An A-Z of Things to See in Ireland: The X Factor

X is for the spot to mark on the map where you suddenly turned left and happened upon that hidden gem not in the guide book as one of the things to see in Ireland. So X in my A-Z of things to see in Ireland is that unknown factor, that surprise to quicken your pulse, that place or site that becomes a secret sanctuary or sacred place.   In other words, be open to serendipity. Be prepared to be a bit flexible and brave enough to go a bit off itinerary.  Ireland is a country where you need to to open to allow her to take her where she wants to take you.

 

It’s wise when planning your itinerary for a trip to Ireland to allow some ‘give’ so you can be open to that magical moment that may be the making of your tour of Ireland.

 

 

 

 

Here’s how we came to live where we now live.  We were over from England where we were living then house hunting for four days.  We needed to check in with Tony’s mother who was recovering from breast cancer surgery.  On the way to Armagh, we took a detour to the Brigid’s Holy Well at Faughart to say prayers for her full recovery and for guidance on finding a new home. Once in Armagh we started to have problems connecting with the estate agent who had set up appointments to view three properties in County Clare, a good four or five hour journey from Armagh.

 

We set off in good faith but decided to stop in Manorhamilton, the capital of the Glens of Leitrim,  for an early lunch.  We found Lunny’s and ate a hearty meat and three veg meal.  On our way to the phone box (we didn’t have a mobile phone yet and you still could find public phone boxes ten years ago) we tried both the landline and mobile of the estate agent again.  Suddenly, he had fallen down some Wonderland rabbit hole and was not contactable.

 

As we talked over our options we passed a local estate agents window.  For all house hunters these are a magnet.  We realised that the prices were far better value than those the other agent was putting forward.  We looked at the area – one we had heretofore never considered. It has mountains.  We are no flatlanders.  It was close to the coast.  I need regular infusions of seaside ozone. And the prices were keen. It made us much closer to Tony’s family in Armagh. This was looking very promising.

 

We went in to talk with the estate agent and in five minutes he gave us more valuable advice than we had got in nearly two year’s worth of emails from the other guy.  And it is all because we heeded our friend Teresa’s advice when we left on our prospecting tour. “If you take an odd notion to turn left, just do it!”

 

Wise words indeed.

 

Then to underscore how ‘right’ this path was for us we began to tot up the synchronicities, or meaningful coincidences, we had experienced since setting out.

 

1. We sailed on a boat called ‘’The Isle of Innisfree”
2. Upon embarkation we turned on the radio to listen to  a song, which the announcer in the link declared “And that is Yeats’ poem The Lake Isle of Innisfree set to music by…”
3. As we set off to visit some estate agents in Sligo we passed signs announcing we were in Yeats’ country and signposts for Innisfree
4. When we finally stopped to have a pint in Sligo to peruse property particulars we realised that the bar we were in was…you guessed it..the Innisfree.

 

We have a rule of thumb in our household that if you have three coincidences then you really have to go with it.

 

So that is why we never got to Clare. The Manorhamilton agent fulfilled his promises to us and six months after our arrival we moved into our current home in West Cavan, which shares a border with North Leitrim.

 

Seamus Heaney in his poem Postscript sums up the beauty of keeping a loose itinerary and remaining open to that serendipitous X factor when touring Ireland.

 

          …                You are neither here nor there,

A hurry through which known and strange things pass

As big soft buffetings come at the car sideways

And catch the heart off guard and blow it open.