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Thomas Wolfe was wrong. Claim Ireland as your home, and you can go "home" again. You will always be welcome in Ireland.

Last spring I paid my thirteenth visit to this very brilliant, very green island. On my first trip I had gone on a package tour, zooming around the island�s coast to see countless famous sights (the Cliffs of Moher, Dublin Castle, the Blarney Stone, etc.), all in the space of one frantic week.

In those days if I were not on the move, I felt I was missing something. But now, having visited all 26 counties in the Republic, two in the North, and scads of the historical sites (it�s said that there are 250,000), I�ve learned that touring Ireland has little to do with the architecture and everything to do with the people.

Here is the secret to the best Irish travel: Take the time to go slowly. You will be rewarded with friendship, funny stories and a trip you�ll never forget.

Best way to meet the incredibly welcoming Irish? Go inland, along the Shannon River, navigating a chartered cruising boat to visit some of the deepest green counties, like Leitrim (LEE-trim) in the south, and Fermanagh (FUR-MANN-ah) in the north. Here you will find friends who make you think you are home, even if you�ve not a single drop of Irish blood in you.

At least a dozen Irish companies can outfit even the merest landlubber to travel easily through Counties Clare, Tipperary, Offaly, Cavan, Westmeath, Meath, Leitrim and Fermanagh, following the Shannon River and exploring the link between it and the Lakes Upper and Lower Erne, crossing the borders between the two nations.

The simplest way to find the boat best suited to your needs is to contact a boat broker stateside, such as Debbie Petermann of Le Boat, Inc. for suggestions about boats, itineraries and add-on travel information. Depending on the season, the craft and the number of people in your party, chartering a cruising boat could be one of the most economical ways to travel in Europe. In some seasons, for some boats, it can be as little as $30 per person per day.

Boats can range from 22� sail boats (which do require some skill) to 76� luxury barges. Most people in fact usually rent a modern cabin cruiser, with space for two to ten. If the group who want to travel together is larger, Petermann can arrange several craft for you, to travel "flotilla" style, stopping each day by pre-arrangement at certain islands or towns. You can travel up or down the river, concentrate on one or more of the lakes, or, for variety, combine the two. You can arrange a round-trip or one-way cruise.

If you prefer not to run the boat yourself, you can hire a captain, and even a cook. Or, if you want a luxury cruise, you can sign up for the hotel barge, The Shannon Princess, which features gourmet meals prepared by French-trained chefs.

EMERALD STAR LINE LEADS THE WAY

On a recent trip, my husband and I picked up a 32-foot cruiser from Emerald Star Line�s base at Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim. Emerald is the largest cruising company in Ireland.The town of Carrick-on-Shannon is a popular base for many charter companies, including Emerald, Crown Blue Line and a host of smaller operations. You can provision your boat here, or ask the staff to do it for you. It�s a small town that has a lot going on � good pubs, restaurants and attractive shops. It even has a Chinese restaurant!

Although I do not even have family in Leitrim, I keep returning here to this remarkable county of very small towns (total population: a mere 25,000 residents), because the people are so friendly. With its abundance of lakes and undulating hills, it is magnificent boating and biking country.

Over the course of a week, we made our way to the Northern Ireland town of Enniskillen, in County Fermanagh. We cruised for part of the trip on the Shannon, the longest river in the British Isles. About 240 kilometers long, it has three large lakes (Derg, Ree, and Key) and many smaller ones too. The Shannon was the first real road of Ireland, one that invaders and traders alike followed.

It was in the 1990�s that the governments of Ireland and Northern Ireland worked together to restore the Ballinamore-Ballyconnell Canal to create a single connecting water path through the interior counties between the Shannon and Northern Ireland lakes. Both tourist boards hope that this will serve as an easy introduction to travelers who want to meet the friendly people of both countries.

For a country so often the scene of war, and more recently "The Troubles", a more peaceful scene could not be imagined here on the border between the North and the South, where County Leitrim (Republic of Ireland�s least populated county) meets County Fermanagh (ditto for Northern Ireland). In the distance, the rounded gentle hills that pass for mountains in this north central area, purplish and undulating, provide a picture frame for the intensely beautiful unspoiled landscape of these greenest of green counties.

There are no formalities in crossing the border along the canal; once you are in Enniskillen, pop into a bank and pick up a few English pounds sterling for purchases at this market town, which has many good shops for clothing, pottery and gifts.

EVERYONE IS INTERESTED TO MEET YOU

At every bend in the river are islands, villages and small towns. Tie up your boat alongside granite quays, (no fees or mooring charges) and walk into the nearest settlement, usually less than a tenth of a mile away. Head for the pub, walk up to the publican behind the bar and ask him or her a question, any question. (What�s the soup today? How many people live in this town? Where�s the nearest store to buy milk, Q-tips, socks?)

Before you know it, five or ten people will be clustered around you, entertaining you with jokes and stories and questions of their own (Where are you from? What do you think of the new president? Is this your first visit?) You may find yourself invited to parties, weddings, funerals, and evenings of some of the greatest craic("crack"), or gas, that you have ever experienced. By the way, these are positive words in Ireland, meaning good conversation and joking. I have found the smallest towns to have the friendliest people!

Certainly you will be encouraged to sing, alone or as part of a chorus. Long before there was ever a karaoke bar, waterside Irish pubs featured evenings of local musicians. Just don�t ask anyone to play "Danny Boy"!

Since the boat is both your transportation and your hotel, you will have an easy time of going lazily from place to place. No worries about reserving rooms ashore, or packing and unpacking. (Nor of driving on the "wrong side" of the road. On the waterways, steer right.) While many people eat some of their meals onboard, most plan to visit restaurants and pubs in the evening. My first question when I go ashore is usually, "Any trad(itional) music around here tonight?" Usually you will see small chalk-board signs out in front of the pubs themselves.

Debbie Petermann, who, with her mother Evelyn Gresser, has been in the boat chartering business for years, says, "Families and friends love the comfort and economy of traveling in rural Ireland on well-equipped cabin cruisers. Everyone gets to choose relaxed activities both on and off the boat. In addition to sightseeing, there�s birdwatching, fishing or just relaxing, reading and playing games. It�s great for kids, and especially nice for couples traveling together."

She can arrange for fishing rods, bicycles and reservations at golf courses or riding stables. Discuss the possibilities with Petermann and she will find the right craft and shoreside activities for your crew. Cruising season begins in late March and ends in October.

Steering your self-drive cruiser at four miles an hour on the river is an amazing way to take in the green scenery. (All the hire boats are fitted with a governor that keeps everyone at this slow pace.) Even if you have never done any boating more serious than the Staten Island Ferry, if you can drive a car, you can maneuver a cruiser.

" When you pick up the boat at our base, we teach you boat-handling and the rules of the waterways. Our charts show every turn in the river," adds Petermann. "We can make suggestions for sightseeing and restaurants that feature fresh beef and trout, a variety of potato dishes and homemade desserts." Or, if you wish to eat onboard, you can pre-order smoked salmon, country butter, brown bread and Bailey�s Irish Cream or pints of Guinness.

As a sidetrip within Leitrim, you can cycle the Kingfisher Trail, a series of meandering country roads, one of which leads to Shannon Pot, the river�s source. In Fermanagh, visit the Beleek factory to buy the attractive china, or, hire a taxi and visit the Marble Arch caves.

Since the rivers were the island�s earliest roads, they are also home to the earliest settlements, which date back to the Bronze Age and the arrival of the Celts. Later came the Vikings, and the Norman soldiers, battling up the river in their armored canoes. Ancient churches and cathedrals such as Clonmacnoise, just below Athlone, and the famous pre-Christian stones on Devenish and Lustybeg islands reveal the complex history of this island.

It is remarkable to go ashore at one of the many small islands and discover stones that were carved there two or three or even five thousand years ago. Tall round towers are still standing from the days when the Vikings came up the river and threatened to destroy the work of the monks who found sanctuary on the island.

Thomas Cahill, in How the Irish Saved Civilization, wrote of these brave monks saving their manuscripts from the invaders.

A FEW PARTICULARS

A boater might cover 60 � 120 miles per week. Most people cruise for about four or five hours a day. Passing through the seven locks of the Ballynamore Canal, you�ll discover it takes less than ten minutes per lock, using a simple �canal credit card� to operate the bankside controls. Navigating is easier than �driving left� on curvy roads. Emerald Green Line�s modern cruisers are equipped with an efficient kitchen and snug saloon, for eating, drinking and cards- and games-playing. Sleeping cabins contain adequate storage room and ensuite bath (with shower). Nearly every boat has steering above and below decks.

One of the most important things you will do before you take your boat from the dock, make sure you completely understand the charter company's "safety session". We actually saw an elderly woman walk off her boat near us at a lock, diving straight into the water, her expensive camera in hand. When we fished her out with the boat hook, she admitted that she moved a few inches to the right to get a better angle for a photograph, without looking down or holding on. Clearly, this woman missed the safety lecture. The common sense rule is, use one hand for yourself and one for the boat, no matter how calm the water.

Being Ireland, the one thing you can probably count on is a "bit of weather", but, you can still carry on with all of your indoor activities as you cruise, enjoying fresh scones and farmhouse cheese as you glide by farms and families waving to you from the banks. Pack a waterproof jacket and comfortable shoes. Dress is informal at most pubs and restaurants; all you need for the week fits in one piece of soft-sided luggage. Think layers, jerseys, packable clothing.

Many people fly into Shannon on the West Coast and depart from Dublin in the east after their boating adventure, allowing themselves a few days for theater and sightseeing in the country�s capital.

So, by all means, visit the famous sights and explore the coast—but for your second trip to Ireland, plan to see the real, much less-touristed parts—small town Ireland—and discover its bucolic beauty. By river and canal at your own pace, you�ll find true Irish hospitality here in the heartland.

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