Castles, Cathedrals, Battles, and...Herons?

Those of you kind enough to read our (re)introductions back in April may recall that I was all chirpy about leaving the counties of Wicklow and Dublin - where I lived and work, respectively - and heading in a northerly direction to the southern end of Ulster. To county Cavan, in fact.

There was a plan, and in the short term, that plan involved my husband and me finally having a library and some peace and quiet, thereby achieving two of our most happily anticipated life goals. So when Liz, Jane, and I were contemplating topics for discussion for the MIJ Notes From Home newsletter, we tied up April and May, and I said, "I know, I can take our friends on my odyssey to find a new home - it's practically a tour of Ireland in and of itself. And we'll be moving in June, so that's sorted. What else?"

The Best Laid Plans...

But this is Ireland, and things rarely work entirely to plan. Sure, look, it'll be grand!

I will, if you're interested, tell you of the saga of The Search For a New Home in the future. You can let me know if you have the patience for it in the comments below! It involved fourteen of the thirty-two counties of the island of Ireland and encompassed all four provinces. It took eight months. It was exhausting, even though Ireland's only small! But for now, it's sufficient to say we're spending a couple of months living with my mother-in-law in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford. Thankfully, she possesses a house that divides neatly in two, incredible patience, and a generally sunny outlook on life!

The Sunny South-East.

Although we had visited Enniscorthy previously, it was only to spend time with family, so we didn't really explore the area. Since we moved here at the end of April, I have become quite smitten. I wanted to share a little bit about this country town packed full of history and interest.

While Enniscorthy has neither the glamorous association with the Kennedy family of its near neighbour New Ross, nor the Viking history of Wexford town, what it does boast is a Roman Catholic cathedral designed by Augustus Pugin, the neo-Gothic architect responsible for the interior of the British Houses of Parliament; a fascinating Norman castle; the site of an exceedingly important battle in the Irish rebellion against the English in 1798, and an Anglican church whose parishioners purchased the organ from the Vice-Regal chapel, later known as the Chapel Royal, in Dublin Castle as a memorial to a beloved Rector (the Very Reverend Denis Browne, who died in 1864.) It's also got some very famous sons and daughters, most notably Colm Tóibín and Eileen Gray.

The town slopes up on either side of the river Slaney. The riverside, with its swans, geese, and herons, has become one of our favourite places to walk in the evenings. I have found no peace like walking beside a running river, and the fact that the Slaney is tidal means there is always something - or someone! - new to see.

Enniscorthy Castle.

So, where to start? Well, when there's a castle, that seems like a good place to begin! To be fair, it's quite a small castle, but that hasn't stopped it from being a hive of historical activity, changing owners and uses so often that it can be hard to keep track. The original structure was a Norman wooden stronghold, but the knight Philip De Prendergast decided he wanted to upgrade to stonework around 1190. With a very modern attitude regarding building to schedule, he and his wife Maud didn't get to move in until 1203; history is silent on what they did in the interim, but we can safely predict arguments and recriminations. Builds and renovations are notoriously stressful, after all!

A castle captured.

In any case, when they finally got settled, had hung their tapestries up, and strewn the floors with rushes, they evidently decided it was worth the wait. Their family stayed in the castle for over one hundred and seventy years until a ferocious Irish king named Art Óg Mac Muchadha Caomhánach attacked Enniscorthy in his continuing mission to reclaim the lands of Leinster for himself. He succeeded in Enniscorthy much as he did elsewhere during his forty-two year reign, and his descendants held the castle until 1536. History records that they didn't take its upkeep seriously because the next owner, a Saxon, found it derelict.

A gift from the Queen.

The next owner of note was Edmund Spenser, the Elizabethan poet, who was granted the land by Queen Elizabeth I. Spenser had been made secretary to the new Lord Deputy of Ireland, Lord Grey, in 1580. He did not take up residence here, so we have no idea how he would have felt about the Slaney and its idyllic wanderings. He did go on to spend several years on an estate he was granted in county Cork around 1583 but is not heard of again in this region.

A very grand storage space.

Anyway, back to the castle. From around 1584, it was controlled by vice-treasurer, and later Lord Justice of Ireland, Sir Henry Wallop of England. He set up a colony of men locally and commenced trading with Madeira, probably via New Ross or Wexford, which were major trading ports. He left plenty of indications that his posting to Ireland was not to his liking, and it was certainly a contentious time for English rule here, so perhaps the wine helped..? He is credited with tidying the place up and extending it. Still, within sixty-five years, the Crowellian war in Ireland was underway, and what wasn't being destroyed was being used for stables or storage by Cromwell's army. According to local history, Enniscorthy Castle was used as the former. If you were to see the steep road that currently runs past it and the many steps in the area, you would only ever feel sorry for the horses!

And a few more changes.

However, we can fast forward through the years to the famous rebellion of 1798 when the castle was used as a jail by both the United Irishmen when they took the town, and the English after they recaptured the area. Things quietened down a little in modern times. It was a private residence for the first half of the 20th century, and now it's a museum that examines the history of the building itself and the region.

St. Aidan's Cathedral.

If you amble further along the main street as it continues its rise, you will inevitably find yourself admiring the Neo-Gothic charms of St. Aidan's Cathedral. This is the Roman Catholic cathedral for the Diocese of Ferns, and despite having been altered and adjusted in the 1960s and '70s, it was carefully and lovingly restored to its original glory in the mid-1990s.

It's a beautiful building, and the painted arches and ceiling tend to make me a little weak in the knees. Of all the many hundreds of churches I have visited, this is one of my absolute favourites. In springtime, there is a cherry blossom tree that blooms near the front door that can raise a smile on even a showery, grey day.

Then, when you get past its happy red front doors with their delightful details, you are met with a range of colours and flourishes that never overshadow the purpose of the building but display a charming playfulness that runs from the stencilled archways to the blue-painted ceiling with its gold stars. The green and red panelling under the organ loft reminds me of the Palace of Westminster, which is not surprising, given that they share the same architect.

One of the facts that I like best about this town is that when St Aidan's was being restored, the Anglican church of St Mary's (which I mentioned at the very start of my ramblings) offered to share their place of worship for services. The Catholic congregation accepted, and the two churches used the same space while the work was in progress. As a result, there remains a very convivial relationship between the two groups. The wonders of modern Ireland, eh?

Vinegar Hill: A Battleground.

Vinegar Hill. It's a name every Irish school child knows from secondary school onwards, and there's an inevitable collective shudder at the words, even when we've largely forgotten the details. We always remember the year, though. 1798 is one of the indelible facts of our history, like 1066 for the English, and 1776 for Americans. I won't got into the history of it - it's complicated and I will probably make a mess of it. The best thing to do is visit the National 1798 Rebellion Centre website. They will tell you everything you need to know, and their summation below explains why this battle was so important.

"The Rebellion of 1798, led by the United Irishmen, and based on the principles of the French Revolution of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, was an attempt to achieve a democratic and equal Ireland. The Rebellion lasted from May to September 1798, and in County Wexford alone, some 20,000 people lost their lives in a four week period. The last major battle of the Rebellion, the Battle of Vinegar Hill, which took place on 21st June 1798, was the last major battle on Irish soil." - History of the Rebellion from the National 1798 Rebellion Centre

On the other side of the valley from the castle, cathedral, and town centre, you will find Vinegar Hill. We are fortunate enough to live just below it, so when we're not ambling along the river with Fudge, we're usually on the hill trying to spot rabbits with her, watching the birds dart along the grass line looking for insects, or watching the ever-greater numbers of butterflies enjoying the evening sunlight.

Anyway, I don't mean this digression into my elderly dog's evening walking habits as any disrespect to a site of national interest. I only wish I could convey how peaceful the hill is on a summer evening. The sounds from the town float up, and the syrup-gold light of the setting sun spreads over the countryside, turning everything into a fairytale, even the ugly modern buildings of the new business park on the outer edge of the town.

I didn't realise until I sat down to write this that the structure at the top of the hill is a ruined windmill. We haven't made it up to the very top of the hill yet, but without its sails, it looks like nothing more than a small tower.

Time Is Ticking.

I never expected to feel so at home here; it's been a wonderful surprise in what could have been a slightly awkward limbo-like time. Instead, it's been rather like having a holiday where you still have a working day, but the rest of the time is easy and unstructured. From east Cork to north Wicklow and south county Dublin, I've spent all my time in Ireland close to its capital city or its second city. (Or the real capital, as any Cork resident will tell you... Unless they're originally from Dublin, in which case they're probably lost.) Spending these weeks here has been reminiscent of living in north Wales when I was in university. Time moves differently; doors are left open, and people sit or stand on their front steps and chat with passers-by. There is less frantic busyness and more time to breathe. Or this might be the privilege of having both our children grown and living their own lives, no longer dependent on us. Whatever it is, we're enjoying it.

In the next three or four weeks, there will be - hopefully! - the upheaval of our move to Cavan. Heaven knows we will be thankful to settle in and get to know our new home, but I will always be grateful for this in-between time which has been a wonderful half-way house on our journey from urban to countryside living.

You Thought I Forgot About The Heron, Didn't You?

Ah, how little you know me! One of things we love about this stretch of the river is the herons that live along it. We're not good enough ornithologists to differentiate between them, but we enjoy seeing them so poised and alert in the water, waiting for their food to present itself. Occasionally, you will see them stretch out their impressive wings and glide off along the midline of the river until they are lost from view around a bend. They like the stretch between the two bridges that cross the river in the town - you will see them there in the morning when the tide is low, lurking on the sandbar, hoping to spear an unsuspecting frog or fish with that sharp bill.

In the evenings, they move further down past the southern bridge. They keep their distance from the geese and the swans, but you can spot them all along this stretch, down as far as the beautiful old hospital, St Senan's, that overlooks the water in all its Italianate splendour.

But sometimes, if you take the path down to the offshoot of the Slaney, you will also find heron friends in more secluded areas...

Definitely worth keeping watch for, and one of the many joys to be found here. I thought they deserved a mention!