Photographer

Diane, thanks for taking the pictures and putting up with us!

Killarney National Park, Co. Kerry

Meeting of 3 lakes

Torc Waterfalls, a LONG hike up.

Trap and pony ride back.  Sally on her first day of work.

Typical scenery - lovely!

Dingle, the main drag.

13 arch bridge between Ballina and Killaloe.

Garden outside a church.

Nature finds a way.

Celtic crosses everywhere, and a familiar name.

Corofin in Co. Clare.

Ring of Dingle - Famine Cottage and scenery.

Jody's right, the mannequins were creepy and scary.

Cliffs on our driving tour.

A nice, sandy beach on the ring.

Dunguaire Castle and other photos.

Cliffs of Moher, highest cliffs in Europe.

Kelly, Cory, Kathy

Kelly guarding the tower.

Dunguaire Castle, a nice place to visit . . . .

Monday the 13th, Cory drove the 5 of us around the countryside.

Marrinan Pubs and Marrinans

Michael and Patrick, showing family tree info to Cory & Jody

Pub in Miltown Malbay, closed due to death of owners.

Marrinan Pub in Kilkee "Have a jar at the Marrinan Bar".  A surprise find.

Breda and Mary - Pub in Ennistymon.

Michael and wife Mary.  Playing music, it was fantastic!

The scenery was beautiful, cloudy or not.

fishing on Sun (May 12, 2013)

Last post from Ireland, we will be posting some pictures and hopefully Kelly, Kathy and Diane will post what they have, once we get back home.  We've had a wonderful time, went too fast, as usual.  We are currently in Shannon airport awaiting our flight.  You actually clear US customs in Ireland, before you even leave, I don't know who thought that up, but if they ever run for office, they have my vote based on that alone. Also, you can purchase small bottles of wine in the duty free shop prior to boarding, once they clear customs, its free game!!

Well, we're about to be on our way, should arrive in Cleveland about 8 p.m. local time, its currently about 11:30 a.m. in Ireland.  Cannot recommend Ireland enough, the people alone are a draw to say nothing of the scenery and, of course, the pubs.  Also recommend renting a car, just remember to drive on the left!!!!

Its always nice to come home, but its very hard to leave Ireland.  As they say, its been brilliant.  Thanks a million.

I am so tired... and about ready to be home now.  I don't look forward to the flights back tomorrow.

There is so much I/we didn't write about.  The people we met in Ireland have all been so helpful and nice.  I adored the different seafood chowders  in Dingle.  (And can't believe some/all my traveling companions ate tongue with our B&B hostess.)  I thought Cory did well conversing with a German tourist while he fished from shore.  I loved going out to the Loop Head lighthouse with Kathy and Diane.  I loved checking out St Tola's cross and the Dysert O'Dea area with Cory and Jody.  K, D, J and I had a nice time together in Killaloe.  I've probably had my fill of guinness.  The list goes on and on....

Yesterday, Wednesday, the 5 of us all piled into our car and drove the Ring of Dingle, we stopped at Fort Dunbeg, which is called a fort, but it was built sometime like 540 BC and no one is sure what it was used for, fort, status, etc.  then we visited the Irish Famine cottages, which had mannequins in the displays that were HANDS DOWN the creepiest mannequins I've ever seen.  I'm pretty sure the child mannequin was watching me.  We continued on, beautiful scenery, took some pictures near the water.  We made our way back into Dingle and had lunch seafood chowder at Murphy's, Dingle is right on the ocean so the seafood is really good.  Then Cory and Kelly went fishing and Diane, Kathy and I went shopping, got a new ring, wanted to find a fisherman's sweater, but nothing really interested me.  Tomorrow we're off to Killaloe.

Cliffs of Moher, definitely some spectacular scenery, this view is looking south

More Cliffs of Moher looking south

Tunnel under the River Shannon, I have no future as a photographer.

 

 

Unidentified ruins by the side of the road

Kathy, me and Diane against the outside wall of Castle Dungaire

At the beach, you can see that the tide is out, there were horses running, not sure if Cory got pictures

This is the Castle @ Dungaire.

Bad picture of Cory and I at the Burren.sooooooo cold!!!! I just figured out how to post pictures, it took all 5 of us to figure it out.  More to follow this afternoon.

The next morning

So the game was fun,the night was late,and there was a wee bit of suffering after 2 large Irish beers. I know that no one should feel sorry for me. A few details Jody left out in her post. It was raining,which made the whole thing seem funnier. After the nice gentleman told us where to get beer, we realized that we were on a noble quest. Failure was not an option. If one of us were to fall, the other must press on. Jody practically hurdled me when I had to tie my shoe. I heard here muttering, "man with dogs, where can we find beer? " Too hard to post from this kindle, so that's all for now.

Last night after dinner, we decided to play cards, but we were out of provisions (ie beer).  So Cory drove us all into Dingle and we were fortunate to happen upon a Supermart, which promptly closed the door right in our face.  So Kathy stopped two people on the street and said, "Hi, we're looking for someplace to buy beer." They replied, "We're looking for someplace too," and walked on.  Not the Irish hospitality we've grown accustomed to.  Finally, Kathy spots an old man in a doorway with two dogs and asks him if there is another place to buy beer seeing as the Supermart was closed (in their defence, it was after nine).  He gave us directions to another place further down the road.  So Kathy and I start running down the street to where oure car was parked, and the car is gone.  I figured this out after I tried to get into another blue car, thankfully, the door was locked.  We pressed on, passing Kelly in a parking lot who inexplicably asks "do you see me?" I realize that she's just watching us run up the streets like a couple of lunatics and so I yell at her to get the car and follow us.  I turn around and Kathy's down!! She has to tie her shoe, I yell that I'm continuing and she yells, "go, go, go!"  I take the long way around the traffic circle and even with my blazing speed she catches me by cutting across.  We run along a hedge, Kathy in the lead and the hedge opens up to reveal a petrol station with a shopping center.  I yell, "Go, Kathy!! Don't let them shut the door!!!  She leaps through the door and quickly finds the beer section, we make our choices, feeling pressured.  I suggest getting ice to keep the beer cold and she scoffs," Quite being a wimp, we're roughing it!!!"  We are finally successful in our quest and bring our booty back to the B&B. 

And they lived happily ever after........until the next morning.

Okay, we are at a B&B with WIFI, so hopefully, more posts and some pictures.  Really cool day yesterday, we were going to take a ferry to the Aran Islands, but the weather did not cooperate.  So, we all piled into the same car and headed to the Burren, which is a protected area. We have a few pictures, but nearly got blown away. Then we drove past a beach, there was a break in the weather and the tide was out, so we hung out on the sand for a while.  For those of you who heard the opihi story from Hawaii, they have the same thing in Ireland, no we didn't eat any--once was enough!!!

So, after the Burren, we went to the Castle Dungaire (we have pictures) and then went back to the Cliffs of Moher.  These pictures should be humorous due to the crazy wind!! It almost pushed me off the path.

After the Cliffs of Moher, Cory and I went back to our room so I could comb my hair (which took some time), then we were off to Marrinan's Pub.  Cory thought that we were just meeting our contact, Michael Marrinan to discuss the Marrinan's in the area.  Well, we arrived and Michael was there with his wife Mary, his sister Breda and her husband, his cousin James Marrinan, and the list goes on.  Kelly and Kathy brought pictures and there is apparently a remarkable resemblance between Cory's dad (also Michael Marinan) and Michael Marrinan's (pub guy) uncle Joe, who just passed at the age of 102.  It was a lot of fun, however, we had not eaten since breakfast (it was after 8) and I was feeling pretty loopy (from lack of food, not booze!!!).  So, Cory and I went and grabbed something and came back just as the music was starting.  It was really cool, these guys don't practice together or plan to play together, they just show up at the pub with their instruments when they feel like playing.  Michael plays a concertina and he alternated between playing with the other musicians and talking to us about other Marinans/Marrinans.  During this conversation, Michael asked where we were staying. We told him and he said, "Oh, I know her, she's a Marrinan too." (I'm surrounded!)

Anway, we ended the night talking about attending the Clan gathering in Cape Cod in October
 and Michael closed the night with a hilarious song about baling twine that he wrote himself. As soon as I find it online, I'll send a link to anyone who's interested. 

We spent today travelling from Miltown Malbay to Dingle, Joan Garvey met us at the door with tea and cookies and a list of recommendations of where to eat, where to listen to music, etc.  I can not recommend the Garvey Farmhouse B&B enough.  We're out to dinner soon, Cory has promised to help me post pictures afterward.  Having a great time, weather is awful, but it doesn't rain in the pubs!!!

It was a cold and rainy morning... but beautiful!  Cory picked me up early for the fishing expedition.  We lost a little time due to cows on the road (Cory called it an Irish traffic jam), but we made it to Headford amazingly on time.

Cory told me our guide's name would be Tony.  I said, "Tony?"  That didn't sound very Irish.  He wasn't.  His name sounded like "toe-me" so that's what I called him.  I heard Cory call him Tommy.  So we had these champion fishing guides originally from Poland taking us out on Lough Corrib in their tiny little boats.  Cory and I with one guide, a father and son from Poland in the other.

We fished for pike.  Neither boat caught many.  I guess I have to work on setting the hook.   Cory has told me this before,  I need to be more forceful.  But we all got to bring in a pike or a trout.  Sweet.

Tommy said something about breaking for lunch in a couple hours and that's when our guides learned I was a vegetarian.  Tommy quickly got on his cellphone to call Jack on the other boat.  They were speaking in Polish, but we knew what was going on.  Jack caught a trout for my lunch!  Cory asked if they could catch him some sea scallops :)

We got off the boats for lunch.  Before I knew what was going on, I was told to go to the front of the boat and Tommy told me to get on his back and said they ferried all their clients like this.  I did as I was told and then saw there was NO WAY Cory and the other men were going to take a piggyback ride to dry land from these little Polish guys!

I think I by far had the best lunch.  The guys had kielbasa and chicken.  They didn't ask Cory how much he wanted.  They just piled stuff high on his plate.   It was funny-- they could understand us when we were talking, but generally they kept speaking in Polish.   But we got along fine.  The guys would talk fishing. I did notice them laughing when Cory asked me if I had found the ladies room.  (Brat!)

Back to the boats... I wasn't taking another piggyback ride and I didn't need a guide to hold my hand as I hopped across rocks back to where I could climb into the boat!  No way.

Once we were fishing again, Tommy said I was an "iron woman."  Cory liked that.  I thought "princess" might've been more like it.

It took some time, but we did eventually find J, K&D.  Looked to me like they had a pretty fine day of their own.

Kelly and Cory, if you see this, I am not in jail or in a pub, I am with Kathy and Diane in Doolin.  I repeat, I am in not in jail.

Whew, what a difference some sleep makes!! Yesterday, after Kelly arrived, the three of us found our way to Miltown Malbay, where Cory and I were staying.  We walked through the town briefly and visited the library, which, thankfully, had a bathroom (I have to learn to stop at one coffee if we’re travelling).  We continued to Enniston, where the Marrinan’s pub is (we’re meeting Michael Marinan there Mon, unclear what the relation is at this point) and had lunch.  With some food in our stomachs we were starting to fade pretty quickly.  We took Kelly to her B&B in Doolin, near the Cliffs of Moher (anytime you see an ad for Ireland on TV, these are probably what you see).  By that time, it was after 2 local time and Cory and I had been up for well over 24 hours.  Back to our B&B, the Anchor Lodge, where we took a 5 hour nap and then had an excellent dinner of local seafood (Debbie, I finally had sticky toffee pudding, its obscene!), then a nightcap in the pub next door.

This morning, Cory got up very early for his and Kelly’s fishing trip on Lough Corrib.  The weather is not optimal, but hopefully they’ll catch fish.  I had a huge breakfast with two nice gentlemen from Germany. Mary, our host, is an excellent cook and provided a choice of cereal, juice, coffee, two kinds of toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, white pudding (which I like), black pudding (which I would like if I didn’t know what it was) and tomatoes.  Then asked what I wanted more of, which was bigger pants. Anyway, as soon as my breakfast settles, I’ll brave the rain and walk into town.  Hopefully some pictures of fish this afternoon!!!

Awesome flight-- everyone happy and friendly, and it's not because we got free wine.  I kind of thought it was a joke when the pilot announced you could deplane from the front or the back.  But it wasn't.

Cool seeing Cory and Jody waiting for me.  I was so confused-- how did Cory meet that Irishman he is chatting with?  How did they discover they both have Michael Marrinan in common?  He is the guy we're to meet up with later on.  Man, we haven't even gotten out of the airport.

Lunch was a tad strange.  I didn't expect butter on a smoked salmon sandwich.    

C&J dropped me off at my B&B and headed down to theirs.  I took a shower, a short little nap, then went for a walk.  I can't believe they have signs encouraging and warning about walkers on the road.  It's so narrow and the cars go fast.  I'm walking towards the way I believe Kathy & Diane will arrive using the directions I sent them.  Then I decide to turn around and go down a road I had already passed.  And then K&D pull up-- they hadn't driven the way I had expected and they notice me on the road.  Ha!

K&D and I visited O'Conner's Pub tonight.  We only got in on the tail end of the music... need to call it an early night.  Food was very good, beer even better.   Met a guy in there that looked a lot like our dad, an Irishman from the Boston area traveling with his wife.  Funny, he even acted a bit like Dad.  I think we'll be coming back to this place:

http://www.gusoconnorsdoolin.com/

We're here, already tested out the car, Cory loves the roundabouts.  We're at Shannon airport waiting for Kelly who should be here in an hour and a half.  All in all, pretty good trip, we ran  into some trouble in Cleveland with security.  Cory asked one of his fishing contacts if there was anything he could bring him and the gentleman requested a Boga grip, which, as I understand it, is a tool used to grab fish by their lips (do fish have lips?). Anyway, they wouldn't let him carry it on because it was too long, so Cory took my carry-on back to check-in in order to check the grip in that bag.  On international flights each person gets one free checked bag and at this point we had only checked one, which means that we still had a free one coming, right?  The first bag had been checked in on Cory's name, but when he tried to tell the attendant what had happened she had a hard time understanding due to the language barrier--Cory doesn't speak dipstick.  She went to help someone else and Cory fixed it himself using the kiosk computer.  Unfortunately, he then had to explain what he had done to the young lady, which took even more time.  Fortunately, for me, however, there was a pub just beyond security. Cory joined me, had a pint and we pressed on.

still in UT

I can't believe we're blogging....

Hey Jody,

Thanks for the invite, hope we find something interesting to write about.

Kathy

Still trying to figure this out......

I just started my first blog......I think.