- 2 days ago
Martin & Roman's Irish Road Trip - Season 1 Episode 2
tele: https://t.me/TopFilmUSA1
#film#shows#usa#usashows#hot#filmhot
tele: https://t.me/TopFilmUSA1
#film#shows#usa#usashows#hot#filmhot
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:02So what I did...
00:04What?
00:05..waxed all my nose hairs.
00:07I thought it is a wizard.
00:08No, that's crap. They don't work.
00:10Why? They don't work.
00:10Yes, they do.
00:11But I will say, though, is after you do that,
00:14you're smelling in absolute 4D.
00:17Yeah, but a wizard works just as well.
00:19I like it when you put it in your ear.
00:21And you can hear it going...
00:24..breaking the air.
00:25Of course you can hear it, cos it's in your ear.
00:27Yeah.
00:32I'm Roman Kemp.
00:34I mean, look at this.
00:35There's some of the scenery we're driving through.
00:36It's beautiful where we are.
00:37Really nice.
00:38And I'm his proud dad, Marcin.
00:41So are you ready for this road?
00:42I'm ready.
00:43Yeah?
00:43I'm ready.
00:44And we're off on a father and son road trip like no other.
00:50Oh, my goodness.
00:52Around the landscapes.
00:53You don't fancy paddling then, Dad?
00:55I'm just taking life easy, right?
00:56And legends.
00:58I mean, it looks cool.
00:59It is beautiful, isn't it?
01:00It looks cool, yeah.
01:01Of the magical island of Ireland.
01:05It sounds like my dad in the car.
01:08I lived here back in the 80s.
01:10Back in my Spandau Ballet days.
01:13This place had a huge influence on me.
01:15My mum always said she was half Irish.
01:19So that makes me a quarter Irish.
01:21That makes you an eighth Irish.
01:23So coming back now with Roman feels a little bit like coming home.
01:27I'll kiss her.
01:28I can't remember the last time we went on holiday.
01:31Not together.
01:32It's like me.
01:33Since you were a kid.
01:35We don't spend nearly enough time together these days.
01:38Oh!
01:40And life seems to be getting faster and faster.
01:44Dad!
01:44What were you?
01:45Rome makes me feel bad if I don't do it.
01:48No.
01:48It's not makes me feel bad.
01:50It makes me feel old.
01:51So this is a chance to slow down and explore some of the things Ireland does best.
01:59Stories.
02:00Mystery.
02:01So from looking at that, you think there's a vampire under that upside down?
02:06Yeah.
02:07And history.
02:08Out of all the places I've been, I've never come across anything like this.
02:13After all, Ireland is in our blood.
02:15I think.
02:17Dad, we've literally done those DNA tests.
02:19I know.
02:20And it turned out that we were what?
02:22Germanic.
02:23Oh!
02:24Little devil within, little devil without.
02:27Oh!
02:29Proper boys week together.
02:31That's what we wanted, isn't it?
02:32Yeah.
02:44For our next set of adventures on our father and son road trip around Ireland,
02:49we've come to the mythical east.
02:52Pick up the keys to an ancient tomb.
02:54Pick up the keys to an ancient tomb?
02:56Yeah.
02:57Look, let me put a postcode in.
02:58T-O-M-B.
03:01Yeah, brilliant.
03:02There we go.
03:02Yeah, nice one.
03:04The counties of Meath and Dublin are shaped by ancient traditions and mysterious folklore.
03:12I think it is this one here on the left.
03:15Or on the end?
03:16This here.
03:17She is the keeper of the key.
03:19Yeah.
03:20I mean, this is a bit weird.
03:21It is a bit weird, I've got to say.
03:23The first place we're going to explore is here in the Boyne Valley.
03:27And it's all a little bit Indiana Jones.
03:30Are you sure?
03:32Look, I'm going to wait here.
03:33Oh, no.
03:34Come on.
03:34Come with me.
03:35As we try to retrieve an artefact that will grant us access to a Stone Age tomb.
03:41You'll be fine.
03:41She's going to say, what's Martin Kemp doing at the door?
03:44Yeah, well, it would be weirder if we're both there.
03:46The ancient key is apparently here at this address.
03:51Has Dad got what it takes to overcome this first challenge?
03:55Dad didn't want to go and get the key.
03:57He doesn't like meeting new people.
03:59Don't really like making new friends.
04:01So, it's good for him, really.
04:02It's a learning experience.
04:07It's Martin Kemp.
04:08Yeah, you are.
04:09Do you have the key for the tomb?
04:12The tomb, yeah.
04:13Is it all right if I take it from there?
04:15All right.
04:16Thank you very much.
04:16I'll bring it back.
04:17All right.
04:18See you later.
04:21You got it?
04:23Yeah, I got it.
04:24You got it?
04:24Yeah.
04:25Oh, yes.
04:26I got it.
04:26You got it?
04:27Do you want to see it?
04:28I'm ready.
04:29Right.
04:29How is this going to...?
04:34It says on here, Neolithic tomb.
04:39That is it.
04:40That is it.
04:45It's an underwhelming start.
04:47Definitely a burial mound up there.
04:49But then we meet historian Anthony Murphy.
04:54Hello.
04:55And things start looking up.
04:58Welcome to Fornox.
04:59This looks amazing.
05:01Well, this might just be Ireland's best-kept secret.
05:04Certainly the Boyne Valley's best-kept secret.
05:06Everybody in Ireland knows about Newgrange.
05:10Newgrange is like Ireland's Stonehenge.
05:12Yeah.
05:13Older than Stonehenge.
05:14Older than the pyramids.
05:16Older than the Stonehenge.
05:16Yeah.
05:17But a lot of people haven't heard of what would be considered a smaller version of Newgrange.
05:22Right.
05:23And it might even be older than Newgrange.
05:26In this part of Ireland, you often see large bumps in the land that are far too round and regular
05:32to be natural formations.
05:34The most famous is Newgrange, a 40-metre-wide mound of stone and earth built by Ireland's first farming communities,
05:42who arrived here around 6,000 years ago.
05:45Drawn by a fertile land, they grew crops here and raised cattle and left behind these extraordinary structures, including four
05:53nocks.
05:55I can't wait to see inside, though.
05:57Yeah.
05:58One of you have the key, have you?
05:59Yeah, yeah.
06:00Yeah.
06:02Well, did you have it?
06:03Did you have the key?
06:03You've not got it?
06:04No.
06:05Yeah, of course I've got it.
06:06Oh, you're right back.
06:08Where'd you get it?
06:08One of us has to be the responsible adult here.
06:11Oh, I see.
06:11I'll leave this to you.
06:12Yeah.
06:13Brilliant.
06:13We were expecting something a bit more, I guess, neolithical, but...
06:18No, it's low-key.
06:20Yeah!
06:21Literally, yeah, exactly.
06:22The joke about four knocks is that you have to knock four times to enter.
06:27OK, OK.
06:27Great.
06:28All right.
06:28Go on.
06:29Mind your head.
06:33Four.
06:33Oh, yeah.
06:34Yeah, four.
06:35Yeah.
06:36Right.
06:36If you get no answer, that means you're welcome.
06:38Yeah.
06:39The key might be small, but what it unlocks certainly isn't.
06:44Wow.
06:45Oh, my goodness.
06:48Wow.
06:49Look at that.
06:50That is absolutely amazing.
06:52We are inside what is the largest Neolithic passage tomb chamber in Ireland.
07:01Right.
07:01At least the largest one that we know of.
07:03Nearly three times the size of the chamber of Newgrange, which is a much bigger monument
07:08on the outside.
07:09Yeah.
07:09But the one thing that you will notice if you look up is that the ceiling is a modern
07:15concrete dome.
07:16Yeah, of course.
07:17And that's because the original roof collapsed.
07:20Yeah.
07:20Right.
07:21And we know that it collapsed while the monument was still being used in the Neolithic.
07:26And it was left like that until the archaeologists came 75 years ago in 1950.
07:33They were the first humans to see the inside of this monument.
07:38Wow.
07:39Since the time that it was constructed.
07:41Wow.
07:42What they saw was a vast passage tomb, with one narrow stone corridor leading from the
07:48entrance into a wide central chamber, with three recesses branching off, containing
07:55cremated human remains.
07:56People weren't buried individually here.
08:00They were buried en masse.
08:02Right.
08:02The examination of the remains would suggest there was about 65 people buried in this
08:08monument.
08:08But after cremation, and even after that, they're all broken down into small fragments.
08:14180,000 fragments of bone were removed from Fornox.
08:18It's like they were creating or trying to create, you know, a lasting memorial to their own fleeting existences.
08:27Yeah.
08:27They were only here for the blink of an eye and gone again, you know.
08:33Our Stone Age ancestors would have been lucky to reach 30 years old.
08:38Maybe the shortness of their lives was a big motivation to make their mark and make sure it lasted.
08:45There's something that's caught my eye as we came in initially, and it's that over there.
08:52These patterns, are they new or are they old?
08:54This is the artwork that was left behind.
08:57It's highly abstract.
08:59Yeah, yeah.
08:59You know, and the best way to see it actually is to bring your torch to the side rather than
09:04from the front.
09:05Yeah.
09:05You see more of the detail.
09:07Anthony has a strong interest in Irish archaeological science, and having written a book all about
09:13Fornox, he brings his own perspective on its mythological meanings.
09:18I'm sure these were imbued with deep meaning for the people who carved them.
09:22Yeah.
09:22But what you have at Fornox are the lozenges, or the diamond, and the zigzags or chevrons,
09:28which are the dominant patterns here.
09:31One theory that's popular, even among some archaeologists, is that Fornox is the location of the earliest ever representation of
09:41a human face.
09:42Getting closer, getting warmer.
09:45Getting warmer.
09:46Getting warmer.
09:47Is that what we're looking for, Anthony?
09:50Yes.
09:51That is it?
09:52That is it.
09:53They called him the old man of Fornox, and King Tut, and the clown.
09:58Yeah, he is a clown.
10:00Can you see?
10:01I can't.
10:02Because a lot of people stand here and they can't see it.
10:05Well, I can see the chin.
10:05Well, I can see a line that could resemble a chin, yes.
10:08But what we're supposed to be seeing is an eye, and a big nose, and a big broad smiley face.
10:16Yeah, yeah, yeah, big smiley face.
10:17But if it's a face, it's a one-eyed face.
10:20You know, the artist was something of a Picasso, you know?
10:22I can see it quite clearly.
10:25It looks like a face.
10:27Yeah, I can see the eyes.
10:28Yeah, it absolutely makes sense to me.
10:30It's an absolutely amazing place.
10:33Make sure to come back, you know?
10:34Yeah, yeah, of course.
10:36Well, we've got the key, so that's good.
10:37Speaking of which, I should probably give it back.
10:40It's amazing to make this direct connection with people who lived so long ago.
10:44It's like they're communicating with us across thousands of years.
10:48The Boyne Valley isn't just a place where myths are preserved.
10:52It's a place that inspires them too.
10:54And those myths draw people here.
10:56People who feel the need to connect with the wisdom of their ancestors,
11:00and the old ways of doing things.
11:03So we're heading next to Tara,
11:05a hill long associated with kings, ceremonies, and legends,
11:10where we're going to meet a druid.
11:14I can't hear the word druid and not think of a droid from...
11:18A droid? No, CP3O.
11:21CP3O?
11:22Close.
11:23It's C3PO, but don't worry about it.
11:25CP3O?
11:26Yeah, yeah, nearly got it.
11:27What did I say?
11:28No, you said CP3O, it's C3PO.
11:31Yeah, that's because I'm dyslexic.
11:32Yeah, yeah.
11:33Don't worry.
11:34The druid, definitely not droid, that we're looking for is called Carmel.
11:38And she's promised us something called a sound bath.
11:41So things could be about to get even more confusing.
11:54Our journey into Ireland's myths and legends has brought us east,
11:58deep into the Boyne Valley,
12:00a place where stories are etched into the landscape.
12:04From ancient tombs to sacred hills,
12:07this valley echoes with voices from the past.
12:10But at the Hill of Tara,
12:12one of Ireland's most revered ancient sites,
12:15those echoes take on a whole new form,
12:18in the hands of Carmel Diviny, an ordained archdruid.
12:24So there's lots of stories of sound in ancient Ireland.
12:28And here we are here at the Hill of Tara,
12:30which was steeped in ancient history.
12:32And mythology.
12:34Right.
12:34And we have the story of the silver branch
12:37that came from the other world.
12:39And it was also used to heal.
12:42This is my little reproduction of it.
12:45Yeah, nice.
12:45What's the story behind the silver branch?
12:47So the silver branch was brought to Tara by a giant.
12:51And in some of the stories it had nine bells,
12:53and in others there were ten bells.
12:55Some say silver, some say gold.
12:57And in yet another story there were acorns.
13:00So I put a bit of everything on here.
13:01A bit of everything, yeah.
13:02Yeah.
13:03Some magical hair and feathers as well.
13:05Yeah.
13:05So I use that sometimes in the sound baths.
13:09All of these ancient instruments have their own qualities,
13:12their own vibrations and frequencies
13:15that Carmel uses to calm the body and slow down brainwaves.
13:20I'm not sure my brainwaves can afford to slow down much,
13:23but when it comes to sound,
13:26Roman's brainwaves are a whole other story.
13:29Since I've been a kid, I can see the sound.
13:35Not someone singing.
13:36Someone singing is different.
13:37It's the actual sound that is made.
13:39Amazing.
13:40I could draw it.
13:41The vibrations.
13:42That's amazing.
13:42Nah, it's weird.
13:44It's like certain sounds are circular,
13:48some are triangles, some are...
13:50Wow.
13:51...just simple lines or something.
13:54I call it like crunchy in my head.
13:56I can feel it.
13:57It's weird, yeah.
13:58Oh, that's very interesting.
13:59Yeah, so I'll see what I've come out with.
14:01Yeah.
14:02Seeing sounds is weird, but I'm not alone.
14:05It's a thing called synesthesia,
14:07but I've never seen or heard instruments like this before,
14:10so I've got no idea of what my brain might conjure up.
14:15So these are called crystal pyramids,
14:18and I love these because they're very complex in sound,
14:21so I'll get them going.
14:23Ooh.
14:24Ooh.
14:30Wow.
14:31What a beautiful sound.
14:33Yeah, and they're even hypnotic to look at.
14:35Yeah, they are, yeah, yeah.
14:37So if you pair that with the complex sound of the gong...
14:42Yeah.
14:43That's amazing, isn't it?
14:44Mm.
14:45Yeah.
14:46So now it's time for our sound bath,
14:49or as my dad would call it, a sound bed.
14:53Don't go side on, you will fall asleep then.
14:55I won't.
14:56So to begin, I'll just invite you to follow the sound...
15:03..and become aware of your own breath,
15:05coming in and going out.
15:10Comelle says that you'll feel one of three things when you do this.
15:14Happy?
15:15Sad?
15:26Or sleepy?
15:40Oh, wow, that was amazing.
15:42Caught myself in a half-snore at one point.
15:44I went, oh, no.
15:45I didn't notice.
15:47Yeah.
15:48Yeah, it was really nice.
15:50Yes.
15:50I really enjoyed that.
15:53Yes.
15:54Yeah.
15:54At some points, I felt a vibration going up my legs.
15:57Good.
15:58Yeah.
15:58That's because your toe was touching it.
16:00Maybe.
16:01So, whilst I didn't feel anything up my legs,
16:04I did see some shapes.
16:06The bells at the end are dots.
16:09Dots?
16:09Yeah.
16:10That just...
16:11I can see them as a cluster of dots in certain areas,
16:16but then some of the bowls are flat lines,
16:21but that are just shaped, almost like an arc kind of shape.
16:25But then...
16:26Wow.
16:26Some of them were twisting, like cylindrical.
16:30That's really fascinating.
16:31Did you have anything with the gong?
16:34The worst definition possible of that sound is,
16:37have you ever played Rainbow Road in Mario Kart?
16:40It kind of looks like...
16:40I know what you're talking about.
16:41It kind of looks like...
16:42I know what you're talking about.
16:43It kind of looks like a transparent road.
16:44Yeah, yeah.
16:45That's interesting.
16:47I don't get sound visions like Roman,
16:49but I love to meditate.
16:51And this experience for me is about much more
16:55than just relaxation.
16:57I meditated all my life.
16:59I've done it ever since I was young.
17:00And I went through a big period 30 years ago
17:04when I was really sick.
17:05I had a couple of brain tumours
17:06that were sitting there that needed something out.
17:09And two-year gap between having one taken out,
17:11big one taken out,
17:12and one that was sitting in the middle of my brain.
17:14So I got into this picture of meditation
17:16where this hand would come up
17:18and it would kind of cut the tumour out
17:21and then drag it away.
17:22And it helped me for a long time,
17:24a good couple of years.
17:25So I've always had this idea
17:28that meditation can heal you and help you.
17:33So that sound bath was a magical experience for me.
17:37And something I'll try again next time
17:39I want to escape from the demanding sounds of modern life.
17:45PHONE RINGS
17:48Hi, darling, you all right?
17:49Hi, guys.
17:50Mum, you'll like where we just went.
17:52Oh, yeah, tell me.
17:53We went to meet an arch-druid.
17:55We had a sound bath.
17:57Oh, yeah, I like sound bath.
17:59You've done it, haven't you? I knew you would.
18:01Long story short, we had a nap.
18:03Yeah.
18:05Well, that's good.
18:07Well, Mum, listen.
18:10I'll, er...
18:11I don't need to give you a ring
18:12cos you're calling us every five minutes, so...
18:14Yeah, I'll speak...
18:15Yeah, but I'm missing you, darling.
18:17Yeah.
18:17Yeah, I know.
18:18I don't know why I couldn't have come along to sit in the back.
18:22You probably could have, to be honest.
18:23Yeah.
18:25All right, Mum, we'll speak to you later.
18:27Stay safe. Enjoy your journey.
18:29All right, darling.
18:30Give the dogs a kiss for me.
18:32See you, bye.
18:33See you, bye.
18:34Bye.
18:35Gives the dogs a kiss.
18:37Yeah.
18:38I always kiss the dogs, don't you?
18:39I mean.
18:40I always kiss the dogs.
18:42What's wrong with that?
18:48The fields are empty
18:51The sunbirds all flown
18:53The gap in the old kids
18:57Too small now you've grown
18:59When we bury our old selves
19:02Try not to cry
19:05It's just how it goes
19:06And I don't know why
19:10One of the best things about this trip
19:12Apart from getting to spend time with Roman
19:15Is getting to spend time with Roman in a pub
19:18But our next pub
19:20But our next pub
19:20Is much more than just a place to meet
19:22Eat some drink
19:25The Manor War has stood on this hill in Balbriggan since 1595
19:30A crossroads for stories, songs and gatherings for over four centuries
19:35Tonight it's playing host to a living tradition
19:38The Mummers
19:40Masked makers of mischief
19:42Who carry old tales from place to place
19:44House to house
19:45Or ideally for them
19:47Pub to pub
20:02To the sound of the horn and the beat of the drum
20:04We're the Mummers who from far have come
20:06We're the Mummers who dance in the street
20:08We're the boys who beat all we meet
20:10Mummers plays
20:11Like this heroic combat play from the 1800s
20:14Are part theatre and part seasonal ritual
20:17As masked figures bring loud and colourful stories to life about heroes
20:22I'm Baldrim Rime, I'm Ireland's favourite son
20:25I fought in many battles
20:27Some I lost, but most I won
20:29And villains
20:30In comes I, bold Prince George
20:36From England have I come
20:40This group has been performing for 43 years
20:49Unmasked and ready to tell us more
20:54Is lead Mummer, Sean McPhilaby
20:57It was so fantastic
21:00Just tell us what it was about
21:01Yeah
21:02So this is the North County Dublin
21:04Fingal Mummers play
21:05And you get Mummers plays all around Britain
21:07And Ireland
21:08And in Newfoundland
21:10And in the Caribbean
21:11They're masked in Ireland traditionally
21:13Using straw hats like these
21:15And this connects us to lots of very old customs
21:18Like Brie Doga, Straw Boys
21:21Festivals that take place on the quarter days
21:24In the Irish calendar custom
21:25And indeed all across Europe
21:27And the Northern Hemisphere
21:28It's all praying for a good crop
21:30Come the following year
21:32Well this would suggest a relationship to the crop
21:34Yeah
21:34Because these are made typically after harvest time
21:37Yeah
21:38Or indeed at harvest time
21:39And kept for the Mummers' performances
21:41Maybe for going out at Halloween in some places
21:44Yeah
21:44Also for St Bridget's Day in Ireland
21:46Where they would dress wearing straw costumes
21:49For weddings
21:49Where the straw boys
21:51Dressed not unlike what you've seen
21:53Would come in and steal the bride at a wedding
21:55Typically they'd be uninvited
21:57So it's a way of gate crashing for food and drink
21:59Yeah
21:59And you steal the bride, take her up for a dance
22:02And she's released when you've got some kind of a guarantee
22:05That you're going to be given large yes in the form of maybe a few quid
22:08Yeah
22:08Or food and drink
22:10Right
22:10Why
22:11I love the design on the faces
22:14I mean is that just your guys design or is that like sticking to what
22:17It's one of our members actually
22:18It's Mags who's an artist herself
22:21Yeah
22:21I'm not just a word you know
22:22I like it, it's brilliant
22:24Our masking is central to the customer
22:30For mummers the mask isn't just decoration or character
22:33It also protects your identity
22:35Lets you step outside of yourself
22:38And say things out loud that you might normally keep to yourself
22:41Maybe that's the reason it's never died out
22:48It's not a revived tradition
22:50It hasn't expired
22:52There wouldn't have been a decade
22:53Certainly in the 20th century
22:55Where there weren't mummers gone out performing
23:00We're very much part of a continuing local tradition
23:03And I think people gravitate towards that
23:06And certainly at the moment in recent years
23:08It has a much stronger resonance all over Britain, Ireland
23:13And continental Europe as well
23:17The more we travel around Ireland
23:20The more we get a sense of this pride in tradition
23:23That hasn't faded
23:24In a rapidly changing, endlessly updating world
23:27There's comfort in old rituals that are simply carried on
23:31Pub to pub, door to door, year after year
23:34So, now that you've seen it
23:36Maybe you'd like to take a shot at this yourselves
23:38How would you feel about being part of our mummers band?
23:41I'd give that a go
23:41Yeah, why not?
23:42Let's do it!
23:43I don't know exactly what we've just let ourselves in for
23:47But there's something about Irish hospitality
23:49That makes it very difficult to say no
24:06The latest stop on our story-finding road trip around Ireland
24:10Has brought us to Balbrigham in North County Dublin
24:14Where we're about to take part in a story ourselves
24:17As honorary mummers
24:18Are you happy to take the part of the little divil?
24:22I'll do anything
24:23Oh God, be careful when you say that now
24:25So one of the things in a mummer's performance is that
24:28It can be made as long or as short as the situation demands
24:32So people all the time might shorten their lines
24:35So you could just come in and say
24:36In comes me, the little divil
24:37Little divil in, little divil out
24:39Give us some money and we'd be
24:41Out
24:41Out, yeah
24:42And you can leave it at that
24:44Luckily for my role, I get to hide behind a mask
24:47Now, would you recognise your own son?
24:50No
24:50You wouldn't
24:51There you are, that's the whole idea of it
24:53Great
24:54But no one's going to lie to me
24:55I know that
24:58That's the point
24:59There's no time to dwell on it though
25:02Because there's no rehearsal here
25:04The seconds later, it's showtime
25:08It is me, Johnny Funny
25:10I'm the one that takes your money
25:12It's all coppers and no brass
25:15In fact, you can stick your golds up here
25:18Put it somewhere else
25:21And if you don't believe the words he say, enter in
25:23The devil I say
25:25Oh, little devil within, little devil without
25:29I chew tobacco in my mouth
25:32Yay!
25:34We'll play a few tunes and steal your heart away
25:37Yay!
25:40There we go
25:50I love that and I love the way that they're handing stories down to people in pubs
25:54And getting people to join in
25:56I mean, that's how you make things spread
25:57Is have fun with it, isn't it?
26:01I think a lot of people always mistake my dad for being super overtly confident
26:05He's really shy
26:06So something like this is
26:08I think I had to set the bar
26:10And I had to go big
26:12Just to make him make sure that he goes for that as well
26:18And I love doing it with rope
26:19And he's been beating me at everything since he's aged 10
26:23So when he went out first and did his little bit
26:25I thought, yeah, I've got to go for it now
26:27In the place of castle
26:30I'm either going to go full throttle or I'm not doing it at all
26:33And I think if you go full throttle, you weirdly look less silly
26:37No, I'm leading
26:38Oh, you're leading?
26:54I'm leading
26:55Yeah
26:57Yeah
26:57Woohoo!
26:59Woohoo!
27:00Woo!
27:01Woo!
27:03That was good
27:04That was so much fun, wasn't it?
27:06Yeah, I enjoyed that
27:07Really enjoyed that
27:08Freeing
27:09A bit freeing
27:10It was!
27:11What a lovely thing to do
27:12Really enjoyed that
27:13Yeah, really good
27:14Are you wearing that for dinner then?
27:16Yeah
27:24You know, I'm really enjoying spending time with my dad
27:27He hasn't embarrassed himself or me too much so far
27:31And he's even proving useful as a kind of human sat-nav
27:36We are heading to the outskirts of Dublin
27:38We're a burned out derelict lodge
27:41once built for aristocratic hunts
27:43Careful
27:44Now stands hollow
27:46Its walls blackened
27:48Its purpose forgotten
27:50And its silence thick with what refuses to leave
27:53Mmm
27:54That sounds creepy
27:55Interesting
27:56I think it's more ghost story
27:58Yeah, that's what I like
27:59Than me
28:00I like that
28:01Do you?
28:02Yeah, I like it
28:02I'm always funny with ghosts
28:05You know when you go to an empty football stadium?
28:07Yeah
28:08Go on
28:09You can feel the energy that has been in that place
28:12You're absolutely right
28:14You know, you can
28:15It's like even if you see the Colosseum in Rome
28:17Yeah
28:18You can walk in there and you can
28:19See, that's got a heavy energy
28:21Yeah, but that's what I mean
28:22You can feel the energy
28:23Even though you can't see it
28:24Yeah, yeah, yeah
28:25You can feel that place
28:25Yeah
28:27That is what I think
28:28Maybe what sometimes people consider a ghost as
28:31I think you're right
28:33I think if the energy is so concentrated
28:36Whether that be negative or positive
28:38I think as humans you might be able to pick up on you
28:43This is progress
28:44My sceptical son becoming a bit more like his open-minded dad
28:48Let's see what energies we can both detect at our next stop
28:52If we're not completely knackered by the time we get there
28:57Right, so do you know what we're actually looking for?
28:58So we are looking for a burnt-out building
29:01I think we're nearly at the top, yeah
29:04Where, with any luck, a writer and historian called Donal Fallon will be waiting for us
29:10Donal!
29:11Hiya lads, how are you?
29:12Yes
29:13Yeah, we're good
29:13You got your steps in today
29:15Yeah
29:15Oh, really?
29:17Fly up here, come on
29:17Welcome to Dublin
29:18Thank you very much
29:19Welcome to the Hellfire Club, as you can see it's a real place
29:21I was gonna say, I mean, exactly where are we and what is this?
29:25Well they are the bright lights of Dublin
29:27What Joyce called the Hibernian metropolis
29:29And we're out to the west of that
29:31So we're in the foothills of the Dublin mountains
29:33Okay
29:34More specifically, we're on Mount Pelier Hill
29:36And we're here to see what many people consider to be
29:38Rightly or wrongly, the most haunted place in Dublin
29:41The house was built in the 1720s
29:44As a hunting retreat by a powerful and wealthy man
29:47Called William Connolly
29:50This was his getaway from it all, if you will
29:53The lore around this place though, concerns a group of men later on
29:56Known as the Hellfire Club
29:58We know they were a real group of people
30:00We know that they really did meet
30:01But their connection to this place has always been disputed
30:04Shall we go and have a look?
30:05Let's go have a look
30:06Okay
30:08This building would once have been grand and well maintained
30:12And standing proudly in the landscape
30:15I mean, it is really creepy
30:16But over time, it's kind of taken on the form of a stereotypical haunted house
30:21I mean, this looks like a horror movie set
30:24It really does, yeah
30:28So welcome to your Airbnb
30:29Oh yeah
30:31Oh wow
30:33Amazing
30:34This place does have a hellish feeling about it
30:37A fitting location for a group calling itself the Hellfire Club
30:41Who are the Hellfire Club? Like what are they?
30:45They existed right across Britain and Ireland in the 18th century
30:48You had them in London, Dublin, other cities like Limerick
30:51And they were essentially, you know, men behaving badly
30:53I don't think they really were Satanists
30:56I think what they were trying to do was to provoke the ruling order of the day
31:00Which they came from
31:01They wanted to shock their contemporaries
31:03And this was the time of the Enlightenment
31:05People were mocking your religion in a way you wouldn't have done a hundred years earlier
31:08So, you know, men joking about things like the black cat at the table representing Satan
31:13Or eating dishes with names like Holy Ghost Pie
31:17All of this was designed to shake people and to frighten people
31:21And it definitely did
31:23This place is a great example of how fact and fiction merge into myth
31:28What may have started as rumours of the Hellfire Club meeting here
31:33Turned into stories
31:35And those stories grew
31:36Until no one knew for sure what was real and what was made up
31:41And even in the 18th century people were a little bit frightened of this place
31:45A guy called Joseph Holt
31:46He slept in these ruins one night in the summer of 1798
31:50And he talks about hearing of its reputation
31:53This haunted house, you know, in the mountains
31:55So even in the late 18th century
31:57This place already had a reputation as being a pretty fearsome place
32:02And cities are built on a few things
32:03Cities are built on history
32:04But they're also built on mythology
32:07You know, if you're a New Yorker, it's the alligators down in the subway
32:10Yeah
32:10And if you're a Dubliner, it's the giant black cat up at the Hellfire Club
32:14It's funny that they link that club though
32:15Even though there isn't that proof
32:17They keep linking that club to this building
32:19That's extraordinary, isn't it?
32:20Yeah, there must be something in there
32:22I think what it is, the Eagle Tavern
32:24Where they drank in the centre of the city
32:26It's gone without trace
32:27You know, road widening and the development of a city as always happens
32:31Taverns disappear, clubs disappear
32:33But this is still here
32:35It's become a magnet
32:35Yeah
32:36You know, all the lore around this club in the 18th century city
32:39Is repositioned and told in this site
32:42But there's another reason this place stirs up feelings of dread in the local population
32:48Right beside this building there was a prehistoric burial site, a carn
32:53And it was said that in the construction of William Connolly's Lodge
32:57Stones from that prehistoric burial site were used
33:00In fact, the roof, the original roof of this structure came from that prehistoric burial site
33:06So it really is disturbing it
33:08Wow
33:08That brings what they call an Irish in me awe
33:10That brings a bad fortune
33:12Yeah, what it does
33:13Onto a site like this
33:14Yeah, yeah
33:15So you certainly, you don't mock the dead in Ireland
33:18But you don't disturb them either
33:19And the Hellfire Club, in the popular mind, did both of those things
33:23Yeah, yeah
33:23Okay, alright
33:24So some pretty bad juju in this place
33:27Yeah, it's very dark
33:29Absolutely
33:29I mean, the Irish are a very superstitious people
33:32Even though we're a much more secular people today
33:34We're still kind of superstitious
33:35Right
33:35And if you're driving around Ireland
33:37You'll see road signs for fairy forts
33:39I don't think there's any other country in the world where you see road signs for fairy forts
33:42You don't build near them
33:44Yeah
33:44And you don't disturb the dead
33:47Which means if you've got any sense
33:49You don't come to places like this and go poking around in the dark
33:54You're not coming?
33:55Uh, I think I'll sit there with the sandbags at least
33:57Oh, yeah
33:59Off-stairs, have a look
34:03Tell you what
34:04There's a vibe in here, isn't there?
34:05There is a vibe
34:06It's one of those places where I feel like in every corner I can see something
34:10Yeah, yeah
34:11I hold my hand
34:15What's that?
34:19Did you hear that?
34:20Yeah, yeah, I heard that
34:24Oh, I don't like that
34:25Eh?
34:25Creep myself that
34:26Hang on
34:29Oh, it's a pigeon
34:30It's a what?
34:31It was a pigeon
34:32Oh, it is
34:35Did you hear that?
34:36What was that?
34:38That sound was definitely not a pigeon
34:41What was it?
34:48The old ones are the best, isn't it?
34:51Let's get...
34:52Oh, it stinks, huh?
34:53Let's...
34:54Let's...
34:54This is...
34:55This is the best, creepiest haunted outside
35:06Time to leave and head to a place that still looks as good today as it did when it was
35:12built back in 1785
35:15And when my dad can make some more offensive noises, but without the nasty side effects
35:22It's like a car alarm, isn't it?
35:37We're leaving Dublin behind, and its ghosts, or possibly pigeons
35:41And travelling along the Boyne Valley to a place that's famous for ancient myths and modern legends
35:47And one particular legend that my dad witnessed here four decades ago
35:55Here we go, look at that
35:57Oh, man
35:59Wow, that looks absolutely amazing
36:02Slain castle
36:03That is a castle
36:04Yeah, it's a castle
36:05It literally looks like a castle chess piece
36:07It does, yeah
36:08Bringing back any memories, or is it still fuzzy?
36:11Yeah, it is bringing back a memory
36:12Last time I was here though, I came in by helicopter
36:16Obviously
36:17He's kind of, like, been handed down in the family, I think, for generations
36:22And it's, like, come down to the last guy now
36:24He still lives here
36:26Who I once met
36:27What?
36:28Yeah, I met when he was ten years old
36:31With his dad
36:32When I came to a Bruce Springsteen concert here
36:34Oh
36:36Well, the kid was here, and the kid now...
36:38Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
36:38All right
36:39Yeah, he's not going to recognise me, though, but I mean...
36:41Let's see
36:42Oh, my knee going around
36:43Yeah
36:44Don't break his gate
36:46That boy I met 40 years ago
36:48Now has the official title of the Marques Cunningham
36:52What do you do? Do we knock?
36:54Huh?
36:54Do we knock?
36:55Do we knock?
36:56He's open?
36:57Oh, woof!
37:00Come on
37:00But he does remember me, so I can just call him Alex
37:04Alex
37:05Hey
37:06Hello, hello
37:06Good to see you
37:07And you, welcome to our humble abode
37:10Thank you very much
37:11How are you?
37:11Good to see you, okay?
37:12Hey, it's my boy Roman
37:13Ah, well, I think last time we met, I was, er...
37:17I was doing you a niffer then, you know?
37:19I know, you must have been about this big, right?
37:21I was ten years old
37:23And I actually remember meeting you right here
37:25Yeah
37:26So I'd just come down the staircase
37:28And, er, your dad, you know, he's a good-looking fellow
37:31And being the 80s, big shoulder pads
37:33Yep
37:34The whole gear
37:34And we had a little chat here
37:36And then everyone went out to watch the gig
37:39And I think it was a pretty good party that night as well
37:41It was amazing
37:44Slane's musical story began here in the early 1980s
37:47When Alex's father had the brainwave of inviting some of the biggest names in music
37:52To play concerts in the castle grounds
37:55Like, Dad started that legacy
37:57First show was Thin Lizzy and U2 in 81
38:00Yeah
38:01And so we've been doing them for over 40 years
38:03Yeah
38:03And my mission actually has been to try and kind of get those gigs back
38:07Because that's what keeps the estate going
38:09Yeah
38:10Yeah
38:10I wasn't even born when my old man came here to see Bruce Springsteen
38:14So I'm just tagging along now
38:16As he and Alex take a trip down memory field
38:20So, you can remember, Martin, this is where the gigs happen
38:23Yeah, yeah
38:24So, beautiful, empty-filled, river-boine as the backdrop
38:28And then, on a gig day
38:30Yeah
38:30That fills with over 80,000
38:32There was actually even more here for Springsteen
38:34It's one of the biggest crowds we ever had
38:36That's right, because it's amazing
38:37Because it all goes up the bank as well
38:39Yeah
38:40Yeah
38:40Yeah, it's like this natural amphitheatre
38:43Yeah
38:43We have to share the place
38:44And opening those gates and letting 80,000 people come in is part of doing that
38:48Yeah
38:48And so, if Dad hadn't done the gigs, I wouldn't be standing here
38:51Yeah
38:52That's for sure
38:52You've got to have fun whilst you're doing it
38:54And obviously the rock and roll allowed us to do that
38:56Yeah
38:56It's hard work, but it's great crap
38:58Yeah
38:58The other thing that makes this place special is the river Boyne running right through it
39:03And the Boyne takes its name from Burwan, which is the Irish spelling
39:08And she was an amazing goddess that gave birth to the river Boyne
39:12Yeah
39:12Her tears basically founded the river
39:14It's the cradle of civilisation in Ireland
39:17Yeah
39:17So it's full of myth and legends
39:18It is what makes Slane, Slane as a venue
39:22Slane may be famous for rock concerts today
39:25But before electric guitars and sound systems
39:28This castle would have echoed to the magical sound of travelling pipers
39:32Carrying their musical stories from place to place
39:42Sixteen-year-old Aoife Fadian is one of Ireland's most exciting musicians
39:48She began playing their Ilyn pipes when she was 10
39:51And is the current under-18's All-Ireland Ilyn pipes champion
39:57Very good
39:59Very good
40:00How good was that?
40:01It's a real traditional instrument
40:03Oh yeah, it's probably one of the oldest instruments in Irish culture
40:05Real deep-rooted in Irish music
40:08There was travelling pipers
40:09So they'd go up and down the country
40:10And they'd be playing for lords in places like these actually
40:13That was the way they made their living
40:14So that was a really big part of the tradition then
40:16It's kind of, it's evolved now
40:17But it's come a long way, yeah
40:20Are there many people that play them?
40:21There's a lot more now actually
40:22It was dying out back in the 1950s
40:25But there's an organisation now that are devoted to the promotion
40:29And preservation of the pipes
40:31And it's just, it's really blown up
40:32Like a lot more people are playing them now
40:33Can I have a go?
40:35Of course
40:35We have a set for you here actually
40:37Oh wow!
40:38Yeah
40:38Have I got the kids set?
40:39Yeah
40:41First up, you need to put the pipes on
40:44The right way round
40:45Where am I going here?
40:47There, right?
40:47That's the one, yeah
40:48Fine
40:48And then the magic is all in the elbows
40:51So your elbow's kind of sitting on the pads
40:53Right
40:54Yeah
40:56Upside down?
40:56Yeah
40:57So, yeah
40:58There we go
40:58There we go
41:01I feel like one of them one man bands
41:03You know like when you've got the drum on the back
41:05You do feel like that sometimes
41:06Like that
41:07But am I squeezing this one as well?
41:09You're pumping with that arm and you put pressure on that
41:11That's something
41:12Yeah
41:13There we go
41:17There we go
41:18That was great
41:19That was great
41:20That was great
41:24Natural
41:25There you go
41:26And that's me done
41:27Thank you
41:28Now it's time to let my dad have a go
41:32That's the place being deflated
41:33No, it sounds like my dad in the car
41:39The professional musician
41:40Here we go
41:41Fingers on
41:42No set
41:42Not that you know what it is
41:44But he played it live, eh?
41:46You ready?
41:46You ready?
41:47I'm so ready
41:48Yeah?
41:48One, two, three, four
42:01That's like a car alarm, innit?
42:03Sorry
42:04On that note
42:05Time for a stiff drink
42:08So as Aoife plays us out with the fairies' hornpipe
42:12It's back outside to Alex's on-site distillery
42:15I don't know if you've heard any stories about fairies on your travels
42:19Building your proofs will be a massive challenge
42:24Because there was a fairy fort here
42:26There was actually one literally just over there nestled in under that tree
42:32And in Ireland you do not disturb the fairies
42:36So I call the diviner and I say, look, we've got this problem and I don't want to upset the
42:43fairies
42:44And he said, well, we can possibly ask them to move
42:50Right, so how do you do that?
42:51And I was like, what do we do?
42:53He said, well, we can ask them right now
42:55So he gets out his rods and he communes with the fairies
42:57And they said, actually, they are willing to move
43:01And I was like, well, that's amazing
43:02And he's like, but where do you want them to go?
43:05And I was like, so I looked over here
43:06And these are very old lime trees here
43:09And we're never going to disturb there
43:11Yeah
43:12And so I said, well, would they consider nestling in under the lime trees?
43:16Yeah
43:16And amazingly, they apparently agreed
43:18So hang on, so you're having this conversation
43:20Yeah
43:21And he's...
43:22Oh yeah, and I've got the chief engineers
43:23Right
43:24I've got the building contractor
43:25We're all standing around
43:26And so they're looking at me like I'm half mad
43:28And I'm like, we do not do this without the fairies' consent
43:32And so they agreed to move
43:35Happily, they're nestled over there
43:37And had we not done that
43:39That would have been considered incredibly bad luck
43:43I love that
43:44I think that is a great way to even surmise what we've been, you know, seeing so far
43:49Which is those myths and those legends
43:51They still have impact on everything today
43:54So much so to a multi-million pound deal has changed
43:57Yeah
43:57Because you had to clear it with fairies
43:59Which is...
44:00Well, you've got to believe in magic
44:01Magic is real
44:02Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
44:03I respect that
44:04I'd quite like to taste some magic now
44:06But first, Alex has given us a quick tour of the distillery
44:10That the fairies allowed him to build
44:13So...
44:13Oh, this is where it happens, right?
44:15This is the serious business
44:17Wow
44:18That is absolutely delicious
44:19Nice and soft, right?
44:21So he's slain as triple castle
44:22We use three different manners
44:25And then you're going to go...
44:27It is nice
44:27Like, I get it
44:28Like, you know
44:29Well, if you're not used to drinking whiskey
44:31No
44:31He's drinking it like water over here, isn't he?
44:35I'm coming round to the idea of Roman being my designated driver on this trip
44:40He likes to stay sharp and clear-headed and focused on the facts
44:44While I like it when facts merge with fiction
44:47We've had plenty of both these last few days together
44:51There's one thing being told about a myth or a legend and listening to the story
44:56And there's another thing actually seeing it and being able to touch it
45:00That is incredible, isn't it?
45:02Yeah
45:02Yeah
45:03It takes my breath away when I see stuff like that
45:05Yeah
45:06Because my mind can't comprehend how old that is
45:08Yeah
45:09And how someone was seeing the same thing that we were seeing
45:12Yeah
45:13And how well preserved it was
45:14Amazing
45:15It's a bit weird, it didn't feel like a tomb
45:17It felt like, you know
45:19It felt like something to do with life
45:21Yeah, yeah
45:24When you see something that human hands created thousands of years ago
45:28You can't help thinking
45:29What are the likes of us going to leave behind to be discovered or talked about years from now?
45:36It's funny because every generation has a story that they pass down from the generation above them
45:41Yeah
45:41And I wonder what my generation will pass on from yours
45:45I feel like I came from the last of the great pop cultures
45:49Right
45:50Where, you know, you've got your teddy boys and your rockers and your mods
45:54I think the new romantic pop culture
45:58He always has to come back
45:58Was the last of the great pop cultures
46:01It was
46:01You're asking me for my story
46:03See, I would have gone with more you're the last generation that used, like, a phone booth
46:08Despite the occasional misunderstanding
46:11I am loving having this time with Roman
46:14And it's not over yet
46:15He's still got to put up with me for one more set of adventures
46:19Alright, so where are we going next then?
46:20We are going to go to the rugged coast of the north
46:24The north?
46:25Yeah, the north
46:26It's absolutely beautiful up there
46:28And I'm going to take your vampire hunting
46:33A friendly wave hides a treacherous plan
46:37A street of plotting and hopes of winning big
46:40The Neighbourhood
46:41Continues Thursday at 9 on Virgin Media Play and Virgin Media One
46:59Until next time
Comments