Saturday 9thJune, 2018
Duncannon Fort, Wexford
The plans had been set since the previous Monday – a great spin to Fethard Medieval walled town in Tipperary was excitedly anticipated. And included in the trip would be a visit to the famed village of Drangan, ancestral home of Tipperary’s most famous family, the Laharts. An ancient Irish-Huguenot family name, perhaps even more famous throughout the civilised world than the Kennedy or Obama legacies. Everyone was dying to see the best that the “Stone Throwers” of county Tipperary could offer the CRRG.
Tipperary women, in particular, have a lot to answer. The next time the wife throws a plate in the direction of your head, the chances are she has Tipperary connections. This remark is borne out when we trace the true origins of the nickname attributed to natives of County Tipperary – “Stone Throwers“.
This nickname came about because of a strange social phenomenon thriving in Ireland at the beginning of the 19th century, the cult of ‘Stick Fighting‘ better known as ‘Faction Fighting‘ or ‘Shillelagh Fighting‘. This sport which began its roots, possibly, in the village of Cappawhite, Co. Tipperary from whence it spread rapidly throughout Munster, Leinster and eventually to most of the rest of Ireland. This sport was at its peak in Tipperary in the second and third decades of the 19th century.
Faction Fights were planned events where men in two lines met face to face and fought for usually no other reason other than the sheer love of fighting. Tenant farmers and their sons dressed for a fight with great care and attention. The ‘game’ of Faction Fighting took place openly, usually towards the end of public gatherings such as fairs and markets, funeral wakes, race meetings, and patterns (parish patron days), between groups whose members had in common, drink and loose bonds of kinship or friendship. Fighters obeyed the rules of their chosen Captains and were bound in duty to ‘never back off if fight was offered’.
They fought with large sticks, some hardened and loaded with lead and manufactured usually from the ready available blackthorn tree or from ash suckers. These sticks were then carefully cut and tested following careful drying beside the domestic turf fire. For these fights, willing participants were trained as meticulously as were military swordsmen in the then British cavalry. Some landlords made wagers on the fighting ability of their tenants “To be sure, skulls and bones are broken, and lives lost; but they are lost in pleasant fighting – they are the consequences of the sport, the beauty of which consists in breaking as many heads as you can” (Daniel J. Casey & Robert E. Rhodes, Views of Irish Peasantry, p. 137).
These groups of Factions Fighters had many names such as Caravats and Shanavests, The Three Year Oulds, The Four Year Oulds, Cooleens, Pudding Lane Boys, Black Hens and Magpies, to name but a few. In the flourishing state of Faction Fighting, vendettas were pursued between “Shanavests” and “Caravats” at the fairs of Ballingarry, South Tipperary, between “Rawlins” and “Cusheens” at the green in Cashel, Tipperary, between “Darrigs” and “Cummings” at Roscrea, Tipperary and between “Pallates” and “Bawnies” at the fairs held in Borrisoleigh, Tipperary. The “Reaskawallagh” faction was nearly all Ryan’s and took their name from a towns-land in the parish of Doon, on the Tipperary / Limerick borders, where the Ryan chieftains had lived for generations.
Many a life was lost at these fights and serious injury was to be expected. In some cases both faction groups, which could number between 200 to 1,000, would combine together against a common foe, often turning their attentions to attacking unwanted interfering policemen (Peelers) who attempted to bring about law and order. Quite often, regiments of soldiers had to be called into action to prevent or quell riots between these factions.
In 1836 alone, over 100 faction fights were reported in Co. Tipperary. The granddaddy of all faction fights took place on June 24, 1834, the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist, a Holy Day which traditionally served to commemorate the occurrence of the longest day of the year, when 3,000 participants, the Coolens on one side, with Lawlors, Blacks and Mulvihills on the other, went up against each other at Ballyveigh Strand in County Kerry. When the bleeding stopped, 20 men were dead.
On the 20th March 1826, in the main square of Thurles, Co Tipperary (today, strangely, this square is called Liberty Square) women standing on the sidelines enjoying the spectacle of a local faction fight, somehow got it into their heads, as women will, that their men folk required support. These women began firing large rocks at the opposing faction. The stones it seems had been secreted away in their shopping baskets, in readiness for this event. According to reports of this event, the stones fired by these interfering women, missed intended targets and broke many of the windows of the local shop keepers. The police who intervened were “desperately attacked” and shots were fired killing 3 men. This serious riot was only quelled by the intervention of the 15th. Royal Foot Regiment, then garrisoned in Thurles, who were prevailed upon to support the local authorities.
But I digress.........back to Saturday’s planned spin. .....
A late night phone call from an anxious CRRG Meteorologist, Mike, (who got his Meteorology Degree in the University of Warsaw) on Friday evening after the 9 o’clock News on RTE, was to throw all the finely detailed travel plans into disarray. Mike warned of “heavy, thundery downpours” on Saturday, affecting mostly East Munster and the Midlands. He said that his finely tuned weather instruments had never been wrong before. So we had no choice but to heed his advice. A change in direction was the safer option – this time to the hurling capital county of Ireland and “the sunny South-East” coast of Wexford which Mike promised was to escape the deluges which were forecast.
A trip to Duncannon Fort seemed like a good idea so all the riders were contacted urgently. It came as a massive disappointment to Huguenot Pat Lahart who was already togged out in his Tipperary jersey, helmet and hurley. He sobbed bitterly all through the night and refused to travel to Wexford in protest. Darragh too was not impressed, blaming some mechanical problem with the FJR (now, we all know that it was a downright lie as Yamaha FJRs don’t give any mechanical trouble whatsoever..…..). But the good news was that, unlike Franklin, Claudio finally woke up from his Friday afternoon nap (from 2:00 pm to 10:30pm) and contacted me at 11:00pm saying that he would also be joining us for the trip to Wexford. The Italians and Brazilians are just not able to cope with the typically warm, sunny Irish summer and it saps the energy out of them. Franklin finally woke up at 2:00pm on Saturday afternoon, sweating profusely….
Paul N was still sipping Lem-Sips after getting caught in a downpour on Friday near Tuam and couldn’t find any dry underwear so he also missed the spin. Nevertheless, a good group of 9 riders met at Topaz Tallaght (- okay, okay, Topaz is now owned by Circle K but I refuse to use that silly name – “ Circle O” or “Circle Zero” makes a bit of sense but not “Circle K”). Mike and Jacek were coming along for the breakfast at The Forge while Paul C, Vincent, JR, Claudio, long-haired Andy, and Sandra & I were all heading to Duncannon. We decided to take the scenic route down the N81, via Tullow and on to The Forge. The Wicklow scenery was worth the trip and we eventually arrived at The Forge in brilliant sunshine. While JR teased the local Carlow men with his Wexford wit and GAA jibes, the rest of us ordered breakfast. Mike and Jacek were very impressed with the quality of the service and said they’d definitely go back again…and again..and again…. I think they really liked Mary, the owner.
Mike left us after breakfast and Jacek came as far as Enniscorthy before heading back. The remaining 7 riders took a fab route via New Ross and then we followed Mr. Garmin along some lovely, twisty roads, passing the very impressive Dunbrody Abbey along the way. We arrived at Duncannon and parked the bikes at the Fort. The next tour was starting in half an hour so we had time to treat the kiddies to some lovely “whippies”at the seaside while Andy looked resplendent in his snow-white CRRG t-shirt and long hair.
The tour was well worth the very reasonable €5 fee (with complimentary coffee included) and the guide was excellent. We took lots of photos of Duncannon Fort as well as the fab Wexford coastline, looking west across the sea towards Waterford. It was much nicer than Tipperary and we were all glad that we had changed plans.
After our complimentary coffee sitting in the sun outside the local pub/restaurant, it was soon time to head homewards and JR took us back along a great route, avoiding most of the motorway until we got close to Dublin.
Duncannon Beach
A view from Duncannon Fort
As it turned out, there had been no rain anywhere around the whole country on Saturday. Mike was puzzled and got back to his laboratory to check his instruments. Sure enough, his weather prediction stone was still wet (meaning that heavy rain is on the way) - he must have splashed it by accident when he was washing his lovely new Aprilia V4 for the 10th time since he bought it. (There is a vacancy for a new CRRG Weather Forecaster – application forms available from Head Office).
So we could have travelled to Tipperary after all. And to make poor Pat feel even more depressed, his beloved Tipperary hurling team were beaten on Sunday. I am sure that I speak for everyone in the CRRG when I wish Pat a speedy recovery and hope that he will be able to leave the secure unit of the Central Mental Hospital very soon.
The 2018 Final of MasterChef Ireland was held in the 5-Michelin Star 
Visitors to the Centre are always enthralled
and captivated by the vast amount of
information about the Battle of Ballinamuck
and the numerous replica weapons of the time
on display. The average length of a visit to the
Centre, according to Longford Tourism, is 6
hours. This includes a walk upstairs to see a
painting and 2 pikes hanging on a wall. There is
also a Parish Hall (attached to the Centre) with
a poster dating from 1998 commemorating the
200 th Anniversary of the Battle. And outside is
a cannon supposedly used by the famous
“Gunner McGee” during the battle, as well as a statue of a man with a pike.
Soon the hunters arrived in the lands known as “The Sticks” and stopped to pick up more riders at
“
But they were out of luck. There was no game to be had there
(unless you like model railways). The nomadic tribesman had had
enough and he headed off in a huff, followed closely by Jacek, Pat
the Hooker and Ger. The 10 remaining hunters were undeterred
and headed on to a castle further north named after an old
Northside Dublin parish near Phibsborough.
So I was very disappointed on Saturday with the reaction from certain quarters to my brand new expensive “Alpinestars SP1” summer motorcycle boots. They do not come under the list of banned motorcycle gear and should have been acceptable to all members. However, I was subjected to severe abuse and discriminative remarks. My lovely new boots were even being called, “Michael Jordan boots”! I must report that they were extremely comfortable and I am very happy with my purchase despite the critical remarks and jibes and will not hesitate to wear them again when the weather suits.
It was a long spin there but well worth it as the Marble Arch Caves are set in beautiful landscape and they are definitely worth a visit. We were lucky that I had booked in advance as we would have had to wait 2.5 hours for the next tour. Instead, we only had to wait an hour so Adam had time to have something else to eat before we got the full tour (around 75 minutes including a boat ride on the underground river). Security Officer JR insisted on minding the bikes and wore my jacket. I must say that my feet were extremely comfortable in my new boots walking around the caves…….
The Caves are really interesting and lots of stalactites and stalactmites and unusual formations. Before we headed off from Marble Arch, Adam was starving again so he had something else to eat. We decided to head back via Cavan, Granard and Edgeworthstown. Mike had to fill up again.
A lot of people never thought that they would ever see the day. Especially members of Dublin’s famous CRRG who have been highly sceptical that the visit would ever happen. But the heathens and non-believers were quickly silenced when she arrived at Dublin airport at 10:00am on Saturday morning. Large crowds had flocked to greet the saintly figure and Dubliners lined the street of the capital city to cheer and wave. It was a pity that the event was slightly marred by an old man in a white dress who insisted on getting in the way and grabbing the limelight.
Meanwhile, away from all the hustle and bustle in the capital, the CRRG took advantage of the fantastic weather on Saturday and headed to the posher part of Tipperary (if there is such a thing??) – Thurles and Holy Cross. There was a great turnout of 13 riders with General Arek’s Polish Squadron making up a third of the numbers. Among them was the CRRG’s second “Lady rider”, Emilia, on a fab Suzuki GSXR 600. And the spin was no bother to her as she tailed the leading riders and hopefully enjoyed the trip and the company and will join us again.
Breakfast was booked for the group in Treacy’s, Portlaoise (I spoil them, I know!) and we had our own table reserved. The food was up to the usual high quality (no beans with the Full Irish) and even Andy enjoyed it. There were no BOBs this week – all 13 riders were going on to Farney Castle, and beyond…..
Cyril Cullen, the owner, was delighted to see us all arrive and gave us a great welcome. He took us on a tour of the castle as well as showing us his ceramics and knitwear collection. 
It had been another fantastic day out. It was great to have our second lady rider join us too. And I think that everyone really enjoyed the spin, the venue and the company. We were very lucky with the weather too as Sunday turned out to be a miserable, wet day.
We arrived at the castle at 12:50 – I had said that we would be there at 1:00pm. Not bad organising, eh? The owner, Rebecca, and her dog, Oscar, came out to welcome us. She took us inside the castle and explained all about the restoration of the castle, the castle’s history as well as the story about the Boleyn sisters who lived there. It was a sad story about the reclusive sisters – one died and the other was so heart-broken that she threw herself off the tower and killed herself. Their grave is reputedly in the grounds of the castle, marked by a headstone (which JR sat on).
After a good look around, we bade our farewell to ye olde castle owner and headed off for a coffee in nearby Shannon Bridge. We stopped at The Old Fort café – an interesting venue in itself. Jim got an urgent “emergency First Responder” call and had to head off and Brendan also had to be back for a family meeting. Jenny and Keith wanted to be back before the toilets in BikeWorld closed so they took the motorway, as Andy also followed as he had a lot of housework to catch up on before Andrea gets back. That left just Paul C, JR, Pat and Ger and Sandra and me. We took some great, empty, scenic roads via Clonmacnoise, Doon and on to Moate where Paul joined the motorway. JR, Pat & Ger and Sandra and I continued to Kilbeggan where we stopped for a coffee and chat.
But back to the Trip Report for last Saturday. The drought continued and the hose pipe ban was still in place. But CRRG members went without washing for a week so that they could save the water for washing their pride and joys before the spin. 10 spotlessly clean bikes (with 13 smelly riders) met at Clonee for the trip up the back roads via Navan, Kells, Oldcastle and Killashandra to Ballinamore in Leitrim. It was great to have Pete join us again after his sejours in France, a month in Australia and God knows how many other holidays…. And Karl was actually free for the 
After a chat with all the family, we left Glenview and took the more direct route via Dromod and back down the N3 to Mullingar. We had light drizzle only for a few miles but it got warm and sunny again the further East we rode. Mick led us to Dromod as the big Triumph was purring along. A coffee stop in Dromod was very welcome as we were dying with the thirst after the big fry-up earlier on. Vincent left us there and went on to Rooskey.
We certainly picked the right day for the longer spin. Unfortunately it meant taking the N11 to save time but once we hit Enniscorthy we had great roads to New Ross and on to Waterford. JR “The Master” led all the way, taking us on a short-cut through Enniscorthy and avoiding the bottleneck and the bridges. We stuck together most of the way and got to Waterford in one group. We found good parking opposite Reginald’s Tower at the end of the quays.
We took some photos at the Guinness Book of Records longest wooden sword before booking into the Virtual Reality tour of “King of the Vikings” tour. For €7 per person for a half hour show it was fairly reasonable and the show takes place in an exact replica of a Viking house where the tour guides were dressed as Vikings and explained about the Viking history and the house.
It was yet another good turnout – 14 riders on 12 bikes – Darragh, JR, Vincent, Noel, Paul C, Paul N, Claudio, Andy & Andrea, Karl, Mick, Sandra and me and another new rider, Franklin, on a ……
After the rest of us had re-grouped, we were soon on our way again and enjoying the rare sunshine and DRY roads. We had the M9 practically to ourselves. As we were riding along at a nice steady pace, to my surprise along came Franklin on the big Harley, in the overtaking lane ! He sped past Paul’s FJR and kept up with the leading group as we hit the exit for the N78 and on via Athy to Castlecomer and breakfast at the 
During breakfast, there was a shock in store for me. My adopted son, John, had forgotten to buy me a 
Paul N had taken his new Ducati MS “Pikes Peake” for its first spin with the CRRG and he too was enjoying the dry roads. But he had made arrangements to meet some friends at the AMI Open Day in Gorey so he headed off.
The recent events in the UK, with possible Gremlin involvement in the poison attack on the Skripals, have taken a nasty turn. A suspected poison attack on the motorcycle of a high-ranking member of the powerful CRRG at Kinnegad in Ireland has sparked fears across the world of a CRRG retaliation and a new “Cold War” between Ireland and Russia. In an attempt to de-escalate the situation, President Putin has taken the unusual step of appearing live on Russian TV to deny any involvement by Russia in the recent horrific attack on the prized BMW K1600GTL Exclusive motorcycle.
Despite the chilly morning, we had a fairly good turnout – 9 riders on 8 bikes. There was no way in hell that Keith was going to miss the opportunity to finally collect his 
After breakfast, the top “BOB” (Breakfast Only Biker), Karl, had to head home. Darragh had forgotten to put the casserole in the oven so he also headed back before Jann got home. Their awards now safely tucked away in their pockets, Keith and Jen also decided to head off.
I had booked the breakfast venue for 11:15am for a Group of 14. We had never stopped at the Hunterstown Inn (between Collon and Ardee on the N2) before so I didn’t know what to expect. Along the way there, the Ashbourne by-pass was a nice stretch of motorway to warm up the bikes and clear out the cobwebs. We had a good fast run and soon arrived in Slane. Then on to Collon and a few miles further on to the Hunterstown Inn. We arrived there at 11:12 am !!! Great timing!
