Musician Barry Devlin
What was your best holiday?My honeymoon to the Greek islands of Spetse and Poros. I had previously gone to Greece with the band but when the band split Caroline and I got married and went there on honeymoon. It was such a magic trip, we were of an age that we didn't mind rough accommodation. I remember getting a night ferry with truckers on the Aegean. When the truck drivers discovered we were just married they brought us into the lounge and got us incredibly drunk. They later instructed us to make babies!
What was your worst holiday?I've never had a disastrous holiday. But on a later Greek holiday with Caroline I remember walking up a hill with a motorbike and wanting to show her that I was a man and knew how to work it (not). I flipped the throttle and the bike took off, sailing over the edge of the cliff into trees. I ended up in hospital with cuts but was not badly hurt and I remember Caroline laughing at me!
If budget or work were not a restriction, what would be your dream holiday?I recently had it. I have always stayed in Ireland for the winter but after two bad winters decided to hit the sun. I went to Puerto de Mogán, a little fishing village in Gran Canaria, with my family. It was slightly bizarre to be there at the end of December with the sun blazing down while mechanical Santas sang Jingle Bells. I was there with Caroline, my three children Paul, Jack and Kate, Kate's boy and Jack's girlfriend. We had so much fun and laughed our way through the whole week. It sounds impossibly serendipitous but it was the holiday of a lifetime in the middle of winter.
If you had your pick, who would you bring on holiday with you?It's got to be Caroline because she is good fun. We differ slightly if we go to the sun – as I like to sit in the shade reading a book while she likes to grill in the sun. But we get on incredibly well.
What's your favourite place in Ireland?The Beara Peninsula, Allihies, Ardgroom and Castletownbere. Harrington's in Argdroom does the best carrot cake in the country. Allihes feels like the end of the world. You are almost guaranteed no sun but when Ballydonegan bay gets sunshine it's the best place in the world.
Your recommended holiday reading?I just finished reading The Last Sultan: The Life and Times of Ahmet Ertegun. He founded Atlantic Records which we signed to and it spans the whole period from Ruth Brown, to Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones.
Where will you go to next?In September I'm doing 120km of the Camino de Santiago with my sister. Last year I did the last 150km into Santiago. It's one of the great things to do. There is something about knowing that if you keep walking your destination will arrive. It connects you with something spiritual or the essence of humanity.
In conversation with
GENEVIEVE CARBERY
* Musician Barry Devlin is a member Horslips which performs at the National Concert Hall with the full NCH Orchestra on August 25th and 26th for the Summer@NCH Festival