Richard Hogan: Hot take — turning 50 isn't so bad when it's with family and friends in West Cork
Richard Hogan and his wife Erica with their friends the Tuohys and the Harts at the Warren, West Cork
Last month I turned 50. That’s a harder sentence to write than I expected.
My wife was trying to get me to have a party. I have never been a fan of my birthday. Another year older, and all that.
Freud would probably say it has something to do with a truck crashing into my mother’s car as she dropped my friends home from my 10th birthday. But what would Freud know?
Over the past year I could see my wife Erica thinking 'maybe he’d love a surprise party'.
I really wouldn’t.
It’s not my thing. I enjoy going to other people’s parties, but just not a fan of my own.
We have a long tradition of going to my wife’s parents house for new year’s eve. They live in one of the most spectacular places on earth — Sam’s Cross in Clonakilty. Peace comes dropping slow over the undulating landscape. The fields quiver in the grip of burnt wind.
A young Irish hero made his play with the landscape there many years ago. Whenever I’m down, I always visit the Michael Collins homestead. I walk along the lane with my father-in-law, listening to the babbling brook, imagining 'the big fellow' playing as a child and turning the stream into the mighty Mississippi.
I think of the noise the Black and Tans must have made marching down that lane with menace in their hearts. The terror the Collins family must have felt. It is a place steeped in Irish history and folklore.
The Four All’s pub is one of those rare Irish pubs untouched by time. So, I always enjoy going down there and taking a break from the madding crowd of Dublin.
I love West Cork. My kids do too. They love their time with their grandparents. The freedom and space they have there.
It’s getting a little harder now with a 15-year-old, because all she wants is to be with her friends. I remember what that felt like — trapped with your family while your friends are going to parties. It’s not an easy age. Phones have not helped FOMO (fear of missing out). I’d hear the odd groan to a snapchat from her friends out and about in Dublin. But she still enjoys it there.
Every morning, myself and Erica, would walk out to the pier in Rosscarbery, and then go for a little walk around the town.
Erica, not easily dissuaded, convinced me to do an activity with our good friends the Tuohys and the Harts while we were in West Cork. Not a 50th per se, but "something to mark the occasion" — that was her rebranding of my party.
So, on new year’s day, six of us headed off with our seven daughters and our Maltipoo, Poppy to the Warren beach in Rosscarbery for an afternoon of sauna and swimming. The Harts, recently bought a camper van and the fun we all had sitting around in one of those converted vans was just hilarious.
People stopping by to have a look, and see what all the noise was about. I sea swim a lot where we live in Dublin, but I have never done a sea sauna. I have heard friends talking about them and have always had an interest, so when Erica suggested it could be an activity to do for my 50th, my arm was twisted.
The Sauna at the Warren beach was the highlight of Christmas 25. It was one of those days in West Cork where the weather is remarkable. It was 4:30pm when we started the sauna, the sun was sinking like an old ship over the mountains.
By the time we finished it was dark, and a low wintery moon reflected off the clear water. I was lying in the water, looking at the clear night sky. Jupiter like a little teardrop above my head. It was magic.
I had very bad allergies from my ‘hypoallergenic puppy’ when I was heading down to the beach, but by the time I had finished the experience my head was clear.
The guy who owns the sauna, Jerry O’Riordan, talked us through the whole process while putting essential oils on the coals. The smell from the mint and the wood burning was healing. Jerry was a man passionate about his job, I think he enjoyed how much we were enjoying it.
He was from Cork City but had moved down to the beach for a slower pace of life. As I observed him sitting with his dogs watching the moon, I could see what he had brought into his life. Tranquillity. He told me how thankful he was to the people of West Cork and how the community there had welcomed him.
But that is West Cork people for you. They are open to new people, always offering a smile and happy to help. We live in a paradise. Ireland is a remarkable place; the people, the scenery, the food.
The following day we took off for the Armada Hotel in Spanish Point, and once again breath-taking scenery and great people.
Now, what will I do for my 60th?
