FORGET Hogwarts, the fictional den of wizardry that launched Harry Potter and author JK Rowling on a broomstick ride to the top. If you want to find a real school that teaches witchcraft and wizardry you don't have to depart from mythical platform 9 and 3/4.
Instead, just jump into conventional transport and head towards the Cork/Limerick border.
There, hidden deep in the green forest is an enchanting place which is set to become home to all kinds of sorcery.
Bev Richardson, a 55-year-old, self-acknowledged Pagan, runs witchcraft summer schools and fire festivals around Midsummer and Halloween there.
Mr Richardson certainly fits the bill, with long, flowing hair and a bushy, silver beard.
"I'm a hedge witch, basically a solitary practitioner. I do country crafts, healing and charm-making.
"I want to teach people practical skills, nature-craft skills," Mr Richardson said.
He plans to build a full-time witchcraft school within the forest rather than just holding teaching sessions during certain times of the year.
The hideaway retreat he shares with his wife, Del, is buried in elf-like splendour in a forest a number of miles from the village of Doneraile, in north Cork.
In traditional Hogwarts style, bats and owls hover around the picturesque house, which is adorned inside with wands and crystal balls.
"We're not anti-Christian or anything like that. Pagans in the community are no threat to anybody. They're mostly deeply spiritual, moved by the world they live in. There's no black magic here," Mr Richardson said