Belated Pics from Dublin to Tarmonbarry (February 14)

Sorry I have been so slow in forwarding pics.  Between the "reader" and then lack of internet, I've fallen behind.  I'll try to catch up over the next few days with at least 2 posts a day.

This is a pic of the Ashbourne Marriott.  They treated us very well and we caught up on lost sleep from the flight.  A great start to the trip.

The trip from Ashbourne (Dublin Airport area) began heading north to the Hill of Tara.  This is in the area known as the Boyne Valley.  Some of the "finds" in the area date back 5000 years.  The area is known as the ancient seat of the rulers of Ireland. The Hill was the traditional coronation place for the kings.  

Coincidentally, there was a book store on the periphery.  It made Sheila's day!

The books were in a cold,  damp building and were weathering poorly.  This became a browsing experience only.

On the site is St. Patrick's Church which has now become the visitor's center for the Hill. Unfortunately it was closed but nevertheless we enjoyed access to the Hill.

The Hill was the spiritual and cultural center (pre-Christian) for Ireland. Although it's not that clear in the pics (you'll need to take my word), the grounds were soggy, if not muddy.  Up until the time of our arrival Ireland had experienced considerable rain and snow and everything showed the signs of winter.  In the distance, if you look closely, you will see snow on top of the Wicklow Mountains which are a bit south and west of Dublin.  No snow on the ground here but there were other things to keep eyes facing downward. Cows and sheep have free rein - and take advantage of it.  Well, where they go ... let's just say they go.  I certainly can recognize cow pies but now I am fully aware of sheep droppings.  To make matters worse there was some other, third animal which had the run of the area as well and I still am unable to identify what it was. The remains from that animal suggested the poor beast was having problems.  Suffice it to say, the area was well fertilized.

You can imagine the difficulty I had in navigating the grounds. Certainly someone watching from a distance might have concluded that I was performing some Irish Faery dance on the Hill as I moved around and about.  Before returning to the car we shuffled our shoes on the pavement and dragged them through the taller wet grass and did everything possible to clean our shoes.  We observed one couple remove one of their children's shoes and carry the child to their car.  I can't remember seeing the shoes again after they removed them.

 

The only access to St Patrick's was a bit too narrow for Sheila and me.

Another pic of the church.

Some of the culprits who obviously needed a bath.

Next stop was further to the west, still in the Boyne Valley, along the Boyne River.  The town is Trim and is the site for an Anglo-Norman castle (remains) which was used in the filming of Braveheart, thus the earlier reference to Mel Gibson.  Sheila is standing at the entrance.

In action ...

On the grounds with the river behind some of the ruins.

The castle.

More of the castle.

Sheila peeking through a castle window for Mel Gibson?

Leaving Trim we travelled to Mullingar, Longford, and then to Tarmonbarry.  Next installment: Tarmonbarry.

Belated Pics From Dublin (Feb 13), Round One

Good news from Ireland - at least for me.  Finally I located a card reader which works just fine. Actually this entire trip has been good news for both of us!  Much fun!!   Now that I have the reader the only problem will be to catch up with pics.  I'll start with the first day.

In 2001 we flew over on St. Brigid (sp?) and you will be pleased to know (I think) that she is still in service flying the NY-Dublin route.  We flew St. Ciaran (we think) as the stewardess spoke so quickly that I'm still not certain what she said.  I intended to look on the fuselage for the name when we landed but completely forgot.  We'll check on the return flight.  Below is the tail section as I couldn't find an angle for the front.  I had hoped to have a full pic as in 2001.

Sheila was ready!

We weren't certain we would do anything after landing as neither one of us had slept much on the flight but the lure of Dublin was too much.  As you already know, we hit the pubs under the guise of the Literary Pub Crawl.  This was after collecting our car (2008 Peugeot Diesel) and taking a 3 hour nap at the hotel.  We had been concerned that we would wait in the hotel parking lot (maybe napping in the car) until check-in but were pleased when they provided a room right away.   They were most gracious.  We even had time for breakfast.  I should note that I had hinted to the car rental agent that we might be interested in an upgrade to an automatic transmission.  That possibility was quickly dismissed when he indicated it would cost almost as much as our rental plan with a standard "stick;" a staggering $256.  As a result we have only one driver.

No trouble, at least worthy of mention, in driving to Dublin in time for the "crawl."  Two actors performed throughout the "crawl" and they were most entertaining.  We began at The Duke, a pub just off Grafton Street.

We travelled next to the grounds of Trinity College (no drinking) and then on to

O'Neill's Pub where there was some refreshment.

In earlier notes I had made mention of Brendan Behan.  He was a patron of most of the 700 Dublin pubs (there are now 900) as we were told but O'Neill's was one of his favorites.  The pic below is from inside O'Neill's and shows the "snug room" (to the left) of which I earlier made mention.  It seems that the Catholic Church did not believe women belonged in a bar and would be too great a distraction for the men.  As a result a small room was created for women off the main bar where women could assemble leaving the bar to the men.  Behan, when learning of this, took great exception and commented that the presence of women in a bar would make no difference to an Irish man as he knew of no Irishman who would not climb over 20 naked ladies to get to his pint.

 

The next stop was at The Old Stand, a pub frequented by Michael Collins and others associated with the IRA during the late 19teens.  That info doesn't have much to do with literary significance but for some of you (hello Aaron) it will be interesting.  The owner of the pub now is from Roscommon although we did not converse.  The truth was we couldn't reach the bar and we'd already split our 1/2 pint for the night.  Although the Irish economy is in the tank it appears the pubs are still doing well notwithstanding our having limited ourselves.

 

For those not inclined to the pub life, directly across the street from The Old Stand is Butler's Chocolate Cafe.  The crawl was a great first step for our travels and there is a companion historical crawl (the Michael Collins tidbit) which we will most certainly take on the next trip.

It's been a great 2 days since last sharing the travel log and you'll have to wait to hear about Clonmacnoise, Galway, and now Sligo through pics and more stories later.

Til tomorrow ...

The Fields of Athenry

After sending the previous notes I began thinking that you may not know (or remember) the song.  As a result here is the Dubliners version.  The story goes back to the potato famine years and deals with a young father who steals corn to feed his family and then is imprisoned (by the Brits) leaving his wife and child by themselves.  Why the song is as popular as it is I'm not sure.  It is sung by the Irish at soccer games, at rugby games, and, as you might imagine, at any event when the English can be taunted.  Some of those examples can be found on YouTube as well.  It is a frequently sung ballad in the pubs.  Enjoy! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtQ6a8gA7qk

Notes from Galway I

It won't take too long to see that there are no pics, again.  On the way to Athlone and then to Clonmacnoiose, we stopped in Longford and I purchased another card reader, another European reader, which I was told by the shop owner would work "just fine."  The packaging indicated it would work with "all popular memory cards" and with a Mac. It works fine with the Mac but does not read the "unpopular" SDHC cards which I use.  It apparently can read SD cards and I can always purchase a couple of SD cards and use them for the duration of the trip but that means some of the photo stories will wait.  Of course that is not the end of the story for today.  When we arrived in Galway we checked into the Park House Hotel and after getting ourselves grounded dashed to a nearby camera store where the staff member attempted to sell me the same reader I had purchased in Mullingar.  He was insistent but after removing the directions from the box I convinced him that "OS" meant operating system in describing the various windows systems which would accommodate the reader.  "OS" did not mean the Mac OS "OS."  When we finished in the store it was too late to shop elsewhere.  There will be one more stop tomorrow before we set out and it will either result in the purchase of a working reader or in an SD card.  At this point I know more about card readers than I ever wanted to know.  In fact, this quest is becoming a story of its own.  That story will soon end.

It was a great day otherwise.  We were the only guests left in the Keenan's Hotel and we had breakfast (Continental) to ourselves ... with Nell.  Talkative doesn't begin to describe Nell who gave us the "skinny" on everything (almost) Tarmonbarry.  Too much to note here but we did learn that many of those who have moved into Tarmonbarry in recent years commute to Dublin, a drive requiring 1.5 to 2 hours each way.  I suspect that's peanuts to those commuting from Bristow (hello Rebbecca) but no "small order" nevertheless.  We also spoke with Annette who then took us over to the Guesthouse to visit with Eileen. Ignoring the cane, Eileen hasn't changed much at all.  A pleasant conversation and most enjoyable.  Annette has 4 children, one living in Chicago, two in school in Dublin, and the fourth still at home.  He came in as we were talking and helped himself to a bowl of porridge.  Yucch!  With some trepidation I asked the source for the Salmon.  Much to my delight I learned that the Salmon was SHANNON River Salmon coming from downstream of Tarmonbarry.  At that point it didn't really matter as I had already eaten breakfast, including my fourth "run" with the salmon.  I am going to miss the fish and taste, at least for now.  Kiera would have been in "fish heaven."

On the road:  We traveled east to Longford (as you already know) and headed south to Clonmacnoise. Clonmacnoise is the site of an ancient ecclesiastical site along the Shannon River about 25 miles south of Athlone.  Unfortunately there is no direct route from Athlone and in keeping with my desire to stay on the backroads we really did so this time.  We've experienced winding and narrow roads but today it seemed ever more the case.  There were some trucks that were approaching so fast on our side of the road that breathing became difficult. They apparently knew what they were doing but ...  I am pleased to say there are no branches we are bringing home from today's travels (barely.)  We did smile thinking about Matthew and Samantha making the same road trip.  (Did I hear Dramamine mentioned?)

Clonmacnoise was founded by Saint Ciaran (hello Kiera) in 548 AD and survived repeated attacks and destruction from Vikings, British and weather.  The site is now an Irish National Monument and is in a wonderful location along the Shannon.  The gravestones and structural stone remains suffer the white splotching which is so common here (and hopefully you'll see in pics soon) and yields a somewhat ghostly appearance.  It was cold and after more than an hour's stay we returned to the road.

Next stop:  Athenry - as in "Fields of Athenry."  We never saw the fields (if there are specific ones) which gave rise to the song but we did see plenty of fields along the way.  We can now say "we were there" everytime we hear the ballad.

Then to Galway.  After the "reader" run we found a pub (The Skeff) where we enjoyed our first fish and chips meal since arriving in Ireland.  One of the food "specialties" (?) of this area is, are you ready?, mushy peas.  As you might guess I ate Sheila's but all in all the meal was delicious. We have enjoyed outstanding food since arriving and I can say - mushy peas included.

It was then back to the room and planning for tomorrow.  It looks like the Aran Islands are out and the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher are in.  We'll also do a little shopping in the am before traveling and then returning to Galway again for tomorrow night.  It's a lovely city with a very young population.  It is supposedly the fastest growing Irish city.  We're right in the center of town and it's a great location for walking.  Just in walking tonight we heard French, German and Polish.  The foreign languages spoken were from those who appeared to be college students.  Sheila commented that we heard just as much Polish in Tarmonbarry.  Again, not the Ireland of her father.

Apparently no comments to last night's query: what does "soft margins" mean. Very simple - soft shoulders of which there are many now in Ireland due to their winter.  More about that later.

Tonight's query: what does "traffic calming" mean?

Enough for now.  Hopefully pics tomorrow.

and, Til tomorrow ...

Notes from Tarmonbarry

It has been a relatively busy day with only limited road travel.  We rose about 8am+ having slept well (and late) and scurried to make breakfast at 930 am.  The breakfasts, both Continental and Full Irish, are outstanding.  We've yet to do the Full Irish but we came close Saturday in Ashbourne. The Continental is more than enough.  The fruit, meats, and breads are sumptuous.  We're on a Continental plan anyway and any more to eat would be a waste.  For example, this morning I had toast, Irish creamery butter (haven't seen margarine or oleo yet-thank heavens), strawberry conserve (in a little personal jar), smoked salmon, fresh OJ, coffee (my separate pot), and a bowl of delicious fruit dampened with orange juice.  I mention what I ate because for lunch it was salmon again; that's 3 meals in a row for salmon.  Not yet out of my system!  Maybe tomorrow too?  The salmon servings have been fresh and I've convinced myself that the fish were caught in the Shannon.  I haven't asked for fear of learning that they might have come from some farm in Idaho or ...  

We quickly worked breakfast so that we could make 1030 am Mass at the church in Whitehall where Sheila's father attended.  We didn't want to be late again.  Unlike 2001, the church seemed larger as if they had moved the altar back and inserted more pews.  Unlike 2001, this time we sat and did much better in blending in to the congregation.  The church was full and I thought the church was fuller than in 2001.  Sheila disagrees but I think I'm correct.  There has occurred substantial development in the area and it stands to reason attendance would be greater.  Of particular note for those of you who who have difficulty singing.  Take comfort in knowing that at the church in Whitehall you are accommodated.  There are no hymnals.  A choir, including all ages, approaching about 30 (full congregation about 200) in number, sat to the side in front and did all the work with their voices.  It made me think that they screen new attendees for singing skill and if found to know one note from another (with their voices, of course) are then drafted to serve in the choir.  The others are then left to sit in their pews only to listen.  In fact, the choir was quite good and it was more comfortable to just listen.  In mentioning the choir it was amongst the choir members that we spotted Mickey Kelley who looks only about a day or two older, but no more.  We talked for a while and we were pleased to have seen him again.  He had other plans for the afternoon (my guess is the Ireland-Italy rugby game on TV) and we were quick to point out that we also had other plans for the afternoon and that we would be traveling to Galway in the morning.  He was most appreciative of Sheila's and Pat's Christmas cards and notes.

Next stop: to visit some of Sheila's father's haunts including Roosky and Strokestown, something we failed to do the last time here.  We also planned a stop in Carrick on Shannon where I looked for a card reader but without success.  I came close in a store (which was open) called TESCO, a miniature Wal-Mart.  I found a reader but the print was in Polish and  I found nothing to indicate that it would work on the Mac.  I needed Wackerbarth to help.  We also walked all the commercial streets (or so it seemed) in Ck on S and found that all the stores that might have  had a reader were closed.  As a result, no photos for the blog yet.  Tomorrow night, for sure, as we travel through Athlone tomorrow and end up in Galway following our planned stops and visits.  I am confident!  By now, of course, each one of you is asking "Why Polish?"  There is an answer.  The four most spoken languages in Ireland are: 1. English, 2. Chinese, 3. Polish, and 4. Gaelic.   The Irish are concerned that Gaelic (Irish) has been demoted; perhaps the price of the "Gaelic Tiger?"  It was also in Ck on S that we ate a late lunch, thus qualifying as dinner, which included the salmon.  Scrumptious!!

We travelled back to Tarmonbarry, surveyed (in the mud and whatever as Matthew would say) the Lodge and found it to be pretty much the same.  I took a number of pics (you'll have to wait) and Sheila acquired some more contraband.  There has been considerable development in Tarmonbarry including some rather large homes in the area of the Lodge but we are not certain the farm land has been sold off to others.  There still remains a clear line of sight to the Shannon from the home sight.  It's clear the Keenans are using the Lodge for storage (must be no zoning laws in Roscommon) and the pics will show the present state (I hope and I regret the clutter that's likely to be portrayed).  You would not believe the development in the area of the Keenans, the Pub and their hotel.  Look up Tarmon Harbour on the web.  Our impression is that the euro problem, much like our dollar problem, is having a negative effect on development and there are homes (vacation and otherwise) t0 buy.

Enough notes for today.  Tomorrow:  Check on Eileen, the Noonans , then to Athlone, some stops along the way to Galway, including Clonmacnois and Athenry (remember "Fields of ...) and, of course, shopping for an effective card reader.  The fun continues.

The query for the night for each of you:  What are "soft margins?"  The Irish do have a way with their use of words!

Til tomorrow.

First Report From IR

We're here and having a great time.  Oh yes, here is Tarmonbarry.  Tonight's dinner in the pub (not the restaurant) was salmon and was outstanding.  Flight was smooth; arrival and treatment in Ashbourne was just great.  Last night we did the Literary Pub Crawl in Dublin and this morning we travelled from Ashbourne to Tara; to Trim; to Mulligar; to Longford; and then to Tarmonbarry.  Only one "fly in the ointment."  I forgot to pack the card reader for the digital camera images.  This was first realized last night when I sat down to copy the pics I had taken.  It was only then that I realized that in having changed computer bags before leaving I forgot to repack the reader.  Says something about check lists - no?  In any event the stop in Mulligar was not only to walk the streets but to pick-up a reader.  Good fortune turned sour tonight when I went to connect and discovered the reader was "PC only."  Maybe I'll be set tomorrow, although it is Sunday in rural IR.  In any event the pics and stories will wait for a day or two.  Get ready!  There will be stories about Brendan Behan,  a "snug" room, cows and pies (your mother would prefer I not say cow pies without separation), Mel Gibson, and the latest in fashion for Irish ladies (maybe not ladies?).  

To prepare for Behan it's enough to know that he was truly a souse.  He was a popular literary figure here and abroad but managed only 44 years.  He started drinking at age 8 when his grandmother would send him out for a bottle and he would return home with a less than full bottle having swigged and gulped along the way.  His answer was to fill the loss in the bottle with water and we are to believe his grandmother never knew.  His death at 44 was a result of (guess what) alcohol poisoning.  At the time of his death there were 700 pubs in Dublin, most all of which he had frequented at one time or another.  While in one of the pubs he sat up erectly on his stool and decided he would travel to Canada.  He announced his intentions to the barkeep and when asked why, he responded that he had been moved by the sign behind the bar.  The bartender turned around and read the sign: "Drink Canada Dry."  Of course Behan's interpretation was to drink Canada dry.  He did travel to Canada to follow one of his plays but failed in emptying the reserves.  A colorful character whose name came up several times last night in the "crawl" and for whom there are other stories to share but not all appropriate for this blog.

Oh, by the way,  I think there are a total of 2 ATMs (at least that we could find) in the Dublin airport.  Maybe we were just tired after the flight but lugging around suitcases and looking for ATMs was a challenge. Bring your Euros with you.

Til tomorrow ...

Anticipation II

Now it's time to complete last minute errands, to finish packing, and to check all the lists in preparation for the Thursday (2/12) departure to Dublin.  No doubt we'll forget something but the passports are in the camera bag which is never forgotten.  The TSA requirements are a headache and one of the errands tomorrow will be to acquire approved luggage locks.  We're still unsure about medication and I can picture the Rx being dumped in the trash as we're checked through security.  Hopefully we can keep the Excedrin!

The itinerary map (google) is inserted and at least every other day we'll be bedded in a location with internet either in the room or otherwise available.  Our stops are the "pointers" (Ashbourne, Tarmonbarry, Galway, Sligo, Ardara, Derry, Ballygally, Drogheda, and Dublin). We'll try to keep you current with the travel, the sights, and the fun.  All pics will be sent through the blog along with the daily log so that you won't have trouble viewing.  The extended weather forecast for Ireland looks reasonable for February; 40s during the day and 30s at night; clouds and only a little rain; but no 70 degree days like tomorrow in Manassas.  

Stay tuned!

Anticipation

For those of you troubled by the persistent cold weather be warmed in knowing that Spring Training is just around the corner and the stadium awaits.  

I am!

Winter on Bull Run

It's been a cool winter but we did not experience any sustained cold until mid-January.  The sustained cold provided the opportunity to visit Bull Run with Kiera when the ice was thickening but not yet thick enough for steps.  Nevertheless, Bull Run is a favorite visit and an inviting backdrop for pics.  This pic is looking west at the Stone Bridge.  You will see again in this pic, as well as in others, that there is no effort to clear tree trunks, branches, or fallen trees from the run or from the park unless they hinder movement on a path.  If you enlarge the bridge pic you will see a log that has come to rest against the bridge's foundation and which has been there for a while.  It will be cleared only in a subsequent storm when washed downstream but it will not be cleared by park management.

Kiera is dressed for the weather and has brought her chipmunk along for company.  

She took great pleasure in throwing loose stones and small branches on the ice and watching them slide across the run.  All the time she was clutching the chipmunk but relentless in her throwing.  I'm not certain how I managed to pry her away from the throwing but I recall it wasn't easy.

Here is another pic of the run with the clutter and debris.  Again, this is all in the name of leaving things as they are, naturally, avoiding "human intrusion."  Of course, if you look carefully in the left center of the pic you will see a drain (manmade) emptying lowland drainage into the run.  I scratched my head.

 

Another remnant of past flooding which has been left alone for years.

As we were leaving Kiera took a seat on some coping stone (Br term for Copestone - sandstone?) which was installed after Aaron had selected it and then ordered it as part of his responsibilities while working at the Manassas National Battlefield Park some years ago. Appropriate that Kiera would rest on it.

Hope you're having a happy winter season.

Christmas 2008 in Manassas

Christmas came twice this year.  We enjoyed a lovely tree that fit perfectly in the north side bay window.  The tree needed no clipping or adjusting and was a perfect size.  Christmas Day we missed Aaron, Rebbecca, and Kiera but their return from New York on the 27th provided the second gift exchange.  It also provided the chance for family pictures at the Battlefield, an activity I had been lobbying hard to accomplish for some time.  The holiday was especially nice with the visit from Ron and Pat.

Did I hear a "whew?"