EVEN TODAY, SOME OF THIS STUFF KEEPS THE HOME FIRES BURNING

IN A LAND FAMOUS FOR ITS SMILES AND CHARM.

IRELAND WAS NEVER CONQUERED BY THE ROMAN EMPIRE,

SO EVEN WHEN ROME FELL,

DRAGGING THE REST OF EUROPE INTO DARKNESS,

IRISH CIVILIZATION WAS ABLE TO FLOURISH.

WHILE NICKNAMED THE ISLAND OF SAINTS AND SCHOLARS,

IT'S ALSO KNOWN AS THE TERRIBLE BEAUTY

FOR ITS BITTERSWEET MIX OF POLITICAL STRUGGLES,

HUNGER, FRIENDLY PEOPLE AND GORGEOUS LANDSCAPES.

WE VISIT AN ANCIENT MONASTERY,

THE FINEST FORMAL GARDEN ON THIS GARDEN ISLAND,

AND CUT WATERFORD CRYSTAL.

WE'LL EXPLORE THE ULTIMATE- IN-ITS-DAY BRITISH FORTRESS,

CLIMB A LEGENDARY LIGHTHOUSE,

AND ENJOY SOME GREAT IRISH CUISINE.

AND THIS EPISODE IS A FAMILY AFFAIR,

AS WE'LL BE JOINED BY JACKIE, ANDY, AND MY WIFE ANNE,

WHO'S IRISH AND PROUD.

IRELAND IS THE WESTERN-MOST PART OF EUROPE.

STARTING IN THE WICKLOW MOUNTAINS,

WE'LL VISIT THE MONASTERY AT GLENDALOUGH

AND POWERSCOURT GARDENS.

THEN ON TO WATERFORD, WHERE I'LL JOIN MY FAMILY,

VISIT THE HISTORIC TOWNS OF COBH AND KINSALE,

THE ROCK OF CASHEL, AND MUCKROSS HOUSE

AS WE WORK OUR WAY TO THE RUGGED RING OF KERRY.

HIGH IN THE WICKLOW MOUNTAINS, YOU'LL SEE VAST PEAT BOGS

WITH FRESHLY CUT PEAT BRICKS DRYING IN THE WIND.

PEAT WAS IRELAND'S STANDARD HEATING FUEL FOR CENTURIES.

IT'S MADE FROM DECOMPOSED PLANTS,

KIND OF HALFWAY TO COAL, WHICH IS SLICED OUT OF THESE BOGS,

STACKED TO DRY,

AND THEN BURNED LIKE PRESTO LOGS IN FIREPLACES AND STOVES.

IN THE OLD DAYS,

FOUR OR FIVE GOOD MEN COULD CUT ENOUGH PEAT IN A DAY

TO KEEP A FAMILY WARM THROUGH THE COLD IRISH WINTER.

TODAY, A FEW LOCALS,

NOSTALGIC FOR THE SMELL OF A GOOD TURF FIRE,

STILL COME UP HERE TO CUT THEIR OWN FUEL.

THE WICKLOW MOUNTAINS, WHILE ONLY TEN MILES SOUTH OF DUBLIN,

FEEL REMOTE, REMOTE ENOUGH TO HAVE BEEN A HANDY REFUGE

FOR THE IRISH WHO OPPOSED ENGLISH RULE.

200 YEARS AGO, WHEN THE FRUSTRATED BRITISH

BUILT THIS MILITARY ROAD TO FLUSH OUT THOSE REBELS,

THE AREA BECAME MORE ACCESSIBLE.

NOW THIS SAME ROAD TAKES NATURE LOVERS

THROUGH SOME OF IRELAND'S RICHEST SCENERY.

MY FRIEND AND LOCAL GUIDE DENNIS O'REILLY,

WHO LEADS TOURS THROUGH THIS AREA,

IS JOINING US AS WE EXPLORE THE WICKLOW MOUNTAINS.

GLENDALOUGH, WHICH MEANS VALLEY OF THE TWO LAKES,

HIDES IRELAND'S MOST IMPRESSIVE MONASTIC SETTLEMENT.

THIS IS ST. KEVIN'S CHURCH, A BEAUTIFUL STRUCTURE.

ST. KEVIN CAME HERE IN THE 6th CENTURY

AND HE LIVED BY THE UPPER LAKE IN A CAVE.

AND THE MONASTERY ST. KEVIN FOUNDED FLOURISHED

DESPITE REPEATED VIKINGS RAIDS THROUGHOUT MEDIEVAL TIMES.

A THOUSAND YEARS AGO, IN AN IRELAND WITHOUT CITIES,

MONASTIC COMMUNITIES LIKE THIS ONE HERE AT GLENDALOUGH

WERE MAINSTAYS OF CIVILIZATION.

THEY KEPT LITERATE LIFE ALIVE

AND PROVIDED A FOUNDATION FOR RURAL IRISH SOCIETY.

TODAY, IRELAND IS DOTTED WITH EVOCATIVE REMINDERS

FROM THIS AGE OF SAINTS AND SCHOLARS.

Dennis: THE AGE OF SAINTS AND SCHOLARS

WAS WHEN THE REST OF EUROPE WAS IN THE DARK AGES

BUT WE IN IRELAND HAD ALL THE SCHOLARS.

Rick: AND THE SAINTS, TOO.

Dennis: AND THE SAINTS.

AND THEY WERE HERE WORKING AWAY,

MAKING THE MANUSCRIPTS THAT WE HAVE NOW IN OUR MUSEUMS.

WHILE IT WAS LATER ABANDONED AND RUINED,

PILGRIMS KEPT COMING.

THIS MIGHT HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE FACT

THAT THE POPE SAID SEVEN VISITS TO GLENDALOUGH

HAD THE SAME INDULGENCE VALUE AS ONE VISIT TO ROME.

ROUND TOWERS WERE STANDARD FEATURES

IN EARLY IRISH MONASTIC SETTLEMENTS.

THEY FUNCTIONED AS BEACONS FOR PILGRIMS, BELL TOWERS,

AND PLACES OF FINAL REFUGE WHEN VIKINGS CAME A-KNOCKIN'.

JUST A FEW MILES FROM ALL THIS RUGGED BEAUTY

ARE THE METICULOUSLY KEPT GARDENS OF POWERSCOURT,

IRELAND'S FINEST.

WITH MUCH OF IT CREATED DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA,

THE MID-1800s, THE GARDENS OF POWERSCOURT ARE CALLED

THE GRAND FINALE OF EUROPE'S FORMAL GARDENING TRADITION,

PROBABLY THE LAST GREAT GARDEN OF ITS SIZE AND QUALITY

EVER CREATED.

FOR 350 YEARS,

THE VISCOUNTS OF POWERSCOURT DEVELOPED THIS GARDEN.

THE STATUARY WAS COLLECTED FROM PALACES THROUGHOUT EUROPE.

A FLYER LAYS OUT A GOOD WALK FOR VISITORS.

WITH THE DRAMATIC SUMMIT OF THE GREAT SUGAR LOAF MOUNTAIN

AS A BACKDROP,

THIS GARDEN IS A WELL-WATERED ARISTOCRATIC FANTASY.

WATERFORD, STRETCHING ALONG ITS RIVER,

IS THE MAIN CITY OF SOUTHEAST IRELAND.

IT CLAIMS TO BE THE OLDEST CITY IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY.

TO SAVE TIME AND KEEP MY LUGGAGE SAFE AS POSSIBLE,

I PARK IN A SECURE AND CENTRAL PAY LOT.

WATERFORD WAS ONCE MORE IMPORTANT THAN DUBLIN.

BUT TODAY, IT'S A PLAIN, GRAY, WORK-A-DAY TOWN.

THE VIKINGS LANDED HERE IN 850

AND ESTABLISHED THE TOWN AS A BASE FOR PIRACY.

THEY BUILT REGINALD'S TOWER,

NAMED AFTER THE FIRST VIKING LEADER.

IT WAS A STOUT CORNER OF THE ORIGINAL TOWN WALL.

THIS TOWER IS CONSIDERED

THE FIRST BUILDING IN IRELAND MADE WITH MORTAR

AND ONE OF THIS COUNTRY'S OLDEST SURVIVING STRUCTURES.

THE VIKINGS CHOSE TO BUILD THEIR BASE HERE

BECAUSE IT'S LOCATED AT THE MOUTH OF A SERIES OF RIVERS

WHICH MAKE UP THE LARGEST NATURAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM

WITHIN IRELAND.

THEIR BOATS COULD SAIL 50 MILES INTO IRELAND FROM HERE.

AND BACK THEN,

IRELAND WAS MADE TO ORDER FOR VIKING PILLAGE AND PLUNDER:

JUST SCATTERED MONASTIC SETTLEMENTS

AND SMALL GATHERINGS OF CLANS.

AND, SPEAKING OF CLANS, MY WIFE ANNE AND OUR TWO CHILDREN,

ANDY AND JACKIE, ARE JOINING US HERE

AS WE SET OFF FOR A SOUTH IRELAND ADVENTURE.

B&Bs, LIKE LES BROWN'S TOWNHOUSE, ARE AN IRISH FORTE

AND GREAT FOR FAMILY TRAVEL.

EVEN WITH A CAR TAKING US RIGHT TO THE DOORSTEP OF OUR B&Bs,

WE PACK LIGHT.

JACKIE AND ANDY EACH CARRY THEIR OWN GEAR,

ONE CARRY-ON-THE-AIRPLANE-SIZE BAG STORED IN THE TRUNK

AND A DAY BAG WITH THEIR MUSIC, GAMES, BOOKS,

AND WHATEVER THEY'LL NEED TO PASS THE TIME BETWEEN STOPS.

WE'RE HEADING OUT TO HOOK HEAD,

WITH A LIGHTHOUSE THAT MARKS THE ENTRANCE

TO WATERFORD'S IMPORTANT HARBOR.

HOOK HEAD HAS ONE OF THE OLDEST OPERATING LIGHTHOUSES

IN THIS PART OF EUROPE, AND AS WITH MOST IRISH SITES,

IT COMES WITH A GREAT GUIDED TOUR.

ON THIS ISLAND SO SATURATED IN LEGEND,

IT'S SAID THAT A SAINT AND HIS MONKS

CAME HERE IN THE 6th CENTURY.

THEY DISCOVERED THE BODIES OF SHIPWRECKED SAILORS.

DISMAYED, THEY BUILT A FIRE HERE TO WARN FUTURE MARINERS.

THIS BUILDING ACTUALLY DATES FROM THE 13th CENTURY,

BUILT BY THE ANGLO-NORMANS AS A COMMERCIAL BEACHHEAD

FOR THE RICH IRISH COUNTRYSIDE THEY PLANNED TO CONQUER.

THE LIGHTHOUSE WAS COMPLETELY AUTOMATED IN 1996

AND IS CONTROLLED BY A CENTRAL COMPUTER.

BUT WHILE MODERNIZED, IT LOOKS MUCH AS IT DID

WHEN THE MONKS LAST MANNED IT IN THE 16th CENTURY.

THE MONKS CAME HERE FOR SOLITUDE AND TO SAVE SOULS.

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN THEIR ORIGINAL TASK, I SUPPOSE.

BUT THEY ENDED UP SAVING LIVES.

AND THIS PROBABLY BECAME A BIGGER GOAL FOR THEM

THAN TRYING TO SAVE SOULS.

IRELAND, OFTEN CALLED THE TERRIBLE BEAUTY,

COMES WITH A SAD STORY.

THE ORIGINAL ENGLISH COLONY,

IN SOME WAYS, IT'S THE LAST ENGLISH COLONY.

AND ITS FEISTY SPIRIT

PITTED AGAINST THE POWER OF ITS MIGHTY OVERLORD

MEANT CENTURIES OF SUFFERING, COMPOUNDED BY A POTATO FAMINE.

MOORED IN THE TOWN OF NEW ROSS IS A REMINDER

OF THOSE HARD TIMES, THE "DUNBRODY" FAMINE SHIP,

A MEMORIAL TO THE COUNTLESS STARVING IRISH

WHO SAILED TO AMERICA ON SHIPS LIKE THIS.

SO WELCOME ABOARD THE "DUNBRODY."

YOU'RE STANDING, OF COURSE, ON THE DECKS.

AND THIS IS A REPLICA OF THE ORIGINAL "DUNBRODY"

BUILT IN QUEBEC, CANADA, BACK IN 1845.

THE FAMINE STARTED IN THE 1800s, ABOUT 1840.

IT WAS A VERY BLACK PERIOD IN IRELAND.

AND THIS IS WHERE THE POTATO CROP,

THE ONLY CROP THAT THE IRISH HAD AS FOOD,

WAS CAUGHT BY A BLIGHT.