So, I've booked us a private plane
to take us all the way over to the Emerald Isle.
I've booked a fantastic hotel as well.
The plane was actually, surprisingly, really good value for money.
Like, really good value for money.
Have you spoken to Evanna?
No, that was quite literally the only thing you had to do.
No, this whole thing was your idea.
I thought I just need to turn up and do the cool things.
No, no, no!
Hello!
Hello, Evie. Hey, matey, how are we doing?
Just on a walk at home.
So, Evanna, you know you said
if we ever wanted to come and visit you, let you know?
Yes, I did say that.
So, we're going to be with you in about an hour, if that's OK.
- You're coming to Ireland? - Yeah.
We're flying private.
We're flying private, Evanna it's gonna be very nice.
OK. Soon-soon then?
OK, cool. What an adventure, can't wait.
We'll give you a call when we get there.
- Looking forward to it. - Bye.
Random, OK.
- I'm James. - And I'm Oliver.
We spent a decade playing Fred and George,
the Weasley twins in the Harry Potter movies.
However, we're not really redheads or wizards.
But we are twins and we've finally grown up.
Well, one of us has.
- See, this sibling rivalry is real. - I don't want to get in between this.
And we've been lucky enough to travel all over the world with our work.
I've never been so terrified in my life.
Meeting some amazing people and making some fantastic friends.
And now, it's time to bring you on the journey with us.
We're snorkelling in the Arctic Circle.
- It's gonna be freezing! - What could go wrong?
We're flying to Ireland to see Evanna Lynch.
I have no words.
Evanna was a Harry Potter super fan
long before she was cast as Luna Lovegood
in "The Order of the Phoenix".
Sorry.
She's an amazing actor-dash-writer.
- Multi-hyphenate. - And she's a true pal.
She's been inviting us to come over to see her home-town for years.
What are we talking about? I just don't understand it.
I really hope she doesn't regret this.
What are we doing here? When you said private airfield,
I thought we were going to somewhere with jets.
Where's the WH Smith?
Where's the people with shoes and no socks in Wetherspoons?
- Where is the gate? - Is it a private airfield though?
- Well, yes. - Yes, it's a private airfield.
With private planes.
I tried to get us that flying car from the movies,
but apparently it's fictional.
Can't even fit in the thing.
How are you feeling, James?
Yeah, great.
A flying biscuit tin.
So, at least if we crash, we'll definitely die, right?
This little beauty is a Cessna 172.
First flown in 1955 and still being produced today,
it's undoubtedly the most successful aircraft ever invented,
with a top speed of 302 kilometres per hour.
Is this quick enough for you, James?
- Do you want to take the controls? - Yes, certainly.
And now Oliver's flying the plane. Can this day get any worse?
I have been on a flight simulator like this.
There you go.
I need a haircut. I need some nuts and, preferably, a bar.
Such a prima donna.
We're driving straight through Dublin,
on our way to see Evanna for dinner.
Dublin, Ireland. I can already smell the Guinness and potatoes.
Actually, Oli,
I think that might be my fear sweats after that long flight.
Hey, didn't we used to run a shop up there?
And that was Dublin. Well, 24 seconds of Dublin.
There's more to Ireland than Dublin city centre.
We're off to a rather charming venue I've booked,
where Evanna is going to be joining us for dinner.
I remember, actually, when we were filming the fourth movie
and it was the Quidditch World Cup
and we were decked out in the Irish colours.
Because we were allowed to have any kind of face paints.
So, I said, "Right, well I'm going to have a big shamrock."
Turns out I was the only person of the cast
that hadn't read the filming schedule.
Basically, for a month,
I had to get in an hour before anybody else.
Carton House is one of Ireland's fanciest hotels,
hosting world leaders, famous musicians,
influential thinkers.
And now, us!
He's so lazy!
Seeing as it's, you know, the first day and everything
like that, I thought, "Why not enjoy it?"
So, I've got a room down the hall which is exactly the same.
We're in the presidential suite.
I find, when faced with this sort of opulence,
it pays to play it cool.
Which is why I've decided to give you a little tour.
So, first of all, welcome to the living area of this room.
If you want to chill out like Oliver can,
you can have a nice spot of whiskey, lemonade, chocolates.
Very good. Then, if I feel a bit peckish,
I'm going to have a spot of dinner, on my six-person dining table.
Come, come, come!
The bathroom is, literally, a bath room.
I'm six foot three, that thing is at least six foot five, amazing.
Can I just add though,
that we've got a room each here, we're not sharing this space.
And then we've got the bedroom
which, obviously, I'm a very big fan of a big bed.
Tall people always have a problem with feet sticking out the end.
Not with this one, it's pretty much seven foot that way,
seven foot that way, four poster. It is amazing.
Yes, this isn't how people normally spend a holiday.
Yeah, we're off for a drink.
We've known Evanna since she joined the Harry Potter family
in the fifth movie,
"The Order of the Phoenix", over 15 years ago.
And now I feel old.
- Hello. - What do you think?
It's amazing.
Yes, let's just spend the whole week here, yeah.
- Here's to a good trip. - Yay, cheers.
- Cheers to Ireland. - Sláinte.
Today is actually Evanna's 30th birthday.
And now I feel even older.
Thank you.
We'll start with a garden pea, vegan mayonnaise and dashi.
If you had a personal chef, what would you eat every day?
This kind of stuff. It's so good!
OK, let me imitate my brother doing this.
Any restaurant in the world we'll go to,
Oliver's way of tasting wine.
No, with your mouth open, so it comes in and out.
- Shall I do James? - Yeah.
"It's alright, innit?"
- Here we go. - Food, food.
Now, also we have the pickled and baked beetroot
with black garlic.
- Looks like flowers. - It's so good.
- It's really, really good. - Thank you. Yum. Tofu!
- Whose birthday is it? - It's yours!
It's not my birthday.
That's so nice.
Thank you. Cool.
I thought I could quietly turn 30. No.
With the evening drawing to a close,
it's high time to try some proper Irish whiskey.
- Hello. - Evening, hello. How are you?
Got my balloons.
The hotel's very own expert is on hand to help us sip in style.
Perfect. So, you're very welcome.
- Happy birthday, by the way. - Thanks.
So, to start off we're going to do a little cocktail making.
Very, very simple. So, the cocktail's called the Luna.
Very good.
We have our Glendalough triple-distilled whiskey here.
That's our house pour.
We have some orange juice and we have some simple syrup.
So, add them all in.
- It doesn't matter what order? - No.
It's like potions.
There you go. I thought you'd enjoy it now.
So, put it on top, give it a good whack.
Here we go. Perfect. Perfect.
I think that's all good. OK.
Wonderful, then you just strain it into your glass.
- You've done this before. - He's definitely, a few times.
- That's good. - That's really nice.
Really nice, yeah.
We're going to do a blind tasting and we'll see which ones you can smell.
It's a lot sharper, isn't it?
So, am I crazy? It's chocolatey.
No, yeah. Citrusy.
Hurts my teeth. What is going on?
Are you OK?
If you want to take a sip of water,
which, kind of, cleans the palate a little bit, before the next one.
Now, you see, it's a very complex one.
- Not your tipple? - No.
Anything?
- I just don't have the taste buds. - No?
So, do we get any smells, any aromas that you find?
Citrusy?
Are you serious? Citrusy? I don't get that.
No? Bit of vanilla, no?
You're getting a lot more Irish as this tasting's going on.
- Am I? My accent? - Pardon?
It all tastes like liquorice to me.
This feels like geography class where I was like,
"What are you talking about?" I just don't understand it.
Just use some of the words that I already used like citrus and vanilla.
And with that, it's back to our baths.
Thank you very much. I really enjoyed that.
- Cheers, thanks a lot. - That was great.
They're going. Goodnight then.
- Are these books all real? - Yes.
Really? Full of whiskey knowledge?
Whiskey knowledge. Yeah, I wrote them all.
We're up early,
travelling all the way across Ireland to the west coast.
I, personally, loved the whiskey tasting.
That, pretty much, almost burnt my eyeballs off.
I don't think alcohol's supposed to do that.
Anyway, so we're heading up to the far north west, to Donegal.
What've we got lined up?
I've arranged for us to go and meet a lady called Maggy.
Now, Maggy helps run a folk village.
She said a few people may come and say hello when we arrive.
How long will we have to be there?
Because I've got something else booked afterwards.
I don't want to give the game away, but we're going to need a big lunch.
Did they know we were coming or are they always dressed like this?
Love your outfits. And you're a Gryffindor?
- I am, yeah. - Wingardium Leviosa.
Up Donegal!
Our guide Maggy was on hand to show us around,
offering us a glimpse of a mostly forgotten vision of ancient Ireland.
How's youse all doing?
Couple of nice visitors for youse here now.
Donegal's very well-known for handcrafts,
for knitting and spinning. It's the lifeblood.
Like, this was a fishing and a weaving community.
Charlie and Paddy are making St Bridget's crosses,
for keeping the house safe. Do you want to try one?
We soon got stuck in.
I wouldn't write home about this.
I wouldn't give this to my mum, anyways.
No, this one would be for the bin.
So, this is a typical one.
We're speaking Irish. I'm asking him...
We were saying youse are very good looking!
No, I was asking Colin what he's doing. He's fixing the line.
Do you see the piece of wood in Colin's hands?
That's actually from the 1930s.
That's Sean Keaney's father's, isn't it?
It's called a muggle.
It's an heirloom. A muggle? A muggle!
- Really? - Yeah, that's what it's called.
- Well, well, well. - Well, well.
Now, there's links everywhere.
We're very lucky, in the '30s in Ireland,
they collected the stories, the Folklore Commission,
from the local communities and schools.
My great grandfather and grandfather totally believed in mermaids.
I said to my mum, "Did Granda really believe in mermaids?"
And she says, "What are you talking about? I do too."
So, you know they did. So, I do now as well.
Don't be leaving here today without believing in them.
Well, thank you so much for showing us around.
"Go raibh míle maith agat," as we say in Gaelic.
That means "thank you very much".
Our quick stop-off in the folk village
had turned into an afternoon of fun and grass weaving,
so now we're running late.
The sea stacks are a stunning set of rugged cliffs
rising sharply from the crushing waves of the North Atlantic Ocean.
And County Donegal has the world's largest collection.
You alright? We're trying to find the stacks.
Ideally, this sort of death-defying activity
would take place on a dry, sunny day.
But despite this being in the height of summer,
we are in Ireland.
It's incredible.
Our guide has been climbing his entire life
and he is the world's only professional sea stack climber.
But I'm still not entirely sure what we're expected to do here.
Once all four of us are on the stack,
I'm going to climb to the top and one at a time,
you're going to climb the face.
So, it is face climbing, but it is on a sea stack
and you are surrounded on a little island.
And we don't need any tools to climb up?
- Just, like, our bare hands. - Hands and feet.
Right, OK. That sounds possible. OK.
So, just a casual 80 foot scramble up a vertical rock face then?
Great, thanks, Oliver.
You're welcome, matey.
I know a good pilot who could fly you over.
Let you in on a little secret. It's not just us here,
we've got a crew working with us.
So, to get the camera's view from above,
we sent Sammy over there.
Hi, Sammy!
For the last two hours,
cameraman Sammy has been waiting for us
to turn up and climb this stack.
Now, Sammy's a tiny bit grumpy right now
because we pulled a little prank on him.
Hey, Sammy.
Look, the fact they want us to go all the way up there...
No, we're not doing it. No way is that safe.
I'm not going down there.
I don't care if Sammy's down there or not, he can wait. No.
Sammy's been waiting up there in the wind and the wet and the cold.
Got to earn his stripes on this crew, I think.
- Go on. - No, we're coming.
We'll see you in a second.
I look like an explorer.
Is it ever still here? Sun coming out.
Operation Rescue Sammy.
Oh, my God!
Fear is pretty much the most addictive sensation
that a human being can have.
When you're not scared, post-fear,
then you tend to appreciate that you're still alive,
if you know what I mean.
That's a slippy bit.
Thank you.
- Are you alright? - Yes, I just demonstrated.
So, what we're going to do is, we're going to get the boat across
and we're going to land just at the left-hand side
of the platform there.
Isn't this how they get to Hades? They go on a little boat.
Sea's quite calm.
Yes, I can imagine when it's really coming up.
Everybody I take out climbing,
99% of them have never climbed before.
- This is quite normal. - Is it normal?
I mean, to me, this isn't normal.
So, rock climbing's not about how many chin-ups I can do.
Rock climbing's about, "where can I stand next?"
But your harness needs to be much tighter than that,
if you go upside down you're going to come out of it.
He's going to go first. You're going to go second.
- And we'll wait until... - And you're going to go third.
Given this was his smart idea, Oliver's first up.
Climb when ready!
Two-thirds of the way up and I've hit a wall.
Literally, a cold, wet, windy wall of rock.
But there's no going down now.
I'm here, I'm here.
I didn't pay very much attention to the route he took.
Climb when ready!
- Climb when ready. - Feet, feet, feet!
Am I doing this wrong?
God! OK. OK, OK.
This is so scary!
You are the most insane person. I have no words.
Oh, my God.
- Thank you. - Brilliant.
Terrifying.
With those two having made it look so easy,
I decide to play up the fear factor.
- It's kind of defying gravity. - Yes, it's all just acting.
This bit, acting.
It might look as if I'm terrified
but it's all make-believe, honest.
Out of ten, what would you give me?
- A healthy four. - A healthy four, good.
I'll just go and jump off the edge now.
What goes up, must come down.
And by what, I mean, three actors without their stunt teams.
And by come down,
I mean leap off the edge of a sheer 80 foot drop.
You can face the rock and straighten your legs
and walk down the wall, man. Be cool.
Be cool? Yes, that's very easy for him to say.
- Straighten your legs! - OK.
Put your feet on the wall like you're sitting.
Try and get into a sitting position, will you?
OK, I can just scuttle down the wall.
- Legs straight. - Straight.
That was awesome. That was so good.
When we started, Iain said,
"It's the adrenaline you get, doing the climb."
- And I completely get it. - Anyway, time for a drink.
So, you know how last night, we had very nice meal,
it was all very fancy, shall we say? Very nice.
But because on this trip, we want to experience Ireland
and what makes the country, the country that it is.
So, I thought, tonight we'll go to a traditional pub,
with traditional music, traditional drinking.
Obviously, socially acceptable drinking. Anyway.
Hey, how you doing?
Can I get two Guinness and a rum and coke?
You'll find people playing traditional folk music
in every Irish pub in the world.
Every Irish pub being visited by a camera crew anyway.
Hey, isn't that Maggy from the folk village?
This is a small town. So, don't make any enemies.
How often do you practice together?
- Every day for about six hours. - No, we don't!
That means never. No, we don't practice together.
Have any of youse ever sang before? Or spoken the Irish language?
Would you like to try a song?
- Yeah, I'll give it a go. - Would you try one?
Let me just...
I kind of have the phonetics here. Red always means danger.
So, that's my part.
You cracked that.
Can you show Oli a dance as well, please?
As immersive goes, I'm already in with the in-crowd right now.
So, I think, maybe you should learn how to dance properly.
That's true, you could.
- I think he should do, yes. - You should.
One, two! Good man!
A bit faster.
Can you speed it up a bit? There we go.
In certain circles, I'm known as James Snake Hips Phelps.
Er, James,
Evanna was a finalist on Dancing With The Stars.
What an amazing night. I'd be in here every evening,
if I didn't live some 450 miles away.
We're heading back to Dublin bright, early
and with thighs burning, after a night of dancing.
As an Irish person, can you define the word "craic"?
Craic. Spontaneous, wild, unpredictable.
You wouldn't be like, "Let's have some craic now," you know.
It's odd because some phrases go in and out,
but "craic" has remained.
So, Evie, can you tell us about how you got into the film?
Yes, so I was a major, major fan.
That was my main hobby, my main objective each day,
was to find out more Harry Potter things.
I really wanted to play Luna.
Like, I just was like, "I think I understand her."
"I think I just have an affinity with her."
And I wrote to the casting people a few times.
They wrote back once and were like, "Yeah, we'll think about you."
Then one day, I was just trawling MuggleNet,
my favourite fan site, and then they had this announcement,
"Open audition call for Luna Lovegood."
I did my audition on a Saturday
and then the next Friday was the screen test
and then the following Monday, they told me I got it.
So, actually, it was less than two weeks,
it was about ten days.
Went from just stalking everyone online to being one of the cast.
It was bizarre, yeah.
How did that feel, that first day going and meeting everybody?
So, it was the read-through. And it was overwhelming, completely.
And I was like, "Is this what happens?"
Like, Dan, Emma, Rupert, Jason Isaacs, Helena Bonham-Carter,
you guys, we all, kind of, get together for a little chat
at the start of each day? We all come in every day?
This is amazing. And I knew everything about you,
so it was a little bit freaky, you know?
You'd be telling me things and I'd be like, "I already know this."
"I've won quizzes about all this information."
I was always a little bit scared of you guys though.
You were a bit older than everyone else.
- Because we're fierce. - Because we were doing silly things.
Exactly. You were always playing jokes.
That to me was, like, the height of irreverence,
that you would play pranks on the Harry Potter set.
You just were so cheeky and daring.
Evanna cast a quick disappearing spell and like that, she was gone.
No, we just dropped her off.
She's organising a surprise for us.
In the meantime, we're off to Croke Park.
Here we are. Welcome to Croke Park.
What St Andrew's is to golf, what Wembley is to football,
what Wimbledon is to tennis,
this is the home of hurling
and the beating heart of this unique sport,
here in the centre of Dublin.
- How good is this? - Absolutely enormous.
We're going to meet the legendary Richie Hogan,
one of hurling's most successful players.
Yeah, maybe for now, but just wait until we get our hands
on one of those hurling sticks. Is that what they're called?
How you doing, Richie? Nice to meet you, mate.
You too, nice to meet you both.
- Thanks for having us. - Ah yes, great.
So, this is our national stadium, 82 500 people.
So, it's pretty good when we can get everybody in.
Looking forward to talking you through our national game of hurling.
It's quite safe, if you know what you're doing.
If you don't know what you're doing, yeah, it's not that safe.
I've had broken ribs and a punctured lung,
that was probably the most serious one.
This is called a "hurl", vast majority of these are handmade,
so, you know, cut from the ash tree.
It's a craft in Ireland where every small, little village in Ireland,
especially in the strong hurling areas,
would have a local hurly maker, who would craft these by hand.
And this is our ball, which we call a "slitter".
Very close to a baseball, in terms of, you know,
it's leather on the outside, it's quite hard.
In order to get the ball into your hand,
you're allowed four steps and then you must play the ball.
So, once your four steps are over,
you must either throw it up and strike it,
you must hand pass it away
or you can touch it back onto the hurly again
and take another four steps.
To just give you an idea of distance,
I'm just going to strike this into the stand.
So, it travels quite a distance.
And where shall we start, if we want to get into it?
I don't know if you can do this,
but the most important thing is to be able to start young.
So, our sports, vast majority of our players,
they will start at four and five and six years old.
Well, if a six-year-old can do it.
You're probably still screwed, James.
- So, Richie, you just hit that a mile. - Yeah.
As you can probably tell, Oliver and I are quite competitive.
So, I think it's worth finding out who can hit the furthest.
What would you say a four-year-old should hit it?
Miss.
Yes!
So, you both miss hit it. If you hold the hurly tight
and you're bringing your wrists into it
and you're constantly looking at the ball
and you drive your hips into it and follow through,
the further it'll go.
Not bad, not bad.
- That's definitely further than yours. - Definitely wasn't.
So, this is, I suppose, the Holy Grail for all young GAA enthusiasts,
all young hurlers.
Who's responsible for this?
If it was far away, that was me.
- How's your lesson going? - It's going really well.
Well, I'm taking it in.
Maybe not projecting it as it's going but...
Not actually all that unlike your role in Quidditch,
because you guys play beaters.
I'd probably be better with a beater's stick, hitting a bludger.
So, basically, this is a team of beaters,
mad Irish men all with sticks.
Whereas, in Quidditch, it was just you two with the sticks.
This is probably a bit more intense than when we did it on the green screen.
So, this is, kind of, the big leagues with Richie.
But there's a whole other world to hurling.
I've told you guys about it, my family are mad about hurling.
My brother hurls, my dad coaches,
my sister's the secretary, they're all really involved.
And I'm the weird one, on the side being like, "What's going on?"
So, we're going to see the Fechins game club.
- I'm sorry, the what? - The Fechins.
Termonfechin, St Féichín.
This is a real thing, people don't believe us, but it is.
It is amateur, but...
People take it life or death type thing.
Yeah. Blood is shed.
I bet it Fechin is.
I think we have to beep it when you use the word in that context.
Sorry. Anyway, we're off to see a Fechin game in action.
I think that one's fine.
So, why did you never get into hurling, when your whole family is, Evie?
I don't know. I'm just a black sheep of the family.
So, when your family were at a game,
did you used to go to the games as well?
Yeah. No, yeah, and there's this famous story.
So, I didn't want to go.
"Goblet Of Fire" had recently come out.
As a protest, I brought "Goblet Of Fire" along.
Big book, you know?
In Ireland, it's an amateur sport,
that doesn't mean there can't be favours done.
Probably shouldn't be saying this.
Dad has had me sign pictures for somebody
who is in control of, like, some pitch,
to try and get more practice time or to get it at home.
So, my family are so embarrassing at them,
which you will witness.
Only doing this for you, I would not endure it...
It's cringeworthy, my dad swears a lot.
Your dad does?
He knows all the players' names, he'd be like,
"Houlihan, you old bollocks! I know who your father is."
He would say all this stuff about their family.
I've never seen hurling before, have you, James?
Yeah, the other day on the plane over,
into my own lap.
Thankfully, we have a seasoned pundit present,
to guide us through the game.
Enter Evanna's dad, Donal Lynch.
This is a man I trust to know a thing or two about hurling.
We've been talking about going to a hurling match
with Donal for over 15 years.
We're finally here!
How big are some of these fellas?
- I don't know, as big as you. - Yeah, they're pretty tall.
There, that's my brother, with the blue helmet.
- 26? - Yeah.
St Fechin's are up against Naomh Mairtin
in a bloody battle to the death.
It's definitely not to the death, mate.
In a non-death match of which we're still struggling
to follow the rules.
If we win tonight, we'll go to the county final.
Can you block the ball with anything?
It doesn't have to be the hurler, you can put your hand if you want?
If you're crazy, yeah?
If you're running out of ideas, yeah.
People do it sometimes too.
Can't get over how intense it is. It's non-stop, like, it is non-stop.
It's reputed to be the fastest field game in the world.
I can see why, yeah.
I hear, as well, you get a bit colourful during a game,
which I can't believe but I'm excited to see.
- I am a calm person. - Camera's on you.
Well done, Pat! Well done, Patrick!
Go, Paddy!
Come on, the Fechins! That's more like it.
Good boy, good boy, Pat!
Nice one! Great stuff.
Great stuff.
- Go, Pat. - Go, Paddy!
The Fechins were losing at half time.
A strong half-time team talk,
they came back fighting in the second half.
Come on, the Fechins!
This was getting tense.
Well, they should've put me on the pitch.
As you saw earlier, I can hit it that far.
You also called the hurler a hurling stick.
Wait, did we win?
Hi, there, how are you doing? Hi, James.
- Enjoy that? - Yeah, loved that.
Congratulations on the win.
Thank you. What did you guys think?
We were saying, we couldn't get over how intense it was,
literally all the way through.
It was just non-stop and, yeah, it was so exciting.
We're going to make you honorary St Fechin's players for tonight.
- Couple of jerseys each. - Thank you very much, cheers.
You've got to try that on to make sure it fits.
I think we fooled the crowd into thinking
we just played in the match.
Actually, I was asked to be in the final when they saw my technique.
No, you Fechin weren't.
I'm pretty sure we're going to have to bleep that one.
Having slept very well after all that strenuous physical activity...
Well, watching other people partake in strenuous physical activity.
Today, we're travelling back in time.
In our rented Renault.
To explore some of Ireland's earliest and spookiest history.
This is New Grange,
an ancient monument ingrained in local myths and legend,
and the source of an infamous worldwide phenomenon.
Hey, where's Evanna?
Still signing T-shirts, I think.
- Hi, Clare, how you doing? - Hello, how are you?
Can't get over the size of it, to be honest with you.
And when you consider that this monument is over 5 000 years old
and that a sister monument,
just two kilometres from here, is half as big again,
these were the largest buildings on the planet, 5 000 years ago.
So, it's like the Burj Khalifa of the Stone Age.
We do think that people gathered together,
from different parts of the country,
to come here, probably in the summer time,
to offer support and labour, to build the monuments.
The monument was always known about,
but it was protected by superstition and mythology.
Halloween, the whole tradition, started in this county.
And it is associated with lighting fires.
And at Oíche Shamhna, Halloween, the night of Samhain,
was the one night of the year
when the division between the world of the living
and the world of the dead was gone.
So, the dead could come back and you might get sucked in.
So, it was kind of a scary time.
So, very often, people dressed up,
to frighten away the spirits of the dead.
And then the other thing they did was
they frightened their neighbours by knocking on the doors
or throwing things at the front door,
so that people inside would think that the spirits
were coming back to haunt them, and it was a time of feasting,
and it was one of the special points in the solar calendar as well
because it's halfway between the Equinox and the Solstice.
So, this is the birthplace of Halloween.
I was already beginning to feel creeped out.
That's what spending too much time around James does to you.
St Patrick, when he came to Ireland,
he started his mission, his Christian mission,
starting preaching on the Hill of Slane.
Right in the heart of the old religion.
And you probably have heard the story
that St Patrick banished snakes from Ireland.
And everybody says, "but you never had snakes."
But we had spirals and they're all the symbols of the olden days.
And if you look here, we have a lovely double spiral.
- Can you see this stone here? - Yeah.
So, perhaps, that was where the snakes came from.
So, this hill was a sacred spot.
The people who built these monuments,
they're not our direct ancestors.
Does anyone know what happened?
We don't know what happened to them,
but there's not a trace of them in our DNA.
We're all descended from Bronze Age people who came
originally from the steppes of Russia.
But there's no trace of these people in our DNA now, they've gone.
Clare, thank you so much for showing us.
You're more than welcome. Come again.
- We'll definitely be back. - Dip your nose in there.
- Thanks again, Clare. - Thank you.
We get away as quickly as we can, picking up Evanna
in the hope that her cheery presence will ward off any evil spirits.
- That was really interesting. - Yeah, you liked it?
- Yeah, it was good fun. - I figured it'd be your kind of thing.
- And now, on to our final destination. - Final destination?
Like the film series in which countless people die in gory accidents?
Yes. I mean, no.
But this is our final destination, of the trip.
So, I take it you've been to Slane Castle before?
- I actually haven't. - Really?
Sorry, I'm, like, the worst company.
Like a real-life Hogwarts,
Slane Castle has a long and rich history.
But for the past four decades,
it's been best known for hosting huge rock concerts
by the likes of Guns N' Roses, Metallica and U2.
A little less like Hogwarts then.
I know that Slane's one of the most haunted places in the...
Is it the country or the world?
- Really? - Yeah.
I didn't know anything about that.
Do you believe in ghosts, both of you?
I'm sceptical.
Look! It's amazing. It's a real castle.
- Wow, it's quite majestic. - It's very grand.
There's definitely a ghost in there.
Casper is definitely hanging out in that house.
- Hello. - Alex. How's it going?
- Welcome to Slane. - Thank you. Excited to be here.
It looks amazing on the drive in as well.
Yes, we all went, "Wow, a real castle."
We're probably best known for welcoming in
about 80 000 people for the rock concerts.
Yeah, which we've been doing here since 1981.
I was six years old for that show,
headlined by the amazing Thin Lizzy. And U2 were just starting out.
So, yeah, it's 40 years now of gigs.
Did you know that, legally,
Bono has to perform at every single music venue in Ireland
at least once a year?
That isn't true though, is it?
The building nearly burnt to the ground in 1991
and dad then rebuilt it on rock and roll, basically,
with the gigs because there was no insurance.
- And then we reopened in 2001. - Any chance it's haunted?
So, I've never seen anything,
but there's definitely people who've felt things.
There's one spot in the house in particular
where there's definitely something going on.
People have said that they've... I've never seen anything myself, no.
The castle, as I said, is definitely built for entertainment
and you guys are going to be entertained this evening.
We've got a great Samhain feast happening.
So, we're going to put you to work.
You're going to go off and do a few things.
What are we talking about? Cleaning dishes or something?
We like surprises. You're going to find out.
The stunning wildlands surrounding Slane Castle
are perfect for foraging.
Right, do you want to explain what we're foraging for exactly?
Are we talking little berries?
Yeah, we're just going to take a stroll around the estate
and see what we can find to add to tonight's dinner.
There could be some nice herbs.
For dessert, we're going to do baked apples,
so we might even find some woodruff
which we can bake along with that to give it some flavour.
Even some blackberries, which you're more familiar with.
Then we'll see what's out there and I can explain a little bit.
Whilst Evanna and I trekked out into the forest,
James went hunting for the estate's on-site whiskey distillery.
At least, that's why my brother thought I was doing.
So, as Evanna and Oliver have now gone to go foraging,
I am taking a little detour
from going to the distillery like I told them.
So, they're saying this house
has a bit of a haunted past in some way, shape or form.
So, we wanted to make sure this was going to be the case.
Peter and Wayne are joining me next door
and they're special effects experts.
So, we've got these top guys to help us out with this little prank.
I really hope to get Oliver
because he gives it, when we drove in he gave it the big,
"I don't believe in anything like that."
I think we could get a jump from him.
So, what we've got planned, in the room next to this room,
we've got a couple of gags in there that should set the scene
and get things going. Little subtle things.
Then we come into this room where the doors are slamming
and the books are going to fly off
and the crucifix is going to start moving around.
Then we're going to explode a vase.
I'd say you start off with being a bit, "What's going on here?"
A bit wary. And then start getting scared
and that will just flood through everybody else.
OK, fantastic. We best go and get some whiskey,
which we said we were doing instead of prepping this.
Look forward to it. Nice one, see you then.
Yeah, see here, these are elderberries.
Yes, it's nice. Kind of sour, kind of blackcurrant-y.
It's eyes down, I guess, when you're foraging.
You never know what you'll come across.
Even this mushroom here. But I've no idea what it is.
- We can't have that. - What about those mushrooms?
Have we hit the jackpot?
Yeah, this is the jackpot. Well done.
Yeah, these will be amazing for us to cut and to cook.
- I found them. - Lead the way.
- Do you want to jump in? - Yeah, do.
Remember, kids,
don't eat just any mushroom you find growing in the woods.
Thank you, nature.
I could easily live in the wild, this is great.
What did I literally just say?
But seriously, please leave the consumption of wild mushrooms
to the experts.
So, how do you reckon we got on today?
- Amazingly well, yes. - Enough to go around?
That's a jackpot of a find. Yeah, for sure.
We should probably head back. Yeah, get your dinner cooked.
Unless I eat it all first!
We're being treated to a Samhain feast,
typically organised in late October to coincide with Halloween.
This meal aims to pay respect to the spirit realm.
This'll do. This'll do nicely.
Right, so, do you want to be head of the table?
No, I'll be OK.
This ancient feast uses all the natural foodstuffs
of the Irish autumn, including parsnips, squash and mushrooms.
The ones Evanna didn't eat, anyway.
Eat up, Oli. The night has only just begun.
As is Samhain tradition, we decamp to the fireside
and begin hitting things with sticks.
Don't you do that after your Sunday lunch?
So, you guys keep the beat going
and before you ever do anything on the land,
you ask permission, it's very, very important, OK?
We were led by Natasha, an Irish existential psychologist
with a knowledge for all things mystical.
Ancient ones, come warm your hands by our fire.
And this is the most important one.
So give this a good rattle down here, James, right?
So, this is Mother Earth, we pray for all your people.
The two-legged, us.
The four-legged, the creepy crawlers,
the fins, the fur, the winged ones.
All of our relations.
Samhain is one of the fire festivals.
We've just come away from Lugh. Lughnasadh is God Lugh, the light.
These whole fire festivals are really when you honour that dance,
that tease, that play, between light and dark.
The whole thing about Samhain, is that it brings you, naturally,
if you call the elements to that vale,
between the physical reality and the non-physical reality.
We're too quick to rush into...
There's that rattle.
Get your rattle out!
The fairies had their day, we now have a different time.
That is so funny, they're, literally, playing with us.
So, basically, yes, sound, light between the light and the dark,
so that the light and the mischievous
are like tongue in cheek, very playful.
As somebody said years ago,
"This is not the most beautiful country in the world,"
"but it's the most mischievous."
There's something that gets a hold of you and pulls at you.
So, yeah, we've got a wicked sense of humour,
kind of, a naughtiness. So, I like that.
There's a time to be nice, there's a time to be naughty.
That was absolutely incredible, learning about that type of thing.
- Absolutely. - Thank you very much.
Now, are you going to help me close the circle?
You're going to close the elements.
Back at the castle, everything is ready.
A tour of the property will be led by our guide, Matthew,
who is fully aware of my plan
to make Oliver scream like a big baby on TV.
We're going to start with a little tour, if that's OK?
The man in the middle here is the first Marquess,
Henry Conyngham.
How the title's achieved, was by this man here,
allowing his wife, Elizabeth Conyngham,
to be the last mistress to King George IV.
And by allowing this arrangement, he gets the title of Marquess.
But when I say arraign,
well, allow is, kind of a thing that's not really...
You know, he didn't really have much of a choice.
This man, of course, Henry Padgett.
The story is, of course, Henry Padgett lost a leg
and very stoically turned to the Duke of Wellington
and said, "By God, sir, I seem to have lost a leg,"
of course with it hanging off, so the story goes.
But it's just a little bit spooky
that the only damage that appears on the painting
is on the leg that he lost.
It's almost like he's trying to tell us something from the afterlife.
If you want to take a seat, guys, and make yourself comfortable.
As Oliver settles into the flow of the tour,
it's time to enter the first of our specially rigged rooms.
And in fact, this wing of the castle...
Something's awry here.
'Cos you'll see this room in its original form
and all of the pictures that would've originally been in here.
We've started small, but Oliver is definitely spooked.
See that picture? Did you see that picture?
Back in a sec.
I was playing it cool for the cameras, but inside I was screaming.
- Are they real books? - The books?
They are all real, yes. The collection was sold...
Jesus! Sorry. Who did that?
Probably just a bit of wind, a draught or something.
Sorry.
- What the hell is happening? - I don't know what that was.
Is this because of the ceremony?
The whole opening the spirit world.
It was time for me to come clean.
Whilst you were foraging today,
as well as going to the distillery,
I also met up with a guy, Peter, who's a special effects guy,
to rig it.
I thought this trip to Ireland
was going to be good, but it has been absolutely amazing.
I tell you what, Ireland has not disappointed.
No, in no way.
I think the one thing I will take from anything of this trip
is just the welcome that we've had from people.
What would be your favourite part?
You use a hurly, in hurling, to hit a slitter.
I don't know how we could top that.
No. I had such a great time with Evie.
We had such a great time in Ireland.
So, I would suggest...
OK, you keep going, I'll go.
Hello, mate, what you up to?
So, we've got an idea of going somewhere.
What you up to tomorrow?
To quote an old Irish folk song...
After one kilometre, keep right.
And just take this in your hand. So, that's the very basics.
What's rubbish or bollocks in Celtic? In Gaelic?
- I don't know. - Or lie.
I'd probably just say bollocks.