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As the bus from the airport passed each Catholic Church the old lady next to me, wearing a rain bonnet akin to a shower cap, bowed her head and did the sign of the cross. I had arrived in Dublin. 90% of Irish residents here declare themselves Catholic and interestingly 41% of the country are also under 25. However, I found the best thing about my time in Ireland (Guinness aside) was the warm, friendly and generous locals who let me immerse themselves in their culture, stay in their homes and serve me delicious home-cooked food. Not only is Dublin the home of Guinness, but it is also the home of Noreen - a friend I met in India - who had invited me to stay. It is also the temporary home of the Houlihan family (who some of you will know from Melbourne) and home to a huge bunch of long-lost relatives - related to me through me Grandpa Jordan´s mother, my great grandmother.
My journey in Dublin began with some hard-core site-seeing. First stop was Trinity College - the cream of academia go here, according to Andrew (the cord, loafer and massive sun-glasses wearing grammar boy who was
Cheers to free beer!
Guinness Storehouse, Dublin my guide). I soon found myself in book lovers paradise at Trinity library which houses the religiously significant book of Kells. The most bizarre thing was that books in the Trinity Library are arranged by size, then alphabet - which makes it incredibly difficult to locate what you´re after unless you know the size! Two students had the onerous task of using what looked like a dust buster to dust every page in every ancient book in the place. A mind numbing task - especially given its a copyright library, meaning that the library get given a copy of every book that is copywrited in Ireland and the UK every year.
I also visited Kilmainham Gaol (fortunately as a tourist) - a massive bluestone prison, turned museum which played an important role in Ireland´s fight for independance. The ticket included a tour of the place and fascinating stories about the people who´d been prisoners here. Throughout the famines many, many people died from disease and malnutrition at the gaol. Others were sentances to death and some (our ancestors perhaps!) were sent to Australia as convicts, but less than half survived the journey. To re-coup from my serious and emotionally
draining gaol visit, I spent the afternoon at the Guinness Storehouse, which had copped an absolute canning from the Lonely Planet. Luckily I decided to see for myself and found it awesome! Particularly the displays of old advertising, and of course the free beer in the Gravity beer with 360 degree views of Dublin.
That same afternoon, Noreen left work early and we began our roadtrip to Galway which is famed for its nightlife and quaint little narrow streets. Certainly the city didn´t disapoint and we treated ourselves to a couple of great nights out on the town in the numerous smoke-free Irish bars. We also drove out to the Connemara region - a mountainous and picturesque coastal area - which was freezing cold and wet. The whole area is probably the strongest Irish speaking in Ireland, in fact to own a house in the region - apparently you have to be able to speak Gaelic. We visited the atmospheric Kylemore Abbey which is run by the Benedictine Nuns and Aughanure Castle, before having a pub lunch and a walk in the National Park.
I´d been tipped off that some long-lost relatives lived in Ballinasloe - a small
town on the road back to Dublin. My Great Grandmother (whose maiden name was Ward) grew up here and armed with some reliable information from Aunty Sue and Noreen acting as chauffer, I tracked down the local Wards. The Wards of Ballinasloe are related to me through my great, great, great Grandfather Ward. Confusing I know - imagine how difficult I found relaying this info to Barry Ward (who owns the local Garden Centre) over the phone! Barry, put me onto his mother Marie and I ended up meeting a whole bunch of lovely relatives who served not one, but two delicious afternoon teas - including such delacies as Baileys on ice, sandwiches and my old favourite - shortcake. I felt so welcome and was rapt when they took us on a tour of town.
I was beginning to think that Ireland really couldn´t get much better when Noreen and her sister Rose took me to my first hurling match. It wasn´t just any game either, County Clare were up against County Cork in the Semi-final (a repeat of a particularly memorable battle last year) at the Thurles Handball club. We arrived in town, had a picnic lunch from
Hurling Match - Cork V Clare
County Cork doing their warm-ups. It´s Semi-final time and the stakes are high! the car boot and as we walked through town people were spilling from pubs onto the streets in vibrant team colours. Red and white for Cork, blue and yellow for Clare. It was reminiscent of last years AFL grandfinal (as was the result). The air smelt of cut grass and the atmosphere was not unlike a VFL game at Kardinia Park in the old days. From our standing room seats, we cheered on County Cork to victory in a game which can only be described as a cross between Quidditch (Harry Potter fans will appreciate this), Gaelic football and lacrosse. I absolutely loved it! Apparently most of the guys who play hurling in the summer, play Gaelic footy in the winter and I have it on good authority that the AFL are keeping their eyes on a few more of the players (after two boys from Cork went to Carlton).
The directions to the Houlihan house in Tullow were vague. ´It´s the only red house in the town´ said Kathy, ´near the bridge´. Sure enough it was! Kathy Houlihan is a friend of my sister from Melbourne and had invited me to join herself, her sister Margaret, her husband
Me, Kathy & the local talent in Tullow
This local charmer calls himself ´Crazy Tommy´ - a Tullow toothless terror! Dick and their baby Sean at their father´s family home in Tullow. The Houlihan family home was renovated in the late 90s when the town decided to battle it out for the tidy towns title and was sensational accommodation. The town is very pretty with little stores that sell things in the old style - meat from the butcher, fruit from the grocer, etc. Tullow also features a ridiculous amount of pubs and a corresponding ridiculous amount of toothless terrors, like crazy tommy. With these kind of statistics and no tourist attractions to speak of (unless you count Tullow hill) - it was only natural that time spent in Tullow was largely dedicated to pool, darts (on tv) and a few quiet drinks. One night we even found ourselves at a nightclub in Carlow which is supposedly the second largest in Ireland, and one of the largest in Europe! This is even more crazy when you consider that Carlow isn´t even big enough to make the lonely planet!!
Returning to Dublin - I was treated to one final (and as expected delicious) home-cooked meal cooked by Noreen´s other sister Eileen. Washed down with a vino or two, it was
Tullow Bridge
If you look closely you will find Kathy strolling across the bridge! a perfect end to my time in the Emerald Isle. I was looking forward to seeing some sun in Spain though ... Hola Valencia!!
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Vera
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Tullow
Amazed to see my old family home on the net. I am Kathy's Houlihan's aunt. Glad you enjoyed Tullow and all the pubs !!!