James Nesbitt's Ireland (2013) s01e05 Episode Script
Episode 5
1 Welcome to Ireland - the Emerald Isle.
A place of outstanding natural beauty.
From the abundant green fields to the dramatic shore, its appeal is timeless.
With a rich cultural legacy and a welcome that's unsurpassed anywhere else on earth, Ireland holds something for everyone.
Whether you come here for a day or for a year, you can be sure that you will leave with memories to last you a lifetime.
I'm James Nesbitt and I'm on a voyage around my homeland.
James Bond James Nesbitt.
Discovering the known Not bad, eh? .
.
and the not-so-well-known corners of this stunning country.
You come to Ireland for the scenery, you come for the culture, you come for the food and the drink, but the biggest draw of all has to be the craic.
It's a struggle to define, but it's so good for the soul.
The craic is a great time.
The craic is social.
Ireland is a country that loves to celebrate, with over 700 festivals held all over throughout the year.
Perfect places to find the craic and the craic is mighty.
This week, we'll be celebrating the good times to be had throughout Ireland.
Whether it's the craic at the track Ready, riders? Come on! .
.
with one of Ireland's premier racing families I'm just kind of craving a winner and I'm not going to be satisfied until I get one.
.
.
and we find out the secret behind these beauties.
If I get a set of them, a set of five of them all the same, I'd be very happy.
Ireland is full of characters.
They can be found in every corner of the land, even here, in this picturesque corner of County Clare.
It's a long, long way from there to here Characters don't come more eccentric than this man, Willie Daly, who runs a 63-acre farm here on the West Coast.
Horses are one of his passions.
All our horses are called after film stars.
We have Pamela Anderson, Kylie Minogue, Madonna, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Colin Farrell.
But this stable of stars is not what Willie is famous for.
Harrison Ford, indeed.
My old friend, Harrison, how are you keeping? Because Willie is the last in a long line of traditional matchmakers.
Yeah, maybe make up your mind what type of a girl you want if you like.
Yeah, some of them have jobs.
Now I'm lucky enough not to have needed their services, but Ireland has a rich history of matchmaking.
It stems from the 19th century when rural marriages were made for economic rather than romantic reasons.
Now, of course, there are many different ways to meet your match, but the true romantics still like the way Willie Daly does it.
My father and my grandfather, God rest them, were both matchmakers, so it was kind of expected that I would become a matchmaker.
Can I have a picture with Willie Daly? With the famous Willie Daly.
Willie has been bringing lonely hearts together for decades, often in the nearby town of Lisdoonvarna, in a bar that doubles as his office.
Here you put what you'd like your man to be.
Tall or maybe dark-haired or small, fat and bald.
This pretty village is usually home to just 800 people, but every September, 20,000 singles looking for love tumble into town for the annual matchmaking festival.
They come for the dancing, the music and for the chance to meet the modern-day Cupid king of Lisdoonvarna, Willie Daly himself.
Sounds like good craic to me.
I'm about to discover if I've got what it takes to do a bit of matchmaking myself.
So we're here in Lisdoonvarna and you are the matchmaker.
Genuinely, do people get together, have you had a success? Oh, they do.
Last year, I'd say about 186 or 187 got married, related to the festival.
Right.
Now, it's not difficult, because people come here you know, with two things on their mind.
One is to get married to a man and the other is for a man to try and get married to a woman.
So my job is to put the two together.
Exactly.
Some might have three things on their mind.
And tell me this, what is this tome you have here? It's an old book.
Now it's a lucky book.
Now this book was used by my father and my grandfather.
So, in the book, you've got names and addresses and all these forms, thousands in there, presumably? Yeah, it's full.
The book is actually full of everything, though, photos, names, everything.
The book itself has sort of magical properties? It has.
If you touch the book - If you touch it? .
.
with both hands, you're going to be in love and married inside six months.
If you're already married and you touch the book, you'll renew your honeymoon, your first part of your honeymoon.
Renew your honeymoon? Yes.
Well, I'll have a go at that.
Have you got an hour or two? Some months back, about a year ago, a lovely man, he was just a little over 80, he got in contact with me.
He said he'd like to have someone to leave his estate to.
Oh! He wanted an Irish girl and I did eventually meet - What age of a girl would she have been? She would have been about 27.
And he was 81? We arranged to meet on the Friday.
And on the Tuesday he died.
Aw! But his neighbour told me - So she didn't get the estate? No.
It was the anticipation, she said.
We never saw him as happy, she said.
A nice way to go.
Just not quite It's true.
It's true.
Now, if I was to try a bit of matchmaking myself, er, is it something you feel I could do? You could, James.
It's just a question, in many cases, of listening to people.
So I'm looking into their very souls and their hearts? Indeed.
I think tonight, with a lovely blue sky, it sounds like there's a lot of romance around.
There's love in the air, Willie.
I think so, anyway.
Join me later on, when I'll be finding out what the men and women of Lisdoonvarna are looking for in a partner.
It might not be quite what you had in mind.
Will there be a hug involved, like? Nice! Thank you.
Cheers, darling.
The Irish love to celebrate love, but, then again, they love to celebrate most things, music, high days and holidays, even food.
That is Celtic.
That is Irish.
That is unique.
There are hundreds of food festivals a year in Ireland.
You could quite happily never go hungry again, as you make your way from one to the other.
And this one in Dingle in County Kerry is proving pretty popular.
It's a chance for foodies from all over to get together and have a good time with good food.
And who wouldn't like that? Wexford-born Ryan Coote is passionate about local produce and the Dingle Food Festival is his chance to try something he has been planning for a while - something pretty unique.
To the untrained eye this might look like any old double-decker bus, but, oh, no, Ryan's had this one converted into a fully mobile pizzeria.
We're here now in Dingle and all we need to do now is put on the best pizzas we possibly can.
Yum yum, yum yum.
Ryan's willing to go to any lengths to bring his customers the freshest toppings.
When you're at home as much on sea as on land, like Ryan is, well, it's not going to be a problem.
Today, we're going out and we're looking for some bass, some mullet, maybe some flat fish, and, if that all fails, we're going to get some mussels, because there's a nice mussel bed here, as well.
I know a secret location where I know there are mussels.
Ryan is an expert spear fisherman and there's nothing better than catching your own supper.
It doesn't get much fresher than this! See all the fat on there? All that fat there is what they're putting on for the winter.
That's lovely.
Once you cook that, that will all melt out.
If you fill this up with veg or if you put it on top of veg, the veg, it just tastes gorgeous.
Ryan's ultimate ambition is to serve the fish he catches as toppings on his pizzas and, when he's not hunting for fish, he's out sourcing the finest produce for the rest of his menu.
But how will Dingle take to these meals on wheels? I can get really good ingredients.
I can get really good local salads.
I can get really good local cheeses, which are just made down the road.
So I'm confident that I'm not selling junk food, I'm selling good food.
This man wants one of your finest Margarita slices.
The finest.
I like making pizzas, I like the speed of it.
You're always trying to strive for perfection with each pizza, as well, which is fun.
But don't just take Ryan's word for it.
You know, the man makes his own dough, he makes his own sauce.
He has lovely ingredients and he cooks them in his bus.
What isn't there to like about that, you know? It's very nice.
No worries.
Bellies full, it's time to head home and everyone's happy.
More good times to be had after the break.
We enjoy a drink in Ireland.
We drink to toast, to commiserate, to celebrate, to console.
So we know about drinking.
And one of the best places to enjoy a drink is here at the races.
For me, there is definitely no bigger thrill in the world, so much so that I'm a proud part-owner of a race horse, and nothing makes me happier than watching it sprint to victory.
So I understand why the appeal of horse racing in Ireland is so massive.
Almost two and a half thousand races are held annually.
So the business of producing these winning horses and riders is also huge and, unfortunately for my pocket, not a cheap one.
One particular stable that is in the business of producing winners is Commonstown Stables.
With over a hundred thoroughbred horses and almost 40 staff, this is a big operation.
This elite training stables is owned by renowned racehorse trainer Jessica Harrington and her family.
Kick him up on his inside.
We get horses in from all ages.
Some of them start here as yearlings.
We break them, erm, we get them going.
The end result is to go and win races with them.
For Jessica's youngest daughter Kate, horses have inevitably been a huge part of her life, and, from day one, she has been set to follow in her mother's footsteps.
You kind of have to have an interest in horses, really.
You come out the door there and there's just horses all around.
It was very enjoyable growing up here, because you always had something to do, doing your ponies, a busy place.
Kate has big stirrups to fill.
Jessica has ridden for Ireland at the highest level.
The World Championships and the Olympics.
She's still staying sound, is she? Great.
But, for Kate, racing is her first love and she's aiming to become a top-level jockey.
My aspiration is to ride probably as many winners as I possibly can.
The adrenaline and the rush of the race is great.
I love it, I absolutely love it.
Hitting speeds of 40mph, a horse at full gallop can be an exhilarating sight to see and, for Kate, nothing beats the feeling of a race.
Today, she is preparing herself for one of her biggest events this year.
The annual Galway Races.
Each year, over one million of us Irish enjoy nothing more than the craic of a day at the races.
That's almost a quarter of the nation and Galway is as good as it gets.
With its carnival-like atmosphere and adrenaline-pumping action, the week-long Galway Races attracts tens of thousands of excitable punters from all over the world.
We come here every year, yeah.
It's a great festival and we love it.
We have a great time.
You always have an outfit for the races, definitely a new dress.
We're going to have a little flutter and have a bit of fun.
For the Harringtons, though, the races are a serious business.
If I got a win today or even got a good placing today, a place in the first four, I'd be delighted.
Kate is out on the track planning her race, whilst older sister Emma prepares the first horse of the day.
Kate and the riders are ready.
There's an anxious wait.
The horses line up.
Ready, riders? Come on! And they're off.
Kate crosses the line at the back of the pack.
But before she even has time to reflect, she's changed colours and is back on the course.
Her second race of the day is about to begin.
And they're off.
Kate has a great start.
One lap down and she's in the lead.
Older sister Emma is looking on.
I'd say she knows what it means for Kate to get a good result.
She's been pipped at the post and comes in fourth, but, with so many races every season and Kate improving all the time, I'll sure she'll keep up the family's winning ways for years to come.
Yeah, it was a good day in the end, but it could have been better.
Could have had a winner, but that's racing for you.
You've got to keep going, got to keep coming back.
I'm just kind of craving a winner and I'm not going to be satisfied until I get one, basically.
Who knows? Maybe Kate will be racing my horse one day.
Most people enjoy the craic in a crowd, but, for some, there are more simple pleasures.
Over 50,000 visitors enjoy the sights and sounds of the Tullamore Agricultural Show, one of the biggest summer fairs in Ireland.
Now in its 21st year, it's a celebration of rural life and a showcase for the finest agricultural produce.
There are over one thousand different competition classes, from cattle to horses, from cakes to art.
And one of the most fiercely contested is the National Vegetable Championships.
Over in County Sligo is a man who knows this competition better than any other.
Defending vegetable-growing champion Mick Walton.
He's known for growing the biggest and the best.
Just look at that beauty! If I get a set of them, a set of five of them all the same, I'd be very happy.
Mick may be an expert grower, but he attributes all of his success to a special ingredient - seaweed.
The benefits of seaweed have long been known throughout Ireland.
Over the years, it's been used for a variety of different things, from a source of food to a medicinal cure.
But, for Mick, it's a fertiliser for his enormous vegetables.
I think it's one of the most natural fertilisers you'll ever, ever get.
It's all right, these inorganic fertilisers that you use, all right.
You know, you'll get quick bursts of growth, but, at the end of the day, you want a sustainability, where you have a long, slow growing season.
It's taken months of preparation and a delicate hand for Mick to get his veg ready.
Today's the big day when Mick will find out if his carrots will cut it Well, how are you? Are you well? .
.
if his parsnips are perfect and if his onions will bring tears of joy.
It can be very stressful.
You see, everybody thinks they're organised, but when it comes down to the nitty-gritty and all that, it's it's a hard one.
Mick is competing in the Collection Of Vegetables section, which is the most coveted prize in the show marquee.
This is the culmination of maybe 12 months of work, really, like, you know.
It's two minutes to half ten now.
The place is going to be closed.
Everybody will be shifted out and then the judges will do their job.
But will Mick win the much sought after red rosette? Or will he be going home empty-handed? This is a serious business.
I've been here now for 12 years, judging.
I've noticed every year the standard seems to be getting a little bit higher and higher.
I always look for quality when judging vegetables.
There is a saying in the National Vegetable Society, 'If you can't eat it, you don't show it.
' It's the moment of truth for Mick and his collection.
The winner won because he had five very well balanced.
He didn't have a weak dish.
That's the secret in a collection.
Wow.
That's nice, isn't it? Happy, very happy, yeah.
Relieved.
You can't put it down to expense.
It's just the greatness of actually winning and, er, well, there you go.
What can I say? I'm lost for words.
From a large country fair right in the middle of Ireland, to a lively spa town on its west coast.
I'm back at the matchmaking festival in Lisdoonvarna, where Willie and I have taken to the streets to find out what people are looking for in a prospective partner.
Originally designed for local farmers who hadn't the time to look for love, the festival now attracts people from all walks of life.
So what are you looking for in a man? What am I looking for? Loads of money! Oh, right.
And good looks I'd say, as well.
And good looks.
Oh, yeah.
And a neat bottom.
Ah.
A neat bottom.
A nice blonde one, that'll work the farm.
That'll work the farm.
A good sense of humour.
A good sense of humour.
That's me.
Good-looking.
Good looking? Also me.
It's you! What have I been doing? And you, darling? Have you met a man? I did.
Was Willie a part of it or did you just bump into him? Willie was a big part of it.
Was he? Matchmaking is thirsty work, so we head to the pub for a drink.
And so you've come from New York? Yes, I come from New York City.
And you're looking for love? I sure am.
Really? No man in New York City? Ireland is my favourite country in the world, so if I could move here .
.
and find love here, I would move in a second.
I get chipmunk cheeks when I come here.
I am so smiling all the time.
Really? My mother sent me your article in the mail and my dad arranged our entire trip around here.
They must be fairly keen to get you married off! A long way to find love.
No, they just know I want to be happy.
It seems the path of true love may not run smoothly, but whether you're from New York or Newry, Willie Daly can at least give you a gentle push in the right direction.
It's fantastic here.
Like in festivals throughout Ireland, there are thousands of people who have never met before, drinking, dancing, having a good time and, here in Lisdoonvarna, it's about love.
Innocent love.
It's perfect.
Ireland draws in people for a whole variety of different reasons, be it the search for romance, the search for adventure or the search for a winner.
When you come here, you can be sure of one thing.
You don't have to look hard to find what it is you're after.
See you next time, as I weave my way through Ireland.
A place of outstanding natural beauty.
From the abundant green fields to the dramatic shore, its appeal is timeless.
With a rich cultural legacy and a welcome that's unsurpassed anywhere else on earth, Ireland holds something for everyone.
Whether you come here for a day or for a year, you can be sure that you will leave with memories to last you a lifetime.
I'm James Nesbitt and I'm on a voyage around my homeland.
James Bond James Nesbitt.
Discovering the known Not bad, eh? .
.
and the not-so-well-known corners of this stunning country.
You come to Ireland for the scenery, you come for the culture, you come for the food and the drink, but the biggest draw of all has to be the craic.
It's a struggle to define, but it's so good for the soul.
The craic is a great time.
The craic is social.
Ireland is a country that loves to celebrate, with over 700 festivals held all over throughout the year.
Perfect places to find the craic and the craic is mighty.
This week, we'll be celebrating the good times to be had throughout Ireland.
Whether it's the craic at the track Ready, riders? Come on! .
.
with one of Ireland's premier racing families I'm just kind of craving a winner and I'm not going to be satisfied until I get one.
.
.
and we find out the secret behind these beauties.
If I get a set of them, a set of five of them all the same, I'd be very happy.
Ireland is full of characters.
They can be found in every corner of the land, even here, in this picturesque corner of County Clare.
It's a long, long way from there to here Characters don't come more eccentric than this man, Willie Daly, who runs a 63-acre farm here on the West Coast.
Horses are one of his passions.
All our horses are called after film stars.
We have Pamela Anderson, Kylie Minogue, Madonna, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Colin Farrell.
But this stable of stars is not what Willie is famous for.
Harrison Ford, indeed.
My old friend, Harrison, how are you keeping? Because Willie is the last in a long line of traditional matchmakers.
Yeah, maybe make up your mind what type of a girl you want if you like.
Yeah, some of them have jobs.
Now I'm lucky enough not to have needed their services, but Ireland has a rich history of matchmaking.
It stems from the 19th century when rural marriages were made for economic rather than romantic reasons.
Now, of course, there are many different ways to meet your match, but the true romantics still like the way Willie Daly does it.
My father and my grandfather, God rest them, were both matchmakers, so it was kind of expected that I would become a matchmaker.
Can I have a picture with Willie Daly? With the famous Willie Daly.
Willie has been bringing lonely hearts together for decades, often in the nearby town of Lisdoonvarna, in a bar that doubles as his office.
Here you put what you'd like your man to be.
Tall or maybe dark-haired or small, fat and bald.
This pretty village is usually home to just 800 people, but every September, 20,000 singles looking for love tumble into town for the annual matchmaking festival.
They come for the dancing, the music and for the chance to meet the modern-day Cupid king of Lisdoonvarna, Willie Daly himself.
Sounds like good craic to me.
I'm about to discover if I've got what it takes to do a bit of matchmaking myself.
So we're here in Lisdoonvarna and you are the matchmaker.
Genuinely, do people get together, have you had a success? Oh, they do.
Last year, I'd say about 186 or 187 got married, related to the festival.
Right.
Now, it's not difficult, because people come here you know, with two things on their mind.
One is to get married to a man and the other is for a man to try and get married to a woman.
So my job is to put the two together.
Exactly.
Some might have three things on their mind.
And tell me this, what is this tome you have here? It's an old book.
Now it's a lucky book.
Now this book was used by my father and my grandfather.
So, in the book, you've got names and addresses and all these forms, thousands in there, presumably? Yeah, it's full.
The book is actually full of everything, though, photos, names, everything.
The book itself has sort of magical properties? It has.
If you touch the book - If you touch it? .
.
with both hands, you're going to be in love and married inside six months.
If you're already married and you touch the book, you'll renew your honeymoon, your first part of your honeymoon.
Renew your honeymoon? Yes.
Well, I'll have a go at that.
Have you got an hour or two? Some months back, about a year ago, a lovely man, he was just a little over 80, he got in contact with me.
He said he'd like to have someone to leave his estate to.
Oh! He wanted an Irish girl and I did eventually meet - What age of a girl would she have been? She would have been about 27.
And he was 81? We arranged to meet on the Friday.
And on the Tuesday he died.
Aw! But his neighbour told me - So she didn't get the estate? No.
It was the anticipation, she said.
We never saw him as happy, she said.
A nice way to go.
Just not quite It's true.
It's true.
Now, if I was to try a bit of matchmaking myself, er, is it something you feel I could do? You could, James.
It's just a question, in many cases, of listening to people.
So I'm looking into their very souls and their hearts? Indeed.
I think tonight, with a lovely blue sky, it sounds like there's a lot of romance around.
There's love in the air, Willie.
I think so, anyway.
Join me later on, when I'll be finding out what the men and women of Lisdoonvarna are looking for in a partner.
It might not be quite what you had in mind.
Will there be a hug involved, like? Nice! Thank you.
Cheers, darling.
The Irish love to celebrate love, but, then again, they love to celebrate most things, music, high days and holidays, even food.
That is Celtic.
That is Irish.
That is unique.
There are hundreds of food festivals a year in Ireland.
You could quite happily never go hungry again, as you make your way from one to the other.
And this one in Dingle in County Kerry is proving pretty popular.
It's a chance for foodies from all over to get together and have a good time with good food.
And who wouldn't like that? Wexford-born Ryan Coote is passionate about local produce and the Dingle Food Festival is his chance to try something he has been planning for a while - something pretty unique.
To the untrained eye this might look like any old double-decker bus, but, oh, no, Ryan's had this one converted into a fully mobile pizzeria.
We're here now in Dingle and all we need to do now is put on the best pizzas we possibly can.
Yum yum, yum yum.
Ryan's willing to go to any lengths to bring his customers the freshest toppings.
When you're at home as much on sea as on land, like Ryan is, well, it's not going to be a problem.
Today, we're going out and we're looking for some bass, some mullet, maybe some flat fish, and, if that all fails, we're going to get some mussels, because there's a nice mussel bed here, as well.
I know a secret location where I know there are mussels.
Ryan is an expert spear fisherman and there's nothing better than catching your own supper.
It doesn't get much fresher than this! See all the fat on there? All that fat there is what they're putting on for the winter.
That's lovely.
Once you cook that, that will all melt out.
If you fill this up with veg or if you put it on top of veg, the veg, it just tastes gorgeous.
Ryan's ultimate ambition is to serve the fish he catches as toppings on his pizzas and, when he's not hunting for fish, he's out sourcing the finest produce for the rest of his menu.
But how will Dingle take to these meals on wheels? I can get really good ingredients.
I can get really good local salads.
I can get really good local cheeses, which are just made down the road.
So I'm confident that I'm not selling junk food, I'm selling good food.
This man wants one of your finest Margarita slices.
The finest.
I like making pizzas, I like the speed of it.
You're always trying to strive for perfection with each pizza, as well, which is fun.
But don't just take Ryan's word for it.
You know, the man makes his own dough, he makes his own sauce.
He has lovely ingredients and he cooks them in his bus.
What isn't there to like about that, you know? It's very nice.
No worries.
Bellies full, it's time to head home and everyone's happy.
More good times to be had after the break.
We enjoy a drink in Ireland.
We drink to toast, to commiserate, to celebrate, to console.
So we know about drinking.
And one of the best places to enjoy a drink is here at the races.
For me, there is definitely no bigger thrill in the world, so much so that I'm a proud part-owner of a race horse, and nothing makes me happier than watching it sprint to victory.
So I understand why the appeal of horse racing in Ireland is so massive.
Almost two and a half thousand races are held annually.
So the business of producing these winning horses and riders is also huge and, unfortunately for my pocket, not a cheap one.
One particular stable that is in the business of producing winners is Commonstown Stables.
With over a hundred thoroughbred horses and almost 40 staff, this is a big operation.
This elite training stables is owned by renowned racehorse trainer Jessica Harrington and her family.
Kick him up on his inside.
We get horses in from all ages.
Some of them start here as yearlings.
We break them, erm, we get them going.
The end result is to go and win races with them.
For Jessica's youngest daughter Kate, horses have inevitably been a huge part of her life, and, from day one, she has been set to follow in her mother's footsteps.
You kind of have to have an interest in horses, really.
You come out the door there and there's just horses all around.
It was very enjoyable growing up here, because you always had something to do, doing your ponies, a busy place.
Kate has big stirrups to fill.
Jessica has ridden for Ireland at the highest level.
The World Championships and the Olympics.
She's still staying sound, is she? Great.
But, for Kate, racing is her first love and she's aiming to become a top-level jockey.
My aspiration is to ride probably as many winners as I possibly can.
The adrenaline and the rush of the race is great.
I love it, I absolutely love it.
Hitting speeds of 40mph, a horse at full gallop can be an exhilarating sight to see and, for Kate, nothing beats the feeling of a race.
Today, she is preparing herself for one of her biggest events this year.
The annual Galway Races.
Each year, over one million of us Irish enjoy nothing more than the craic of a day at the races.
That's almost a quarter of the nation and Galway is as good as it gets.
With its carnival-like atmosphere and adrenaline-pumping action, the week-long Galway Races attracts tens of thousands of excitable punters from all over the world.
We come here every year, yeah.
It's a great festival and we love it.
We have a great time.
You always have an outfit for the races, definitely a new dress.
We're going to have a little flutter and have a bit of fun.
For the Harringtons, though, the races are a serious business.
If I got a win today or even got a good placing today, a place in the first four, I'd be delighted.
Kate is out on the track planning her race, whilst older sister Emma prepares the first horse of the day.
Kate and the riders are ready.
There's an anxious wait.
The horses line up.
Ready, riders? Come on! And they're off.
Kate crosses the line at the back of the pack.
But before she even has time to reflect, she's changed colours and is back on the course.
Her second race of the day is about to begin.
And they're off.
Kate has a great start.
One lap down and she's in the lead.
Older sister Emma is looking on.
I'd say she knows what it means for Kate to get a good result.
She's been pipped at the post and comes in fourth, but, with so many races every season and Kate improving all the time, I'll sure she'll keep up the family's winning ways for years to come.
Yeah, it was a good day in the end, but it could have been better.
Could have had a winner, but that's racing for you.
You've got to keep going, got to keep coming back.
I'm just kind of craving a winner and I'm not going to be satisfied until I get one, basically.
Who knows? Maybe Kate will be racing my horse one day.
Most people enjoy the craic in a crowd, but, for some, there are more simple pleasures.
Over 50,000 visitors enjoy the sights and sounds of the Tullamore Agricultural Show, one of the biggest summer fairs in Ireland.
Now in its 21st year, it's a celebration of rural life and a showcase for the finest agricultural produce.
There are over one thousand different competition classes, from cattle to horses, from cakes to art.
And one of the most fiercely contested is the National Vegetable Championships.
Over in County Sligo is a man who knows this competition better than any other.
Defending vegetable-growing champion Mick Walton.
He's known for growing the biggest and the best.
Just look at that beauty! If I get a set of them, a set of five of them all the same, I'd be very happy.
Mick may be an expert grower, but he attributes all of his success to a special ingredient - seaweed.
The benefits of seaweed have long been known throughout Ireland.
Over the years, it's been used for a variety of different things, from a source of food to a medicinal cure.
But, for Mick, it's a fertiliser for his enormous vegetables.
I think it's one of the most natural fertilisers you'll ever, ever get.
It's all right, these inorganic fertilisers that you use, all right.
You know, you'll get quick bursts of growth, but, at the end of the day, you want a sustainability, where you have a long, slow growing season.
It's taken months of preparation and a delicate hand for Mick to get his veg ready.
Today's the big day when Mick will find out if his carrots will cut it Well, how are you? Are you well? .
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if his parsnips are perfect and if his onions will bring tears of joy.
It can be very stressful.
You see, everybody thinks they're organised, but when it comes down to the nitty-gritty and all that, it's it's a hard one.
Mick is competing in the Collection Of Vegetables section, which is the most coveted prize in the show marquee.
This is the culmination of maybe 12 months of work, really, like, you know.
It's two minutes to half ten now.
The place is going to be closed.
Everybody will be shifted out and then the judges will do their job.
But will Mick win the much sought after red rosette? Or will he be going home empty-handed? This is a serious business.
I've been here now for 12 years, judging.
I've noticed every year the standard seems to be getting a little bit higher and higher.
I always look for quality when judging vegetables.
There is a saying in the National Vegetable Society, 'If you can't eat it, you don't show it.
' It's the moment of truth for Mick and his collection.
The winner won because he had five very well balanced.
He didn't have a weak dish.
That's the secret in a collection.
Wow.
That's nice, isn't it? Happy, very happy, yeah.
Relieved.
You can't put it down to expense.
It's just the greatness of actually winning and, er, well, there you go.
What can I say? I'm lost for words.
From a large country fair right in the middle of Ireland, to a lively spa town on its west coast.
I'm back at the matchmaking festival in Lisdoonvarna, where Willie and I have taken to the streets to find out what people are looking for in a prospective partner.
Originally designed for local farmers who hadn't the time to look for love, the festival now attracts people from all walks of life.
So what are you looking for in a man? What am I looking for? Loads of money! Oh, right.
And good looks I'd say, as well.
And good looks.
Oh, yeah.
And a neat bottom.
Ah.
A neat bottom.
A nice blonde one, that'll work the farm.
That'll work the farm.
A good sense of humour.
A good sense of humour.
That's me.
Good-looking.
Good looking? Also me.
It's you! What have I been doing? And you, darling? Have you met a man? I did.
Was Willie a part of it or did you just bump into him? Willie was a big part of it.
Was he? Matchmaking is thirsty work, so we head to the pub for a drink.
And so you've come from New York? Yes, I come from New York City.
And you're looking for love? I sure am.
Really? No man in New York City? Ireland is my favourite country in the world, so if I could move here .
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and find love here, I would move in a second.
I get chipmunk cheeks when I come here.
I am so smiling all the time.
Really? My mother sent me your article in the mail and my dad arranged our entire trip around here.
They must be fairly keen to get you married off! A long way to find love.
No, they just know I want to be happy.
It seems the path of true love may not run smoothly, but whether you're from New York or Newry, Willie Daly can at least give you a gentle push in the right direction.
It's fantastic here.
Like in festivals throughout Ireland, there are thousands of people who have never met before, drinking, dancing, having a good time and, here in Lisdoonvarna, it's about love.
Innocent love.
It's perfect.
Ireland draws in people for a whole variety of different reasons, be it the search for romance, the search for adventure or the search for a winner.
When you come here, you can be sure of one thing.
You don't have to look hard to find what it is you're after.
See you next time, as I weave my way through Ireland.