Northern Ireland. It warms every hand that stretches, and it thaws the frozen seas within us. There is something eternal about the light of this land, a radiance that unshadows the future, like the pillars of a bridge supporting what we see into the delights of what we soon will. So praise this bridge that carries us over, because here is a peerless berth of beauty, bread and song, of castles, culture and cheer. It is a place of ambition big enough to build the ship of dreams, and to craft huge legends, tales and unsinkable stories. It has an eye for the natural, and a heart that doesn’t waiver to protect it. It is almost criminally rich in splendor, aptitude, customs and passion. It is an adventure big enough for giants, where water and time have done nothing but saturate the soil with inspiration. For it is a land of artists, from poets to painters, from designers to distillers. Art, it could be said, is the unceasing effort to compete with the innate beauty of this acreage—and never succeeding. Some would say this place is better than Irish whiskey—it intoxicates both the holder and the beholder, and it beckons back for more.
Check out this short video from Richard’s “mini-quest” to Northern Ireland during the Titanic celebrations.
More from Richard Bangs at http://www.richardbangs.com/
Credits: Music by Aidan O’Brien (http://www.youtube.com/user/musicaid1).
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