Welcome to Ireland with Michael.

Iand this is a show, you everything that I love about my home country.

Thow through music.

Iwent to the lovely towne the Vikings in 800 AD.

Tcounty to see everything Southeast has to offer.

[MUSIC PLAYING] is made possible by-- (SINspecial in the air.thing Vethe excitementng of sporting events,nt, to venues across America.

for the first time or longing you a warm Irish welcome.

Ireland or to plan a visit, go to Ireland.com.

Fill your heart with Ireland.

[IRISH MUSIC] CIreland for nearly 90 years.f as the sunny Southeast bhours of sunshinee here than the rest of Ireland.

in Irish was originally part of the Gaelic territory .

the north part of the county wcentury and at one timeth was the capital of Ireland.

history of modern Ireland stems from Ferns.

Derof Leinster, in 1169,King help him fight his battles, and well, they never left.

Ferns itself was largely , Ireland's largest cities, today about 13 hundred people.

Given that the county is sus that the fishing industry plays a huge part in the county.

area of Kilmore Quay village of Kilmore oldest friends, Liam Bates.

world-renowned composer.

from Pavarotti to Bryan Adams.

village in county Wexford?

Working with my MichaelLond.

farm and my dad, Peter Bates, in a little thatched cottage,n not unlike this one.

our living history here at Kilmore and Kilmore Cay.

was love that brought me here.

I met my wife Sandra on the and ended up in one ofplaces in Ireland.l KilKilmore Carols.

the been performed continuously in Kilmore for 300 years.

While the term carol originfor dancing, song are a true exception inwritten and performedtly of the Catholic mass.

Thone for Christmas nightl, and one for each of the 12. carols mean to you?e here on Christmas day and closing my eyes and lis, conduit where through which all the generations of carols in Kilmore spanning 300 years.

And that's living history.

the small area of Kilmore haof songs for the 12 days.on Buare known the world over.ls Wthose songs year-round,m ithat I get Liamt tas I perform one ohometown, Wexford.

[MUSICAROL"]EXFORD of this Christmas time.

Consider well and bear in mind.

Wfor us has doned in sending his beloved son.

should pray to God with love this Christmas day.

Attending on the Lord of life earthame on to end all strife.

joyful minds, the shepherds as God's angel had foretold, twho Christ behold., Within a manger, he was la, the virgin made.

Attending on the Lord of Lh to end all strife.

GooChristmas time,his consider well and bear in mind.

Wfor us has doned in sending his beloved son.

(APPLAUSE) to the past extendsn carols to the ancient craft of thatching.

village is famous cottages, many dating back to the 17th century.

be old, but there's craftsmen in Kilmore who still practice the art.

James, how are you?

Oh, Mick, how are we getting on?

Dup and have a look?e James.

Ah, digwit.

I didn't realize it was so.

It's high enough, isn't it?

have you been a thatcher?

Well, I've been working .

Yeah.

What you do before that?

telecoms to do this, yeah, and I've been broke ever since.

[LAUGHTER] Atake to thatch a whole roof?

taken about six weeks, and repaired the undercoat.

a new thatch, you see?

good solid base coat on there.

Oh.

new stuff on then like so all and all was stripping in a re everything,getting right isix weeks.

about Wtoday, exactly?ng Today, I'm working on the ridge.

Sthe house, really.f So this up here is the ridge That's all hazel lattice.

Whit up around the cornering tight and waterproof.d So that's it, really.

the eaves and cut the hip and then finish it.

Get ready to roll.

Finish it then, yea.

Onto the next one.

Well, thank you, sir.

Good to see you.

While the lovely village wis tourists, the main industry iaround the sea.d everyone here in the village hasto the water.ion Yeah, very much.

fleet that we have here of the community that's grown here over the centuries.

Aunusual place in Kilmore because we're on a peninsula.

It's not a natural harbor.

and yet its natural beauty also attracts so many people here.

We have the Saltees islands-- Right.

- And off the harbor.

Two one of whichnds, is a great bird sanctuary.

gannet colony in Europe.

Sobeauty, and weal have a natural community growingof fishing.ecessity favorite part of Kilmore is.

It's right over there.

That's the chipper.

Fish and chips?

Yep.

We're going to get some?

Yep!

Come on.

Wiabout $12 million,f fish come through Kilmore every year.

Good, eh?

Oh yeah.

We probably can't eat give it a good shot.

the fish is pretty fresh.

Ocean goodness, enjoy.

Leaving Kilmore in the southern Wexford,county of the county to another village by the sea.

by the sea.

Curracloe marsh of the impression is nothing like a marsh.

Withbeaches in the world.tiful the beautiful Curracloe beach.

A place familiar to movie goers.

D-day invasion scene aSaving Private Ryan.

Filming lasted for two over 500 crew and 1,000 Irish Army Reserve.

At tin the countyybody thought they were going t. Although, no one from Cgo on to Hollywoodo fame.

The locals did play host t, for the duration of the shoot of Irish hospitality.

responsible for the beach's coast of Normandy.

of Ireland goes on vacation.

gigs were for those June holiday visitors.

from Wexford, there waschildhood dayect twith my school friends,e the water and lining up favorite ice cream treat.

I wthe name '99 comes from.re But who cares?

This is delicious.

come down every summer for the sunshine and tfor the night life.ay (MUSIC) the musicians of Taghmon, having the craic.

(MUSIC) Gaelic word for a good time.

(MUSIC) Enouglet's head downtlife, corner of the county.

into the Atlantic like a finger pointing a way to land.

Herfriend, Eoin Colfer.ool So you're right up to the ocean.

Fowl series of books hmillion copies,5 aDisney blockbuster movie.e brothers on this spit of land.

Sbit about your childhood on the Hook Peninsula.

Wellancestral home.olfer Athe rocks this way,g house where we lived.

My dad was born here.

He grew up here.

man in his family school in Wexford town, and then, of course, a doctor of history.

Heabout the area.ely Bis the Summers here.

We jump off these rocks.

Into the water.

But for me, if I had to rem, my father brought us up to the lamp room in the li.

with the lighthouse keeper.

Soinside this massive bulbb the world refracted through these giant lenses.

saying he said, now remember, tway to look at the worldt have lived by ever since.I Esteps in the lighthousee child and thinks nothing of coming up here today.

Ito get me to do the same.ng everything that you know about the Hook lighthouse.

it's the oldest working lighthouse in the world, so internationallyus and rightfully.

level, which is the gallery.

have the lightroom because I know you're noto very fond of heights.

I certainly don't.

Thhere for nearly 850 years.d And there has been some fe since the fifth century.

four stories tall, up to 12 feet thick.

to Waterford harbor, the light was originally e to warn sailors away rocks on the peninsula.

Tbuilt by monks,ly so it would have been a muct you would have liked.

is the ideal place to see right out to the ocd and up into Waterford Bay.

where the Normans came ashore when they first invaded Iry one of those boats.

the laziest Normans in history Normans went to conquer Dublin, we said, no, we're fine.

We'll just stay right here.

several hundred years, and we're still here.

other place that you want to take me that's in the area.

Well, you can't leave Hook HeLoftus Hallvisiting most haunted house in Ireland.

And if there's anything you hateit's ghosts.ieghts, Ythe top of the lighthouse.m day, it looks a bit scary.

would use two words to scare me if I was ever bold.

But wEion Colfer?ords No?

No.

Two much scarier words.

Loftus Hall.

Yeah.

with those words, threaten to send us there whenand I actuallyty, was sent there but not fto work in the bar.t nights with the sailors counter, they allr of the wonderful yet terrifying this place its reputation in the first place.

Are we going?

We shall.

OK. is the second grand housew to occupy this spot.

The first was built inHouseland Castle.led Tthat castle in around 1350 and called it Redmond Hall.

Inof the Redmond familyts numbering only 10 in all, hEnglish soldiers who0 I.

The English cannons were nothick wooden door.

's acquired by the Loftus family family was evicted by Oliver Cromwell, occupation of Ireland.

Altand renamed Loftus Hall,led this is the manor house .

I want to hear this again, the story of Loftus Hall?

but I've cobbled my version I heard when I was working here.

So the short version.

Yeah.

owned by Charles Tottenham, awith his daughter, Anna, blown in on the rocks, to the house and asked to be given shelter.

Andbut strangely, therer, was no crew to the ship.

It was just him.

own, given shelter, fed, treated wonderfully.

Tthis tall, handsome strangery and fell in love with him.

was playing cards with Charles, and he dropped one of his cards.

And daughter leaned down , and she saw that he had in, he had cloven hooves and sh, and he said words like, I be back for your soul.ll Aof flame through the roof.

the markings in the roof whhole was made.ar But you would think beloved was the devil would put Anna off.

But no, she pined for Satan.

Awindow ledge in her room.e that she died in that position roughly triangular coffin bstraighten her out.t were walking by Loftus Hall light is on in Anna's bedroom.

Then she is there still watfor her lovernue and claim her soul.

So a happy ending.

YWexford's historyof is that ancient and scary.

a story from the recent past.

Ptell me your connectionou family and this farm.

Ihomestead, and thisy is my home right behind this.

And my grandmother welcomed the pres 1963.here in She was a second cousin of JFK and they had a tea farm yard.in the Ttime JFK was here, a congressman in 1947. in Lismore in Lismore castle,r and drove up here to Dunganstown any Kennedys left.

And then he arrives bacof United Statesnt in 1963. affair when he came back.

Yday he was here,e win front of a building.t us, there was a telephone, back to the United States the out break of nuclear war.

special telephone line, back from the end of the road.

and so he could be contacted (JFK's VOICE) You are the mand girlsd boys When I read all there, it's,of it all,acle of stopped when he arrived.

It son coming back.wn Yea, ike I supposed, he rof immigration,years was affected in some way.y Sgrand uncle had immigrated.t people left during the famine in those years, there again, and he comes.

His 8 great grandparents arrivethe famine.

during He was descended from thes immigrants.um, I sstruggle of the peoplehe then, the success and holding the highest pos.

Lgrandparents lived here, aentitled to a vote.e Theto own property.ed Theto an education.ed And here he is back the lea.

What a legacy.

As a cI rememberxford, hall of every home the Holy Trinity-- PreBobby, and Pope John 23.her You see, JFK represented , and I got to live that dream.

So it was a real privile graveside in Arlington from the eternal flame.

torch was brought here blight this flame as a beacon to tomorrow's immigrants.

I reflecting on the legacyy, Prchildren and to the world.s (MUSIC "TOMORROW'S CHILD") like a moving river.

Always faster than you think.

the misty surface, if you try to stop time, .

Afor a little while.ou your hair, and you smile.

Iget to where you're going.

I plant to seed but may done growing.tree Stilis you yonderthere and yonders forever wide.

I will always have faith .

We and daughters.ons lovers and friends.

Sbe mothers and fathers.o We alin the end.ildren And so we only have you f. through your hair.

and smile.

Iget to where you're going.

Isee the tree done growing.

blue yonder and the yonders forever while.

Iin tomorrow's child.h I have fai child.omorrow's I have fai child.omorrow's I have fai child.omorrow's Tomorrow's child.

(APPLAUSE) Thanks for joining me onCounty Wexford.und hope to see you next time on Ireland With Michael.

But for Cheers.àinte.

To learn more about everything to travel to Ireland with me,r go to irelandwithmichael.com.

was made possible by-- [MUSIC PLAYING] of Ireland for nearly 90 years.

(SINspecial in the air--ign Venthe excitementng of sporting events,nt, to venues across America.

for the first time or longing you a warm, Irish welcome.

Ireland or to plan a visit, go to ireland.com.

Fill your heart with Ireland.

OK, put your hands up let's get a waving., (it's rightful queen, Ever lovever true.tender, That's it.

your smile has shone,n Go on, Wexford.

all it glowed upon,g all it glowed upon,g