Wrapping up the weekend in heaven... Clonmel, Dublin, Portlaois

So... right off of Willy Clancy, Miriam and I went to Clonmel... where her and Siobhan live. There I met her parents and did some laundry and hung up my dent to dry out. It was awesome to be in a house again... and it was awesome to be in their house! Mir and I went to the Julie Fowlis gig where Martin was playin' bodhran and Tony Byrne was on guitar... super excited. They were opening for Danu. Yay! It was so awesome. We drank hot drinks and sat outside and watched the show. The mountains were awesome behind the stage and everyone was in such an amazing mood... it was so great. We dance and I took some pictures and it was such a relaxing night. Stayed up a little late that evening but was able to sleep in a cumfy bed.

Woke up early Sunday so that Mir's parents, Mir and myself could head onto dublin for the Leinster Fleadh. All the gang were competing and we were super excited. As Miriam said it was a cool ride up because it felt like we were the two kids in the back of our parents' car! Hysterical. We slept a good amount of the way there and arrived in just enough time to see Tommy compete in the flute competition... HE WON FIRST! During the past couple weeks, the focus has been on the Ceili Band competition so everyone was there for that... All the parents were around and kids and it was just fun. Tommy got second in the concertina competition and Sean got second in his duet comp as well! Everyone did really well.

And then... the best part. The Ceili competition. There were 8 bands and they were all really good... but ours was the best and the anticipation in waiting for the announcement.... and THEY WON! They will now compete in the Fleadh Ceol in Tullamore and it's gonna be the best. I'm SOSOSOSOSO happy for them!

After the competition we went out to eat... mmm... I was exhausted and just fighting sleep, but having a wonderful time with everyone. We went back to Tommy's house and gathered around the TV and watched the videos of the competition. Blast. Up late again, but cozy sleep in the wooden house. So nice... hung around for the day and played a little bit... Kathleen (John's fiance) brought me back to Galway. She is super super nice. Before we left everyone took me up to what they call the Rock.... which is near Tommy's house in Portlaois. We had a very nice drive... love getting to know new people. Got into Galway in JUST enough time to get Tofu and kinda almost ate the entire package... mmmmmm.

Just resting up in Galway, sellin' some jewelry on the street, listening to buskers, meeting up with old friends on the street, walking in the sun... it was a dream. I love Galway.

I will stay here tonight for the session and head to Kilrush on Thursday to visit Aidan and photograph a fundraising event on Thursday. Then, onto Drumbshambo on Sunday!

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