Come Back To Ireland (1942)

[Music] to the man by [Music] shall ring. [Music] When we land [Music] the lone wind [Music] of the star over the mountain, the [Music] There was never a land that has so inspired poetic sentiment and tuneful ballad. Perhaps it is because so many of the Irish people remain detached and remote from the so-called progress of a modern world. In a village near Galway, the people have been known for centuries as cladapot, living unto themselves, holding fast to the ancient Gaelic language they love. because they are Irish and would be almost a sacrilege to use another tongue. And although the nation since 1848 has lost over half its population through migration, in the whole history of this village, there is no record of a clatter resident leaving home. You can't explain CLA unless you are a maker of verse or song. Even on the practical side, a typical industry does not change through the centuries. The implement he uses has always been called a chain, and the earth produces the turf or pete to a depth of 12 ft in some of the bogs. Tons of it are shipped each year to various little ports along the coast. Generations of Irishmen have cut and dried and burned the turf of Ireland on a million hearthstones in a land where there is little wood for fuel and coal must be imported. Did you know that a good fairy rides in the right ear of every donkey? This is true as everything that is told in confidence of the tiny people you cannot see. How else can you explain the patient willingness of the little beasts? In other lands, they try men's souls. Here, no roadside warnings plead for slower speed and safety. The donkey carts that bring fresh milk to the modern municipal dairy are traditional, and customs are not likely discarded by a proud and independent people. [Music] Once a month, all roads lead to Galway, where the farmers bring their livestock to be sold and to exchange a bit of gossip. Nearly 3/4 of the real wealth produced in Ireland is derived from farm products. And no matter what the circumstance, there is no excuse for anyone's being hungry in the Emerald Isle today. The thriving little town surrenders its main street to the traders and their cattle. This provides an opportunity for the Irish farmer to look over his neighbors display of prize-winning livestock that will show at the county fair. [Music] It's a great day for the storekeepers as well as the farmers wives who wear their finest shaws on this occasion. On market day in Galloway, you will meet the finest people of Aaron, the solid, strong, substantial people of rural Ireland and the backbone of the nation. [Music] Where the river Shannon flows through the lovely countryside and then past thriving little towns, the people you meet will tell you that there's not a Colleen sweeter than these mothers of Ireland, no matter what the old song may say. But song and sentiment have not kept trade and commerce from the river, and Shannon's banks are lined with industrial areas. Here in the ancient town of Young Hall, Sir Walter Raleigh lived while serving as mayor after suppressing a rebellion. Just one of his many stormy adventures in the service of Elizabeth. [Music] And around the [Music] wish of my heart and [Music] And this is the house in Young Hall that sheltered Raleigh, whom Elizabeth called Sir Knight of the soiled cas. It is said that Raleigh never wore that cloak again, but kept it among his treasures. Older than Young Hall is Dublin, the capital of the Irish Free State and the pivotal center around which the history of Ireland has evolved for the past thousand years. The ancient university was founded in 1591 by Queen Elizabeth and is rated today as one of the world's outstanding institutions of learning. Okonnell Street, a principal thoroughare of Dublin, was named after Daniel Okonnell, the statesman known as the liberator who devoted his life to the cause of Irish freedom. [Music] Dublin's interest in music and the drama brought handle here for his first production of the Messiah. And the Abby Theater, of course, is famous everywhere. Leaving this city of today, we visit the ruined castle of a famous Irishman, Gormach McCarthy, who built his stronghold here in 1446 and placed a stone in its walls that has been worn smooth by the lips of believers in its mystic powers. Throughout the English-speaking world, one who has the gift of persuasive eloquence, who expresses himself with a flourish of words rather than a simple statement, is said to have performed this feat. It is the kissing of the blower stone. [Music] In many parts of Ireland, the fragments of her history are dramatized in structures of great antiquity, a landmark of the Norman invasion. This ancient arch of Drogada still triumphantly straddles the road of the conquerors long after their passing. No one knows the story of the mysterious round towers, but they probably were for defensive purposes with one small entrance about 10 ft from the ground, just large enough for one person at a time to enter. Within one bronny lad with a challe, probably discouraged would be trespassers with a warm reception. [Music] The road to Konamera is typical of the Irish countryside, where timber for fencing is scarce, but stone so plentiful the picturesque walls march in orderly files in all directions. And this same unyielding flint-like stone was eminently suited to the building of this wall, where a mayor of Goway named Lynch here hanged his own son for murder. He gave our language a tragic word. [Music] But we cannot leave Ireland on any note of tragedy when the lovely legs of Kanne lie before our eyes. [Music] Here indeed our verse and song inspired [Music] You cannot gaze upon a single vista of Karnney, but that every sound from far and near will seem to weave a melody. Angels pull their wings and rest in the west. beauty home [Music] ever kill me.