Great British Railway Journeys (2010) s04e23 Episode Script
Kilkenny to Athy
In 1840, one man transformed travel In Britain and Ireland.
His name was George Bradshaw and his railway guides Inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks.
Stop by stop, he told them where to travel, what to see and where to stay.
Now, 170 years later, I'm making a series of journeys across the length and breadth of these Islands to see what of Bradshaw's world remains.
With the help of my guidebook, I'm discovering how small places often made a big splash In Bradshaw's day.
I'm reaching the mid point of my train journey across the Republic of Ireland steered by my Bradshaw's Guide to Great Britain & Ireland, which, in Victorian times, formed a single state.
I'm hoping to discover more about how rural Ireland adapted to the technological and social changes of the 19th century.
On today's stretch, I'll try my hand at cutting marble, Victorian-style It just suddenly fell away! uncover 19th-century Ireland's surprising Industrial heritage It's a monumental mill.
Looks like a fortress.
and learn how the railways helped to bring motorsport to the masses.
They estimated that there would have been almost a million people spectating.
You're not serious.
First time there was a gathering of that amount.
Having sampled the pastoral charms of the Irish Republic's south, I'm now continuing along some of Its most Important Victorian tracks.
I'm heading north towards the heart of Ireland, before veering west to the spectacular Galway coast.
Today's stretch takes me through counties Carlow and Kildare, finishing up In the market town of Athy.
My first stop Is Kilkenny, where this region's rich and complex history has left Its mark.
My Bradshaw's recommends Kilkenny Castle, "the seat of the Marquis of Ormonde, finely situated on a rock above the river".
"It contains much old tapestry, as well as a gallery of the butler portraits by Lely and other portraits of Charles I, Charles II and James II.
" It was evidently a magnet for Victorian tourists, and I feel attracted, too.
According to my 19th-century guide, Kilkenny Is the old capital of the Pale, or limit, of English authority.
The Ormonde or Butler family have held possession of the town since 1400.
I'm going In search of their ancestral seat.
- Are you from Kilkenny by any chance? - Yes.
Well, I'm here for the first time.
What should I see while I'm here? - What should you see? - Yeah.
The castle.
- Are you from Kilkenny? - Yes, I am.
- You must be very proud of the castle? - Oh, I love the castle.
It's the first place I send tourists.
You do get an unbelievable number of tourists here.
We depend a lot on tourism.
- How would I say "Welcome to Kilkenny"? - Fálite go dtí Cill Chalnnigh.
- That's in Irish.
- Well, I guessed that.
That's very, very nice.
And how do I say "thank you"? - Go raibh maith agat.
- Lovely to see you.
Thank you so much.
I'll say back to you, ní ar chor ar bith.
- Does that mean "come back again"? - That means "not at all".
I was hoping you were asking me to come back.
- Teacht ar als arís.
- I will.
- God bless.
- Bye-bye.
After such a warm welcome, It's high time I saw Kilkenny's famous fortress for myself.
Bradshaw's tells me that one of the best views of the town is from John's Bridge, and certainly the castle on its mount above the river is imposing and impressive.
In Bradshaw's day, the noble Butler family still lived here, and tours were strictly for only upper class visitors by appointment.
My guide today Is Frank Kavanagh.
- You're very welcome, sir.
- Thank you very much.
- What a glorious castle you have here.
- Magnificent.
- The Windsor of Ireland.
- I believe it, I believe it.
There's been a castle on this site for 700 years, but following my guidebook, I'm heading straight for the gallery, added as part of a major refurbishment In the 19th century.
Absolutely magnificent.
Wonderful long gallery.
- How long is it, Frank? - It's 45m long, 150ft long.
Ten metres high, 30ft high, and nine metres wide.
It's everything you expect in a castle.
And this wonderful hammer beam ceiling.
It was the work of John Pollen in 1858.
So just before my Bradshaw's Guide, a Victorian masterpiece.
There must have been a flow of tourists coming here? Yes, there would be.
You had many visitors coming by train as it was the most convenient way of travel.
The railway reached Kilkenny in which year? The railway reached Kilkenny in 1848 to 1850.
So perfectly timed for the whole thing.
In the 1800s, a fashion for historical novels and paintings offered a romantic view of Britain's past.
The Civil War of the 17th century was a popular topic, and the castle's collection of portraits would have fired Victorian Imaginations.
Following my Bradshaw's, I'm looking for Charles I, Charles II, James II.
- Where would they be? - Behind us looking upon us.
King Charles I and King Charles II.
The Butlers were staunch supporters of the Stuart cause, hence you have, of course, James Frances Stuart, father of Bonnie Prince Charlie.
While the British Isles were torn apart by civil war, the Butlers or Ormondes stayed staunchly loyal to the British crown.
Here In the long gallery, Victorian visitors could steep themselves In the story.
All around you there are members of the family.
James Butler, first Duke of Ormonde.
The most eminent member of the family, buried at Westminster Abbey, right close to his arch enemy Cromwell.
As well as admiring the paintings, tourists could marvel at the lavish 19th-century restoration, which Included a rather unusual material.
This is the essence of our city, black marble.
Bradshaw's talks about "good stone and dark marble are abundant in this locality".
"Most of the houses are of this material.
" - This is what he's referring to? - Exactly.
The entire city of Kilkenny is built upon its marble.
I'd love to linger In the long gallery, but this remarkable stone has sparked my curiosity.
A Victorian favourite, It found fame around the world.
And the story starts just east from Kilkenny.
My search for the Irish black stuff, I refer, of course, to Kilkenny marble, has led me to Butlers Grove Quarry.
In Victorian times, this was a thriving source of marble and building stone.
However, when concrete Increased In popularity In the early 20th century, the quarry was forced to close.
It was resurrected In the 1970s by Jim Harding's father.
- Hello, Jim.
- How are you? Good to see you.
I've come in search of Kilkenny marble, I guess I've come to the right place? You've come to one of two old Kilkenny marble quarries.
This is the only one that's left open.
Marble was first quarried commercially In Kilkenny In the 1730s, and when the rails arrived a century later, they quickly became vital to the Industry.
The railways were extremely important.
It was actually quite difficult to transport heavy blocks anywhere other than by rail, so they would have been brought from here to a station and transported quite literally everywhere.
Most of the big blocks that came out of here would have been shipped to Liverpool then delivered by rail out of Liverpool.
The Victorians used the stone for everything from fireplaces to gravestones, and It was even employed to build railway stations.
In geological terms, this particular marble Is a sedimentary limestone, formed from a fine black mud 370 million years ago.
And what is the quality of this stone that makes it so special? It's a really, really dense black material.
That's actually quite scarce.
There's not that many markings in it and it's really good quality.
Jim discovered a fresh seam of this rare stone a few years ago, allowing production, paused since the 1900s, to begin again.
Methods have moved on since Bradshaw's day, but he's going to show me an old-fashioned technique used by Victorian quarrymen to spilt the blocks of stone.
- Drop the two side ones in, do we? - One at a time.
One down.
Second one in.
And now, the actual wedge itself goes between them.
This cunning system of pins and wedges should mean that a gentle tap Is all that's required.
Now we move on to the back of the stone and start to tap them.
It just suddenly fell away.
That's it, you hear it cracking first.
I heard a little sound and then off it went.
So, what have we done there? - We've made quite a clean break - You've cleaned it all the way across.
Look at that! These days, machines do much of the work that was once done by hand, but the real magic occurs at the polishing stage.
What you do is go up and down it along here, and get as much of that heat and wax into that as possible.
Let's give it a go.
Isn't it lovely how the black appears through the blue wax there.
It is, yes.
That's what brings up the black.
- Such a lovely stone.
- It is fabulous.
The best marble Is still highly prized for fireplaces, just as It was In Bradshaw's day.
- Well - You're really getting into that.
I think that's got it.
Isn't that the most beautiful piece of stone.
- Lovely, isn't it? - That would grace any castle.
It would, and does.
Sadly I can't stay and hone my skills, as It's time for me to continue my journey.
My next destination Is something of a riddle.
As I travel north from Kilkenny, according to my Bradshaw's Guide, we soon reach Bagenalstown, but there's no trace of it on the map, so I'm going to alight at Muine Bheag and investigate further.
With no Bagenalstown mentioned on the railway map, I'm going to have to dig deeper to find the spot described In my guide.
- Thank you very much.
- You're welcome.
- I'm looking for Bagenalstown.
- You're in it.
- Doesn't say so.
- Muine Bheag.
- Ah.
That's the Irish.
- It's Bagenalstown.
And what does that mean? Is that a translation? Small wood.
- Small wood, OK.
- Yes.
Do you know who Bagenal was who had the town? - No.
- Well, OK.
So I'm in the right place, I just have to find Bagenal now.
- That's it.
- Thank you.
No problem.
All the best.
It seems that the locals are as much In the dark as I am.
I'm hoping historian Pat Nolan can unravel the mystery.
- Pat.
- Hello, Michael.
- Welcome to Bagenalstown - Now, you call it Bagenalstown.
- I thought it was Muine Bheag.
- It depends who you talk to, really, It was Bagenalstown because the Bagenals were here since 1585, and they built a lot of this town.
By the 1920s, the Idea of naming a town after the local landed gentry had begun to seem outdated.
I imagine the name was changed after Irish independence? Yes.
Well, the attempt was made after the Irish independence in the middle 1920s.
A chap called Cleary got quite heated about the whole thing and he wanted it to be changed from Bagenalstown, which he felt had the wrong connotations, and call it Muine Bheag from a very old Irish name.
Nothing happened because people who called it Bagenalstown continued to, and people who called it Muine Bheag continued to do so.
In the 1950s, there was even a public vote on the matter, and the locals opted to stick with Bagenalstown.
But surprisingly, a few years later, the station was officially named Muine Bheag.
No one is sure why that is, but there is a tradition that our Irish national rail system tend to use the Irish forms of names quite considerably.
It's the use of the Irish language rather than anything else.
And Muine Bheag is accepted as the name, in Irish, of this town.
It's not just the name of this place that confuses visitors.
Back In the 1700s, one of the Bagenal clan left behind an Incongruous legacy.
To see It, you have to walk through the public library.
What a transformation from one side to the other! It's quite something.
- It is amazing.
- This was part of his grand plan.
Bagenal had an idea of creating another Versailles here in Ireland, and he had terrific ideas, and indeed he created some of them, but then, guess what, the money ran out.
Doesn't look anything like Versailles.
No, it doesn't.
It's modelled on the Athens Parthenon.
So he was somewhat geographically confused, you might say.
And so here, this mini Parthenon sits amongst the suburban houses and the municipal buildings and the sheds with their tin roofs.
- Quite a contrast really.
- It is, but at least it's now serving a practical, current present day use as the library, so, you know, some good came out of it.
The curiosities that I uncover with my "Bradshaw's Guide" never cease to amaze.
And just up the road from this charming town, I've found the perfect place to break my journey.
Walter Bagenal never succeeded in completing his new Versailles, but many people think that their town still bears his name, and certainly this inn does, and this is where I shall spend the night.
I'm now rejoining my route along the Waterford branch of the famous Great Southern and Western Railway, built to connect the rural hinterland with Dublin.
Its engineer was the Irish Brunel, William Dargan, born and bred In these parts.
I find myself on a very busy train and I'm just going one stop to Carlow, which my Bradshaw's tells me "is the capital town of the county with a population of about 9,900, who return one member" Bradshaw's loves to tell us how many Members of Parliament are sent to Westminster.
"and are employed in the grain and butter trade.
" It's built on the east bank of the River Barrow.
Now, where you get grain and where you get a river, you normally get mills, and mills were a source of wealth and of jobs.
I'm bound for a mill which was once so Important It had Its own station, Milford.
Sadly, the stop went out of service In 1969 so I'm leaving the train at Carlow.
- How are you? - How was your trip? Very nice.
Thank you.
And I've spotted some Important work going on.
Wow, you're putting in the signs saying you've got to stand behind this line.
- In Irish.
- Only doing them in Irish today? No, Irish and English, Now, I've often seen this sign in Irish.
How do you pronounce it? Fan taobh den líne.
We've just put it down.
My Irish lesson over, I'm heading up the road to the banks of the River Barrow.
In the early days of the Industrial Revolution, forward-thinking landowners sought to make the most of this valley's fertile countryside.
Here at Milford Mills, their legacy Is unmissable.
- Hello, Shay.
- Welcome to Milford.
Thank you.
It's a monumental mill, really impressive.
- Looks like a fortress.
- Absolutely You wouldn't expect to find a major Industrial site In this qulet rural setting, but at Its peak, It was the largest mill complex In Ireland.
Historian Shay Kinsella has been researching the story.
Well, this is an enormous and impressive building, but am I right thinking there was even more than this originally? This is the only building of three that has survived.
This was the oatmeal mill, there was also a massive flour mill and a huge malt house as well.
The mills were the brainchild of John Alexander, a Belfast man who, by 1790, had brought together the power of the river and the area's agricultural riches.
By the time the railways came half a century later, his son was running the thriving mill.
The second John Alexander was a believer in the power of the railways.
When the mill started to become extremely successful here, he decided that a railway would be the best access up to Dublin and down to Waterford for transporting the goods from here.
And that railway station was named Milford Railway Station.
John Alexander II Invested £6,000 In the Great Southern and Western Railway, and soon the trains were taking his business to ever greater heights.
Mr and Mrs Samuel Carter Hall, the travel commentators, visited here in the early 1840s.
They said these mills were fitted to astonish Englishmen, that Milford was laying down the gauntlet even for the mills of Manchester, and the capacity of the river and the hydro power should be harnessed across the UK.
From the early 1800s, British and Irish producers got a further boost from the Corn Laws, which protected them from International competition.
Then, In the 1840s, famine struck Ireland, and the government's response marked the beginning of the end of Milford's heyday.
The idea was to flood the market with cheap accessible flour so that bread could be produced for the population in distress, but at the same time, it put huge pressure on the milling industry here to compete with foreign imports, and unfortunately, the Milford Mills here went into decline from that date.
What happened after that? From the 1860s up to 1890, this building was left idle.
The building started showing signs of decay, until another John Alexander decided it was time to give this building a new lease of life and make history for Carlow and Ireland.
Towards the end of the 19th century, the best minds In science and engineering discovered how to harness the power of a new technology, electricity.
The world's first power station was built In 1882, and just nine years later, the Invention gripped even this sleepy town.
In 1890, John III was approached with an idea, to install a dynamo here which would have generated electricity by hydro power, which was a very pioneering idea at the time.
John III himself was a bit of an innovator, a pioneer, a very progressive thinker, so he latched on to this with both hands.
Carlow was the first Inland town In Ireland and Britain to be lit throughout by hydro electricity.
The plant ran for a decade, but closed when a new generator was built closer to the town centre.
But that wasn't the end of Milford's energy story.
- Hello, Michael.
Come on in.
- Lovely to see you.
Thank you.
The latest In this line of remarkable men Is John Alexander V, who still lives In the ancestral home.
So, John, I imagine this is a display of your ancestors, is it? Yes, the ones who lived in Milford, yes.
Which one first put an electricity turbine in the mill? My grandfather, who I remember well.
He was born in 1850 but I can remember him well growing up.
This house, I suppose, being very close to the mill, - must have benefited from electricity.
- Yes, it did.
Was this one of the early houses? I think it's one of the first houses, certainly in rural Ireland, yes, to be electrified, yes.
In the 1980s, John built a new turbine In the old mill hall which still generates enough electricity to power nearly 200 light bulbs continuously.
You're still putting electricity into the grid? Absolutely.
Right now, quite a lot because we've had a lot of rain today.
It's an amazing history, isn't it? Five of you here in Milford called John Alexander, five of you wedded in various ways to the mill? Absolutely, yeah.
Well, you're a very worthy John Alexander.
- A great pleasure to meet you.
- Well, thank you.
I'm now embarking on the last leg of today's journey, and there's just time to see how Carlow's sprucing up Is coming along.
Smell of fresh paint.
They've done the line, but they haven't yet re-done the words.
My next stop Is just 20 miles north.
I'm now heading for Athy, which my Bradshaw's tells me is on the Barrow, where there is an old castle built by Lord Kildare in 1506.
In fact, he gave his name to the county.
But I'm attracted to Athy for something that happened there long after my Bradshaw's was published which made it internationally famous.
In the last decades of Victoria's reign, a new rival to the railways emerged from the workshops of the Industrial Revolution.
The automobile.
The age of mass motor travel was still a long way off, but for the elite, this new machine opened up a fresh world of pleasure and excitement.
Veteran car enthusiast Laurence Roe can tell me how this small Irish town played a big part In the story.
- Laurence! - Oh.
Michael, nice to meet you.
- Welcome to Athy.
- Thank you very much.
What a beautiful collection of vintage cars.
What is the connection between Athy and cars? Well, Athy's connection dates back to 1903 when the first closed circuit race ever to take place took place here.
Prior to that, the previous races were on open roads where there was other traffic, little control of spectators, and this was really the first closed circuit ever.
Subsequently became known as a grand prix really.
The ground breaking event was the fourth In a series of International races sponsored by newspaper baron James Gordon Bennett Jr.
Famous for his passion for adventure, he backed everything from polar expeditions to balloon races.
- Is this the Gordon Bennett? - It is the Gordon Bennett.
So when one says "Gordon Bennett", one refers to this gentleman.
Bennett was known for his playboy lifestyle, and the story goes that It was a New York party that saw his name become an expression of Incredulity.
He arrived at the party slightly inebriated because Gordon Bennett lived on lamb chops and Champagne, and when he arrived in the house, he decided he wanted to use the facilities and the facilities in these old houses were usually down a dark corridor, so he decided to do what he had to do in the front room into the fireplace, so his friends said, "Oh, Gordon Bennett!" I've often used the exclamation myself with no idea what I was getting myself into.
The first Gordon Bennett races were held on the continent on the open road, but In 1902, the event was won by Selwyn Edge representing England.
So It was down to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to host the next event, but with strict speed limits on the British mainland, It was decided to hold It across the Irish Sea, where restrictions were temporarily relaxed.
The area around Athy was chosen for Its convenient location.
The railways were important to bring in the drivers or the spectators? The spectators, because they estimated there would have been almost a million people spectating on that event.
You're not serious.
First time there was a gathering of that amount in Ireland and the railways played a big part in bringing people to see this amazing scene.
- I had no idea it was on that scale.
- Absolutely.
For safety, the roads were closed to other traffic, setting the template for the Grand Prix, which began In 1906.
And the race also gave birth to another tradition.
Each country had a colour.
America was red, Germany was white, France was blue, and the British chose emerald green, partially as a gesture to Ireland for hosting the race, and this subsequently became, I understand, British racing green.
So it was a tribute to the Emerald Isle.
Sadly, racing green failed to triumph as the trophy was won by a German car.
The '03 Gordon Bennett race was won by Camille Jenatzy driving a 60 horsepower Mercedes at an average speed of 49.
2mph, which was a remarkable speed at that time, over a circuit which was 327.
5 miles.
I can't believe they were averaging nearly 50mph over a 300-and-something-mile circuit in 1903.
It's absolutely amazing.
And to get those speeds, they would have had to do over 70mph in some of the straight stretches to try and achieve that.
Much of the original course can still be driven on the roads around Athy, and the race Is commemorated every year by members of the Irish Veteran and Vintage Car Club.
And they're out for a drive today.
First thing we do is pump up the fuel.
- Here? - Yes.
These days, a turn of the key Is all that's needed to send fuel from the tank to the engine, but In the 1900s It was rather harder work.
OK.
Laurence takes the wheel of his 1906 Woiseley to give me a taste of the race that attracted a million awe-struck spectators.
I guess the population of Ireland can't have been more than six million.
It's impossible to think of any sporting event now that would gather a fifth or sixth of the population.
When you think about it, most people hadn't seen a motor car, and didn't know what it looked like.
To have this piece of machinery travelling at amazing speeds would have been spectacular.
On the open road with Laurence, you begin to realise how extraordinary the sight of a speeding car must once have been.
First locomotion, then the Internal combustion engine, the 19th century truly brought transport revolutions.
This part of my journey has made me think about the role of great men in history.
The dukes of Ormonde of Kilkenny, Walter Bagenal of Bagenalstown, five generations of John Alexander and Gordon Bennett.
And I'd like to add one more name.
The railway engineer who built this line and many others, a native of Carlow, William Dargan.
On my next journey, I'll visit the Irish National Stud, a bucking experience The horse is going very fast now! It's absolutely exhausting! I'll discover that life was harsh for the Irish poor When you came In here, you gave up everything and you signed up to a life within the workhouse.
and I'll uncover an astronomical feat of Victorian engineering.
What a construction.
It was known locally as "the monster".
His name was George Bradshaw and his railway guides Inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks.
Stop by stop, he told them where to travel, what to see and where to stay.
Now, 170 years later, I'm making a series of journeys across the length and breadth of these Islands to see what of Bradshaw's world remains.
With the help of my guidebook, I'm discovering how small places often made a big splash In Bradshaw's day.
I'm reaching the mid point of my train journey across the Republic of Ireland steered by my Bradshaw's Guide to Great Britain & Ireland, which, in Victorian times, formed a single state.
I'm hoping to discover more about how rural Ireland adapted to the technological and social changes of the 19th century.
On today's stretch, I'll try my hand at cutting marble, Victorian-style It just suddenly fell away! uncover 19th-century Ireland's surprising Industrial heritage It's a monumental mill.
Looks like a fortress.
and learn how the railways helped to bring motorsport to the masses.
They estimated that there would have been almost a million people spectating.
You're not serious.
First time there was a gathering of that amount.
Having sampled the pastoral charms of the Irish Republic's south, I'm now continuing along some of Its most Important Victorian tracks.
I'm heading north towards the heart of Ireland, before veering west to the spectacular Galway coast.
Today's stretch takes me through counties Carlow and Kildare, finishing up In the market town of Athy.
My first stop Is Kilkenny, where this region's rich and complex history has left Its mark.
My Bradshaw's recommends Kilkenny Castle, "the seat of the Marquis of Ormonde, finely situated on a rock above the river".
"It contains much old tapestry, as well as a gallery of the butler portraits by Lely and other portraits of Charles I, Charles II and James II.
" It was evidently a magnet for Victorian tourists, and I feel attracted, too.
According to my 19th-century guide, Kilkenny Is the old capital of the Pale, or limit, of English authority.
The Ormonde or Butler family have held possession of the town since 1400.
I'm going In search of their ancestral seat.
- Are you from Kilkenny by any chance? - Yes.
Well, I'm here for the first time.
What should I see while I'm here? - What should you see? - Yeah.
The castle.
- Are you from Kilkenny? - Yes, I am.
- You must be very proud of the castle? - Oh, I love the castle.
It's the first place I send tourists.
You do get an unbelievable number of tourists here.
We depend a lot on tourism.
- How would I say "Welcome to Kilkenny"? - Fálite go dtí Cill Chalnnigh.
- That's in Irish.
- Well, I guessed that.
That's very, very nice.
And how do I say "thank you"? - Go raibh maith agat.
- Lovely to see you.
Thank you so much.
I'll say back to you, ní ar chor ar bith.
- Does that mean "come back again"? - That means "not at all".
I was hoping you were asking me to come back.
- Teacht ar als arís.
- I will.
- God bless.
- Bye-bye.
After such a warm welcome, It's high time I saw Kilkenny's famous fortress for myself.
Bradshaw's tells me that one of the best views of the town is from John's Bridge, and certainly the castle on its mount above the river is imposing and impressive.
In Bradshaw's day, the noble Butler family still lived here, and tours were strictly for only upper class visitors by appointment.
My guide today Is Frank Kavanagh.
- You're very welcome, sir.
- Thank you very much.
- What a glorious castle you have here.
- Magnificent.
- The Windsor of Ireland.
- I believe it, I believe it.
There's been a castle on this site for 700 years, but following my guidebook, I'm heading straight for the gallery, added as part of a major refurbishment In the 19th century.
Absolutely magnificent.
Wonderful long gallery.
- How long is it, Frank? - It's 45m long, 150ft long.
Ten metres high, 30ft high, and nine metres wide.
It's everything you expect in a castle.
And this wonderful hammer beam ceiling.
It was the work of John Pollen in 1858.
So just before my Bradshaw's Guide, a Victorian masterpiece.
There must have been a flow of tourists coming here? Yes, there would be.
You had many visitors coming by train as it was the most convenient way of travel.
The railway reached Kilkenny in which year? The railway reached Kilkenny in 1848 to 1850.
So perfectly timed for the whole thing.
In the 1800s, a fashion for historical novels and paintings offered a romantic view of Britain's past.
The Civil War of the 17th century was a popular topic, and the castle's collection of portraits would have fired Victorian Imaginations.
Following my Bradshaw's, I'm looking for Charles I, Charles II, James II.
- Where would they be? - Behind us looking upon us.
King Charles I and King Charles II.
The Butlers were staunch supporters of the Stuart cause, hence you have, of course, James Frances Stuart, father of Bonnie Prince Charlie.
While the British Isles were torn apart by civil war, the Butlers or Ormondes stayed staunchly loyal to the British crown.
Here In the long gallery, Victorian visitors could steep themselves In the story.
All around you there are members of the family.
James Butler, first Duke of Ormonde.
The most eminent member of the family, buried at Westminster Abbey, right close to his arch enemy Cromwell.
As well as admiring the paintings, tourists could marvel at the lavish 19th-century restoration, which Included a rather unusual material.
This is the essence of our city, black marble.
Bradshaw's talks about "good stone and dark marble are abundant in this locality".
"Most of the houses are of this material.
" - This is what he's referring to? - Exactly.
The entire city of Kilkenny is built upon its marble.
I'd love to linger In the long gallery, but this remarkable stone has sparked my curiosity.
A Victorian favourite, It found fame around the world.
And the story starts just east from Kilkenny.
My search for the Irish black stuff, I refer, of course, to Kilkenny marble, has led me to Butlers Grove Quarry.
In Victorian times, this was a thriving source of marble and building stone.
However, when concrete Increased In popularity In the early 20th century, the quarry was forced to close.
It was resurrected In the 1970s by Jim Harding's father.
- Hello, Jim.
- How are you? Good to see you.
I've come in search of Kilkenny marble, I guess I've come to the right place? You've come to one of two old Kilkenny marble quarries.
This is the only one that's left open.
Marble was first quarried commercially In Kilkenny In the 1730s, and when the rails arrived a century later, they quickly became vital to the Industry.
The railways were extremely important.
It was actually quite difficult to transport heavy blocks anywhere other than by rail, so they would have been brought from here to a station and transported quite literally everywhere.
Most of the big blocks that came out of here would have been shipped to Liverpool then delivered by rail out of Liverpool.
The Victorians used the stone for everything from fireplaces to gravestones, and It was even employed to build railway stations.
In geological terms, this particular marble Is a sedimentary limestone, formed from a fine black mud 370 million years ago.
And what is the quality of this stone that makes it so special? It's a really, really dense black material.
That's actually quite scarce.
There's not that many markings in it and it's really good quality.
Jim discovered a fresh seam of this rare stone a few years ago, allowing production, paused since the 1900s, to begin again.
Methods have moved on since Bradshaw's day, but he's going to show me an old-fashioned technique used by Victorian quarrymen to spilt the blocks of stone.
- Drop the two side ones in, do we? - One at a time.
One down.
Second one in.
And now, the actual wedge itself goes between them.
This cunning system of pins and wedges should mean that a gentle tap Is all that's required.
Now we move on to the back of the stone and start to tap them.
It just suddenly fell away.
That's it, you hear it cracking first.
I heard a little sound and then off it went.
So, what have we done there? - We've made quite a clean break - You've cleaned it all the way across.
Look at that! These days, machines do much of the work that was once done by hand, but the real magic occurs at the polishing stage.
What you do is go up and down it along here, and get as much of that heat and wax into that as possible.
Let's give it a go.
Isn't it lovely how the black appears through the blue wax there.
It is, yes.
That's what brings up the black.
- Such a lovely stone.
- It is fabulous.
The best marble Is still highly prized for fireplaces, just as It was In Bradshaw's day.
- Well - You're really getting into that.
I think that's got it.
Isn't that the most beautiful piece of stone.
- Lovely, isn't it? - That would grace any castle.
It would, and does.
Sadly I can't stay and hone my skills, as It's time for me to continue my journey.
My next destination Is something of a riddle.
As I travel north from Kilkenny, according to my Bradshaw's Guide, we soon reach Bagenalstown, but there's no trace of it on the map, so I'm going to alight at Muine Bheag and investigate further.
With no Bagenalstown mentioned on the railway map, I'm going to have to dig deeper to find the spot described In my guide.
- Thank you very much.
- You're welcome.
- I'm looking for Bagenalstown.
- You're in it.
- Doesn't say so.
- Muine Bheag.
- Ah.
That's the Irish.
- It's Bagenalstown.
And what does that mean? Is that a translation? Small wood.
- Small wood, OK.
- Yes.
Do you know who Bagenal was who had the town? - No.
- Well, OK.
So I'm in the right place, I just have to find Bagenal now.
- That's it.
- Thank you.
No problem.
All the best.
It seems that the locals are as much In the dark as I am.
I'm hoping historian Pat Nolan can unravel the mystery.
- Pat.
- Hello, Michael.
- Welcome to Bagenalstown - Now, you call it Bagenalstown.
- I thought it was Muine Bheag.
- It depends who you talk to, really, It was Bagenalstown because the Bagenals were here since 1585, and they built a lot of this town.
By the 1920s, the Idea of naming a town after the local landed gentry had begun to seem outdated.
I imagine the name was changed after Irish independence? Yes.
Well, the attempt was made after the Irish independence in the middle 1920s.
A chap called Cleary got quite heated about the whole thing and he wanted it to be changed from Bagenalstown, which he felt had the wrong connotations, and call it Muine Bheag from a very old Irish name.
Nothing happened because people who called it Bagenalstown continued to, and people who called it Muine Bheag continued to do so.
In the 1950s, there was even a public vote on the matter, and the locals opted to stick with Bagenalstown.
But surprisingly, a few years later, the station was officially named Muine Bheag.
No one is sure why that is, but there is a tradition that our Irish national rail system tend to use the Irish forms of names quite considerably.
It's the use of the Irish language rather than anything else.
And Muine Bheag is accepted as the name, in Irish, of this town.
It's not just the name of this place that confuses visitors.
Back In the 1700s, one of the Bagenal clan left behind an Incongruous legacy.
To see It, you have to walk through the public library.
What a transformation from one side to the other! It's quite something.
- It is amazing.
- This was part of his grand plan.
Bagenal had an idea of creating another Versailles here in Ireland, and he had terrific ideas, and indeed he created some of them, but then, guess what, the money ran out.
Doesn't look anything like Versailles.
No, it doesn't.
It's modelled on the Athens Parthenon.
So he was somewhat geographically confused, you might say.
And so here, this mini Parthenon sits amongst the suburban houses and the municipal buildings and the sheds with their tin roofs.
- Quite a contrast really.
- It is, but at least it's now serving a practical, current present day use as the library, so, you know, some good came out of it.
The curiosities that I uncover with my "Bradshaw's Guide" never cease to amaze.
And just up the road from this charming town, I've found the perfect place to break my journey.
Walter Bagenal never succeeded in completing his new Versailles, but many people think that their town still bears his name, and certainly this inn does, and this is where I shall spend the night.
I'm now rejoining my route along the Waterford branch of the famous Great Southern and Western Railway, built to connect the rural hinterland with Dublin.
Its engineer was the Irish Brunel, William Dargan, born and bred In these parts.
I find myself on a very busy train and I'm just going one stop to Carlow, which my Bradshaw's tells me "is the capital town of the county with a population of about 9,900, who return one member" Bradshaw's loves to tell us how many Members of Parliament are sent to Westminster.
"and are employed in the grain and butter trade.
" It's built on the east bank of the River Barrow.
Now, where you get grain and where you get a river, you normally get mills, and mills were a source of wealth and of jobs.
I'm bound for a mill which was once so Important It had Its own station, Milford.
Sadly, the stop went out of service In 1969 so I'm leaving the train at Carlow.
- How are you? - How was your trip? Very nice.
Thank you.
And I've spotted some Important work going on.
Wow, you're putting in the signs saying you've got to stand behind this line.
- In Irish.
- Only doing them in Irish today? No, Irish and English, Now, I've often seen this sign in Irish.
How do you pronounce it? Fan taobh den líne.
We've just put it down.
My Irish lesson over, I'm heading up the road to the banks of the River Barrow.
In the early days of the Industrial Revolution, forward-thinking landowners sought to make the most of this valley's fertile countryside.
Here at Milford Mills, their legacy Is unmissable.
- Hello, Shay.
- Welcome to Milford.
Thank you.
It's a monumental mill, really impressive.
- Looks like a fortress.
- Absolutely You wouldn't expect to find a major Industrial site In this qulet rural setting, but at Its peak, It was the largest mill complex In Ireland.
Historian Shay Kinsella has been researching the story.
Well, this is an enormous and impressive building, but am I right thinking there was even more than this originally? This is the only building of three that has survived.
This was the oatmeal mill, there was also a massive flour mill and a huge malt house as well.
The mills were the brainchild of John Alexander, a Belfast man who, by 1790, had brought together the power of the river and the area's agricultural riches.
By the time the railways came half a century later, his son was running the thriving mill.
The second John Alexander was a believer in the power of the railways.
When the mill started to become extremely successful here, he decided that a railway would be the best access up to Dublin and down to Waterford for transporting the goods from here.
And that railway station was named Milford Railway Station.
John Alexander II Invested £6,000 In the Great Southern and Western Railway, and soon the trains were taking his business to ever greater heights.
Mr and Mrs Samuel Carter Hall, the travel commentators, visited here in the early 1840s.
They said these mills were fitted to astonish Englishmen, that Milford was laying down the gauntlet even for the mills of Manchester, and the capacity of the river and the hydro power should be harnessed across the UK.
From the early 1800s, British and Irish producers got a further boost from the Corn Laws, which protected them from International competition.
Then, In the 1840s, famine struck Ireland, and the government's response marked the beginning of the end of Milford's heyday.
The idea was to flood the market with cheap accessible flour so that bread could be produced for the population in distress, but at the same time, it put huge pressure on the milling industry here to compete with foreign imports, and unfortunately, the Milford Mills here went into decline from that date.
What happened after that? From the 1860s up to 1890, this building was left idle.
The building started showing signs of decay, until another John Alexander decided it was time to give this building a new lease of life and make history for Carlow and Ireland.
Towards the end of the 19th century, the best minds In science and engineering discovered how to harness the power of a new technology, electricity.
The world's first power station was built In 1882, and just nine years later, the Invention gripped even this sleepy town.
In 1890, John III was approached with an idea, to install a dynamo here which would have generated electricity by hydro power, which was a very pioneering idea at the time.
John III himself was a bit of an innovator, a pioneer, a very progressive thinker, so he latched on to this with both hands.
Carlow was the first Inland town In Ireland and Britain to be lit throughout by hydro electricity.
The plant ran for a decade, but closed when a new generator was built closer to the town centre.
But that wasn't the end of Milford's energy story.
- Hello, Michael.
Come on in.
- Lovely to see you.
Thank you.
The latest In this line of remarkable men Is John Alexander V, who still lives In the ancestral home.
So, John, I imagine this is a display of your ancestors, is it? Yes, the ones who lived in Milford, yes.
Which one first put an electricity turbine in the mill? My grandfather, who I remember well.
He was born in 1850 but I can remember him well growing up.
This house, I suppose, being very close to the mill, - must have benefited from electricity.
- Yes, it did.
Was this one of the early houses? I think it's one of the first houses, certainly in rural Ireland, yes, to be electrified, yes.
In the 1980s, John built a new turbine In the old mill hall which still generates enough electricity to power nearly 200 light bulbs continuously.
You're still putting electricity into the grid? Absolutely.
Right now, quite a lot because we've had a lot of rain today.
It's an amazing history, isn't it? Five of you here in Milford called John Alexander, five of you wedded in various ways to the mill? Absolutely, yeah.
Well, you're a very worthy John Alexander.
- A great pleasure to meet you.
- Well, thank you.
I'm now embarking on the last leg of today's journey, and there's just time to see how Carlow's sprucing up Is coming along.
Smell of fresh paint.
They've done the line, but they haven't yet re-done the words.
My next stop Is just 20 miles north.
I'm now heading for Athy, which my Bradshaw's tells me is on the Barrow, where there is an old castle built by Lord Kildare in 1506.
In fact, he gave his name to the county.
But I'm attracted to Athy for something that happened there long after my Bradshaw's was published which made it internationally famous.
In the last decades of Victoria's reign, a new rival to the railways emerged from the workshops of the Industrial Revolution.
The automobile.
The age of mass motor travel was still a long way off, but for the elite, this new machine opened up a fresh world of pleasure and excitement.
Veteran car enthusiast Laurence Roe can tell me how this small Irish town played a big part In the story.
- Laurence! - Oh.
Michael, nice to meet you.
- Welcome to Athy.
- Thank you very much.
What a beautiful collection of vintage cars.
What is the connection between Athy and cars? Well, Athy's connection dates back to 1903 when the first closed circuit race ever to take place took place here.
Prior to that, the previous races were on open roads where there was other traffic, little control of spectators, and this was really the first closed circuit ever.
Subsequently became known as a grand prix really.
The ground breaking event was the fourth In a series of International races sponsored by newspaper baron James Gordon Bennett Jr.
Famous for his passion for adventure, he backed everything from polar expeditions to balloon races.
- Is this the Gordon Bennett? - It is the Gordon Bennett.
So when one says "Gordon Bennett", one refers to this gentleman.
Bennett was known for his playboy lifestyle, and the story goes that It was a New York party that saw his name become an expression of Incredulity.
He arrived at the party slightly inebriated because Gordon Bennett lived on lamb chops and Champagne, and when he arrived in the house, he decided he wanted to use the facilities and the facilities in these old houses were usually down a dark corridor, so he decided to do what he had to do in the front room into the fireplace, so his friends said, "Oh, Gordon Bennett!" I've often used the exclamation myself with no idea what I was getting myself into.
The first Gordon Bennett races were held on the continent on the open road, but In 1902, the event was won by Selwyn Edge representing England.
So It was down to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to host the next event, but with strict speed limits on the British mainland, It was decided to hold It across the Irish Sea, where restrictions were temporarily relaxed.
The area around Athy was chosen for Its convenient location.
The railways were important to bring in the drivers or the spectators? The spectators, because they estimated there would have been almost a million people spectating on that event.
You're not serious.
First time there was a gathering of that amount in Ireland and the railways played a big part in bringing people to see this amazing scene.
- I had no idea it was on that scale.
- Absolutely.
For safety, the roads were closed to other traffic, setting the template for the Grand Prix, which began In 1906.
And the race also gave birth to another tradition.
Each country had a colour.
America was red, Germany was white, France was blue, and the British chose emerald green, partially as a gesture to Ireland for hosting the race, and this subsequently became, I understand, British racing green.
So it was a tribute to the Emerald Isle.
Sadly, racing green failed to triumph as the trophy was won by a German car.
The '03 Gordon Bennett race was won by Camille Jenatzy driving a 60 horsepower Mercedes at an average speed of 49.
2mph, which was a remarkable speed at that time, over a circuit which was 327.
5 miles.
I can't believe they were averaging nearly 50mph over a 300-and-something-mile circuit in 1903.
It's absolutely amazing.
And to get those speeds, they would have had to do over 70mph in some of the straight stretches to try and achieve that.
Much of the original course can still be driven on the roads around Athy, and the race Is commemorated every year by members of the Irish Veteran and Vintage Car Club.
And they're out for a drive today.
First thing we do is pump up the fuel.
- Here? - Yes.
These days, a turn of the key Is all that's needed to send fuel from the tank to the engine, but In the 1900s It was rather harder work.
OK.
Laurence takes the wheel of his 1906 Woiseley to give me a taste of the race that attracted a million awe-struck spectators.
I guess the population of Ireland can't have been more than six million.
It's impossible to think of any sporting event now that would gather a fifth or sixth of the population.
When you think about it, most people hadn't seen a motor car, and didn't know what it looked like.
To have this piece of machinery travelling at amazing speeds would have been spectacular.
On the open road with Laurence, you begin to realise how extraordinary the sight of a speeding car must once have been.
First locomotion, then the Internal combustion engine, the 19th century truly brought transport revolutions.
This part of my journey has made me think about the role of great men in history.
The dukes of Ormonde of Kilkenny, Walter Bagenal of Bagenalstown, five generations of John Alexander and Gordon Bennett.
And I'd like to add one more name.
The railway engineer who built this line and many others, a native of Carlow, William Dargan.
On my next journey, I'll visit the Irish National Stud, a bucking experience The horse is going very fast now! It's absolutely exhausting! I'll discover that life was harsh for the Irish poor When you came In here, you gave up everything and you signed up to a life within the workhouse.
and I'll uncover an astronomical feat of Victorian engineering.
What a construction.
It was known locally as "the monster".