For most teenagers, the idea of running away to another country is a total fantasy. But when Michael Denninger was just 14 years old, he did exactly that. After meeting two Irish sisters in his native Germany, he decided to follow them back to Ireland and fulfil a long-held dream of visiting our fair isle.
“In 1980, I was on a youth holiday in Oberstdorf when I met Emma and Lucy Ironside who were there on a school trip,” he says. “We chatted and I would play the guitar – and although I had romantic feelings, I think they were rather one sided.
“But we had a great time and somehow there was always something special in the air, even though it never turned into a real relationship.”
The lifelong musician always had an affiliation with Ireland, and dreamed of attending a trad festival and “wandering freely and unbound through the Irish countryside”.
This longing became stronger after making friends with the Irish sisters. But as his parents were divorced and his mother “had no money or any interest” in helping him fulfil his dream, he had to come up with the means of getting to Ireland by himself.
His grandfather gifted him 500 marks for his confirmation and after doing some research and discovering that he could get from his home town of Coburg to Limerick and back for 506 marks, he decided to buy a 14 day round trip ticket, along with a tent and backpack with the rest of his confirmation money.
Knowing that the two girls lived in Spanish Point in Co Clare, he packed his bag, grabbed his guitar and, after telling his mother that he was going to stay with a friend, cycled to the nearest train station where he left his bike and began his adventure.
Although he had “a few days head start” because his mother thought he was at his friend’s house, he was interrogated by police on the train from Cologne to Belgium as they queried why the teenager was travelling alone. But after providing them with an elaborate tale, which, he says, would not be believed today, he was free to go.
Michael Denninger in Germany before he left for Ireland in 1981
He took a ferry from Belgium to England, where he tagged along with a German family and at the Irish border, he was taken through by an American woman. Then, after finally arriving in Limerick, he hitchhiked to Miltown Malbay, an adventure which took three days, before finally walking to Spanish Point and pitching his tent.
“I was overwhelmed with happiness,” he says. “The sea, the light, the green meadows, the cliffs – I had reached my destination. I unpacked my guitar and played the song Sommerabend by the band Novalis, in which a young man sits alone on the beach on a summer evening listening to the sound of the waves. It was perfect.
Lucy and Emma Ironside with friends on their trip to Oberstdorf in Germany in 1980
“The next day, after locating their school, I waited by the road for the girls to finish and we greeted each other warmly. When they heard that I was sleeping in a tent, they asked their parents to invite me to their home, where I spent two wonderful weeks, walking the dogs, helping the mother in the kitchen, but mostly making more mess than anything else. I was allowed to sleep in a small guest room next to the kitchen, which had lots of windows and was very cosy, especially when the raindrops dripped on the windows.
“At that time, my nickname was ‘Dennis’ (derived from Denninger) and I wore a white slouch hat all the time, which I hardly ever took off – perhaps because at the borders, I thought that people wouldn’t recognise me so easily – and afterwards it just became a habit.”
While Michael was enjoying his sojourn in Ireland, his parents were undoubtedly frantic with worry and a German teacher at the local Clare school persuaded him to go home. However, despite boarding a bus for Limerick, he got off at the next stop as he was “captivated by the people and the landscape” and didn’t want to return home.
The passport Michael Denninger travelled to Ireland on in 1981
Hiking to Lahinch, he had lots of adventures, many of which involved playing music in pubs. On one occasion, after being thanked for his tunes by means of “several pints of Guinness”, he found himself lying in a ditch in his sleeping blag, with his guitar in his arms and an extra blanket which someone had put over him.
“The next afternoon, I played guitar on the beach and met two other sisters, the Stackpooles. They let me pitch my tent in their garden and live with them for another month. I helped paint the house, cooked Coburg dumplings, brought the cows home from the meadow, and spent a lot of time with the whole family. Rocky, a stray sheepdog, became my best friend and constant companion.
“I also worked in the kitchen of a hotel to earn some money and told the village policeman a great story after he asked me if someone like me was being sought (if his parents were looking for him). In the end, my mother found out where I was and after a phone call, I decided to return home – with experiences, memories and emotions in my luggage that no one could take away from me.”
Afterwards, he kept in touch with his friends in Clare but over time, the pen-pal friendship dwindled. However, he returned several years later to visit both the Ironsides in Spanish Point and the Stackpooles in Lahinch and they have kept in touch ever since.
Now 59 years old and back living in Germany with his wife, Ute, he works as an executive director in HR, but continues to play music, some of which he has won awards for, and reminisce over his favourite place in Ireland – and because he loved Clare so much, he has written a number of songs about it.
“By now, I have been everywhere in Ireland, but Clare is still the most beautiful and welcoming place for me,” he says. “When I’m there, I always feel at home, without really being able to explain why. The area gives me a feeling of peace and security. I feel so far away from the hectic life in Germany. It’s been that way since the first day I crawled out of my tent and smelled the meadows and the sea. Even today, I still feel so moved when I hear Irish music that I almost cry.
“Now that social media has made it so easy to stay in touch, I remained in irregular contact with almost everyone, and Ireland and Clare grew ever stronger in my heart. So I decided to recount some of my experiences in songs and pour my emotions into the melodies and lyrics. Of course, I wanted to play the songs to all my friends and acquaintances in Clare, so I sent them all the link to my playlist and we became in closer contact.”
Travel documents allowing Michael Denninger to pass into Ireland
Michael, who is surely an honorary Clare man by now, has written a number of songs, under the stage name of ‘Eirlaith’, which are dedicated to the county and the people he met on his travels there.
All of the music can be listened to and downloaded free of charge as he wants to share his feelings with the people of Ireland who welcomed him as a teenager and continue to do so today.
“When I listen to the songs at home (in Germany) now, I often get goosebumps or tears in my eyes,” he says. “I stand behind each song with all my heart and love every single one of them, especially the memories behind them as everyone tells a small part of the story. The entire album is a tribute to Ireland, Clare and all the wonderful people who live there.”