Daily Photo – The Wild Uplands of County Wicklow
A few years back, I had the pleasure of spending Christmas with my wife and her extended family on the Emerald Isle, and at one stage we gathered near a village called Hollywood in County Wicklow, Ireland, for a little post-Christmas get-together. It was a delightful affair filled with good company, good food, and plenty of good humour. At one point, I took a moment during the festivities to step outside with my camera and tripod, which is when I took this photo.
Now, if you’re anything like me, you’ll be asking the obvious question: is Hollywood, California, named after Hollywood in County Wicklow, Ireland? Well, according to local folklore, a local named Matthew Guirk emigrated from the village to California following the Great Famine. Being a blacksmith and horse breeder, he built a cabin and a small racetrack in the northwest of Los Angeles, naming his homestead “Hollywood”, and thus the name stuck! Unfortunately, the truth is somewhat different and doesn’t involve the little Irish village at all, but let us not let the truth get in the way of a good story!
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