Take the local train from Dublin to the seaside town of Bray in County Wicklow. The next part of your journey has to be done by using mini-buses and, as far as I know, there's only one bus service that goes up to Glencree each day. So you need to be aware of the correct time when this bus leaves Bray station before you depart from Dublin.
The town of Bray is a very interesting Irish town popular with Dubliners who go down there for its beaches during weekends and other holidays. I seem to remember a popular tune called "The Vicar of Bray" which is found in school recorder text books.
You catch the bus and ask its driver to take you up the winding roads to Knockcree and then to Glencree where there is an youth hostel near the church there. It seems that during the war, some German soldiers were killed in this part of Ireland and were buried in a nearby cemetery.
Glencree, on the top of the downs, is lovely in spring with lots of yellow gorse flowers on every fence and all the fields are covered with daisies and other wild flowers. The air here is fresh and invigorating. The road up passes through beautiful countrysides and picturesque villages and forests; Wicklow is one of the most beautiful counties of the emerald Irish isle.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
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I found the lyric to the Vicar of Bray in Wikipedia:
In good King Charles's golden days,
When Loyalty no harm meant;
A Zealous High-Church man I was, 1
And so I gain'd Preferment 2.
Unto my Flock I daily Preach'd,
Kings are by God appointed,
And Damn'd are those who dare resist,
Or touch the Lord's Anointed 3.
And this is law 4, I will maintain
Unto my Dying Day, Sir.
That whatsoever King may reign,
I will be the Vicar of Bray, Sir!
When Royal James possest the crown,
And popery 5 grew in fashion;
The Penal Law I shouted down,
And read the Declaration:
The Church of Rome I found would fit
Full well my Constitution,
And I had been a Jesuit, 6
But for the Revolution. 7
And this is Law, &c.
When William our Deliverer came,
To heal the Nation's Grievance,
I turn'd the Cat in Pan 8 again,
And swore to him Allegiance:
Old Principles I did revoke,
Set conscience at a distance,
Passive Obedience is a Joke,
A Jest is 9 non-resistance.
And this is Law, &c.
When Royal Ann became our Queen,
Then Church of England's Glory,
Another face of things was seen,
And I became a Tory: 10
Occasional Conformists base
I Damn'd, and Moderation,
And thought the Church in danger was,
From such Prevarication.
And this is Law, &c.
When George in Pudding time 11 came o'er,
And Moderate Men looked big, Sir,
My Principles I chang'd once more,
And so became a Whig, Sir. 12
And thus Preferment I procur'd,
From our Faith's great Defender 13
And almost every day abjur'd
The Pope, and the Pretender.
And this is Law, &c.
The Illustrious House of Hannover 14,
And Protestant succession,
To these I lustily will swear,
Whilst they can keep possession:
For in my Faith, and Loyalty,
I never once will faulter,
But George, my lawful king shall be,
Except the Times shou'd alter.
And this is Law, &c.
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