Ireland-Scotland day 6 & 7 - Tramore & Waterford    

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On Thursday afternoon we arrived at the small town of Tramore, which like Cobh is on the scenic south-east coast. After checking in we went out on foot & saw most of the small town, walking on the beach & boardwalk. After perusing menus we had a good dinner in town.   

Later at the main pub we celebrated Arthur Guinness' birthday, with live Irish music, a trio of guitar, accordion and mandolin. The B&B was a 15 minute uphill walk from center city. 

The B&B was comfortable and we were here two nights. The host was pleasant & talkative and it was nice being the only guests. Once again I had a big crank-out window to bring in fresh air & the sound of waves breaking in the distance. 

note - you can enlarge any part of a picture by left-clicking in and then out again.

	Tramore - Paul reading menus		old doors		Celtic Sea, with 'Metal Men' in the distance
		fishing		on the beach
	sea wall		boardwalk

After our blustery walk along the beach we had a great dinner and visited a pub for a beer and music. Turns out it was Arthur Guinness' birth date.   

On Friday morning at breakfast we had an hour's chat with the owner, and afterwards went for a walk to look for the Metal Men, along the coast.    

	kitty painting in my room		great B&B		Paul at Tramore
		overlook		calm now, but...		....120+ shipwrecks happened here
	the trap, see below		on the Metal Men walk		Irish Sea on a calm day

The number of shipwrecks here is mind-boggling.

Historically, large sailing ships or steam powered ships were known to have no little to no control in really rough seas, and winds, and massive storms often used to blow ships hundreds of miles off-course, with little to no control.  

Tramore harbor has a boxy-shaped entrance, and ships might inadvertently find storm currents or winds pushing them into this trap, consisting of shallow water & very rocky outcroppings. 

The display stated that Tramore residents had time & again (in day or night) seen or heard ships breaking up during the worst storms, with the attendant heart-breaking cries of the unfortunate passengers & crews as they drowned in rough seas, the residents being unable to do a thing to help. Within the hour, bodies were washing up on the beach. 

Lloyds of London (shipping insurance) built the metal men (on pedestals) to warn ships away, but once you saw them, it was probably too late. 

It was not until modern wireless signals (post-WWII) when ships could triangulate their location accurately, that such accidents finally ceased.      

Waterford - later in the day we visited the historic town of Waterford, only a few miles inland from Tramore.   

Waterford Crystal went into bankruptcy in 2009 and was purchased by a new owner in 2010.  For a few years manufacturing was performed at overseas locations, but, our Docent said, as of 2013 the facility which we toured produces all of the 60,000 pieces made each year. Well.....

What we saw was no doubt a demo production line but it did show the painstaking hand-eye work required. It was an admirable portrayal of 'craftsmanship'.  

The Docent told me hat the glass-making and decorating/etching jobs require a 6 to 8 year apprenticeship. and, that these jobs pay really well.  When I mentioned that the mental concentration required was enormous, she agreed and added that the most skilled glass-cutting finishers work two 3-hour shifts, with two hours off to recover in between.         

			the Docent starts the tour		how it's done
		they have long apprenticeships here		tourists walk  through a demo work area		master glass cutter
	copper wheels for engraving		rough to finished		crystal hummer>
				BCS  replacement trophy (see below)

The Docent said that at a recent (2011?) College Football Bowl Championship (BCS) ceremony in the US, held a month before the main sporting event, one of the guest speakers on the way to the podium lost his balance and lurched into the table with the Waterford crystal BCS trophy on it, which rolled off its support & smashed into the ground. That crystal football cost 23,000 Euros, or 41,000 USD, in currencies compared at the time of our visit.

Since then, the US BCS has asked Waterford to make & keep a backup crystal football on hand, in case this ever happens again, and, surprisingly, our small tour group was able to hand the backup crystal football around. Upon request, the docent held it & posed for us.     

Postscript - We were in retrospect very fortunate to see the manufacturing center for Waterford Crystal, because about a year later the company was sold to a different owner and subsequently went under for good, a sad state of affairs. 

go to day 8 - Rock of Cashel & Dromoland Castle

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