MICHAEL: Hello and welcome to Ireland with Michael.

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

Today, we're in Northern Ireland.

These six counties, which are part of the United Kingdom, have their own unique identity with a much greater influence from our neighbor islands to the east.

From elegant royal residences to Scots-Irish music, which changed the soundscape of America, it's incredible how this relatively small slice of the Emerald Isle holds enough variety to endlessly surprise.

♪ ♪ 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 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: The Ulster Folk Museum, situated in Cultra, is only a few miles east of Belfast.

But not only is the geography totally changed, so, it would seem, is the era.

(metal clanking) ♪ Here, actor guides endeavor to illustrate the way people lived in Northern Ireland 120 years ago in Ballycultra, a typical Ulster town of the time.

You'd think you were in a real period village, complete with farms and cottages, shops and churches, and both typical terraced housing and the Reverend's larger accommodations.

Demonstrations are on all the time to show the activities which engaged our forebearers' lives.

Let's go meet a few of the talented folks who bring the past to life.

(machine noises) ♪ Trevor, can you tell me about this ornate, massive, but ultimately intricate machine here in front of us.

TREVOR: We have here a thing called Columbian press.

Now, a Columbian press is an American-designed newspaper printer.

In life, it was operated by three men.

That was for speed.

It was, after all producing a very, very large print, which was substantially the size of that flatbed there.

MICHAEL: All right.

TREVOR: That is a big print.

And three men, we reckon, could do 200 of those prints an hour.

MICHAEL: Wow.

TREVOR: Which trust me, is going some.

It works out at... MICHAEL: Yeah.

TREVOR: 18 seconds for half a newspaper.

That's not bad.

MICHAEL: That's not bad for back then.

Can you show us that process then?

Is it- is it involved?

TREVOR: Very simple.

The first- the first pro thing you have to do if you want to print anything, it always involves some ink.

MICHAEL: Yeah.

TREVOR: So I'm going to ink the form, as it's known.

Step one complete.

Step two.

Let's put some paper on it.

We're ready to put it through the press now.

Here we go.

♪ (machine clunks) ♪ (paper peels) ♪ MICHAEL: Wow.

TREVOR: And there's the final print.

MICHAEL: That print is so clean, and what strikes me is that it ultimately looks like a delicate operation.

Even though, you've got this massive machine, it's quite precise.

TREVOR: It's- it's that there moves in and out, and the platen, which moves down and up, and that's the essence of the machine.

MICHAEL: Wow.

I suspect that this eagle is a reference to where this machine originates from, and that's Philadelphia.

TREVOR: It's like the decoration of the whole machine.

It's designed to attract the attention.

It's designed to impress.

MICHAEL: Now, there's another connection between printing in Ireland and Philadelphia, and it's quite the story.

A ship sailed across the Atlantic to deliver a copy of the Declaration of Independence to King George.

Well, it goes that a storm waylaid them and they sought safe harbor near Derry.

A messenger was sent on horseback, carrying the declaration over land to find passage across the Irish sea.

But apparently, a clandestine operation took place to sneak a peek at this mysterious stranger's cargo and copy down the valuable document while the messenger slept.

The next day, it's a fact that the full text of the Declaration of Independence was published in the Belfast News Letter before it had ever reached the king.

The first in Europe to report on those truths we hold to be self-evident and the newly free and independent states of America.

(fire crackling) ♪ Matthew, it's not often that I run across a blacksmith.

Tell me, how did you acquire these mad skills in the forge?

MATTHEW: Well, whenever I was 14, my parents bought me an anvil and a forge for Christmas.

So they were potters themselves.

So whenever I showed an interest in something that wasn't just lighting fires, they leaned into it, and it was a good investment.

You know, it landed me here, so it worked out well.

(laughs) MICHAEL: Do you see it as a- it's funny because I'm looking at you working away, but I don't know whether it's a craft or an art.

(laughs) MATTHEW: I'd say, it depends who you ask.

If it- if you asked me, I would say, I'm an artist- I'm an artist blacksmith.

MICHAEL: Is it all about the fire?

Like is that your source of everything, how you work with every metal?

MATTHEW: Well, it is.

On some metals, say, if you're working with- if you're working with steel, like we'll be working with today, then yeah, you would need heat, 'cause it's just such a hard metal.

If you're working with something like copper or silver, you would need a heat source, but you'll actually cool it down after you heat it up.

It's called annealing.

MICHAEL: And so what are we doing today?

MATTHEW: So I'm gonna get you to make a scroll.

MICHAEL: You're getting me to?

MATTHEW: Yeah, if you want to.

MICHAEL: Sure.

I'll give it a shot.

MATTHEW: I'll give you some goggles to wear though, if that's all right.

MICHAEL: Every form of protective equipment that you have available, I want.

MATTHEW: You want?

MICHAEL: Let's go.

Let's give it a shot.

MATTHEW: Yeah, we wanna bring it right up to like a bright white, almost yellow.

MICHAEL: Okay, and that makes it bendable?

Okay.

MATTHEW: Now I'll put a point on it.

MICHAEL: Okay.

MATTHEW: So what you wanna do is just tap the end like that.

(metal clanking) So whenever I'm hammering this, you can see how much it bounces back.

MICHAEL: Yeah.

(metal clanking) MATTHEW: Just gonna go at the edge.

So I'll heat it up again, then you can have a go.

MICHAEL: Okay.

MATTHEW: Yeah?

If you want to.

MICHAEL: We'll give it a shot, sure.

MATTHEW: Yeah, yeah.

So you just pull it outta the fire.

Start hammering when you're ready.

MICHAEL: Okay, so, okay, so I'm taking this out of the fire.

MATTHEW: Just grab that end.

MICHAEL: And I am bringing it over here.

MATTHEW: The anvil.

Yeah.

MICHAEL: Back away, Matthew, I'm a lethal weapon.

So- (Matthew laughing) MATTHEW: It's like a lightsaber.

MICHAEL: I'm holding it here.

(metal clanking) ♪ MATTHEW: You'll be after my job in a few weeks.

MICHAEL: I wouldn't worry.

(Matthew laughing) I wouldn't worry too much.

I think it's safe enough.

(metal clanking) I don't get much call for blacksmithing skills back in America.

MATTHEW: Oh, you will after this.

MICHAEL: Oh no, I'm getting a hang of it though.

Woo-hoo!

It's- it's surprisingly malleable.

I- I'm surprised by that.

MATTHEW: So eventually, after you've tapered that all the way down and cleaned it up a bit, you'll end up with something like this.

MICHAEL: Wow.

That is artistry.

You really are an artist.

Matthew.

MATTHEW: Thank you very much.

MICHAEL: So I just stepped outta the forge and the first thing I noticed was a gorgeous horse- chestnut tree.

And I learned that blacksmiths will plant a horse-chestnut right beside their forge.

Because, if you look at the branches of the horse-chestnut tree, all the way up, you'll find little notches with horseshoes on them.

Hence, horse-chestnut.

♪ We're leaving Ulster Folk Museum and headed for the Ulster American Folk Park in Omagh, County Tyrone.

Now, while these two museums sound similar, they really are very different.

This museum tells the story of three centuries of Irish immigration and explores the strong connections between Ireland and America.

To illustrate that passage, visitors even make the journey from a street in Ireland to America.

♪ On this site, New World meets Old in a great melting pot that reflects the real-world effects of immigration.

♪ One of the highlights of the year at the park is an annual bluegrass festival.

What's the connection between Ireland and bluegrass, you ask.

♪ There you go talking to a memory ♪ ♪ Saying more than you should say ♪ MICHAEL: Appalachian music has its roots in the Ulster Scots, today better known as the Scots-Irish.

These Irish and Scottish immigrants to the Appalachian Mountains brought with them the strong musical tradition of their homeland as played on folk instruments like the fiddle, the pipes, and proto-guitars.

Perhaps their greatest contribution was their lyricism.

Singing of broken hearts and sad partings, these ballads told stories, a tradition that will be carried forward for hundreds of years.

♪ There you are serving at the pleasure ♪ ♪ Of a story you can't keep quiet ♪ MICHAEL: Today, the Ulster American Folk Park celebrates this cultural exchange with an annual three-day bluegrass music festival.

And I'm here to meet The Honey Dewdrops, a bluegrass duo over from Baltimore, bringing with them their part in this 300-year-old swapping of sounds.

♪ Laura, Kagey, welcome to Northern Ireland.

What do you think is the actual true throughline between bluegrass music and Irish music?

Obviously, instrumentally, we're very close.

KAGEY: Sure.

MICHAEL: But there's a lot more, I think.

KAGEY: I think one of the biggest things is the stories.

You know, there are these throughlines that- that link up that have to do with longing for home.

A lot about heartbreak and loss.

LAURA: Mmm.

KAGEY: As well as just like everyday things, the mundane things about everyday life, getting through the years.

I think it's really about those stories, though.

And those were the- that was the big part that locked me into wanting to know more about bluegrass music.

And then traditional string-band music that goes way back.

MICHAEL: I'd love to not only hear one of your songs, but would you mind if I kind of joined in?

Because I think we have a kind of simpatico here.

KAGEY: I think so, too.

LAURA: Love that.

KAGEY: What a pleasure.

That would- that would be awesome.

MICHAEL: Let's give it a shot.

KAGEY: Okay.

♪ ♪ Ain't nobody in this world to follow me down ♪ ♪ Lord, to follow me down ♪ Ain't nobody in this world to follow me down ♪ ♪ I used to sleep good at night ♪ ♪ With my good man holding me tight ♪ ♪ The only place I ever wanted to be ♪ ♪ Then, one morning, his arms let go for no reason ♪ ♪ That I know ♪ And I felt something die inside of me ♪ ♪ Ain't nobody in this world to follow me down ♪ ♪ Lord, to follow me down ♪ Ain't nobody in this world to follow me down ♪ ♪ Ain't nobody in this world to follow me down ♪ ♪ Lord, to follow me down ♪ Ain't nobody in this world to follow me down ♪ ♪ Day and night for weeks on end ♪ ♪ Took a bottle for my only friend ♪ ♪ Good intoxicating company ♪ ♪ I got so mean all the time ♪ ♪ Trying to please my troubled mind ♪ ♪ My friends don't come around to see about me ♪ ♪ Ain't nobody in this world to follow me down ♪ ♪ Lord, to follow me down ♪ Ain't nobody in this world to follow me down ♪ ♪ Ain't nobody in this world to follow me down ♪ ♪ Lord, to follow me down ♪ Ain't nobody in this world to follow me down ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Drowned my sorrow far too long ♪ ♪ 'Cause my good man did me wrong ♪ ♪ I ain't gonna move or make a sound ♪ ♪ Each bottle has gone empty ♪ ♪ And put me out of this misery ♪ ♪ Ain't nobody in this world to follow me down ♪ ♪ Ain't nobody in this world to follow me down ♪ ♪ Lord, to follow me down ♪ Ain't nobody in this world to follow me down ♪ ♪ Ain't nobody in this world to follow me down ♪ ♪ Lord, to follow me down ♪ Ain't nobody in this world to follow me down ♪ ♪ Ain't nobody in this world to follow me down ♪ ♪ Lord, to follow me down ♪ Ain't nobody in this world to follow me down ♪ ♪ ♪ MICHAEL: So we've been back about 200 years.

Now, it's time to go back even further, like way back.

Dr. Tim, I'd love you to tell me the kind of experience that you have when you arrive here at Saint Patrick Centre.

TIM: Well, the Saint Patrick Centre is right beside Saint Patrick's grave, which is just beside us here.

It's the only permanent exhibition in the world about Ireland's patron saint.

And of course, Saint Patrick is celebrated all over the world, and his story is celebrated in our exhibition downstairs.

So as you go through the different galleries, you find out the story of Saint Patrick's life.

But imagine having a voice from the 400s.

And imagine if that voice was the voice of Saint Patrick himself.

That's what we've got here, and that's what we're showing people.

MICHAEL: If you could give me a glimpse into the life of Patrick here in this part of the world.

How did he end up in Downpatrick?

TIM: He was kidnapped as a slave when he was 16, and he was brought to the northern part of Ireland to a mountain called Slemish.

Think Liam Neeson.

So if there's ever a film about Saint Patrick, Liam probably will be an elderly Saint Patrick.

You and I can be slaves at the back standing with spears.

MICHAEL: The only gig I'd get, in truth.

(Tim laughing) TIM: And then, whenever he comes back to bring Christianity later in his life, he comes here and a really easy date to remember, I'm no good with dates, but this is an easy one - in 432, he comes to bring Christianity to the high king.

Converts him, goes around the northern part of Ireland, converts tens of thousands of people.

When he dies, he dies here on the 17th of March, and he's buried in the medieval cathedral beside us.

So we tell the story, and the rest of it is here.

The first church in Ireland, the grave of Saint Patrick, the place where the legend of the snakes was written, all within a mile of Downpatrick.

♪ MICHAEL: When they built Hillsborough Castle - not a real castle, mind you, but an 18th-century Georgian country house - they didn't know it would become home to a king.

One of the many, many, many homes.

Don't worry, Charles, after seeing this place, I'd add it to my portfolio, too.

I wonder if I can get a list price from the folks inside.

♪ (knocks on door) ♪ ♪ ALAN: Ah!

Good afternoon, Michael.

MICHAEL: Alan.

ALAN: Good to see you.

MICHAEL: I'm a little underdressed.

Will you still let me in?

ALAN: Oh no, you're very welcome.

Please come on through.

♪ MICHAEL: Alan, tell us, first of all, what is your title in the residence?

ALAN: Yes, so I'm the business development executive here.

So it's my job, essentially, to promote the castle as a place to visit.

MICHAEL: Because this- this building serves different purposes.

It's a residence, but it also has a minor political element to it, and- ALAN: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

So it's obviously, it's the royal residence, the official royal residence in Northern Ireland.

But it's also the home of the secretary of state for Northern Ireland.

So it has a- had this dual role as a- as a royal residence and as a government building, now going back really to pretty much the creation of Northern Ireland in- in 1921.

MICHAEL: But I'd love to find out about this... ALAN: Certainly.

MICHAEL: Rather gorgeous room.

ALAN: So Michael, this is one of my favorite rooms in the castle.

It's the- it's the red room.

You can probably see why.

It's one- one of my favorite rooms because of the stories that we tell in the castle here.

As you're aware, the castle's been used for many of the political negotiations in the long history of the peace process in Northern Ireland.

And it's also the room where the late- Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II met President McAleese of Ireland.

And that was significant 'cause it was the first time that the head of an independent Ireland had met the head of the British state on Irish soil.

MICHAEL: An incredible story in every room.

ALAN: Yes, absolutely.

And lots more to see, yeah, when we go through to the Throne Room.

♪ So Michael, here we are in the Throne Room.

Again, no prizes for- for guessing why we call it the Throne Room.

MICHAEL: So Alan, I'm noticing on all the green couches over here, they have little cushions that say, "Don't sit there."

ALAN: Yes.

MICHAEL: I also notice that there are no cushions on the thrones.

So what do you think I could- ALAN: Well, there's usually a rope right along here.

But of course, you're- you're here today, just a day after the king and the queen have been here themselves.

So we've- we've taken the barriers and the ropes away.

So you're getting special access to this place already, Michael.

MICHAEL: One day away from meeting the king himself?

ALAN: I'm afraid so.

Yeah, yeah, you just- just missed it by that much.

MICHAEL: I'm sure he was disappointed.

ALAN: Absolutely.

(laughs) ♪ MICHAEL: So Alan, this room has a completely different flavor.

ALAN: Yes, absolutely.

So we're standing now in the State Drawing Room, and as you say, this is really where you feel like you've walked right into the private drawing room of- of the royal family, as this is much more obviously a room for- for relaxing, even from the fact that so many of the family photographs- MICHAEL: Yes.

ALAN: Are sitting around on the side tables.

And it's changed as well.

The- the artwork has changed.

So we're- we're in a much more contemporary art space now.

All Irish contemporary art in accordance with the taste of His Majesty The King.

MICHAEL: And what I think I feel here is that this is- this is essentially an Irish room.

We're surrounded by Irish artists, and that is indeed his taste.

MICHAEL: Yes, absolutely, yeah.

I di- I didn't know until I worked here that as he was then the Prince of Wales, now the king was so- was so interested in- in Irish art, but has been for- for a very long time.

So it's a real- a real passion of his.

(water spraying) ♪ So Michael, we're literally walking in the footsteps of the king and the queen.

Just two days ago, they walked down these very steps to meet a thousand invited guests who were all arranged in little groups just on the lawn here.

MICHAEL: So Alan, you know what I notice?

I expected, you know, a pristine manicured garden, but this is more of a lived-in, kind of a functional, but really fun space.

ALAN: Yeah, well, as you know, Michael, the king is such a keen horticulturalist, really keen gardener.

And he loves a garden to be really natural.

So it really kind of speaks to his- his personal taste.

MICHAEL: I get it.

♪ The understated elegance of Hillsborough Castle has put me in the mood for some classical music.

Fiachra Garvey is just the man for the job.

He's won multiple awards as a concert pianist and regularly performs all over the world.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Thanks for joining me on my travels around Northern Ireland.

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

But for now, cheers.

Sláinte.

ANNOUNCER: Want to continue your travels to Ireland?

Your choice of Ireland with Michael DVD Season One, Two, or Three, with bonus concert footage, is available for $30.

Ireland with Michael: A Musical Journey CD, with songs from Michael and his guest artists, is available for $20.

Ireland with Michael Companion Travel Guide, featuring places to visit, as seen in all seasons, is also available for $30.

This offer is made by Wexford House.

Shipping and handling is not included.

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 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 ♪ ♪