Great British Railway Journeys (2010–…): Season 8, Episode 12 - Greystones to Dublin - full transcript

[OPENING THEME MUSIC]

For Victorian Britons, George
Bradshaw was a household name.

At a time when railways were new,

Bradshaw's Guidebook inspired
them to take to the tracks.

I'm using a Bradshaw's Guide to
understand how trains transformed

Britain and Ireland,

their landscape, industry,
society and leisure time.

As I follow its roots
130 years later,

it helps me to discover
these islands today.

I am continuing my journey,

which began in Wexford
in south-east Ireland



and will end in Westport
in the north-west.

Today I'm mapping my way across
County Wicklow towards Dublin,

the capital, hoping to encounter
on the way aristocrats,

knights and a prince,
all harping on Irish history.

I embarked on my Irish journey
at the port of Wexford.

As I move north to the capital
and cross the country,

I hope to uncover the symbols and
institutions of Irish identity

at a time of political tension,

before ending on
the wild Atlantic coast.

On today's route I stop in
Greystones in County Wicklow,

before travelling to Dublin,
where I explore the fair city.

'Along the way, I discover one of
Ireland's greatest treasures...

This embodies the soul of
the nation, this instrument.

I don't think that's
an overstatement.



'I hear how Britain sought to calm
relations across the Irish Sea...

So despite the political agitation,

using the royal family is
a good card to play?

It's always a good card to play,

especially if they're young
and good-looking.

'and test my mettle in
a Dublin hostelry.'

A few of those and you'll be
having the craic all night.

I'm there for a bit of craic.

My first stop today
will be Greystones,

where I will visit
Powerscourt House,

which Bradshaw's tells me was sold
in 1876 for £200,000

and is situated
in a beautiful domain.

Victorian tourists love their
gardens and an advantage

of the rainfall in Ireland

is that its stately homes are
surrounded by verdant parks and

beautiful water features.

The 47 acre Powerscourt estate

is one of the best known
stately homes in Ireland.

It proclaimed British
power in Ireland

and, at the time of my guide,
attracted the Victorian visitor.

I'm alighting at Greystones,
a small seaside town.

Showing me around Powerscourt is
assistant house manager

Justin Doonan.

Justin, Powerscourt
is an imposing house

and a rather beautiful one, too.

What are its origins?
- Its origins, Michael, start around 1180.

The French Norman family La
Poer settled here at that time,

around 1180, and they built one of
the first castles

that were built on the estate.

But at some point
that ownership changed?

That ownership changed
over many times.

You had the La Poers,
as I said, started off,

you had the Fitzgeralds and
the O'Toole families

fighting over this area,
and then from 1603,

Queen Elizabeth I granted the land
here to the Wingfield family.

They had it all the way
up until 1961.

And of course the British Crown had
that sort of power over Ireland.

Absolutely.

Ever since King Henry II's conquest
of Ireland in the 12th century,

the British Crown granted prime land
to Irish aristocrats as a reward

for loyalty or military service.

The houses that they built came
to symbolise the power of the

British-backed ruling elite
over the local population.

And many absentee landlords directed
the income that flowed to their

estates in England.

Here at Powerscourt the owner at the
time of my guidebook was the seventh

Viscount Powerscourt,
Mervyn Wingfield,

an Irish representative peer

who played a very active role
in his estate.

How would you describe
the contribution

of this seventh Viscount?

Well, this gentleman really is
responsible for everything

that we have around us.
Apart from him building the house,

he also created the gardens.

This area that we're in now is the
herbaceous border but it was

the kitchen garden.

Now, that's really important in
terms of self-sufficiency

for the estate and also for
the village that we have here.

And so how did you fare
during the Great Hunger,

beginning in the 18403?

Because we had this kitchen garden

and it was self-sufficient we
were able to supply the village.

Everybody came here
if they needed something.

They were really very well-respected
around this area and they were very

helpful to everybody that came.

The gardens helped to feed the
residents of the big house

and the local village and, like most
estates of the 19th century,

they provided pleasure, too.

The seventh Viscount had travelled
extensively and was inspired by the

gardens that he had seen at the
Palace of Versailles and at castles

in Austria and Germany.

One of the most striking things
about the park is the topography,

these beautiful slopes,
the giant pond and so on.

How was all this created?

Well, this was a huge undertaking.

These terraces behind us were dug
out by hand, horse and cart.

100 men it took ten years
to dig out these gardens.

This is the Victorian period of a
kind of mania for collecting species

and presumably the seventh Viscount
participated in that, did he?

He undertook 400,000 trees
a year for ten years.

That's four million trees throughout
the park of the estate.

His idea was to bring a little bit
of the world back to Powerscourt.

The Viscount brought many new
species to Ireland,

including Japanese sika deer.

From his original one stag
and three does,

numbers have risen today
to over 20,000.

Within the old deer park is a beauty
spot that Bradshaw's considers to be

the chief attraction,

and I agree.

There are very few illustrations
in my Bradshaw's

but the Powerscourt
Waterfall merits one.

It is the largest falls in Ireland.

In the picture there's what
I take to be a little sika stag.

They didn't exactly "endeer"
themselves with the local farmers,

who found them a 12-pointed pest.

Greystones is
the southernmost station

on the Dublin Area Rapid Transit,
or DART, system.

This coastline and city network
serves 31 stations.

One of my favourite passages in
Bradshaw's -

"The entrance
into the Bay of Dublin

"unfolds one of the finest
prospects ever beheld.

"On the right, the rugged hill of
Howth with its rocky bays,

"wanting only a volcano to render
the scenery a facsimile

"of the beautiful Bay of Naples,

"whilst at the extremity of a white
line of masonry, fringing the sea,

"the lighthouse presents its
alabaster front."

The city was the second of
the British Empire.

Some proud Dubliners might say
the first in beauty.

Dublin became the capital of the
English Lordship of Ireland

from 1171 onwards.

Built on the banks of
the River Liffey,

it was during the 18th-century that
many of the city's notable Georgian

buildings and streets were built.

I am arriving at Dublin's
Connolly station,

opened in 1844, which retains its
distinctive Italianate facade.

Bradshaw's guidebook encourages
discerning Victorian tourists

to make a beeline for one of the
city's most venerable institutions,

and it's my first stop.

This is the magnificent
Trinity College Dublin,

founded, according to Bradshaw's,
in 1591 by Queen Elizabeth,

"With a Grecian front,"
behind me, "of 308 feet,

"it's comprised of three
quadrangles or squares.

"In Library Square is a fine room
with 150,000 volumes,

"including the Book Of Kells and
the harp of Brian Boru."

If Ireland is a church or temple,
this is its altar or tabernacle.

Created in the ninth century,
the Book Of Kells

is a richly decorated manuscript
of the four Gospels.

It's generally considered to be the
finest surviving illuminated

manuscript produced in
medieval Europe.

It is kept here along with the other
treasure mentioned in my Bradshaw's,

the harp of Brian Boru.

I'm meeting historical harpist
Siobhan Armstrong.

Hello, Michael.
It's nice to meet you.

Very nice to see you.

The library of Trinity College
dates from the early 18th century

and is awe-inspiring.

Siobhan, what a stunning room.
I think it's one of the loveliest

rooms I've ever seen, one of the
best in the world, perhaps.

I'm so glad you like it.

Bradshaw's tells me there are
150,000 volumes here.

I think there may be even more.

Apparently there are
200,000 first editions

in this part of the library alone.
- And the harp?

Ah, the harp, which is down here.

So, an extraordinary and,
I believe, very hallowed object.

It is.
- Tell me about Brian Boru

and tell me about the harp.

Ardri Brian Boru,

otherwise known as the High King
Brian Boru of Ireland,

was the High King who

successfully fought the Danes
but died doing so in 1014.

This harp is traditionally said to
have been his instrument, but that's

quite unlikely because it's
probably not that old.

It's presumably a late
medieval instrument,

and if I were pushed I would say
maybe the 15th century.

How on earth did the harp
come to Trinity?

It was given to the college in 1782
by William Conyngham, who lived in

Slane Castle.

If you'd like to know the mythical
version of how it got

from Brian Boru
all the way to Trinity,

it's that Brian's son, Donnchad,
made a pilgrimage to Rome in 1063,

and gifted the harp
to the Pope.

A later Pope then supposedly gave the
harp as a gift to Henry VIII in the 1520s,

who was then Lord of Ireland,

so it would've been
an appropriate gift.

And then it moves
through various hands

until it gets to William Conyngham.

But 1782 is when we know
it shows up here.

What a gorgeous thing.
What a gorgeous thing.

What does it mean to the
people of Ireland?

Oh, that's quite
a question, Michael.

It's... I think this embodies the
soul of the nation, this instrument.

I don't think that's
an overstatement.

For the Victorian tourist
visiting Ireland,

the treasures at Trinity College would've
been top of their Dublin itinerary.

This harp is priceless and not
to be played,

but Siobhan has a replica.

How does the harp become
the symbol of Ireland?

We see it for the first time on
an Anglo-Irish coin in 1534,

minted by Henry VIII,
with a crown on top,

and of course this is very
deliberately placed there

since Ireland is becoming a colony
of England in that period.

But of course the Irish always
want to get the crown off the top

of the harp, so we see it in the 17903,
in the prelude to the revolution

of 1798, being used by the
United Irishmen without the crown.

This is a very significant moment.

And today it is an official symbol.
- Yes.

It became an official symbol in
the early 20th century. It's not

just a generic Irish harp,
but it is this harp.

In fact, this is of course a replica
of the one in the glass case.

The Trinity College
Brian Boru harp

is the national emblem of Ireland
now, very specifically.

And does that replica play?

It certainly does.

Thank you.
- You're so welcome.

The harp certainly produces a
traditional sound of Ireland

but Dublin's fair city inspired
a song which has become

an unofficial anthem.

[HE SINGS]
"Cockles and mussels

"Alive, alive-o!"

The folktale of fishmonger Molly
Malone is beloved by tourists

coming to the city.

And the song is no doubt often heard
at the end of the night in one of

Dublin's other attractions,
its public houses.

Good evening, barman.
- Good afternoon, sir.

May I compliment you on
your lovely old pub?

How old is this?
- This pub is about 300 years old.

Really?
- Yeah.

I have a guidebook here that's
only about 130 years old,

tells me that local products are
Guinness and whiskey.

Which of those should I have?

Well, to be honest,
I reckon you should have both.

Have the two together?

Well, you're in Ireland so you
have to have the two together.

Right. Thank you.

This will probably kill me.

Now, one stout
and one single whiskey.

So, a good sup of the black stuff.

Mmm. Which is
lovely and creamy and cold.

And then a drop of whiskey.

Mmm!

Let it move around the mouth.

A little bit like fire.

Mmm.

Fire brigade.

And, of course, a few of those

and you'll be having
the craic all night.

I'm there for a bit of craic.

It's a new day and I'm staying in
the glorious city of Dublin,

as my guidebook has much more
in store for me.

Bradshaw's has directed me
towards St Patrick's,

or the National Cathedral,

"An early English cross with
spire and buttresses

"thoroughly restored 1861 -1865
by Sir Benjamin Guinness."

"Here, the Prince of Wales," that
would be the future King Edward VII,

"was installed Knight of
St Patrick in April 1868."

A protestant Prince in a Protestant
cathedral set amongst a largely

Catholic population -

the politics must've been tricky.

Dublin's Protestant population
is very small,

yet St Patrick's is one of two
Anglican cathedrals in the city.

I'm meeting 19th-century
specialist Dr Ciaran O'Neill.

Ciaran, St Patrick's is
an impressively ancient

and beautiful cathedral.

Bradshaw's talks about
a refurbishment in the 18603

by Benjamin Guinness.

Tell me about that.
- It's a very controversial refurbishment.

We're standing in the side of a
13th century cathedral,

but really we're standing in a
cathedral that Benjamin Lee Guinness

built in the mid-18605.

The refurbishment was near total.

There really isn't much of
the medieval cathedral left,

so from 1860 to 1865 the Guinness
family paid a huge sum of money to

rebuild this in their own vision.
- Guinness, as in

the black stuff?
- Yeah, very much.

Yeah, absolutely.
Of the brewery fame.

And what might he have hoped
to get from that?

His motivations aren't
entirely pure,

so in one sense it's a beautiful
gift to the people of Dublin

and to the Church of Ireland,

in another sense it's part of
a long-term Guinness project

to buy their way into
the aristocracy.

And he eventually is rewarded
in that way,

he becomes a baronet, which is
one of the lower levels

but nevertheless begins the process.

Now, what about those references in
Bradshaw's to the Prince of Wales,

and the Order of St Patrick?

The Order of St Patrick are
an order set up in 1783,

really at a moment
after the French Revolution

and the American Revolution

where there's a need to shore up the
loyalty of the Irish nobility.

So the King, George III,
creates an order that is on a par,

at least symbolically, with the
Order of the Garter, much older,

and the Order of the Thistle
in Scotland.

And these banners, these standards,
represent those families?

Yes, these are the original
15 families.

Now, it's decided to give it
to the Prince of Wales,

the future King Edward VII.

He's not short of titles.

No, but this one is an important
one to give him.

This is about the Irish people being
able to celebrate a monarch taking

their premier order but it's also
about the monarchy

and the royal family showing a
willingness to really

be part of Ireland.

The Prince of Wales' visit in 1868

came at a time of strained
Anglo-Irish relations.

The previous year had seen a failed
uprising by so-called Fenians.

Affection for the Queen
was on the wane.

She'd withdrawn into mourning after
Prince Albert's death in 1861

and radical Irish nationalism
was growing.

The Prince of Wales was sent
to repair the damage.

The Prince of Wales,
Bertie as he was often known,

was quite a popular fellow.

Did he do well here?
- Absolutely. His visit

is a massive success.

Tens of thousands of people line
the streets on his way here and they

played it in a very savvy way.

When the Prince of Wales arrives,
he's wearing shamrock,

his wife is wearing poplin
and other Irish produce.

They shake Catholic hands
for the week that they're here.

They make a big effort
and it's a success

and not only do the Irish people
take to Bertie,

but they really fall for his wife,
Alexandra of Denmark.

She's the real success story of
the week they spend here.

At a time of political agitation,

a Protestant prince in a
Protestant cathedral, is that not

a bit offensive to
the Catholic population?

Yeah, that was a very carefully
managed aspect of the ceremony.

They wanted to make it as ecumenical
as possible, so they didn't hold a

Protestant service, not only that,

they invite lots of Catholics
into this cathedral.

It's a ticketed event and there are
a huge amount of Catholics present

here on the day.
- So at a time of political tension,

using the royal family is
a good card to play?

It's always a good card to play,

especially if they're young
and good-looking.

Within Dublin's city centre is the
huge and beautiful sanctuary

of Phoenix Park.

Bradshaw's tells me that the,
"Vice regal lodge is in Phoenix Park

"on the west side of Dublin."
In 1882,

as the British government's Cabinet
Minister for Ireland

and his top civil servant
approach the house,

they were set upon
and stabbed to death

in an event that caused horror
throughout Britain and indeed much

of Ireland. At the time, 80 Irish
members of the British Parliament

were arguing for home rule

and the Phoenix Park murders
indicated that some Irish had

already lost patience with
constitutional reform

and believed that independence could
be achieved only through violence.

Today the lodge
is the official residence

of the President of Ireland

and is one of several historic
institutions in the park.

Bradshaw's tells me that here in
Phoenix Park, "The Mountjoy Barracks

"is the depot for the great
Irish Ordnance Survey,

"which extends to 1,600 sheets."

That work is still done here.

I'm interested to know how the
topography of this green island was

committed to paper and why it was
so important to do so.

During the 19th century,
the national ordnance office

was involved in an
extraordinary undertaking.

I'm meeting one of today's team
of mappers, Andy McGill.

What role does Ireland play, do you
think, in the history of map-making?

Well, Ireland were the first country
in the world to be mapped at

large-scale, six inches to one mile.

What's the importance of
six inches to one mile?

It's a large-scale map,

so it was large enough to actually
define properties and property

boundaries but it was
also, I suppose,

getting that balance right between
the efficiency of not having

too many map sheets
covering the country,

but yet getting the detail that was
required in the mapping.

The British government wanted
accurate maps of Ireland

so that they could tax it.

In 1824, a team of surveyors led by
the brilliant Colonel Thomas Colby

began to create a record
of the landscape

with a precision never seen before.

In this box we have a bar
known as Colby's bar.

Colby invented this bar

and what was unique about it
was it's made up of two

different metals, brass and iron -
so in varying temperature,

the bar will never change
its dimensions.

And what they did was they measured
a baseline along Lough Foyle,

eight miles long using
a number of these bars.

They would set them up on wooden
trestles in a straight line,

they would put tents over them to
give them

some protection from the
elements.

It took them approximately
60 days for about 70 people to

measure this line with
extreme accuracy,

and that was the basis for all
of the mapping in Ireland.

So he establishes a baseline.

What is the point of that?

Mapping in general for any
nation is based on triangulation.

So the idea behind this was that
we would create triangles all over

the country, and these
would be points on top of mountains

and people may recognise
trig pillars,

concrete pillars on top of mountains
around the country.

This was the first baseline
for the first triangle.

Once you have your first triangle
you build a series of triangles from

that, until you cover
the entire country.

It's amazing, so actually all
the triangles are subsidiary to

the first line.

Correct. They're all based on this
very first line and all the mapping

of the country to this present day

started with the bar
that's inside this box.

To calculate the angles,

the team used an instrument
known as a theodolite.

This is a Troughton Simms theodolite

and this would have a horizontal
circle on it to measure horizontal

angles. It also has
a vertical circle on it

to measure vertical angles.

We set up the theodolite on both
ends of that baseline

and measure the angles
to the third point

and therefore you've created your
first triangle for the

mapping of Ireland.

The survey of Ireland was
unprecedented.

The methods were replicated in the
rest of the British Isles and across

the Empire to create maps that were
essential to planners and engineers

in the new era of railways
and imperial power.

You're a professional in this field,

how do you feel about
Colonel Thomas Colby and his team?

I think what Colonel Thomas Colby
and his team achieved back in 1824,

when I compare it to the
methodologies that we use today,

using satellite technology, field
equipment such as GPS technology,

I think what they achieved
still stands up today.

I think it's mind-boggling.

The bonds between Great Britain and
Ireland were thick and ancient.

Queen Elizabeth I had
founded Trinity College Dublin

and the future King Edward VII
had been invested

as a Knight of St Patrick, while the
English Wingfield family had owned

Powerscourt for many centuries.

But an increasing number
of Irish saw the relationship

as purely colonial.

Tired of providing accompaniment
to the British,

they longed to hear the Irish
harp loudly playing solo.

'Next time, I get up to speed
with modern archaeology...

That was excellent.
[HE SIGHS]

That was perfect.
- Do you really go at that pace?

'...discover a glorious
hidden wonder...

This is the best chapel in
Ireland by a long shot.

You can't come to Ireland
and not see this, can you?

No.

'and get my marching orders.'

If you're going to join them, beat.

[END THEME MUSIC]