In this episode Danny Houlihan returns from the Summer break and the Journeys he and his friends have undertaken and the quest for more hidden places and Irish Experiences. The podcast series has just broke the 5,000 downloads World Wide a testament to Danny's hard work in researching history. The Hawthorn Tree in Ireland is one of the old sacred Trees which can trace its roots way back into antiquity A Rich Irish History.

Today the Hawthorn Tree like other Irish trees are under threat due to modern land reclamation and modern mechanisation and pollution. The history and folklore attached to the hawthorn is vast and in this episode Danny introduces the tree to his series the tree he passes every day along the hedges that were planted by the native people under the orders of the landlords and absentee landlords from the years 1822 onwards from Ballybunion to Knockanore. The Hawthorn plays an important Roll in the eco-systems and the Bio Diversity of the area.

In this short podcast Danny covers a brief history before the event which is The National Heritage Week Day on the 25 August 2024 at the Cashen organised by Ballybunion Tidy Towns at their Biodiversity Site near the famous Cashen River in North Kerry Ireland. This episode is for those who will not be able to attend the event and our people living abroad. There will be an update on this day in the near future this is truly Brilliant Ballybunion. Enjoy.

In this special episode Danny Houlihan travels into the Irish countryside to the Barna Way North Kerry Ireland for a special event produced by The Brilliant Ballybunion Team Entitled Sing for your Supper.

This special Journey started from the Grotto Aghafona in Ballybunion and traveled into the beautiful Irish Country side surrounded with the sounds of the birds and the natural areas of The Barna Way. The area of focus was the Barna Way a special place adorned with tress and a lovely woodland walk and Organic Farm.

In the old days in Ireland people rambled from house to house at night for a chat a song a bit of music or a tale that was told, a custom now on the decline in Ireland this coupled with locally grown food was always on the table and the kettle was always on the fire A welcome to All was always given.

On the evening singers sang musicians played and there was poem in Irish to honour our people, everyone sang for their supper and the food was excellent.

Danny Houlihan in this live recorded episode captured a taste of what happened on the evening and what did happen in North Kerry many decades ago. Enjoy this episode this is Brilliant Ballybunion.

Special Thanks to Karen and Bruce in the USA who are supporting my research.

In this episode, I travel back to a period in Ireland when there were no lights TV videos, around the Great Irish Famine or Holocaust 1846 and Black 1847, This history relates to a time when the landscape and its people were laid waste by the local landlords along with the Irish Language and all artistic heritage which was lost.

Many stories conjure up the mythological side of our Great Irish culture one of which to this period are the Fear Ghota or The Hungry Grass and the Fear Ghorta and the fear ghorta The Man of Hunger both connected and interwoven into a tapestry that is interwoven into the history of many county in Ireland.

If you would like to support my research which is ongoing and podcast episodes, why not Buy Me a Coffee this will be used to update my research and equipment, I will give everyone who contribute a shout out in my series. Just click on the link below to support in any way big or small thank you.buymeacoffee.com/yxqdanny

In this episode Danny Houlihan highlights an aspect of our ancient culture Goldsmitting in the area of North Kerry and a taste of areas beyond the County of Kerry.

On the 28 day of May 2023 I visited the old Killury Cemetery near the lovely village of Causeway County Kerry Ireland which is a mine of information and the Ring fort in the Village which is in great condition and well worth a mention and indeed a visit when you are here in Ireland on holiday or have an interest in our past.

This is a fine example of a univaette fort which is under the protection of the National Monuments Act.

Its only fitting that the old town land and civil parish of Killury be mentioned and the famous Ballinclemesig where buried deep within a reclaimed bog of Balinclemisig in the old parish of Killury near Causeway County Kerry in the year 1975 Sean Egan of Ballyheigue uncoverd after days tilling the land by a plough a unique artefact of the late Bronze Age The Gold Box of Ballinclemisig or the Causeway Gold Box.

This episode is dedicated to the memory of my late Uncle Gerard Houlihan who sadly passed away last month.

During the Penal times primitive churches were erected in secluded places such as glens, valleys and shorelines out of the eyeshot of the English Soldiers. Built sometimes of available material such as mud and in cases roofs of sod or straw or willow woven depending on the area and the material around the area that would have been suitable for use.

Priests were being hunted down and hung the practice during the Penal Laws with lookouts being posted along ditches, hillsides and pathways to spot the approaching English Redcoats approaching with their horses.

Danny Houlihan in this episode examines the small but important history of the area of North Kerry once more which was forgotten where a number of such mass houses were located and the brief history involved in their story.

Mass was said in the shade of a ditch near Dillanes land not far away from the famous seaside resort of Ballybunion and the other site Gleann Na Dtalamh The Glen of The High land where a mass house was erected with a free flowing stream near it which meandered its way to the high cliffs facing the Shannon Estuary North Kerry Ireland.

One of these site priests were buried there a Father O Keeffe from County Cork and a Fr O Connor the names lost in time.

Using the the poem in Irish by the late Sean Mac Fheorais teacher and Irish Poet born in the year of 1915-1984 this poem Anseo I Lar An Gleanna paints a poetic picture of the serious time of the Penal Times in Ireland.

Danny once again using old sourced information and history backed up with his music reinforces the picture and the poem of the period.Thanks to the County Kildare Library Service, and all who supplied information for this episode. This episode like others will be updated as more information arrives.

Note the translation in this episode is like others in our national language is open to Interpretation.

The Landlord & The Fishermen of Ballyeigh Ballybunion. In 1880 there was a demonstration to highlight the attempt to embank or close of a section of the Ballyeagh Strand by the local landlord of Ennismore Lixnaw North Kerry. A huge demonstration took place on the famous mound on the Castle Green today where the band stand is located with thousands of people attending brass bands and speakers added to the occasion with the seaside town of Ballybunion exceeding numbers stated of 12,000.

Danny Houlihan again trawls the old faded newspapers for details to throw a light once more on the event and the people of the area during the period and the implications to the natural areas of the Cashen and up river.

If the landlord had succeeded the area would have been ruined for centuries and the precious wildlife wiped out and indeed the people of the area.

Welcome once more to Saint Patricks Day and to all our Irish people living abroad in the USA, Australia, Canada, England,Italy, France, Liam in Germany, and here in Ireland and to all my supporters of Danny Houlihan's Irish Experience and my members of the podcast series Have a Great Day and enjoy the parades and the music and culture that represents us here in Ireland.

Danny will be out this year on the famous pipes in Causeway North Kerry another historical place which he will cover during the year.

This episode looks back at our marine series with two famous ship wrecks the Sea Lark and The City of Limerick which had a cargo of whiskey this set the scene to lift a glass on St Patricks Day also music on the pipes for the day that's in it.

Danny Houlihan St Patricks Day 2024

By for now Slan.