They came to call on us

They came to call on us 

It all starts and finishes in St Mullins whether its canoeing cycling, or walking this little village is a bit of Magic.

 How do the great populous find this hidden Gem when the great cry is “where on earth is St Mullins”? Maybe the Corona Virus has made us look closer to what is on our own door step, the hidden gems of Carlow that we never left the motor way to explore are coming to life.

 What a great facility and nere a boat or plane to get to it, it’s free, its magic, with unbelievable history. You can walk through the Mists of time where the Firbolg, the Tuatha de Danann, Vikings and Normans passed long ago.

 Its only when you leave the car behind and head off up on the river /canal path that you realise you have stepped into a different world. Leave the hills and rough terrain to the eager ones, this path is for pure pleasure, a place to unwind stroll, amble or sit. Just take in the silence and tranquillity that surrounds you. 

The Great RTE Radio man Sean O’Rourke’s description of the Mystical valley is apt “It’s like walking into a Constable painting” 

No pressure, no distance needs to be covered it’s your time to convene with nature. OH yeah cyclists and walkers will pass you by, sweat pouring, all in a hurry but then you are back to your own little bit of tranquillity.

It brings out the Irish in us we are back to saying “hello” “what a day” recognising that other people exist, with your feet tripping where draught horses trod slowly plodding along, barge in tow, no hurry all day to get there.

The Barrow River path is one of Ireland's most scenic long-distance trails just a place to ramble away from 21st century Ireland. The track along the Barrow starts at St Mullins and winds its way 115 km to lowtown in County Kildare or as we used to say, “70 miles” pre kilometre days. It’s like the pound of butter, we knew how it felt the weight of it, the feel of it, and it’s the same with miles. The path takes in the villages of St Mullins, Graiguenamanagh, Goresbridge, Bagnelstown, Leighlinbridge, Carlow, Athy, Monasterevin, Lowtown.

 Gay Byrne of the Late Late show found his way and described his walk to St Mullins as the “Best day of my life “Now when he was here it didn’t seem like that; he was in a bad mood but the following day on the newspaper he revealed all. The gang with him would only walk one way and he was looking forward to soaking up the Barrow river and St Mullins but his townie friends were always in a hurry.

 Historian Mary Mulvihill made a wonderful documentary with “Tracks and Trails “all along the Barrow River to St Mullins.

 Manchan Mcgann, our International travel writer, who has travelled the world from Timbuktu to the Kalahari found us in St Mullins and wrote a glowing review in his travel article “Never been there you will never forget it”.

 Nationwide and their camera crew sought us out and they gave the nation a peek into this little world of Myth and legend with Mary Kennedy and Ann Cassin, two fine women they are.

We even had a chat with Gordon Brown, Prime minister of England, sitting on the quay and he was dying for a chat, no politics just chat. The secret service nearly had a canary with these wild Irish men getting a little too close for comfort but sure we ignored them.

 Mary Robinson our first women President and her husband Nick were here, a great lady. She graciously had photos taken with the girls from the Mullicháin Café. Now if the president can find this gem so can the rest of you.

Who else but Joe Duffy RTE, the man that gets Ireland to spill its souls on the radio daily, succumbed to the charms of the sleepy valley “Have you ever heard of St Mullins my favourite place in Ireland “says Joe “?

Another Joe (Kenda) that famous Homicide detective from the series on television who solved an amazing number of murders, found his way to the valley, believe it or not he heard about us in the USA.

Ray Darcy’s wife is a native and sure poor auld Ray has to give us a mention on the big radio every now and then or he could never go home.

The Gordan Bennett rally a great bunch of eccentrics and their fabulous vintage cars came all the way down the Barrow River tow path for smoke salmon and Irish dancing and what a day was had by all.

Dereck Davis the great fisher man and broadcaster did a wonderful documentary from Graiguenamanagh to St Mullins. Along the way he spoke to the lock men, fisher men, canoeists and had a great auld time. He tucked into the scones and coffee as he chuckled through the interview, hell of a nice guy.

River Dance creators came to see us Moya Doherty and John Mc Colgan, Wow! did they change Ireland, Myself and the missus were in Chicago when River dance was part of the Eurovision. It would make the hair stand on your head; the place went wild. Michael Flatley’s Mum came from just up the parish in Dranagh, sure no wonder he could dance like one of the little people, they look after their own. The Flatley’s still have a house up in the hills, it’s the draw of the Blackstairs that keeps bringing them back.

 Ahh and the star of “Bracken”, “The Usual Suspects” and many more movies, Gabriel Byrne of acting fame, found his way, and didn’t we let him have his photo taken with us sure he was delighted 

A bunch of lads arrived on the quay in the middle of the week sure I thought they were a local hurling team on a training session,” Who are you lot with I asked innocently”? “The Dublin football team says your man” “Junior says I “,” Senior says your man with a laugh”, I Must be getting old, sure I thought they were teenagers.

But where would we be without our famous dancing prop forward Tadhg Furlong from New Ross, what a hero taking on the best and coming out smiling, he had his picture taken with the girls at The Mullicháin Café and made their day.

Now it’s hard to keep up with all our famous visitors so let me apologise to the many that didn’t get a mention. Someone said the Kardasians and Matt Damon were here but it’s hard to get around for a chat with everyone, we do our best.

So, when people say where is St Mullins? Never heard of it! That’s only because we are trying to keep the Mystic Valley to ourselves.

Author Martin OBrien