Whoever said there is an urban-rural divide in Ireland? Then they have never visited what must be the biggest car boot sale in Ireland, at Castleinch just outside Kilkenny City.

Almost anything you can possibly think of is on sale here. Spare wheels for wheelbarrows, beautiful old gramophones being snapped up by smiling Asians; rare books being sold by connoisseurs, who would put Pat Kenny’s book club to shame; rare plants which would put a twinkle in Dermot O’Neill’s eyes; all sorts of parts for all sorts of machinery... Oh, and a restaurant with Sunday dinner to die for.

And the people - from Cork, Tipp, Wexford, Dublin, Armagh, Galway and all places in-between and a few Cats too. Everyone in search of a bargain and chatter. It’s a cross between the Puck Fair and Electric Picnic, populated by sons and daughters of soil, mostly. And, boy, can they talk!

Trying to get them to start is something like trying to get an old Massey Ferguson tractor going on a cold winter morning. But as soon as they are warmed up and coaxed a bit – well, only the bravest would try to stop them.

Pick a topic, any topic, and off they go! The sight of the Newstalk microphone was more like a ‘99 on a beautiful summer’s day - which this late April Sunday was.

“And have you given any thought to the referendum?” I ask. “The Referendum? What would that be, now?” they reply, mischievously nudging each other. “Sure, it’s their own business. If that’s what they want.”

“Life moves on, too,” a lady says, and begins by telling us the saddest story about her younger brother, who died some years ago and she never got over it. She went back to education, got her Masters and is now thinking of doing her PhD and moving to Portugal to live.

The conversation is laced with quotes from the Bible – the Old Testament - mostly like, 'a man must not lie down with a man.'

“It’s God’s world and I am voting no – full stop,” she says.

Though she listens to others’ views around her, she sticks her ground and smiles and hugs us.

Then you have the two lads with the roguish laughs who could be barristers, able to argue whichever side of the argument they are asked to support.

But they are too honest for that – one in a wheelchair wisecracking his way through life, but deadly serious behind all the banter. His buddy – soul mate, I would say - between them they can sort out the affairs of the world.

“The Referendum – sure we know loads of fellas like them and they are no problem,” they declare.

“I am not too sure about the idea of children, though,” says our friend in the wheelchair. Only to be met with “they make a far better job of it than many I know. But it’s only my own opinion.” A No or a maybe Yes we think.

“Those auld things boss, what would you give me for them?” Beautiful, old tin advertisements for Gold Flake, Woodbines, Fry Cadbury’s chocolate, Jeyes fluid, Sunlight soap – straight out of a grocery shop from the 1950s and 60s.

“You’re a clown,” I say to myself on the way back to Dublin, “why didn’t you buy them – all of them for a tenner. Too stuck up to be seen with them, I suppose!!” Oh, and the lunch, no calorie count to be seen anywhere, but what a Sunday lunch. And, “Oh 'mam, can I have a receipt?” If looks could kill and they did!!

“Ah, Jaysus Pat, what are you doing here?” Yes, it’s Tommy from Erin's Isle Club in Finglas, Dublin. He knows me of old, and now he's outside a pub, outside Nowlan Park, where the Dubs are licking their wounds. They thought they had it, same ole, same ole. There is always next year. There certainly is.

It’s underage hurling at its best. Earlier in the day - between O’ Loughlin Gaels from Kilkenny and Lucan Sarsfields from Dublin - cool, focused mentors with their eyes on the long game, nurture hurling while they are young and keep an eye out for that special talent. A ten-year-old could be an inter-country player in six to seven years. A Henry Sheflin in the making.

The conversation on the sideline is about hurling, shopping, the cost of living and the Referendum. “Haven’t given it much thought, really,” and 20 minutes later we are trying to move on.

All the issues have been well teased out by mums and dads, out for a day and taking pride in their young. “I think a lot of people will vote Yes, but I know some who are dead against,” one mother says.

The under 14s have just finished their match and they spot the Newstalk microphone and Eimear is surrounded by bright, opinionated guys who were able to talk to us about the anti-bullying programmes in school.

Do they work? “Yeah, we know a few guys in our school, who are gay and they’re great mates,” they tell us.

And from 13 to 14-year-olds without a snigger, that’s progress.

LISTEN BACK:

Day one saw Pat Carey and Newstalk reporter Eimear O’Shea visit Kilkenny on a sunny Sunday.

Pat Carey and Eimear also visited County Carlow where they visited a parent and toddler group on the outskirts of Carlow town, Tullow mart and Bagenalstown Resource Centre. You can listen back to George Hook and Shane Coleman discuss their trip here;