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00:02So what I did...
00:04What?
00:05..waxed all my nose hairs.
00:07I thought it is a whizzer.
00:08No, that's crap. They don't work.
00:10Why? They don't work.
00:10They say do.
00:11But I will say, though, is after you do that,
00:14you're smelling in absolute 4D.
00:17Yeah, but a whizzer 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 Kemper.
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, Marcy.
00:40So 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, Dan?
00:54I'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.
01:27OK, sir.
01:28I can't remember the last time we went on holiday.
01:30Not together.
01:32Not together.
01:33It's like me, huh?
01:33Since you were a kid.
01:35We don't spend nearly enough time together these days.
01:40And life seems to be getting faster and faster.
01:44Dan!
01:44What are you?
01:45Rome makes me feel bad if I don't do it.
01:48No, it's not makes me feel bad.
01:49It 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.
02:12After all, Ireland is in our blood.
02:15I think.
02:17Dan, we've literally done those DNA tests.
02:19I know.
02:20And it turned out that we were what?
02:22Germanic.
02:23Oh, little devil within, little devil without.
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, we've come
02:50to the mythical east.
02:51Pick up the keys to an ancient tomb.
02:54Pick up the key to an ancient tomb.
02:56Yeah.
02:57Let me put a postcode in.
02:58T.
02:59O.
03:00M.
03:01B.
03:01There we go.
03:02Nice 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.
03:15Well, on the end.
03:16This here.
03:17She is the keeper of the key.
03:19Yeah.
03:19I 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?
03:32I'm going to wait here.
03:33Oh, no.
03:34Come on.
03:34Come with me.
03:35As we try to retrieve an artifact 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?
03:43Yeah, well, it would be weirder if we're both there.
03:46The ancient key is apparently here at this address.
03:50Has 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're...
04:09Do you have the key for the tomb?
04:13Yeah.
04:13Is it all right if I take it from you?
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.
04:42That is it.
04:45It's an underwhelming start.
04:47Definitely a burial mound up there.
04:50But then we meet historian Anthony Murphy.
04:54Hello.
04:55And things start looking up.
04:57Welcome to Fornox.
04:59This looks amazing.
05:01Well, this might just be Ireland's best-kept secret.
05:04Oh, really?
05:04Certainly the Boyne Valley's best-kept secret.
05:07Everybody in Ireland knows about Newgrange.
05:10Newgrange is like Ireland's Stonehenge.
05:12Yeah.
05:12Older than Stonehenge.
05:14Yeah.
05:14Older than the pyramids.
05:15Older than the Stonehenge.
05:16Yeah.
05:16But 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
05:32regular to be natural formations.
05:34The most famous is Newgrange, a 40-metre-wide mound of stone and earth built by Ireland's first
05:41farming communities, who arrived here around 6,000 years ago.
05:45Drawn by a fertile land, they grew crops here and raised cattle, and left behind these
05:50extraordinary structures, including Fornox.
05:55I can't wait to see inside, though.
05:57Yeah.
05:58One of you have the key, have you?
05:59Yeah, yeah.
05:59I...
06:00Yeah.
06:02Well, did you have it?
06:02Did 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.
06:07Where'd you get it?
06:08One of us has to be the responsible adult.
06:10Oh, 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 Fornox is that you have to knock four times to enter.
06:27Okay, okay.
06:27Great.
06:28All right.
06:28Go on.
06:29Mind your head.
06:33Four.
06:33Oh, yeah.
06:34Yeah, four.
06:35Right.
06:36If you get no answer, that means you're welcome.
06:40The key might be small, but what it unlocks certainly isn't.
06:44Wow.
06:45Oh, my goodness.
06:48Wow, look 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.
07:20And 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 entrance
07:49into a wide central chamber, with three recesses branching off, containing cremated human remains.
07:57People 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 monument.
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.
08:18Yeah.
08:19It's like they were creating, or trying to create, you know, a lasting memorial to their
08:25own 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.
08:37Maybe the shortness of their lives was a big motivation to make their mark, and make sure
08:43it lasted.
08:45There's something that has 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.
08:58Yeah, 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 sites.
09:11And having written a book all about Fornox, he brings his own perspective on its mythological
09:17meanings.
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
09:38of the earliest ever representation of a human face.
09:42Getting closer.
09:43Getting warmer.
09:44Getting 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 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.
10:24It 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.
11:02So 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 start.
11:18A droid?
11:19No.
11:20CP3O.
11:21CP3.
11:22Close.
11:23It's C3PO, but don't worry about it.
11:25CP3O.
11:26Yeah, yeah.
11:26It nearly got it.
11:27What did I say?
11:28No, you said CP3O.
11:30It's C3PO.
11:31Yeah, that's because I'm dyslexic.
11:32Yeah, yeah.
11:33Don't worry.
11:33The 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, deep into the Boyne Valley.
12:00A place where stories are etched into the landscape.
12:04From ancient tombs to sacred hills, this valley echoes with voices from the past.
12:10But at the Hill of Tara, one of Ireland's most revered ancient sites, those echoes take on a whole new
12:17form.
12:18In the hands of Carmel Divini, 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, which is steeped in ancient history and mythology.
12:34And we have the story of the silver branch that came from the other world.
12:39And it was also used to heal.
12:42This is my little reproduction of it.
12:45Yeah.
12:45Nice.
12:45What's the story behind the silver branch?
12:47So the silver branch was brought to Tara by a giant.
12:50And 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.
13:01Bit of everything, yeah.
13:02Yeah.
13:02Some magical hair and feathers as well.
13:05Yes.
13:05So I used that sometimes in the sound baths.
13:09All of these ancient instruments have their own qualities, their 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, Roman'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.
13:50Some are 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.
13:59So I'll see what I've come out with.
14:01Yeah.
14:02Seeing sounds is weird.
14:04But 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 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.
14:33And they're even hypnotic to look at.
14:35Yeah, they are, yeah.
14:36Yeah.
14:37So if you pair that with the complex sound of the gong...
14:42Yeah.
14:43That's amazing, isn't it?
14:44Mm.
14:44Yeah.
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.
14:54You will fall asleep then.
14:55I won't.
14:56So to begin, I'll just invite you to follow the sound.
15:03And become aware of your own breath coming in and going out.
15:10Comel says that you'll feel one of three things when you do this.
15:14Happy.
15:16Sad.
15:26Or sleepy.
15:30BELL RINGS
15:31BELL RINGS
15:33BELL RINGS
15:35BELL RINGS
15:36BELL RINGS
15:37BELL RINGS
15:38BELL RINGS
15:39BELL RINGS
15:40BELL RINGS
15:40Oh, wow.
15:41That was amazing.
15:42Caught myself in a harsh snore at one point.
15:44I went, oh, no.
15:45I didn't notice.
15:47I didn't notice.
15:48Excellent.
15:49Yeah, it was really nice.
15:50Really nice.
15:51Yes.
15:51I really enjoyed that.
15:53Yeah.
15:53Yeah.
15:54At some point, 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, I did see some shapes.
16:06The bells at the end are dots.
16:09Dots?
16:09Yeah.
16:10They're just...
16:11I can see them as a cluster of dots in certain areas, but then some of the bowls are flat
16:20lines,
16:21but that are just shaped, almost like an arc kind of shape.
16:25But then...
16:25Wow.
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, have 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.
16:42It kind of looks like a transparent road.
16:44Yeah.
16:45Yeah.
16:45That's interesting.
16:47I don't get sound visions like Roman, but I love to meditate.
16:51And this experience for me is about much more than 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 when I was really sick.
17:05I had a couple of brain tumours that were sitting there that needed something out.
17:09And a two-year gap between having one taken out, a big one taken out,
17:12and one that was sitting in the middle of my brain.
17:14So I got into this picture of meditation where this hand would come up
17:18and it would kind of cut the tumour out and then drag it away.
17:22And it helped me for a long time, a good couple of years.
17:25So I've always had this idea that 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 I want to escape from the demanding sounds of modern life.
17:44PHONE RINGS
17:48Hi, darling. You all right? Hi, guys.
17:50Mum, you'll like where we just went. Oh, yeah? Tell me.
17:53We went to meet an arch-druid.
17:55We had a sound bath.
17:57Oh, yeah, I like sound baths.
17:59You've done it, haven't you? I knew you was.
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 because you're calling us every five minutes, so...
18:14Yeah, yeah, I speak...
18:15Yeah, but I'm missing you, guys.
18:17Yeah, I know.
18:18I don't know why I couldn't have come along to sit in the back.
18:22Probably could have, to be honest.
18:23Yeah.
18:25All right, then, Mum, we'll speak to you later.
18:27Stay safe. Enjoy your journey.
18:29All right, darling, give the dogs a kiss for me.
18:32See you, bye.
18:34Bye.
18:36Give the dogs a kiss?
18:37Yeah.
18:38I always kiss the dogs, don't you?
18:39I mean?
18:40I always kiss the dogs.
18:41What's wrong with that?
18:48The fields are empty.
18:51The sunbirds all flung.
18:54The gap in the okins.
18:57Too slow now you've grown.
18:59When we bury our old self.
19:02We try not to cry.
19:05It's just how it goes, and 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.
19:19But our next pub is much more than just a place to meet,
19:23eat and drink.
19:25The Man O' War has stood on this hill in Balbriggan since 1595.
19:30A crossroads for stories, songs and gatherings for over four centuries.
19:36Tonight, it's playing host to a living tradition, the Mummers.
19:40Masked makers of mischief, who carry old tales from place to place,
19:45house to house, or, ideally for them, pub 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, like this heroic combat play from the 1800s,
20:14a part theatre and part seasonal ritual,
20:17as masked figures bring loud and colourful stories to life about heroes.
20:22I'm Bouldrim Rhyme, I'm Ireland's favourite son.
20:25I fought in many battles, some I lost, but most I won.
20:29And villains.
20:30In comes I, bold Prince George.
20:33Of Royal Bourke.
20:36From England have I come.
20:40This group has been performing for 43 years.
20:44Yeah!
20:45Come on, you're doing it.
20:47Oh!
20:50Unmasked and ready to tell us more
20:52Woo!
20:54Is lead Mummer, Sean McPhilaby.
20:57Oh!
20:58It was so fantastic.
21:00Just tell us what it was about.
21:02Yeah.
21:02So this is the North County Dublin, Fingal Mummers play.
21:05And you get Mummers plays all around Britain, and Ireland,
21:08and in Newfoundland and in the Caribbean.
21:10They're masked in Ireland traditionally using straw hats like these.
21:15And this connects us to lots of very old customs,
21:19like Breedoga, Strawboys,
21:21festivals that take place on the quarter days in the Irish calendar custom,
21:26and indeed all across Europe and the Northern Hemisphere.
21:28It's all praying for a good crop come the following year, isn't it?
21:32This would suggest a relationship to the crop.
21:34Yeah.
21:35Because 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, where 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.
21:59Uh-huh.
22:00And 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 a large yes
22:06in the form of maybe a few quid.
22:08Yeah.
22:08Or food and drink.
22:10Right.
22:11I love the design on the faces.
22:14I mean, is that just your guys' design,
22:16or 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 worried, you know.
22:22I like it, it's brilliant.
22:24Our masking is central to the customer.
22:30For mamas, the mask isn't just decoration or character.
22:34It also protects your identity,
22:36lets you step outside of yourself
22:38and say things out loud
22:39that you might normally keep to yourself.
22:42Maybe 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 mamas gone out performing.
23:00We're very much part of a continuing local tradition.
23:04And I think people gravitate towards that.
23:07And 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, the more we get a sense of this pride in tradition that hasn't faded.
23:24In a rapidly changing, endlessly updating world,
23:28there'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 yourself.
23:38So, how would you feel about being part of Our Mum Respond?
23:41I'll give that a go.
23:41Yeah, why not?
23:42Yes, let'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 that 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 as honorary mummers.
24:19Are 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.
24:26So, 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, little divil in, little divil out.
24:39Give us some money and we'll be...
24:41Out.
24:41Out, yeah. And 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?
24:49No.
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.
24:55He's meant to.
24:57Did I know that?
24:58That's the point.
25:00There's no time to dwell on it though,
25:02because there's no rehearsal here.
25:04Seconds 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.
25:19Good.
25:20Put 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.
25:33Yay!
25:34We'll play a few tunes and steal your heart away.
25:37Yay!
25:41There we go.
25:43There we go.
25:49I love that and I love the way that they're handing stories
25:53down to people in pubs and 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
26:04for being super overtly confident, but he's really shy.
26:06So something like this is, I think I had to set the bar
26:10and I had to go big just to make him make sure
26:14that he goes for that as well.
26:18And I love doing it with rope.
26:20And he has 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.
26:30I'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.
26:36No, I'm leading.
26:38Oh, you're leading.
26:38I'm leading.
26:39All right.
26:46This trip through Ireland has been one of the best bonding experiences
26:50I've had with him for such a long time.
26:52And I think he will admit it when we get to the end as well.
27:03That was good.
27:04That was so much fun, wasn't it?
27:06Yeah.
27:06I enjoyed that.
27:07Really enjoyed that.
27:08Freeing.
27:10A bit freeing.
27:10It was.
27:11What a lovely thing to do.
27:12Really enjoyed that.
27:13Yeah, really good.
27:15Are 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 once 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.
27:54Mmm.
27:54Okay, that 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?
28:01Yeah, I like it.
28:03I'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.
28:18Yeah.
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.
28:26Yeah.
28:27That is what I think may be what sometimes people consider a ghost as.
28:32I think you're right.
28:33I think if the energy is so concentrated, whether that be negative or positive,
28:39I think as humans you might be able to pick up on it.
28:43This is progress.
28:44My skeptical son becoming a bit more like his open-minded dad.
28:49Let's see what energy 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 here.
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.
29:14You got your steps in today.
29:15Yeah!
29:16Oh, really?
29:16Fly up here.
29:17Welcome to Dublin.
29:18Thank you very much.
29:19Welcome to the Hellfire Club.
29:20As you can see, it's a real place.
29:21I was going to say, exactly where are we and what is this?
29:25Well, they are the bright lights of Dublin, what 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 Pelliar Hill,
29:36and we're here to see what many people consider to be, rightly or wrongly,
29:39the most haunted place in Dublin.
29:41The house was built in the 1720s as a hunting retreat by a powerful and wealthy man
29:47called William Connolly.
29:50This was his getaway from it all, if you will.
29:52The lore around this place, though, concerns a group of men later on known as the Hellfire Club.
29:58We know they were a real group of people.
30:00We know that they really did meet, but their connection to this place has always been disputed.
30:05Shall 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.
30:17But over time, it's kind of taken on the form of a stereotypical haunted house.
30:21Yeah, I mean, this looks like a horror movie set.
30:24It really does, yeah.
30:28So, welcome to your Airbnb.
30:30Oh, yeah.
30:32Oh, wow.
30:33Amazing.
30:34This place does have a hellish feeling about it.
30:38A fitting location for a group calling itself the Hellfire Club.
30:42Who are the Hellfire Club?
30:44Like, 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.
30:54I 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, which they came
31:00from.
31:01They wanted to shock their contemporaries.
31:03Yeah.
31:03And this was the time of the Enlightenment.
31:05People were mocking your religion in a way you wouldn't have done 100 years earlier.
31:09Right.
31:09So, you know, men joking about things like the black cat at the table representing Satan or eating dishes with
31:15names like Holy Ghost Pie.
31:17You know, all 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.
31:29What may have started as rumours of the Hellfire Club meeting here turned into stories.
31:35And those stories grew until 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, he slept in these ruins one night in the summer of 1798.
31:50And he talks about hearing of its reputation, this haunted house, you know, in the mountains.
31:55So, even in the late 18th century, this 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, but they're also built on mythology.
32:07You know, if you're a New Yorker, it's the alligators down in the subway.
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, even 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, where 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.
32:34But this is still here.
32:35It's become a magnet.
32:36You know, all the lore around this club in the 18th century city is 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, stones 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.
33:08Wow.
33:08That brings what they call an Irish in me awe.
33:10That brings a bad fortune.
33:12Yeah, of course it does.
33:13Onto a site like this.
33:14Yeah, yeah.
33:15So you certainly, you don't mock the dead in Ireland, but you don't disturb them either.
33:19And the Hellfire Club and the popular mind did both of those things.
33:23Yeah, yeah.
33:23Okay, all right.
33:24So some pretty bad juju in this place.
33:27Yeah.
33:28It's very dark.
33:29Absolutely.
33:30I mean, the Irish are a very superstitious people.
33:32Even though we're a much more secular people today, we're still kind of superstitious.
33:35Right.
33:35And if you're driving around Ireland, you'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.
33:43You don't build near them.
33:44Yeah.
33:44And you don't disturb the dead.
33:47Which means if you've got any sense, you don't come to places like this and go poking around in the
33:53dark.
33:54You're not coming?
33:55I think I'll sit there.
33:57Oh, yeah.
33:59Go upstairs and have a look.
34:03Tell you what.
34:04There's a vibe in here.
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.
34:12I hold my hand.
34:15Shit, what'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?
34:42What was it?
34:49The old ones are the best, isn't it?
34:51Let's get out.
34:52It stinks, huh?
34:53Let's get out of here.
34:55This is...
34:55This is the best, creepiest haunted house.
35:06Time to leave and head to a place that still looks as good today as it did when it was
35:11built 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, and travelling along the Boyne Valley to a place that's
35:44famous for ancient myths and modern legends, and one particular legend that my dad witnessed here four decades ago.
35:55Here we go.
35:56Look at that.
35:57Oh, man.
35:59Wow.
36:00That looks absolutely amazing.
36:02Slain Castle.
36:03That is a castle.
36:04Yeah, it's a castle.
36:05Yeah, it's a castle.
36:05It literally looks like a castle chess piece.
36:07It does, yeah.
36:09Bringing back any memories, or is it still fuzzy?
36:11Yeah, it is.
36:12Bringing back a memory.
36:13Last time I was here, though, I came in by helicopter.
36:16Obviously.
36:17It's kind of like being handed down in the family, I think, for generations.
36:22And it's like, like, come down to the last guy now.
36:25He still lives here.
36:26Who I once met.
36:27What?
36:28Yeah, I met when he was 10 years old with his dad, when I came to a Bruce Springsteen concert
36:34here.
36:35Oh.
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...
36:41I see.
36:42Oh, my knee going around.
36:43Yeah.
36:44Don't break his gate.
36:46That boy I met 40 years ago now has the official title of the Marques Cunningham.
36:53What do you do?
36:53Do we knock?
36:54Huh?
36:54Do we knock?
36:56He's open.
36:57Whoa!
36:59Come on.
37:01But he does remember me, so I can just call him Alex.
37:05Alex.
37:05Hey.
37:06Hello, hello.
37:06Good to see you.
37:08And you.
37:08Welcome to our humble abode.
37:10Thank you very much.
37:11How are you?
37:11Good to see you.
37:12Okay?
37:12Yeah.
37:13It's my boy, Roman.
37:14Ah, well, I think last time we met, I was, er, I was doing it for then, you know?
37:19I know.
37:20You must have been about this big, right?
37:21I was 10 years old.
37:22And I actually remember meeting you right here.
37:26Yeah.
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, the whole gear.
37:34Yeah.
37:35And we had a little chat here.
37:36And then everyone went out to watch the gig.
37:39Yeah.
37:39And I think it was a pretty good party that night as well.
37:42It was amazing.
37:44Slain's musical story began here in the early 1980s, when Alex's father had the brainwave
37:50of inviting some of the biggest names in music to 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.
38:10I wasn't even born when my old man came here to see Bruce Springsteen.
38:14So, I'm just tagging along now, as 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 field, River Boyne is the backdrop.
38:28And then, on a gig day, that 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.
38:36Because it's amazing, because it all goes up the bank as well, isn't it, at the back?
38:40Yeah.
38:40It'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.
38:48And so, if Dad hadn't done the gigs, I wouldn't be standing here, that'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.
38:56It's hard work, but it's great crap.
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 Berwan, 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.
39:15It's the cradle of civilisation in Ireland, so 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, but before electric guitars and sound systems,
39:28this castle would have echoed to the magical sound of travelling pipers carrying their musical
39:34stories from place to place.
39:4216-year-old Aoife Fadian is one of Ireland's most exciting musicians.
39:47She began playing their illin pipes when she was 10 and is the current under-18s All-Ireland
39:54Illin Pipes champion.
39:57Very good.
39:58Aww.
39:59Very good.
39:59How good was that?
40:01It's a real traditional instrument.
40:03Oh, yeah.
40:03It's probably one of the oldest instruments in Irish culture, really deep-rooted in Irish
40:07music.
40:08There was travelling pipers, so they'd go up and down the country and they'd be playing
40:11for lords in places like these, actually.
40:13That was the way they made their living.
40:15That was a really big part of the tradition then.
40:16It's evolved now, but it's come a long way.
40:20Are there many people that played them?
40:21There's a lot more now, actually.
40:22It was dying out back in the 1950s, but there's an organisation now that are devoted to the
40:28promotion and preservation of the pipes, and it's just, it's really blown off.
40:32Like, a lot more people are playing them now, so...
40:34Can I have a go?
40:35Of course.
40:36We have a set for you here, actually.
40:37Oh, wow!
40:38Yeah?
40:38Have I got the kids set?
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.
40:49And then the magic is all in the elbows.
40:52So, your elbow's kind of sitting on the pads.
40:54Right.
40:54Yeah.
40:56Why is that the ball twisted?
40:57Upside down?
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, you've got the drum on the back, right?
41:05You do feel like that.
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.
41:19There we go.
41:34There we go.
41:40Here we go.
41:41Fingers on.
41:42Notes there.
41:42Not that you know what it is, but Eve played it live, eh?
41:46You ready?
41:46You ready?
41:47I'm so ready.
41:48Yeah?
41:48One, two, three, four.
41:50One, two, three, four.
42:01That's like car alarm, innit?
42:03Sorry.
42:04On that note, time for a stiff drink.
42:08So, as Aoife plays us out with the fairies' hornpipe, it's back outside to Alex's on-site
42:14distillery.
42:15I don't know if you've heard any stories about fairies on your travels.
42:19Building here proves to 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
42:43the fairies.
42:44And he said, well, we can possibly ask them to move.
42:50Right.
42:50So, 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 and these are very old lime trees here and we're
43:10never 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.
43:19So, hang on.
43:19So, you're having this conversation and he's...
43:21Yeah.
43:22Oh, yeah.
43:22And I've got the chief engineers.
43:24Right.
43:24I've got the building contractor.
43:25We're all standing around.
43:26So, they're looking at me like I'm half mad.
43:29Right.
43:29But I'm like, we do not do this without the fairies' consent.
43:33And so they agreed to move.
43:35Happily, they're nestled over there.
43:36And had we not done that, that would have been considered incredibly bad luck.
43:44I 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, they still have impact on everything today.
43:54So much so to a multi-million pound deal has changed because you had to clear it with fairies.
43:59Well, you've got to believe in magic.
44:01Magic is real.
44:02Yeah, yeah, yeah.
44:03I respect that.
44:04I'd quite like to taste some magic now.
44:06But first, Alex is giving us a quick tour of the distillery that 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, Slain is Triple Castle.
44:22We use three different bands.
44:25Oh, God.
44:25And then you're going to go...
44:27It is nice.
44:27Like, I get it.
44:29Like, 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, we'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, and there's another thing
44:57actually seeing it and being able to touch it.
45:01That is incredible, isn't it?
45:02Yeah.
45:02Yeah.
45:03It takes my breath away when I see stuff like that.
45:06Yeah.
45:06Because my mind can't comprehend how old that is.
45:09Yeah.
45:09And how someone was seeing the same thing that we were seeing.
45:13Yeah.
45:13And how well-preserved it was.
45:14Amazing.
45:15It's a bit weird.
45:16It didn't feel like a tomb.
45:17It felt like, you know...
45:19It felt like something to do with life.
45:22Yeah, yeah.
45:24When you see something that human hands created thousands of years ago, you can't help thinking, what are the likes
45:30of 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.
45:41And I wonder what my generation will pass on from yours.
45:45I feel like I came from the last of the great pop cultures where, you know, you've got your teddy
45:52boys and your rockers and your mods.
45:54I think the new romantic pop culture was 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, I am loving having this time with Roman.
46:13And it's not over yet.
46:15You've still got to put up with me for one more set of adventures.
46:19Alright, so where are we going next then?
46:21We 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 you vampire hunting.
46:33A friendly wave hides a treacherous plan.
46:37A street of plotting and hopes of winning big.
46:40The Neighbourhood continues Thursday at 9 on Virgin Media Play and Virgin Media One.
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