Conference tallis::celt

    Please add:  Try to suggest a castle that has modern conveniences!
    
    Thanks,
    John
    

    
    
    	ooh, so what you really want is sort-of a "Castle-Condo"  :-)
    
    
    
    
    	keVin
    

    The best place I can think of is Ashford castle in CONG, Co Mayo.
     
    Not too far from Galway.  
    

    John,
    
    For Mass the pro-cathederal in the heart of Dublin is a good place.
    I have been there once and normally the president of Ireland attends.
    It is a church of great character.
    
    There is a castle near you at Shannon, Bunratty which has a pub
    near it called Dirty Nellys which has great athmosphere. Galway
    has Ashford Castle, which is famous and I believe expensive
    
    Rene

    Sorry John as usual I forgot something,
    
    Clontarf Castle on the north side of Dublin is nice and they have
    traditional music etc, I am not sure whether they have hotel rooms.
    
    Sutton Castle also on the north side of Dublin have hotel rooms
    and it overlooks Dublin Bay and not so far away the little fishing
    village of Howth. I come from that area and it is nice and quite
    but full of lively places. Howth has many pubs which play traditional
    music like the Abbey Tavern, Cock Tavern, etc.
    
    All the hotels I have mentioned have modern conviences and are within
    easy reach of the city centre.
    
    Dirty Nellys is a super place and they have traditional music and
    not so far away you have the beautiful town of Ennis with a hotel
    called the Old Ground which I think is a castle. Ennis is the place
    for a bit of crack and there is enough pubs in it to keep you going
    for 6 months.
    
    
    Rene
    t

    re .5
    
    ...a bit of crack?
    
    In the US that would mean a thriving drug trade!   What did you
    mean by that?
    
    Holly

    As in
    	The crack was good in Cricklewood,
    	But they wouldn't leave the Crown.
    	Glasses flying, biddies crying,
    	The Paddies were going to town.
    
    	O mother dear, I'm over here,
    	And I never will go back.
    	What keeps me here's the rate[?] of beer,
    	The women, and the crack.
    
    There's another verse too, I think, about the year 1939, Hitler
    building the motorways and Paddy the Great North Way. Can anyone
    remember that bit?
    
    Anyway, crack is humour, frivolity, ambience, witty and lively
    conversation, etc. That's the way I use it.
    
    Phillip

    
    
    	Is "Crack" still 90 in the Isle of Man ??   :-)

                         
    
    
    	keVin

    Crack is the way Irish people express that a good time was had by
    everyone. It is as Phillip described it and I often use it.
    
    How's the crack? meaning How are things? or after a party or a good
    holiday What was the crack like? meaning Did you have a good time?
    
    
    Rene El Gringo
    

    Re: .7

    The song is 'MacAlpine's Fusiliers' - I think it's by Dominic Behan 
    though I'm not sure - I learned as a child from an LP by Noel Murphy.
    The version I know is:
 
        Oh mother dear, I'm over here and I'm never coming back.
        For I love the women, the fags and the beer,
        But most of all the crack.
        The war was on London, the Germans were overhead,
        So Paddy packed his suitcase and he walked to Holyhead.

        As down the Glen strode MacAlpine's men, 
        With their shovels up behind them.
        It was in the pub where they drank their sub,
        And it's up in the spike you'll find them.
        They sweated blood and they washed down mud,
        With pints and quarts of beer,
        And now I'm off on the road again with MacAlpine's Fusiliers.

        MacAlpine went by helicopter, and Laing he went by train.
        But Paddy took the great north road, and got there just the same.
        MacAlpine's God was a well filled hod,
        With your shoulders cut to bits and sears,
        And woe to he who stopped for tea with MacAlpine's Fusiliers.

        I've stripped to the skin with Darkie Finn,
        Down upon the isle of grain.
        With Horse-face Toole sure I knew the rules -
        No bonus if you stopped for rain.
        Oh the crack was good up in Crickewood, 
        They couldn't get us out of the Crown.
        With the bottles a flyin', and the biddies a crying,
        And Paddy's going to town.

        I remember the day that the bear O'Shea 
        Tumbled down the concrete stair.
        What Horse-face said when he saw him dead,
        It wasn't what the rich call prayers,
        "I'm a navvy short" was the one retort
        That reached unto our ears.
        When the going gets rough, sure you must be tough,
        With MacAlpine's Fusiliers.

        I've worked till the sweat, sure it had me beat,
        With the Russian, Czech and Pole.
        Unshuddering jams up on a Hydro dam,
        And down beneath the Thames in a hole.
        I've grafted hard, and I've got my cards,
        And many's the ganger's fist across my ears,
        If you value you life, don't join by Christ,
        With MacAlpine's Fusiliers.

    John

    There are a number of versions of the few verses of poetry
    recited brior to the actual singing of McAlpines Fuseliers.
    The version I know is as follows:
    
    The year was 1939,
    The air was full of lead,
    When Hitler invaded Poland.
    And Paddy hit Hollyhead.
    
    McAlpine went by Aeroplane,
    And Wimpey took the train,
    But Paddy took the Great North Road,
    And got there just the same.
    
    The crack was good in Crickelwood,
    They wouldn't leave the Crown,
    With glasses flyin' and biddies cryin',
    Paddy had come to town!
    
    Oh, mother dear, I'm over here,
    And I'm never goin' back!
    What keeps me here's the rakes of beer;
    The women, and the crack!
    
    At this point, singing normally erupts.
    
    Glossery:
	Hollyhead.    		Landing point for the "Mail Boat" from
    				Dublin.
	McAlpine, Wimpey.    	Construction contracters. Hired Many
				Irish labourers. Folklore has it that
    				Wimpey is a mnomonic for "We Import
    				More Paddies Every Year"
	Great North Road,    	A1 road travelling north from London.
    				Constructed using much Irish labour.
    	crack 			Fun.
	Crickelwood,		Irish Area of London
	Rake			Lots, Many, Plenty.

    -------------------------------------------------------------
    Meanwhile, on the subject of the original note, The Old Ground is
    not a Castle. Bunratty does not offer overnight accommodation, although
    its banquets are famous.
    
    Ashford Castle is, as has been mentioned, beautiful, elegant and
    expensive.
    
    There IS a castle near Shannon that has been converted to a hutel,
    but its name escapes me.
    
    ---------------------------------------------------
    Regards,
    Mike
    

    I think it was Dominic Behan that wrote McAlpine's Fuseliers. I
    have a recording of him singing it, recorded in the late 1950s,
    and he sings (surprisingly) McAldine's Fuseliers. For a man who
    was also writing The Patriot Game I find this rather coy.
    
    Phillip

    Leaprechauns toadstool is his castle.
    
    The castle/hotel nearest Shannon airport is Dromoland Castle at
    Newmarket on Fergus (6 miles from the airport on the Galway road)
    I think its big bucks as well (but by U.S. standards maybe not as
    big as we plebian Irish think).
    
    Snake sees castles as symbols of oppression wherever they are.
    

re .13:

>    I think its big bucks as well (but by U.S. standards maybe not as
>    big as we plebian Irish think).

Plebian Irish?  My vanity is wounded - I'd always thought Americans 
were one of the most plebian peoples of the world!  Proud of ourselves
and well paid by Irish standards, I'll grant, but plebian none the less.  
The English have known for a long time that it takes more than money
and pride to separate the Common from the Quality.  Personally, I'd
rather be considered common.

	:-),
	Larry

    Leaprechauns are classic scholars.
    
    Re .15
    Sorry, Larry, I was not endeavouring to elevate the Americans to
    the Patrician plane, I was using the word plebian in the ancient
    Roman sense of being part of the great unwashed, who live out our
    lives in mundane surroundings, never destined to savour the 
    idle pleasures of the rich and famous, ....too often.
    
    Snake will have his morning choclate now, .....Foley.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    P.S. Foley is my butler, he wears leotards and a cute apron.
    

    John, you may want to visit the Aran Islands while near Galway.
    They are a group of 3 main islands located west of the Burren,
    southwest of Connemara.
    
    Here the landscape looks as it did hundreds of years ago.  The
    people are most friendly and Irish is spoken throughout.  Little
    thatched roofed homes dot each boreen where there are more rocks
    than soil.
    
    On Inis M�r, there is D�n Aongus (pronounced done-angus) which
    is one of the oldest forts in all of Western Europe.  I think it
    dates from 3rd century B.C.  One bikes from Kilronan where the ferry
    docks to almost the end of the island, and there the fort sits
    along side a 300 foot or so cliff.  Its quite impressive.  It's the
    oldest structure I've ever seen.  It consists of a series of massive
    concentric walls about 15 feet thick and 20 feet high.  In front
    of the last wall there are sharp irregular shaped rocks stuck in
    the ground to prevent a quick raid on the fort.  They are called
    by their French name which I cannot remember, maybe Rene can help
    us on that one.
    
    George

    Do ya think I have any calling for being a tour guide or what? 

    George "Shell Guide" Darcy
    :-)

    
 >   Here the landscape looks as it did hundreds of years ago.  The
 >   people are most friendly and Irish is spoken throughout.  Little
 >   thatched roofed homes dot each boreen where there are more rocks
 >   than soil.
    

 The "Tour Bus" will now be stopping at the "Cliffs of Moher Giftshop"
 for your shopping pleasure..... We hope your passage has been enjoyable.


    				 George (The Busdriver) D'Arcy
    				   "C.I.E. Tours Unlimited"

    Re .17: The "sharp irregular shaped rocks" are called in English
    "chevaux de Frise", which is not exactely correct on the technical
    point of view: in French "chevaux de Frise" are those big rolls of
    barbed wire used to stop infantry attacks: the use is the same but
    not the actual device.
    			Denis.

    On Dun Aengus the large area of erect sharp stones were thought
    to have been used to prevent cavalry attacks or mass infantry attacks.
    The area is also notable for its flora (similar to that  of the
    Burren in Co. Clare).
    When visiting any monument in Ireland a good strong pair of shoes
    is essential.Also watch out for the rabbit holes on the way down
    from Dun Aengus.A mini-bus service also operates from the port
    of Kill Ronan to Killmurvey,near Dun Aengus.
    			John "Galway bay" Dooley