american public television presents the splendors of the world in the lifelike reality of high-definition television. hi. i'm rudy maxa on the emerald isle, hoping a bit of irish luck will rub off on me. this time, we'll uncover the best of celtic culture in country homes, ruined castles, and smiling irish eyes. next up, it's "ireland's west coast" on "smart travels." announcer: major corporate support for "smart travels" is provided by expedia.com, a travel web site that offers travelers a variety of ways to create the trip they're looking for, including flights, hotels, and vacation packages. captioning made possible by u.s. department of education

"smart travels" is a grand tour of the old world-- the people, places, sights, and distinctly european flavors. our host is travel writer and columnist rudy maxa, public radio's original savvy traveler. now tips, trips, and secret places on "smart travels." maxa: "a little bit of heaven fell from out the sky one day,"

or so the old song goes... [sleigh bells jingling] and western ireland is a celestial place for a vacation. with mist-shrouded hills, a relaxed pace of life... [waves crashing] and the soothing sound of the sea never far away, they say this a place that once visited, is never forgotten. ireland has a spiritual quality that is rare among western countries-- difficult to define but impossible to miss. it's a mystical land, rich in legends of fairies and supernatural beings, stone-age tombs and ancient castles.

what some early invaders found undesirable about the west is what intrigues visitors today. stark, barren stretches of landscape rimmed by rugged coastline make this a kind of wild paradise, and the people? well, there are none friendlier in the world. we're starting our trip in the west coast's fastest growing city:-- galway. we'll journey to the fabled aran islands and trek through the eerie landscape of the burren. then we'll head south to the forests of killarney and end up on the windswept dingle peninsula. galway has been dubbed "the gateway to the west." for hundreds of years, this was a modest fishing village. then in the 13th century, the english wised up to the area's strategic spot on the water. 14 anglo-norman families, known as the tribes of galway,

settled in the area, forcing out the local irish and building a great wall around the city. you can see one of the last surviving vestiges of that wall here at the spanish arch, where incoming ships unloaded cargo. the merchant tribes grew wealthy, thanks to a strong wine and brandy trade with spain. today galway hums as a cultural center, providing a home for students, artists, and writers. in the summer, people come from all over the country to stroll the cobblestone lanes. they'll stop in pubs to listen to music or perhaps a bit of poetry. the little shops and narrow streets give the city's old quarter a kind of left bank feel, and medieval echoes are everywhere.

galway's early anglo-norman settlers built the church of st. nicholas in 1320. considered one of the best-preserved medieval churches in ireland, it contains many excellent gargoyles and carvings from the middle ages. according to legend, christopher columbus visited galway on his way to the new world. he dropped by this church, offering up one last prayer for a successful voyage. later, protestant puritans swept through st. nicholas, smashing the faces of icons, but this little angel eluded their wrath. perhaps he had a friend upstairs. the church steeple remains a beacon not only for lost souls, but also for lost sailors. man: the ships were coming up galway bay, and they had to turn to come into the harbor, and they still take the bearing off the tower, a point to, in fact, take your literal compass bearings by

to bring you safely home, and you could obviously see how that could actually be put into any particular convenient sermon, if so wished, you know? maxa: ireland is known the world around for it's superb handblown and cut crystal. while the southern city of waterford has the most famous factory, there are several other centers of glassmaking, including this one right here in galway. it was the ancient celts who first brought glass to ireland with their beads and jewelry. a 17th-century english glassmaker discovered that adding lead oxide to the raw materials made the molten glass hard and clear but still soft enough to carve. the irish became especially adept at the craft. now, this is the basis from which we start. we get a blank piece of crystal like so, and the crystal is then given to the marker.

so he'll put it onto his template, and as he spins it around, he'll mark grids onto the actual glass. now, when it comes off that template, he passes it down to the cutters, and the cutters will then cut into the grids that he has marked on it until they have the pattern cut into the crystal. so when it comes off their wheel, all that you've left is a beautifully cut piece of crystal, but there's this kind of a white, chalky residue left on it. so what they have to do then is remove the white, chalky residue, and how they do that is, they have to dip it in acid, and then when they take the pieces out of the acid, all that's left is a beautiful, crystal-clear piece. maxa: sparkling irish crystal is only the beginning of the traditions that infuse the areas around galway. we're off on a salt-sprayed journey through the mouth of galway bay

to check out ireland's cultural time capsules-- the aran islands. on these special islands, traditional ways of life have survived for centuries. inishmore, the largest of the 3 aran islands, is also the most accessible. up through the 17th century, the galway area was an important trading center, and control of the islands was hotly contested because of their strategic location, but as galway's importance waned, the islands became somewhat isolated and forgotten. while traditional culture gradually eroded on the mainland, here, it remains strong. to this day, many locals still speak the irish language, live in thatched cottages, and use horse-drawn carriages.

when the writer john millington synge asked william butler yeats for advice on writing, yeats told him to go to the aran islands. here, synge not only found inspiration, he immortalized the islands in his play "riders to the sea." perhaps you know that the classic irish knit sweaters originated on these islands. i was intrigued to learn that the celtic symbols on the sweaters represent different elements of irish life. woman: now, that is a typical aran sweater-- hand-knitted and 100% lamb's wool, and it has the typical patterns. this pattern here is called the honeycomb, and it means that you work for a living, busy as a bee. this one here is called the crab's claw. it looks just like a crab's foot. the diamond is here with the rice stitch in the center.

the diamond itself is for romance and prosperity. u ask for? maxa: the strong wool is lightly coated with oil to keep out the weather-- perfect for fishermen. every family was associated with a particular pattern. so if the worst happened and a fisherman should drown at sea, his body could be identified by his sweater. you won't want to miss the island's most impressive sight-- the prehistoric stone fort of dun aengus. the massive walls sit spectacularly overlooking the atlantic. nearly 300 feet above the sea, this is the largest of the stone forts on the aran islands. its origins are something of a mystery. age estimates have ranged all the way from 500 b.c. to 700 a.d. some say it was the work of a once-powerful tribe called the firbolg,

who sought refuge here from invading celts. [gulls squawking] to cap off the day, we're stopping in tir na nog, a pub on the road between the ferry landing and galway. you haven't really visited ireland until you've visited a pub. pub is short for "public house." it's a place to hang out with friends and neighbors, kind of like a community living room. it's a center for music, storytelling, and plain old good times. maxa: now, i notice there's a sign out front that says craic, c-r-a-i-c. yeah. craic means in-- it's an irish-- an old gaelic word which means where there's a gathering of people coming together or they're going to have like a ceilidh, like, have a social thing, have a good laugh. that's what it means. so a craic is a very good thing.

yes. craic is a very good thing. yeah. i see. maxa: it's a time-honored tradition that after a hard day at the old grindstone, workingmen kick back with a pint at the local pub. i'm getting a lesson in the fine art of dart throwing, a great irish pastime. maxa: ok. don't keep your wrist straight. don't push it. ok. maxa, voice-over: and you know what? it isn't as easy as it looks. man: you're kind of holding them, you know? uh-huh. i'm clearly not spending enough time in pubs. second man: i can take both sides with one dart. ha ha ha! maxa: the strange, lunarlike landscape south of galway in county clare may be western ireland's most remarkable site. this is called the burren, which is irish for "rocky country," and it stretches about a hundred square miles.

a great way to see the burren up close is to rent a bicycle in the town of ballyvaughn. 300 million years ago, this was the bottom of a tropical sea, where layers of coral and shells collected. eventually, massive rumblings of the earth's crust forced the land above sea level. back in prehistoric times, about 5,000 years ago, people settled here, cleared the land, and grazed animals. they buried their dearly departed in graves like this one, known as poulnabrone dolman or "the hole of the grinding stone." the capstone alone weighs 5 tons. the site was excavated in 1989, and the remains of more than 25 people were found here among scattered pieces of pottery and jewelry.

aillwee cave was formed millions of years ago by underground rivers but remained hidden until a local farmer discovered it in 1944. it has more than 3,400 feet of passages. just behind me here you can see the bones of the european brown bear that were found in here, a bear that's been extinct in ireland for well over 1,000 years. you can actually just see with the lighting there the scratch marks, claw marks of the bears just on the rim of the pit there. maxa: so during a big rain, does the water flow increase here? this would be about 10 times the size it is at the moment, but this whole chamber can actually flood. the bridge and everything would be submerged underwater in heavy rain.

guide: now up along the roof here, you can see these little formations that we call straws. they're very fragile, hollow tubes formed by drops of water, each drop leaving a tiny ring of calcite crystal. another drop in the same place leaves another ring until eventually, these hollow tubes are formed. in this cave, they're growing at a rate of approximately one centimeter every 100 years, which makes them the fastest-growing formations in the cave. so if you want, we'll stand and watch them grow for a minute or so. maxa: the eerie formations of the caves stir the imagination, and you may begin to see illusions, like these praying hands. not surprisingly, the whole area is steeped in superstition and folklore. you may hear stories about the fairy people.

legend holds that they are fallen angels-- not good enough to go to heaven, but not bad enough to suffer the fires of hell, either. it's also said that some irish songs originated with the fairies and were simply overheard by mortal eavesdroppers. [fiddle and guitar playing] man: ♪ oh, come, my little son ♪ and i will tell you what to do... ♪ maxa: music is the soul of ireland. the sounds of traditional irish instruments such as fiddle and pipe pervade the towns and countryside, and one of the very best places to hear authentic irish music is at the glor music centre in the town of ennis. woman: glor is here to be a home for irish music, and like a good home, it's a place where traditional music should feel at home, where they can feel cherished for what they're good at and also feel comfortable if they want to innovate.

whoo! whoo hoo! whoo! whoo! [applause] verling: today you would have heard 4 different instruments. we had the wooden flute, and then we had marco playing the uilleann pipes, and the word uilleann is an irish word which means elbow, and you will have noticed his elbow moving up and down because he's filling a windbag with air here. so it's like a bagpipe, except a bagpipe is inflated from the mouth, whereas the uilleann pipe is inflated by the elbow. then you would have seen tola playing the fiddle, and then we had cyril on guitar. ♪ so remember, laddie... ♪ maxa: favored by serious performers, glor has quickly established itself as the place to hear genuine music in west ireland. [cyril singing]

[women singing] for a different take on tradition, we're investigating bunratty castle, a sort of microcosm of irish history. a thousand years ago, this was the site of a viking trading post. later, the invading normans built a defensive fortress here, and over the centuries, the castle became a pawn in the bloody tug of war between the irish and the english. my lord, the great earl, has transformed the grim stronghold into this comfortable and imposing dwelling, since his gracious pleasure is the entertaining of his guests. ♪ where do you go, my pretty? ♪ pale of face and yellow of hair... ♪ maxa: when the irish earl of thomond ruled over his chiefdom from here, he entertained lavishly.

today the castle recreates the earl's hospitality with grand medieval banquets. man: my lord, brown brose is a thick vegetable soup containing spiced parsnips, potatoes, onions... and some other garden vegetables. [laughter] maxa: during the 4-course meal of traditional dishes, the butler and the ladies of the castle entertain you with traditional music and storytelling. butler: ah, my noble guests, i do pray your silence for his lordship's verdict because if it is not to his satisfaction, he can be replaced. [laughter] maxa: sure'n it's designed for tourists, but it's still lots of fun, and the hospitality is genuine. [fiddle and drum playing] [music ends] [applause] we're leaving the rocky hills of galway and clare

for the lush greenery of the southwest, our next stop--killarney. killarney is the busiest hub of tourism in the country, and the streets spill over with shopping tourists. tempting as the shops may be, try not to linger too long there. some of the country's best scenery is just a horse trot away in killarney national park. man: ♪ the pale moon was rising ♪ ♪ above the blue mountain ♪ the sun was declining beneath the blue sea ♪ ♪ i strayed with my love ♪ to the beautiful fountain ♪ what made me love mary ♪ the rose of tralee... maxa: a fun way to visit the park is by hiring a jaunting car with a local guide. the ruined muckross abbey was founded about 1448.

during the middle ages, monasteries in ireland served as guardians of culture while the rest of europe was under the dark cloud of barbarism. the vaulted cloister's courtyard contains a huge yew tree, said to be as old as the abbey itself. after the ruling english made the shift from catholicism to protestantism, the british set about dispossessing the catholic irish. oliver cromwell's forces were particularly brutal. anything cromwell's army didn't occupy, it destroyed, including this abbey, which was burned in 1652. ivy-covered muckross house, built two centuries later, is an idyllic portrait of aristocratic life in the 19th century. sometimes called the jewel of killarney, this 20-room victorian house was furnished in high style. queen victoria herself paid a visit here in 1861.

upstairs, you can envision the genteel lifestyle of the landowner, while the basement betrays the daily grind for the servants. the peninsulas outside of killarney offer unparalleled scenery. while the ring of kerry on the iveragh peninsula is the most famous drive, those in the know say dingle peninsula is just as beautiful. the roads on dingle are narrower. so far fewer buses brave its twists and turns. you can stop by dingle town, a pretty port that's home to a large number of fishermen, and pick up a map at the tourist office. dingle is rolling panorama of dramatic cliffs, grazing sheep, and historic ruins.

the area is so atmospheric that it was chosen as the setting for such hollywood movies as "ryan's daughter" and "far and away"... and it has the greatest concentration of ancient sites in this part of ireland. the doonbeg fort dates to 400 b.c. people and animals huddled for safety in these rooms built of piled stones. yes, western ireland is thoroughly littered with stones, and it seems that every successive group that passed through here found a different way in which to pile them. these beehive-shaped huts were built during the early christian period. they're so durable that, until recently, local farmers still used them to keep animals.

the small chapel of gallarus oratory has stood resolutely here for 1,200 years. the builders of this elegantly simple, waterproof structure did not use mortar. instead, they meticulously placed flat stones in such a way that the oratory has been shielded from rain for more than a millennium. the cliffs of dingle were once the western edge of the known world, and even today, you'll feel like you're poised at the boundary between heaven and earth. [fiddle and guitar playing] man: ♪ listen, annie used to go... ♪

maxa: the welcoming spirits of history envelop western ireland like a soft mist, and emerald hills echoing with fiddle and wooden flute seem always to be beckoning you to come sit by the warm hearth of eire. [man continues singing] "a little bit of heaven fell from out the sky one day, and when the angels found it, they called it ireland." i'm rudy maxa. thanks for joining me. all videos and dvds of "smart travels" are $24.95 each plus shipping. call 800-866-7425 for the two-episode dvd or video on "dublin & beyond" and "ireland's west coast." details of all of our travel videos, dvds, and best guide books are on the web at smarttravels.tv. major credit cards are accepted. to order, call this toll-free number or visit us on the web.

captioning made possible by u.s. department of education captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- announcer: major corporate support for "smart travels" is provided by expedia.com, a travel web site that offers travelers a variety of ways to create the trip they're looking for, including flights, hotels, and vacation packages.