Traversing Eire SW-W-NW-E

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Geo: 53.2789, -9.06619

Shannon - Salthill - Cong - Ballymote - Boyle - Mohill - Carrick On Shannon - Keadue - Kilronan - Strandhill - Dublin 8

Clare/Galway/Mayo Highlights (4 nights)
Began with standing in Bus Eireann shelter in Shannon in the pissing rain (as in "soft day now thank God"😉, in fact the day we arrived had the largest amount of rain on record EVER! (Yes I know we are the same people who broke a 10 year drought in Sydney). Also I heard it was the wettest August in 8 years in Ireland and that's saying something but it was around 17degrees so that's better than raining & freezing.

Not that stopped us having our first beautiful Guinness in a year (well for me anyway) in Tigh Neachtains Quay Street, shopping in Galways 'eclectic' clothes shops and it was sale time, having Garlic-cheese-chips (yum always taste better in west if Irl. than anywhere else for some reason) on the way home from 'The Cottage' pub in Salthill (no rain that night actually).

Staying in fab 5 star hotel in Cong - Lisloughrey Lodge which is the renovated gate house to Ashford castle, I note Fabulous is the 'in' word in the west, better than awesome I guess. Getting brusied by a swing door in The Squire Danagher's pub (of 'The Quiet Man' film fame) in Cong & also going to Crowes' Nest bar there - same name as our Sydney neighbourhood. Our friend LB got married in Cong and it was the first sunny day in 2 months apparently.

The next day was in fact back to raining but that didn't stop us having bar-b-q in another friend's (C&A) where there more friends and assorted children back from the UK (M&S) and Spain (G&M) which was a nice surprise, we ended the night playing a round of poker with the hosts kids aged 8, 7 and 5 (5 yr old is C's god-daughter) which we were mightily impressed by. So cute & so clever. And of course we caught up with C's family.

Sligo/Roscommon/Leitrim Highlights (3 nights)
Started with surprising my mother with our visit and ending up drinking whisky til 3am (us not her) in her presence and also my good friend Tina. Over the next 3 days we (the girls, C left us to it) did a tour of castles and hostelries in Leitrim (Lough Rynn castle), Roscommon (Kilronan castle near my father's old homestead) and beaches of Sligo. Shopping in Boyle & Carrick (yet again) and visiting old family friends. Then I promptly left C's Armani suit behind, d'oh.

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