As you drive through Ireland, sometimes you can see stone walls off in the distance. Nothing too unusual I guess; there are heaps of stone walls that surround fields in England, for instance. However, some of these Irish walls traverse impossibly steep mountains or separate fields of rocky nothingness from other fields of rocky nothingness. These walls are known as famine walls.

In the 1800s, Ireland suffered the Great Famine. The cause of the famine was a potato disease called potato blight. The potato crop failed and because it was the staple food for poor people in Ireland, a lot of people went hungry. Over one million people died and one million people emigrated; Ireland's population dropped 20 - 25%.

The English were in charge at this time and they didn't just want to give people food for nothing. Instead, they made those who needed charity work on public works such as the famine walls. Walls that were built for no reason other than to give people something to do. Talk about a lack of job satisfaction. Akin to spending the day digging a hole and then spending the next day fillling it in.

Recently there has been discussion on whether the government's response to the potato famine constitutes an act of genocide. During the potato famine there was enough food to feed everybody, but a lot of it was being exported to England. Exports of Irish livestock actually increased during the years of famine. It is now being said that lack of response by the English to the famine was used as a form of population control.

The famine changed Ireland's political and cultural landscape forever. It's the reason for the large Irish communities in America and Australia. On our tour around Ireland, our tour guide sang some Famine folk songs to us. The haunting Fields of Athenry, an unofficial Irish anthem, is now a favourite on our iPod.




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This post is part of the Paddywagon series. We did a 6-day tour around Ireland with Paddywagon. It was grand; the craic was great. Other entries from this trip include: The Gift of the Gab, Manworld: power tools and beer, Bombs away..., Cliffs of Insaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanity and Jaunty rides and hangovers don't mix.

On Day 2 of our Ireland tour we went for a jaunty ride through Killarney National Park. A lovely ride in a horse drawn carriage through a beautiful national park. Well, what was supposed to be a lovely ride. But, the night before we'd had a little bit too much drink. Hangovers and jaunty rides do not mix.

Night before:


Day after:


Do we look a little green?

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This post is part of the Paddywagon series. We did a 6-day tour around Ireland with Paddywagon. It was grand; the craic was great. Other entries from this trip include: The Gift of the Gab, Manworld: power tools and beer, Bombs away... and Cliffs of Insaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanity.

In the west of Ireland in County Clare are the Cliffs of Moher. But Andrew and I like to call them the Cliffs of Insaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanity.


Yes, the main point of interest for Andrew and I was the fact that they featured in the movie The Princess Bride.

(Yes, they are pretty impressive, extremely tall and very dramatic. But, Ireland's number one tourist attraction? Surely not.)


More photos on Flickr...

This post is part of the Paddywagon series. We did a 6-day tour around Ireland with Paddywagon. It was grand; the craic was great. Other entries from this trip include: The Gift of the Gab, Manworld: power tools and beer and Bombs away....

It is fitting that the location of much merry-making (read drunkeness) in Ireland is named the Randy Leprechaun. Paddywagon own this hostel/bar in Annascaul and decided that the perfect colour for this building is fluorescent green (they have also painted a huge leprechaun on the side of the building. Initially the locals were less than happy about this addition to their village).

The cause of said merry-making was an evil yet tasty concoction called a car-bomb. How do you make a car-bomb? Take 150ml of Guinness and a shot of whiskey with baileys. Drop the shot into the Guinness and scull. The trick is to drunk the contents before it curdles. It tastes like a chocolate milkshake.

Not sure why it's called a car bomb. Maybe because the drink "explodes" when mixed. Or maybe because the aftermath of several car bombs is very messy and very difficult to clean up.



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This post is part of the Paddywagon series. We did a 6-day tour around Ireland with Paddywagon. It was grand; the craic was great. Other entries from this trip include: The Gift of the Gab and Manworld: power tools and beer.

In Dingle, you can find the best idea for a pub ever. Foxy Johns is a pub combined with a hardware store. As you walk in the door, you can see a bar and bar stools on the left side and a counter with hammers and screw drivers on the right side.

You could nick off to the pub for a cheeky half and use the line "I'm just off to the hardware store to pick up a couple of things" in total innocence.



This post is part of the Paddywagon series. We did a 6-day tour around Ireland with Paddywagon. It was grand; the craic was great. Other entries from this trip include: The Gift of the Gab.