All my life, Ireland, to me as a child, was a fantasy of Kings, castles and crashing waves battering the Cliffs of Moher. Green pastures the color of emeralds, would color the countryside. Ruins of medieval Castles, Cathedrals, Monasteries and Abbeys that would hold the tired bones of so many souls, stand proudly after centuries of unrest and uncertainty. My 9 day oddessy with Linda and James became just that. A dream come true. Not only was it magical and spiritual, it showed me a different side of life. No matter how bad the traffic jams were, no one beeped their horn. All the Catholic schools proudly displayed their children in proper attire, all with uniforms. That's right! Skirts below the knees, the boys wearing blazers and ties, and short hair (freckles included) all playing simple games like tossing a ball, playing tag or just telling stories. Not one cursed, had pants hanging down to their knees, baseball caps on backwards or sideways, no cell phones, or mp3 players. Just a plain simple way of life. And all the time laughing and having fun. The way our country, America used to be...remember that? I hope to God, Ireland keeps it's moral values intact. It was a beautiful thing.
Chris and Myra Darcy of Drumcondra (a suburb of Dublin) are my Great Aunt and Uncle. My Grandmother Ann Darcy/Dempsey is his sister. James is in the background. This is our first lunch on Irish soil. I had the Lamb stew, not to mention my very first Guinness! The last time I saw Chris, I was about 13 years old when he came to visit his sister Ann who then lived in Queens, NYC. What great people. We stayed with them for one night. The following day, we packed up and drove all the way to the coast of Galway, followed by several hundred miles of exploring the west coast, visiting Terryglass then going south. Some towns we drove through were Spiddle, Screeb, Maam Cross, Thurles, Ballinderry, Kildorrey, Cashel, Athlone, Doolin, Cloonbannin ,Loughrea and many others. We figure we traveled through over one hundred towns, most being in the country.
The picture here is my great Grandmother, Margaret Darcy, also known as "Maggie". Her Maiden name is Carroll. Margaret's husbands name is Denis. Chris had this picture in a frame in his livingroom, so I took a picture of her. It's the only one I have. Unfortunatly, I don't have a picture of her husband yet.
Galway Bay was our first visit to the West Coast. It took about 4 hours or so from Drumcondra, but of course, we made all sorts of stops for directions, something to eat, and just absorbing as much beauty as we could.
Mrs. Lenahan serves us the traditional "Irish Breakfast" which consists of eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, Irish oatmeal Juice, coffee, tea, cold cereal, jams, Irish butter, Irish soda bread...you get the picture! They go beyond just to make your stay as comfortable as possible.
Here is a look from the front. The Bay actually sits right behind the house
The rock walls you see in these pics are hundreds of years old. Folk lore says that the walls were built with little spaces between the rocks so that the sheep can look at the others. Here, I coaxed a couple of locals to pose for me.
Our first castle was Aughnanure. The stone work and carvings are magnificent. Just look at the skill involved. Click on the link to get all the facts!
http://www.galway.net/galwayguide/todo/sights/county_galway/aughnanure_castle/
Both pics are of the coastal area of Doolin. This is actually the same road with pictures taken in two different locations. If I was to stay in Ireland, Doolin has my vote hands down,
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