Just a reminder dear reader - although I am travelling to all the places Karl visited as he biked around the world, I will not be doing them in the same order and certainly less efficiently - which finds us here, in Ireland.🍀
On June 14, 1901, Karl found a ship and sailed from Glasgow, Scotland, to Waterford, Ireland. It was the tail end of his adventure, he had been travelling for over two years, and in another three months, he’d be back home in Nova Scotia. You may think that Karl would have been tired at this stage of his journey and may have wanted to merely document that he rode his bicycle on the Emerald Isle. Instead, Karl wanted to see all of Ireland, and he set out to cycle clockwise around Ireland.
Ireland is one of those places that seems to be on everyone’s “bucket list,” and those who have made the journey are never disappointed. There’s something enticing about Ireland; it’s a magical place where you believe that there is a chance of encountering a fairy or leprechaun.
Passing through Yonghal Karl noted that he found “everything looked delightfully fresh and green, the country for all the world looked like Eastern Canada, the only exception being the stone walls and hawthorne hedges, which are not seen in Canada, fences taking their place”. Karl commended the beauty of Youghal to an old Irish Lady - she said to him: “Sure an Youghal is the wholesomest place in Oireland and paple come from all over the worruld, for a hundred moiles to get their heath”.
The island is 175 miles (280 km) wide and 300 miles ( 484 km) long, but Karl had a bit of difficulty tracking his distance travelled, noting that: “Eleven Irish miles make 14 English, and one can never tell when travelling through the country, whether a town is ten miles away or not when told. This state of affairs causes a lot of trouble amongst travellers, and even residents of the country districts sometimes get confused.”
At the time of Karl’s visit, Ireland was part of Great Britain, although there was a strong desire even then for independence. A mere 20 years after Karl’s visit in 1921, Ireland was partitioned into Northern Ireland, which remained part of the United Kingdom and the independent southern Republic of Ireland.
My plans while following Karl required that I exchange my money into euros while travelling in the Republic of Ireland and pounds when travelling in Northern Ireland. From Waterford to Younghal, we will then visit Cork and Galway and then to Belfast, Dublin and back to Waterford. Stay tuned next week when we visit the famous old Blarney Castle.