Perhaps a little kitchy...

But a learned a hell of a lot from the bus driver!

He was so informative - he spoke Irish, French and a bit of Dutch too! He was in the Irish military until he was 38 and he helped me figure out the license plates haha!
E.G. 00 D 3456 = a vehicle registered in 2000 in Dublin, and the chronological number of which it was registered - in this case it was the 3,456th car registered in that year.

-interesting I guess.

The Merry Ploughboy was great. Food was FANTASTIC - I got the beef, which I normally wouldn't do, but man am I glad I did! I got a goat cheese appetizer and everyone got an apple and berry crumble dessert. All so good. I was by myself and the people next to me, French, bought me a round of Bailey's - a toast and a smile are universal. I wish I could have bought them a round back... back I don't have 25Euro to spend on drinks unfortunately.

The band played some really really traditional stuff, but also played some really ... touristy stuff (think Danny Boy and Molly Malone). The dancers were fantastic and after the show the guitarist from the band came up to me. He said in his Irish accent "I knew there was one person here alone, and I thought to myself "I've got to meet this person and find out what they're up to!"" After finding out I'm here for school (and my finding out that he's one of the owners of the place) he invited me back, whenever I could, free of charge! (which is 55Euro!) I'm wondering if I could come back the night we get back to Dublin at the end of the trip... not sure yet.

Anyways, my bus driver, Willy, who I spoke with the whole trip, recommended some things for me to look for on my travels:

1)Sean-nós [Shan-nos]: one of the finest of the traditional Irish arts. It is often characterized by unaccompanied performance in Irish or in English; free rhythm, relative lack of vibrato or dynamic change, and especially by the use of rapid, melismatic ornamentation.

2)Sean-nós dance: a highly improvisational, low to the ground, rhythmic dance form in which the dancer is free to interpret the music. The dancer is the visual/ percussive expression of the musical tradition and musician and dancer are in conversation. Using hips and arms, the dancer beats rhythmic steps that are closely linked to the music and musician. Traditionally, a dancer danced solo on the hardwood of a half door or the round top of a barrel, as a result the steps are confined to a small space.

Another random tidbit - I also learned that the Irish for road, bóthar, [bo-har] literally means "the way of the cows," as most roads came from old cow paths.

I also learned another very important word on this trip: Sláinte [Slan-cha], meaning "health." It is usually used in a toast, shortened from Sláinte mhaith [Slan-cha why], meaning "good health." Most Irish will say it translates to "to your health!"

I'll see if I can get some audio clips up soon!

[EDIT]: Here's a clip!



This is a song done mostly on the Uilleann [ill-in] Pipes. Uilleann translates to "Elbow" and is adequately named so. It differs from the Scottish bagpipes in many ways.
For starts you HAVE to sit to play these pipes. Instead of blowing straight into the bag, a bellows is placed between one elbow and the body and the bag the other. You pump the bellows with your elbow to put air into the bag, and then squeeze the bag against your body to blow air through the chanter (the part on which the finger play). On top of this and moving your fingers to create notes, not only are there drone pipes but also harmonizing pipes. By place the heel of your hand, wrist, or free fingers onto the holes in these extra pipes you can create chords. Complex indeed. Most pipe players are such because the skill has been handed down to them from generations past. They are a sitting musical instrument, while their Scottish cousin is a war instrument - it's blazing sound heard for miles was to announce their march and strike fear into their enemies.

I also learned that Bodhrán is pronounced [bow-ron], the h makes the d silent. It comes from 'bodhar' meaning "dull sounding" or "deaf" in Irish.

Hmm... the bar below me is playing "Piano Man"...