Richard Hogan: A seven-hour road trip where I saw the two sides of Ireland

An unplanned diversion through the back roads of his home country provided an insight into rundown rural Ireland — but for Richard Hogan, the final destination was paradise

'When we finally landed in Clonakilty, the excitement on the kids' faces as they saw the incredible stretch of turquoise water bending to Inchydoney... they love it there.'

Last Tuesday week, we all headed off for West Cork. Little did we know the odyssey we were in for as we naively set out, thinking it would take a little over three hours.

I caught a glimpse of tractors moving terrifyingly slow on the M1 and raced to get ahead of them. “What was that?” one of the kids asked. I didn’t know. Only to see the trail of cars on the M8 coming into Dublin. It was menacing. Like a zombie apocalypse movie.

I turned off the kids’ music and tuned into the radio. I was unaware of the planned protest, I think it took us all by surprise.

When I came to Dublin over 20 years ago, it used to take four hours to drive from Cork. So, like any decent optimist, I declared to the car, ‘Let’s take a trip down memory lane’.

Trying to find the best out of any situation is an important skill to develop in your children’s psychology. What a gift for life, if they learn how to manage inconvenience.

What really struck me as I was driving through the back roads of Ireland was how dilapidated those old vibrant villages of 20 years ago have become. I have said this many times, but I really feel we have let rural Ireland down.

We slowly moved through ghost towns, rundown buildings, derelict structures that were once the hub of human connection. All this controversy over housing, and there are so many empty buildings just wasting away throughout the country. It was really sad to see it.

Old cinemas, pubs and restaurants, all gone. Not knocked down for something new, but just rundown, empty ruins. I wondered how the villagers felt, watching their community slowly disappear. We have let them down. We need rural regeneration urgently, to save our beautiful countryside.

As I get a little older, I think I prefer holidaying in Ireland than anywhere else. I never thought I’d utter that sentence. I always loved the big adventure, seeing new cultures and people.

That still excites me to some extent, but I just love this country. The people, the culture, there is no place like it in the world.

Even when I drove up to a blockade and wasn’t sure how to get to Cork, one of the protesters came up to the car and gave me very detailed instructions on how to get there. There was no hostility in his voice, just genuine concern for a family.

And when we finally landed in Clonakilty, the excitement on the kids’ faces as they saw the incredible stretch of turquoise water bending to Inchydoney... and then the audible ‘wows’ as the Atlantic opened up in front of them. They love it there.

We stayed in the Inchydoney Lodge and Spa. It is one of my favourite places in the world to stay in. The soporific sounds of the waves crashing and sea on the air. It really is the friendliness of people that makes a place special.

We went to Corsica a number of years ago, beautiful place, but haven’t returned. The people were not very welcoming. I learned a lot about the psychology of Napoleon. The kids never really speak of that holiday.

But there is always cheers when I declare we are heading to West Cork. The air is different there, it’s heavy or something. I sleep like the old proverbial baby listening to the waves. I love walking around Clonakilty. It’s a special little place, with a special vibe.

We called into one of my favourite places there, Kerr’s Bookshop, again a unique place with a warm welcome. The people in the shop are just so friendly and chatty. The kids got two books and they didn’t take their noses out of them for the few days we were there.

My youngest daughter, Sophie, kept reading funny lines from her book. There is nothing online that can replace the joy a book brings a child. Everywhere we went it was in her hand. She kept telling us how much she loved the book., “I think it’s for grown-ups,” she kept saying because the humour was a little darker than usual.

She wasn’t allowed to bring her iPad with her, and she never once asked for it. I’m always surprised at how quickly they forget about technology once they are enjoying real life activities.

On the Wednesday morning, we got up early and went out to the beach. I ran a kite in the wind, the girls chasing me, and later went for a sauna and sea swim. It was just glorious.

There is something about this country that is magical. It is definitely the people you meet, but also the food and landscape. We can forget how lucky we are to live in a country like Ireland. It’s not perfect, but it’s beautiful.

We headed off back up the road to Dublin, it took seven hours to get there. I lit the fire when we got in, and Sophie said: “Home is the best place in the world.”

Inchydoney is a close second!