Exploring Ireland with Joe

The show is on the move and now known as Lesser Spotted Ireland, with Joe leaving Ulster to visit locations across the entire country. It was a change of pace for the Derry man and former teacher, who had to become accustomed to longer periods away from home.

“The distance is a big change. We’ve spent full days on the road,” he says. “We have 12 one-hour shows every series, so you can imagine how much works goes into each one. We usually stay on location for five days.

“Saying that, it’s been absolutely brilliant. I’ve had one of the best years of my life. I’ve done shows in every province this season. I’ve stepped foot in places I’ve never been before.”

The new series begins with a visit to Ballyknocken in Co Wicklow.

“It’s a heritage village which was built by stonecutters. It’s also home to the Pollaphuca reservoir, which was created to provide water to Dublin,” explains Joe.

“Two rivers were dammed and a lake was created. Families were told to pack up and leave, and the lake submerged townlands.

“I spoke to a lady who was 19 when the lake was created. She’s now 94 and she sang a song at the side of the lake: ‘The water is wide and I cannot sing’. It felt particularly poignant.”

It’s stories like this, says Joe, that make Lesser Known Journeys the show it is today.

“We feature the plain, ordinary people of Ireland – they are the stars. Everyone is passionate about their place and we want to provide them with a platform to tell their story,” he adds.

Other locations visited by Lesser Known Journeys include the Cooley Peninsula in Co Louth, Kilcommon in Co Mayo to research the evidence of the earliest farmers in Ireland, and Lough Hyne in Co Cork.

“I have no favourite from this year’s season. It’s like asking me to pick a favourite child,” he jokes.

“However, there are some scenes you simply can’t forget. One was on the island of Inishmore. It was a monastic settlement and is an extraordinary place. I’d encourage anyone to visit it,” explains Joe. “We got out there in late May and the place was covered in bluebells. There were fields and fields of them against the stones, and it was stunning. It’s not seen by many people because the island is uninhabited.”

Joe and his team like to delve deep into the history and heritage of each location.

“We try to go to places off the beaten track. The places we visit aren’t major tourism hubs and if they are, we try to go under the skin of the place and look at it differently,” he says.

“Our job is to find the essence of the place we are visiting. It can be history, archaeology or anything at all. But whatever it is, once you tap into it, you create something special.

After almost 20 years on the road, does Joe worry about running out of place to visit?

“Someone said to me: ‘Have you not reached the bottom of the barrel after 20 years?’ People think Ireland is a small country, but have you ever tried to walk it? It’s amazingly big in every sense of the word,” says Joe.

“There are 60,000 townlands in Ireland and we normally focus on one parish per episode. Every one of these townlands has a name and there is history attached to that name. It would take forever to delve into the history of each one.”

Joe is fascinated by Ireland’s heritage and this passion makes the long days on the road worthwhile.

“I really enjoy my job. If I didn’t, it would register on the programme. We fancy ourselves as little explorers,” he says.

“In 20 years’ time I’m hoping to do Lesser Spotted Zimmer Frame.”

Lesser Spotted Journeys starts on Tuesday, 15 September at 8pm and runs for 12 weeks.