Fifth day in residence

March 21st

Miles = 207
Carbon footprint = 58kg
Expenses 17 euro on food

Usual route into Tipp - one of these days I need to come in by the Northern appoach - up around the lake and down through. Portumna. I had a plan to stop off briefly in the civic offices, look up taxidermists in the Golden Pages (none in Tipp), work out my filming schedule over coffee, and then hit the road. As it happened, I managed to get a meeting with Donal Purcell, Community Development Officer who is an absoloute mine of information. Then I met up with Martina, and suddenly it was 12.30. Finally got out to Castle Brand factory - met with the daughter of the owner; she suggested that I phone on Monday. Also told me that the newspaper article was wrong - they only wound up the place in 2005, not 1995 as reported. Something of a difference there. I really hope I can find the time to do something on it - I think it's a very interesting story.

Onto Nenagh Heritage Centre which is a complete gem. Museum in the old-fashioned sense of the word, not an interactive dispaly in sight and wonderful mannequins palying the roles of nun, telephone exchange lady and bartender. Really great and wonderful staff full of information and ideas. Also and excellent room for workshops etc. Headed off to Cloughjordan - I thought I had been there before but I was thinking of somewhere else. Kind of delapidated, deserted feel to the place, with these odd urban additions due to the new incoming Village population. Arty bookshop and cafe, with wooden toys, Cycle co-op. Couldn't find any foothold there. Headed out on a back road for Moneygall; very flat land, so rural. Incredibly untouched by tourism. Took a few backroads and boithrins and finally got to Templemore. Very wide streets, busy place but I could not locate the famous town park. If there were signs, I didn't see them.

Got tired of driving around in the rain and went to Thurles; did some work on photos. Talk by Shane Cullen in the Source; very interesting, wanted to ask him about locating his work within the genre of history painting, but the talk ran late and he had to catch a train. http://www.theagreement.org/

Have loads of ideas for work to make. Now I have to figure out how to engage with the local population.