Ireland [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION Landscape and people are what bring most visitors to Ireland - South and North. And once there, few are disappointed by the reality of the stock Irish images: the green, rain-hazed loughs and wild, bluff coastlines, the inspired talent for talk and conversation, the easy pace and rhythms of life. What is perhaps more of a surprise is how much variety this very small land packs into its countryside. The limestone terraces of the stark, eerie Burren seem separated from the fertile flatlands of Tipperary by hundreds rather than tens of miles, and the primitive beauty of the West Coast, with its cliffs, coves and strands, seem almost a country apart from the rolling plains of the central cattle-rearing counties. The greatest attractions of the place are, with a few fine exceptions, rural. Ireland is becoming increasingly integrated with the industrial economies of western Europe, yet the modernisation of the country has to date made few marks: the countryside appears startlingly unspoilt and unpopulated if you have come over from England. It's a place to explore slowly, roaming through agricultural landscapes scattered with farmhouses, or along the endlessly indented coastline, where the crash of the sea against the cliffs and myriad islands is often the only sound. It is perfect if you want spaces to walk, bike or (with a bit of bravado) swim; if you want to fish, sail, or spend a week on inland waterways. In town, too, the pleasures are unhurried: evenings over a Guinness or two in the snug of a pub, listening to the chat around a blood-orange turf fire. This said, there are sights enough. In every comer of the island are traces of a culture established long before the coming of Christianity: sites such as Newgrange in County Meath or the clifftop fortress of Dun Aengus are among the most stupendous Neolithic remains in Europe, while in some areas of Sligo almost every hill is capped by an ancient cairn. In the depths of the so-called Dark Ages the Christian communities of Ireland were great centres of learning, and the ruins of Clonmacnoise, the Rock of Cashel and a score of other monasteries are evocative of a time when Ireland won its reputation as a land of saints and scholars. Fortifications raised by the chieftains of the Celtic clans and the Anglo-Norman barons bear witness to a period of later turbulence, while the ascendancy of the Protestant settlers has left its mark in the form of vast mansions and estates. But the richness of Irish culture is not a matter of monuments. Especially in the Irish-speaking Gaeltacht areas, you'll be aware of the strength and continuity of the island's oral and musical traditions. Myth-making is for the Irish people their most ancient and fascinating entertainment. The ancient classics are full of extraordinary stories - Cuchulainn the unbeatable hero in w^, Medb the insatiable heroine in bed, or Finn Mac Cumaill chasing Diarmuid and Grainne up and down the country - and tall tales, superstition-stirring arid "mouthing off (boasting) play as large a part in day-to-day life as they did in