Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/201540
j im Cronin is charming the patrons of The Vintage restaurant in tiny Kanturk, southern Ireland. He is white-haired, railthin and earnest of face – think Frank McCourt without the bestsellers – and his singing and banjo playing have coaxed songs out of assorted neighbours. Just when it seems everyone has rendered a solo, a raven-haired woman at a corner table summons an a cappella ballad about a soldier sent to war clutching a bunch of violets from his lady love. Luckily for a roomful of anxious tear ducts, Cronin follows her with the upbeat warhorse, "It's a Long Way to Tipperary." Music is as fitting a metaphor for Ireland today as it has ever been. It serves as a sort of welcome to locals and visitors alike. But it's not just in the pubs or the semi-techno beats of Dublin hot spots: the music of Ireland is in the voices of its people. As Cork resident Aoife McAuliffe says with a chuckle, "We do like to talk." Small wonder its love affair with language has produced some of the world's most towering writers – James Joyce, Oscar Wilde and W.B. Yeats, to name a few. "I think it's part and parcel of the makeup of the Irish people," says Patrick O'Flaherty, general manager of Connemara's Ballynahinch Castle Hotel. "We love our conversation." In making time for conversation, Ireland can seem to the well-travelled visitor to be refreshingly out of step with the needed-ityesterday culture to which many of us belong. Or, at least, that's how it feels as we take to the city streets and back roads of the Emerald Isle for several days. Even amid Dublin's big-city vibrancy, no one ever appears too busy to give thorough directions to this pub or that museum. And, unlike London, where (opposite) Strolling the grounds of Longueville House; (this page, from top) restaurant founder Aoibheann McNamara outside her much-loved Galway eatery, Ard Bia; a colourful street scene in Kilkenny; a musician performs at the Arlington Hotel in Dublin; fishmonger Pat O'Connell at the English Market in Cork. p32-35_Ireland.indd 33 walking into oncoming traffic can be hazardous, drivers are more willing to apply the brakes for the unwitting. That slowed-down pace enriches the enjoyment of Dublin's many attractions. The noteworthy museum scene includes Dublin City Gallery (The Hugh Lane). A leisurely stroll through the rooms reveals a world-class collection featuring works by Monet and Pissarro. Art and history lovers shouldn't miss the painstakingly reassembled London studio of figure painter Francis Bacon. In the heart of a re-emerging neighbourhood, the Dublin 8 section, is The Fumbally, a rambling space where soft, edgy music plays as energetic patrons down healthy sandwiches and soups at communal tables. "This is the real hipster centre – from the moment it opened, it's been packed," says an area resident who has stopped in for lunch with her baby. As afternoon winds down, photographer Naomi Finlay and I get a dose of urban chic at the Merrion Hotel lounge, settling into a comfortable sofa amid a well-edited art collection. The atmosphere is conducive to contemplating dinner options. We decide to try Hugo's, where the rose-coloured wallpaper lends a homey touch. Soda bread, which can seem wanting an ocean away, has a whole other freshness when presented here, in its natural habitat. Our friendly server ("friendly server" is a redundancy in Ireland) recommends the beef bourguignon. Meaty, tender and thoughtfully seasoned, it lives up to its billing as a special. Of course, there's an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the pub scene, W es t wo r ld >> w i n t e r 2 0 1 3 33 13-10-18 10:19 AM