09:24If you look back through them, the Beatles would do a whole half an album in a day or a
09:28whole album in a day.
09:30And those songs have stood up for, you know, for all these years.
09:33So it makes you wonder.
09:36Overthinking things can be a big problem when it comes to creativity.
10:05Kildare Sports Partnership have been working at making the walks around the county as accessible as possible.
10:11The trails are becoming more and more available to everyone.
10:15Jack, isn't it fantastic to see more and more places become more inclusivity conscious?
10:20Absolutely.
10:21And this area, this is where my people come from.
10:24And to see all this here is absolutely stunning.
10:27Hi, lads.
10:27Look at this.
10:28Hey, guys.
10:30How are you doing?
10:32How are you?
10:34We'll have to get out on the bikes the next day.
10:37What do you think?
10:38How are you doing?
10:39Wow, that is so cool.
10:40It's great, isn't it?
10:42Absolutely, yeah.
10:42It's great to see people out and about and taking in all this fresh air and by the beautiful and
10:48relaxing canal.
10:49It's so important.
10:50So important for all of our mental health well-being.
10:53But it's especially exciting for you because you have a tie to this place, don't you?
10:58Yes, just across the road here is where my grandfather comes from and my great-uncle lived there for years,
11:06the Kyos.
11:06So just across the road here.
11:08So it's fascinating.
11:09I know this was pure country back in that time.
11:12So to see it rejuvenated and with cafes around here and people using this walkway, which didn't really exist properly
11:20like this.
11:21So it's fascinating and really heartwarming, I have to say, to see it being used and enjoyed.
11:28Yes.
11:31We're going towards Vicarstown now, which is the end of our walk today.
11:34And I can't believe the amount of history and stuff there is to learn here and us being so close
11:40to Dublin.
11:41It was a real eye-opener for me.
11:43But I have to ask you, what has been your highlight of the day?
11:46Well, it's been a trip down memory lane for me from the park in the Thai to walking along the
11:51canal where my mother's side of the family, the Kyos, come from seeing all that.
11:55So it's been an assortment of things.
11:57But it's just been lovely to be able to show you around and show you all these beautiful places.
12:01Have you had a favourite place yourself?
12:03Oh, thanks.
12:04Well, I really enjoyed seeing people of all different kind of abilities out on the Blue Way.
12:09I thought that was so special.
12:10It's great to see people out enjoying Ireland and all she has to offer.
12:15And, yeah, I think you're going to be seeing an awful lot more of me here now, I think, Jack.
12:19Well, you're welcome any time.
12:20You can see all the beautiful things we have to offer down here.
12:23So you're welcome any time.
12:25Oh, that's an offer I'm going to take you up on.
12:26Absolutely.
12:33I'm going to take you up on Kildare.
12:35Today I am in Kildare, an area that is famous, of course, for its luscious green plains and for all
12:40of the history that goes with that.
12:42And I'm looking forward to hearing those stories from a local voice.
12:46Now, Kildare has a long history of industry and barley crop farming that goes back generations.
12:52Set amid luscious farming and arable landscapes, as well as various water routes, Kildare offers plenty of walking, hiking and
13:01trekking opportunities.
13:02County Kildare is home to Monaster Evan and to the Grand Canal, which at one time was a bustling industrial
13:09and passenger transport route and is now used for leisure purposes.
13:13Celine Byrne is a soprano from Kildare.
13:15She is recognised both nationally and internationally as one of opera's great stars and has performed in all of the
13:22major opera houses around the world.
13:24She was born, grew up in and still lives in County Kildare and is the perfect guest to show me
13:30around.
13:33Celine Byrne, how are you?
13:34I'm good, hey.
13:36So good to see you and welcome to Kildare, my home county.
13:38I know, I've been dying now to get here because obviously it's so famous, the home of St. Bridget, the
13:43plains of Kildare, we'll have loads to talk about today.
13:45And the walkway here, it's brilliant.
13:47Yeah, this is new.
13:48Yeah, it's brilliant.
13:49Okay, well we better get cracking.
13:51Cool.
13:55Today's trail starts at Monaster Evan and runs alongside the Grand Canal to finish at Robertstown.
13:59The total route is 24 kilometres and takes around four hours.
14:04We're doing most of it on foot, but we're taking the final section by barge.
14:10So we are in your home turf, your home county.
14:13Yeah, yeah, in Kildare.
14:15Monaster Evan, yeah, it's lovely.
14:16You know, it was formed in the 15th century by St. Evan and the monastery was then, you know where
14:23Moorabee is?
14:23Yeah.
14:24Yeah, so that was, that was given to the Moor family.
14:28Actually, Moor Street in Dublin is called after the Moor family.
14:31Oh, I didn't realise that.
14:32John McCormack, Count John McCormack.
14:34Of course, a legend.
14:34Lived in Moorabee and I've done a few concerts there, so I know the place well.
14:38The legendary John McCormack, who was the quintessential sound, I suppose.
14:42Absolutely, like the gramophone.
14:44Yeah, he was, all his recordings on gramophone and everything.
14:48So two great singers from Kildare, huh?
14:51That's it.
14:51Go on, you good thing.
14:52There you go, there you go.
15:00Now the kayakers are coming, look.
15:02I know, it's great.
15:03It is actually, it's so lovely to see the canal and youth like this, isn't it?
15:07Yes, yeah.
15:08Have you ever kayaked?
15:09I have, actually.
15:11That should be our next date now.
15:12Really?
15:12Go for a bit of a kayak, yeah.
15:14No, I don't think so.
15:14I'd rather get in there now and swim.
15:16Yeah, well, listen, either or.
15:18It's definitely a different perspective from what we're getting there in the kayak, isn't it?
15:21See the wheel on the top, like, years ago, that would have been a drawbridge and a pulley,
15:26with a pulley system, yeah.
15:41God, it is just so peaceful to be walking by the canal, isn't it?
15:44I love it.
15:45It's so nice.
15:46What I didn't realise before I came here, and I was doing a little bit of reading,
15:50is that actually there's a really strong history of distilling and whisky making in here.
15:56I suppose it's no wonder, because the land is so good.
15:59Well, when we passed by here, the distillery here, up here, it's like 200 years ago,
16:04that would have been a storehouse for barley and wheat, and a lot of barges came from Dublin.
16:10Yeah.
16:11Especially from the Guinness storehouse and stuff all the way to Shannon.
16:14Mm-hmm.
16:14And when we get to Robertstown, my granddad used to work on the barges.
16:21It's funny, isn't it?
16:22Like, we forget the function of the canals, really, because, you know, they were kind
16:27of maybe not as important once the trains came into play in Dublin, but they were so integral
16:31to people.
16:32Yeah, because they brought a lot of people.
16:33Yeah.
16:33People moving around, and goods moving around, and to how Ireland worked, you know, in the
16:3818th century.
16:40He's coming after us.
16:43I love the way that this is now, this new blue way, is actually kind of giving us a chance
16:48to actually go back in time, so as to speak.
16:51But also, you know, I think it's brilliant that we can go on the canal again.
16:55And I think for the blue way to walk on the canal and cycle and, you know, go back to
17:00that
17:00kind of way of living is nice, because people are getting out more, which is brilliant.
17:04Like, I lost weight, and I'm out walking more and everything like that.
17:07Well, it's definitely a new perspective on the canals, isn't it?
17:10Aye.
17:21I'm getting near at home now.
17:22Oh, are you?
17:23Well, there's a lot of action going on here, I think.
17:25Yeah, it's double locks, so it's not that many, there's not that many double locks on the
17:29canal.
17:30Okay.
17:30So explain that to me.
17:32So you have a system here where normally one lock opens, and it's just basically a double
17:36lock, so the two locks are opening to let the boat go up.
17:41I understand.
17:42Because the water level has to rise for the boat to go up.
17:44Okay, and there's a steep drop, so you have to do it in inclines.
17:48Okay, well, we sit down on the swing beam.
17:49Okay.
17:50And have a look.
17:57We're sitting on a lock, which you say is a big pastime of Earth.
18:01Yeah, well, this is lock 23.
18:03My favourite lock is lock 3, which is in this, on the canal.
18:08And during COVID, I used to walk a lot and cycle a lot at the canal.
18:13And actually, when my dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer, the first thing I did was
18:20get on my bike, cycle in, and sit on the lock.
18:24And I just like the peaceful, just element of it.
18:28And when I was growing up, my dad used to bring us to the lock and used to sit us
18:32on
18:32the swing beam and get us an owl out to roach.
18:37And when my kids were smaller, we'd get like a takeaway or something like that.
18:41And I'd bring them to the canal, and I'd put them up on the swing beam, and they'd
18:45have a little picnic.
18:46And yeah, so it brings back a lot of memories.
18:49Nostalgic.
18:50That's lovely.
18:51That's a lovely memory to have of your dad and your kids.
18:54Yeah, it's nice.
18:56Being outdoors is a great way of processing emotions, but you're a musician.
19:01Yeah.
19:01So you kind of have also another way of processing emotions.
19:04Yeah, I mean, for my singing, my art form, it's a great way of expression.
19:10So I love the fact that I love my job.
19:12I love what I do.
19:13I've always loved the stage.
19:14I've always loved performing.
19:16I never thought it would be a career, actually.
19:18It was something that was kind of, I thought, that would never happen, because I thought
19:23growing up, because I'd had no idea of classical music, I thought the only way to be on stage
19:27was to be a West End star or something like that.
19:29And you have to be able to sing, dance, and act.
19:31And I can't dance.
19:32Two left feet.
19:33And so I think for me, singing has always been an escapism.
19:38I think it was a hobby to develop into a career, because I studied music, went on to my master's,
19:43then I did competitions, winning the Maria Callas in 2008, International Sing Competition.
19:49And then from there, that gave me a platform to be invited to different concerts.
19:55And then, yeah, one thing led to another, and I love what I do.
19:59In Ireland now, we all love to sing a few songs, but that's usually, you know, when you're in
20:04company or whatever, I mean, what you're doing is totally different from that.
20:07And I don't think a lot of people, you know, know, maybe, first of all, the work and dedication
20:13that goes into that, but also...
20:14Yeah, work hard.
20:15Yeah, yeah.
20:16But also, as well, when you're saying that, like, in Ireland, and you go out and you go
20:19and sing a song, like, I remember when I was training and everything, and my dad said,
20:23like, oh, she's studying voice and all that, you know.
20:25And then I'd go up to the pub, and he'd say, sing a song there, Woody, because my nickname
20:29is Woody.
20:29And I'd be like, what can I sing, Dad?
20:31And he goes, ah, whatever you want.
20:32So I'd sing, I'm your baby.
20:35And he's like, no, no, no, real song, a real song.
20:37A real song.
20:38So none of that.
20:39Well, what's so, when he says a real song, yeah.
20:43Oh, he just wanted, you know, an Irish song or a bit of Danny Boy.
20:46He loved the old Danny Boy.
20:48Oh, Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling from glen to glen and down the mountainside.
21:02The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying.
21:11Tis you, tis you, must go, and I must find.
21:24Now, we're heading to Robertstown, and I know you have a big tie to the place, but what
21:28would you think about getting another little perspective on this walk and heading on this
21:32barge?
21:33What do you think?
21:33I think that would be great, because I don't like walking.
21:38Hi, how are you?
21:39Welcome aboard.
21:39Good to see you, Anne.
21:44So tell me about your connection with Robertstown and, of course, the barges.
21:48Well, my great-grandfather and great-grandmother, Pat and Rose Byrne, were originally from Robertstown.
21:58Their house is the first house, the little cottage beside the school that's still there.
22:02And my grandfather, William, their son, was one of ten children who was born in that house.
22:10And as he grew up, along with his siblings, they worked in the local hotel.
22:14And he worked there, but he also worked on the barges.
22:17So he unloaded barley, rye, wheat.
22:20He worked for a Guinness storehouse.
22:21So, and then he also worked on a farm where my grandmother also worked, and they met on
22:29the farm.
22:30And then they moved to the Heavey Farm in Cara.
22:34Subsequently had their family of 11 children, one of which was my father.
22:38And then we grew up on that land, and we built all on that land as well.
22:42So it all rooted from Robertstown.
22:45Okay, so...
22:46And we're nearly there.
22:46You're a true-born Kildare woman.
22:48Aye.
22:49You take the woman out of the bog, but you can't take the bog out of the woman.
22:51Well, there you go.
22:52You're equal parts bog and opera.
22:53Is that fair to say?
22:54Yeah.
22:55Here I am, look, on a barge, in Kildare, on my way to Robertstown.
22:59And last week I was on a boat on the sea in Kusadasi.
23:05And I'm just as happy here as I was last week.
23:08And this is just beautiful.
23:13Celine, we're pulling into your ancestral home.
23:15So I want to know, what was your highlight from today's walk?
23:19I loved everything, to be fair.
23:21I loved everything.
23:22I loved the chats.
23:23I loved meeting you.
23:24I loved chatting with you.
23:25But if I was forced to pick something, I think it would be when we were at the double lock.
23:31I really enjoyed it at lock 23.
23:34It was just really nice.
23:35Very nostalgic.
23:37And yeah, I enjoyed that.
23:39Thank you so much.
23:40Oh, well, thank you so much.
23:41And you've stolen my favourite thing, because my favourite thing was listening to you sing Danny Boy.
23:44That was gorgeous.
23:45I really, I'll be, I'll be singing that in my head now for the rest of the week.
23:48Thank you for a great day.
23:50Thank you for a great day.
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