MICHAEL: Welcome to Ireland with Michael.

I'm Michael Londra, and in this show, I get to tell you everything I love about my home country the only way I know how, through music.

Today, I'm on the magnificent Powerscourt Estate in County Wicklow just outside the capital city, and we're going to learn everything that you can do just an hour from Dublin.

♪ ♪ ANNOUNCER: Ireland with Michael is made possible by... ♪ ANNOUNCER: Whether traveling to Ireland for the first time or just longing to return.

There's plenty more information available at Ireland.com.

♪ ANNOUNCER: CIE Tours, sharing the magic of Ireland for nearly 90 years.

♪ ANNOUNCER: Aer Lingus has been bringing people home since 1936.

If you are thinking about Ireland, Aer Lingus is ready when you are to take you home.

♪ ♪ MICHAEL: If you're going to day trip out of Dublin, why not go where the nobility went and visit the Powerscourt Estate, a large country escape of 47 acres of gardens and a grand house from the 13th century.

This place was so coveted by the Wingfield family, English Marshalls of Ireland, that they spent years trying to draw its owner, Phelim O'Toole, into an act of rebellion, the penalty for which would be forfeiture of all his land to them.

Well, the plot didn't work out exactly as planned, so instead they just murdered poor old Phelim and made themselves at home, renting it for just six pounds a year.

♪ Alright, I'll admit I'm not exactly here for the history.

Out back, the old mill house has been put to excellent use, that's right, as a distillery making Fercullen whiskey, and what a whiskey it is.

I can't wait to give it a taste with the master of all things Irish food and beverage, Santina Kennedy.

Santina, we are in this gorgeous old building on the Powerscourt Estate.

Tell me about your connection to it.

SANTINA: Well, here we are in this beautiful old mill house.

This was the center of farming on the estate.

And I can see outside there all the farm buildings, the stables next to the big house, and I am very proud to work here because my father's family worked on this estate and in this building for over 250 years.

So for me, it's a lovely connection.

MICHAEL: I am excited to hear about your whiskeys and how they pair with these local projects, am I right?

SANTINA: For us, this has been a great way to introduce whiskeys to people.

Now, I'm very proud of Irish food and Irish food history.

In fact, my job title here is a food historian, and I love looking back to see what people ate through the ages and how we can give a sense of place and a sense of history to what we're offering here.

MICHAEL: You know, people think being an Irish person living in the US that I'm very familiar with Irish whiskey.

I am indeed not.

SANTINA: Okay.

MICHAEL: So I would ask you to give me a lesson.

SANTINA: Great, and we're going to change that now.

You're gonna be flying the flag for Irish whiskey when you go back home.

So when you think, "Oh, I don't like whiskey," you're probably thinking there's one taste of whiskey, it all tastes the same, but it really doesn't.

So Irish whiskey needs to be aged for three years before it can be called whiskey, so that's aging in the barrels across the way in our warehouse.

Irish whiskey, typically Irish malt whiskey, is made from barley, malted barley.

And the malted barley, a lot of the barley that we use actually grows in the fields around here and we also use the water from Powerscourt Waterfall.

So what you're tasting is a taste of this place, and how better to have that than with a taste of Irish food from this place.

MICHAEL: Having witnessed what Powerscourt Waterfall looks like, I now cannot wait to taste this.

SANTINA: Great, well that's exciting.

So we start off with the whiskey, their very first whiskey here, which is a blended whiskey.

So that's this one here in front of yourself.

Yeah.

So first of all, when we're smelling whiskey, just under the nose and not right, don't put your nose right into it, otherwise you're going to get a big waft of alcohol.

MICHAEL: Yes, I just did.

SANTINA: Yeah, okay.

So we're going to just right under the nose, let's have a little taste.

So when you're tasting whiskey as well, it's a good idea just to leave your mouth slightly open as you taste it and breathe out, and then you'll get the full flavor and not just the alcohol.

MICHAEL: I've just learned a new way to drink alcohol.

SANTINA: There you go.

MICHAEL: That's delicious.

SANTINA: Isn't it?

Really delicious, lovely and light.

There's lovely vanilla in there, lovely little bit of citrus coming through, tiny little bit of oak, lightly spiced, nothing too overpowering in that blend.

MICHAEL: Delicate.

SANTINA: This one we're gonna try with it is the charcuterie and it comes from The Wooded Pig in Tara in County Meath.

MICHAEL: Do we have to move, do we have to go anywhere else for the rest of the day?

'Cause this is so gorgeous.

♪ Sadly, I did need to move on.

Those local products Santina was talking about don't stop at the cuisine and libations.

In fact, just 10 minutes down the road is Fragrances of Ireland, where CEO David Cox is turning their lavender harvest into one of their signature scents that have made this local business world-famous.

I am standing here with you, David, underneath a very fragrant row of drying lavender, and I have come here to see you today because I absolutely love what you create and it's available in the US.

So when we were here just south of Dublin, I thought I'd stop by and say hello.

DAVID: You're very welcome.

MICHAEL: I would love if you could tell me what exactly you make here.

DAVID: On the face of it, we're making scents, we're making smelly stuff, but in marketing speaking, and it's actually true, we're trying to make people happy.

We're trying to, with a little scent of perfume or a lovely body lotion, make people feel a little bit happier going about their day, little squirts of luxury, little squirt of Irishness on them to make them feel happier.

MICHAEL: What I love is this perfume that you make called Inis, and I'd love you to tell me how you make it.

DAVID: Okay, well, there's a lovely story about how we started making it.

Inis is the Irish word for island, by the way, and we wanted to make a scent that smelled like a summer's day by the sea, like a sort of bracing sea walk by the beach.

Gave it to our perfumer and he rang me a few days later and said, "I haven't got an idea of where to start 'cause there aren't ingredients available from the sea much, really.

It's all land-based stuff."

So I said, "Let's go."

So we flew down to Knock in the west of Ireland and I took him to the most beautiful beach I know in Ireland, which is Dog's Bay in Connemara.

Near Roundstone, I'm sure you know it.

Anyway, most beautiful beach, and on the beach, walking around, beautiful day, unusually in the West, and he said, "Yeah, I know what I'm gonna do.

I know what I'm gonna do.

I'm gonna mix lemons for all the freshness, I'm gonna mix lily of the valley for all the beautiful green hills coming down, and I'm gonna put some cloves and sandalwood for the salt stuff."

A lot more complicated than that, but about a week or two later, he'd mixed, there's over 200 ingredients in it.

He came back with the scent and that was 22 years ago and it's been going really strong ever since.

MICHAEL: 'Cause I live in Iowa right in the Midwest.

I miss that scent, which is sweetness and saltiness all at once and that's why I love Inis.

DAVID: Exactly what we're trying to do, and one of the phrases we like using is that Inis brings you back to the sea no matter where you are.

So if you are in Iowa, then we can give you a little bit- MICHAEL: Well, it worked.

DAVID: Of our scent of the sea.

♪ MICHAEL: And right next door is the one and only Avoca Handweavers.

Avoca exemplifies the philosophy of, "If it ain't broke... " The hand-woven throws, scarves and wraps have been right here on the Avoca River since 1723 when the mill began as a cooperative endeavor for local farmers.

Maeliosa, I live 4,000 miles away from here in the middle of Iowa.

All around my home are Avoca pieces.

MAELIOSA: I think the biggest thing for me that makes me so proud about Avoca is Avoca has such a long withstanding history and heritage.

I think that we have, you probably see them up here on the wall, but we have the Wynne sisters that started this business in 1723, so we're coming up to almost 300 years celebration.

And I think the one thing that I'm particularly proud of, and all of the staff are as well is, you know, we're the oldest manufacturing mill in Ireland, which is such a huge thing.

And when you take it from 1723 to how it's evolved today, Avoca is very much synonymous with color.

Back then, you would have had the natural dyes of the land that were used to dye the wool and the yarn and-- MICHAEL: Tell more about that, actually.

MAELIOSA: So effectively, Abhóca meant little treasure.

So where Avoca, our mill, is positioned is down in the Vale of Avoca in County Wicklow, and the Wynne sisters at the time came to quite a dilapidated mill and what they did was quite revolutionary.

To be fair, they there were three sisters.

It would have been unheard of, it was very rural Ireland, and they really brought about a surge of employment.

So they developed craftsmen and craft makers, which in turn were all of our weavers.

And even today, we still have third generation weavers weaving within our business, which we're so proud of.

MICHAEL: So the heart of Avoca is the loom.

MAELIOSA: Yeah.

MICHAEL: Can you tell me a bit more about it?

MAELIOSA: This will be typically what would have been used back in the day.

It would have been the hand looms and we still do have two hand looms.

MICHAEL: No doubt, there will be one or two more in my life.

MAELIOSA: I have millions of them all over my house.

Different colors for different seasons.

MICHAEL: While we're here, just beyond The Pale, I'd be remiss if I didn't pay homage to one of the all-time greats hailing from this part of the country, Irish folk band The Dubliners.

Their version of the longing love song, "I Wish I Had Someone To Love Me," is one of my all -time favorites and the favorite of my dear friend, Aileen Mythen.

♪ I wish I had someone to love me ♪ ♪ Someone to call me their own ♪ ♪ Someone to sleep with me nightly ♪ ♪ I'm weary of sleeping alone ♪ MICHAEL: I have known you for a few years now, right?

AILEEN: Yeah, let's not say how many exactly.

MICHAEL: We better not.

I will say I know you initially as a musical theater actor and an amazing performer, but I also know you from singing in my shows with me, but you live with one special skill and that is you sing country.

(Aileen laughs) AILEEN: I mean gosh, I love everything.

I love every genre.

There's probably not a genre that I don't enjoy singing and performing.

MICHAEL: But why do you think Irish singers lean into country music, lean into Americana?

What do you see is the connection there?

AILEEN: I mean, the obvious reason to me is, I guess, we've been immigrating for a long time now and we brought our music over and then picking up stuff in the States and bringing it back, and that back and forth I guess has led to this common sound of roots, folk music.

♪ I wish I had someone to love me ♪ ♪ Someone to call me their own ♪ ♪ Someone to sleep with me nightly ♪ ♪ I'm weary of sleeping alone ♪ MICHAEL: This song for me is an example of what you're talking about because really it sounds like an Irish folk song because it's so simple and it's also tragic, 'cause let's face it, we love a good tragedy in Ireland.

AILEEN: Well, we have that history and I think it's in our bones and it's in our blood.

We can empathize as a result and that's a lovely thing that a lot of people will say about Irish people and I think that's very genuine because we have a history of a lot of tragedy and hard times in this country.

So because of that, I think then that's gonna seep into the music.

♪ I wish I had wings of a swallow ♪ ♪ To fly out over the sea ♪ ♪ I'd fly to the arms of my true love ♪ ♪ And bring him home safely to me ♪ ♪ I wish I had someone to love me ♪ ♪ Someone to call me their own ♪ ♪ Someone to sleep with me nightly ♪ ♪ I'm weary of sleeping alone ♪ ♪ I'm weary of sleeping alone ♪ ♪ MICHAEL: Back in the day, Dublin and the surrounding land were under the direct control of England.

This is how it came to be known as The Pale.

No, not because the English are the only folks paler than us Irish.

The word comes from Latin and means stake, land set apart by a different set of rules.

It also explains the plethora of rural manors where the English nobility once escaped to while staying near the administrative hub of Dublin.

♪ Killruddery is another grand country house just outside Dublin, but the family that lives here has done so since 1618.

It takes a lot to maintain a house like this, not to mention the rather huge estate that surrounds it.

As such, the 15th Earl and Countess of Meath have opened it up to visitors.

It's a working farm and organic vegetables, root and fresh cut flowers are all for sale in the farm shop, and the cafe and tea room on site are garden-to-plate.

It's one way that the truly historic place is thriving in the 21st century, by taking the best of the old and the new.

It's clear when you see how alive Killruddery is, that it comes from the family that owns it.

Anthony, I'm betting many, many people ask you this, and I'm sure you're sick of telling people.

Would you tell me what your title is?

ANTHONY: Well, I am Lord Ardee, or Antho to most people, but my title is Lord Ardee.

My father is the Earl of Meath.

Charles II gave him that title, and Lord Ardee is for, he's allowed to give it to someone, it's always the first son is Lord Ardee.

MICHAEL: So we are on the grounds of this magnificent place.

How long has this been part of your family?

ANTHONY: Well, 1618 is when the Brabazons moved in, and so the family have lived for over 400 years here.

MICHAEL: What I am witnessing here today is something that's very much alive and vibrant and not something you see that often in great houses like this.

It feels really alive.

ANTHONY: Yeah, well we're very lucky in that we're so close to, you know, Dublin and Bray.

And we're also lucky in that our gardens here, they're 17th century gardens, and they're more of a sort of open park land than a very kind of fussy, you know, the rose beds and things like that.

But it doesn't mean that kids can't run around and play.

MICHAEL: Yeah, it looks like everyone is kind of having a relaxed, fun time.

ANTHONY: Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Every now and again you meet someone who says that they find it very hard to walk on the paths, and you go, "Well, you can walk on the grass", you know, and they kinda go, "Oh, I wish I'd known that."

(both laughing) MICHAEL: Anthony was gracious enough to give me the grand tour to see the gorgeously decorated interior of this museum of a home.

Pointing out family portraits and the detail of their own Victorian conservatory modeled after London's ill -fated Crystal Palace.

And this is Ireland with Michael after all, so there's got to be music.

As it so happens, I got to hear the world premiere of an original composition by the future lady of the house.

♪ You resolved the chords, congratulations.

♪ The English didn't just leave their manor homes behind.

We're headed now to one of my favorite places to visit in all of Ireland.

This is the Irish National Stud, and no, I'm not talking about myself.

Behind me is a thoroughbred horse-breeding facility owned by the Irish Government.

World-famous racing horses have been born and raised here for 120 years, and yet more are cared for on the grounds during their off-season.

To tell me the story of how all this happened is the Stud's own David Wardell.

David, I would love you to tell me the story about this wonderful place, how did it all began?

DAVID W.: Well, it all started with a very eccentric Englishman called William Hall Walker who was a bit of a lad.

He was a womanizer, a gambler and an all -around player, (both laughing) he basically, but he also had a bit of a chip on his shoulder.

He inherited all his money from beer, Walker's Beer, not Johnny Walker's whiskey, Walker's Beer, so he was very wealthy.

But his best friend was the King of England, Edward VII, and he played around another playboy, the Aga Khan.

So he played with very high society so he did an awful lot to try and impress.

So when he came back from traveling extensively, he was the colonel in the army in India.

He came back, he bought a 1000 acres here and he really went out to impress.

He did a number of things.

He built a Japanese gardens which cost, it was 40 laborers in five years, between 1905 and 1910.

He lent his favorite horse to the King of England that was called Minoru, called after the Japanese gardener's son.

That is the only time, incidentally, that the Kings and Queens of England ever won the Derby.

As a part of the war effort, he didn't think this tank was gonna work, so as a part of the 1915, he hands the entire place over to the English nation as a war gift.

So that's when it first became a National Stud.

And in those days it was the English National Stud.

MICHAEL: Of course, I would love if we could take a wander around and you can maybe show me some of the highlights.

DAVID: Of course, of course, yeah.

MICHAEL: Let's do it.

DAVID W.: Yeah, okay.

MICHAEL: I'm not the only one here today.

As it seems, the whole world comes to appreciate the beauty of these animals.

So tell us about these beauties.

DAVID W.: Well, these are our living legends.

They're by far the most famous animals on the farm.

They're actually in retirement, so they're not worth an awful lot.

This boy here actually, he was a hurdler, jumping the big fences.

World-famous, he won 22 Grade Ones.

He won over two and a half million.

He's called Hurricane Fly.

This boy, by the way, has got a wonderful name.

The owners weren't quite sure what they were gonna call him until they went to a wedding and they saw a menu.

He's called Beef or Salmon.

And Beef or Salmon also became a true, true champion.

They were all absolute superstars.

And as you can see, they love being spoiled rotten in their retirement here.

MICHAEL: They deserve it.

(duck quacks) ♪ Colonel Walker may have been trying to show off with his Japanese gardens, but the choice was no accident.

He invited the Japanese master craftsman, Tassa Eida, and his son, Minoru, to live and work here, laying out the exceedingly fine gardens which symbolize a human life from oblivion to eternity and every stage in between, with branching paths to take your own journey through the gardens.

♪ Already feeling myself very much at peace from my stroll, I unwind yet more as our day outside Dublin comes to an end in the Wicklow Mountains, where we've saved the best for last.

Just a half-hour's drive south of the big city and you couldn't feel farther away from Dublin.

This is Glendalough.

In Irish, Gleann Dá Loch, literally meaning the Valley of Two Lakes.

An ancient glacial valley that has drawn in visitors for thousands of years.

It's a place of deep peace and serene beauty, which explains why Saint Kevin established a monastery right here, 15 centuries ago.

Kevin, meaning of noble birth, was born to families that controlled Leinster, the southeastern province of Ireland, and was cared for by three holy men as a boy.

Years later, Kevin would return to establish his monastery.

(choir singing) Through the valley and all about the monastery, you can almost hear the sound of monks lifting up their voices to sing their divine praises.

(choir singing) But with the monks long gone, we get the pleasure of listening to the sacred sounds of the Valda Chamber Choir.

(choir singing) (choir singing) (choir singing) (choir singing) (choir singing) (choir singing) MICHAEL: Thanks for joining me on my travels outside the city of Dublin.

I'm Michael Londra, and I hope to see you next time on Ireland with Michael.

Cheers, sláinte.

ANNOUNCER: Want to continue your travels to Ireland?

A deluxe Ireland with Michael DVD featuring all episodes of Season one and two, plus bonus concert footage, is available for $30.

A copy of the Ireland with Michael companion travel guide featuring places to visit as seen in Seasons one and two is also available for $30.

A set of both is available for $55.

MICHAEL: To learn more about everything you've seen in this episode, go to IrelandWithMichael.com.

ANNOUNCER: Ireland with Michael was made possible by... ♪ ANNOUNCER: Whether traveling to Ireland for the first time or just longing to return.

There's plenty more information available at Ireland.com.

♪ ANNOUNCER: CIE Tours, sharing the magic of Ireland for nearly 90 years.

♪ ANNOUNCER: Aer Lingus has been bringing people home since 1936.

If you are thinking about Ireland, Aer Lingus is ready when you are to take you home.

♪ MICHAEL: OK, put your hands up in the air.

Come on, let's get a-waving.

♪ In my heart its rightful queen ♪ ♪ Ever loving, ever tender ♪ MICHAEL: That's it!

♪ Ever true ♪ ♪ Like the Sun your smile has shone ♪ MICHAEL: Go on, Wexford!

♪ Gladdening all it glowed upon ♪ ♪