Tea at Trianon: On the Star Wars Trail in Ireland

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, October 14, 2016

On the Star Wars Trail in Ireland

From Lonely Planet:

Donegal’s Inishowen Peninsula, home to the most northerly point on the Irish mainland, was thrown into a frenzy when scenes featuring Luke Skywalker, Rey and the Millennium Falcon were shot here in early 2016. Filming centred around a deep chasm known as Hell’s Hole, which has been carved into the rock over millions of years by the fierce Atlantic, which roars below.

Hell’s Hole can be reached along a well-marked path that skirts the headland from Banba’s Crown, at the the tip of Malin Head. It was from Banba’s Crown (named after a mythical Irish queen) in a British Admiralty tower built during the Napoleonic Wars that the Marconi Company sent the first commercial message by wireless. From this windy perch you can look out towards Inishtrahull Island and, on a good day, Scotland.

Afterwards, warm yourself in the confines of Farren’s Bar, Ireland’s most northerly pub, just 2km from Banba’s Crown in Slievebawn. It’s hard to miss — there’s not much else around here, plus it has a giant mural of Yoda painted outside. Inside, you’ll receive a warm welcome and no shortage of anecdotes about the time Mark Hamill came in.

Ireland’s penchant for storytelling can be experienced at Malin Well, a natural spring said to cure many diseases, a short walk from Farren’s. The nearby Wee House of Malin is a little cave, supposedly once inhabited by a hermit, where legend states that no matter how many people enter there is always room for one more.

A 15-minute drive from Malin Well will bring you to Five Fingers Strand, one of Donegal’s world-class sandy beaches, which is seldom (if ever) busy and a popular stop-off point for visitors on their way to and from the top of Malin Head. (Read more.)