Cúchulainn

I've never been to Ireland, but hopefully, one day I will. I love the UK and its variety of country side, and I think Scotland is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. But for some reason I feel it's incomplete, I just have to try to visit Ireland sometime.

When I was a kid, I had horse riding lessons. I remember I was just so excited about it. We use to live right next to a park, which was great fun anyway, and I walked my dog in that park every evening. But in the middle of the area there was a horse riding club & stable, and I can imagine myself again when, in the summer, the lessons took place outside and I could watch it from the side.



Remember those childish feelings of jealousy? I just stared at the girls who were lucky enough to have parents with lots of money (in a kid's eyes anyway) who could pay for their daughters wish to ride horses.

I don't remember exactly the ins and outs, but my parents did not have the money to provide me with these lessons. But they did have friends, a couple of 2 gay men (which was, for those days, quite amazing when you would have known my parents, who were very religious and there was no such thing as "gay" allowed usually). Again, I don't know exactly why, but I was offered the opportunity to have horse riding lessons, and they would pay for it. I vaguely remember that I had to achieve something before I earned it, but anyway, I seem to have managed because I had quite a lot of lessons. And it felt like a dream come true.

That's when I first got the wish to go and see Ireland. I remember when, after the lessons, I went to the canteen to go and get a drink. And while I was waiting for my turn at the bar, I used to look at the magazines that were there. Inside was lots of advertisement for horse riding holidays, and mainly in Ireland. Breathtaking photographs of people on horses, making their way through the hills, heading towards the sea shore, where they wouldn't even have to urge the animals to a higher speed, as the horses already smelt the salty water and started to gallop to feel the waves.

Of course my daydreaming was smashed to pieces every time I drifted off and spoke out my wishes. My parents didn't have the money for stuff like that, and my two "gay uncles" were nice but not able to provide cash for luxury holidays for kids. And when I was old enough to earn cash myself, it just never happened. But the dream remains.

Years ago, when in the UK at my former parents-in-law, I sat behind the TV and watched a video G put on. It was a recording of Riverdance, the Irish performance that was originally composed for the Eurovision Song Contest (I think), but was such a success that it was made into a full show which went to theatres worldwide. It was amazing.

At some point there was this bloke, Davy Spillane, who sat down on a chair on stage, on his own, and started to play the Uilleann pipes. I was absolutely gobsmacked. And I knew instantly that this piece of music was going to be played at my funeral. (So when I'm dead and you visit my last farewell party, you'll hear it, and if not, nobody bothered to read my will, nor took notice of this post).
But as said before, this dream is still here, so before I pop off, I really would like to go there and ride a horse through the shorelines of the Irish beaches.

Until then, I don't mind combining one thing with the other, and use my originally funeral music for some daydreaming instead. See if you like it....

(and for those who are interested: Cúchulainn is a good example of one of the greatest Irish folk legends around).

J