Romantic Ireland's Dead and Gone

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Ok so we said the last entry was our last but we couldn't resist one final one. Especially as we are now trying to open our eyes a little more to our own country and see it with a new light.

It's great to be home, catching up with everyone has kept us busy along with our job searchs. Our rambling life has not come to an end yet as we are homeless and so wandering from home to home until each tires of us and sends us packing. Thanks everyone, we hope we're not too much of a burden on any of you. We have been lapping up all the homecooked food and won't be long before Ed gets back to his former weight. It is such a joy to drink water from the tap and for it not to taste of chemicals. The weather has treated us very kindly and although we froze for the first week the rain has stayed away. We write from tiny Ballinadee, (where I was brought up) country life is such a pleasure and I can see why tourists love this part of the world, the trick with travelling is to get off the beaten track and this holds true for Ireland especially. We are staying in the gorgeous Glebe House (sorry shameless plug), my aunt kindly offered one of the self-catering appartments for the weekend and we jumped at the chance to kick back, relax and catch up with family. For any potential visitors to Ireland travel off season...if you want peace and quiet that is what you will get in abundance, weather is never a certainty in the shaddow of the Atlantic Gulf Stream anyway so odds of rain probably aren't much higher in January than July. Bring plenty of warm clothes and you are away!

I'm not sure if Ireland has changed dramatically in the last seven months or if it is our view of it that has changed, perhaps a bit of both. We now live in a very multi-cultural country, stark differences from the Ireland of our youth. It is delightful to hear people from all over the world speaking with thick Dub accents, having seen where many of these
people come from I only hope they can retain some of their own culture. The downside to this is the blatant racism that crops up. It is difficult to understand that a country like Ireland which bled its youth to the US and UK for so many years can face such racial problems and prejudices without learning from our own treatment abroad. Thankfully the problem does appear to be limited to small sections of the population and so many more of us are relishing new exposure to rich and wonderful cultures.






September 1918
William Butler Yeats

What need you, being come to sense,
But fumble in a greasy till
And add the halfpence to the pence
And prayer to shivering prayer, until
You have dried the marrow from the bone?
For men were born to pray and save:
Romantic Ireland's dead and gone,
It's with O'Leary in the grave.

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Photos

De Spike
O'Connell Street, Dublin

Relaxing in the country home
...okay not our country home. Glebe House coachhouse appartment, Ballinadee.

Look we have beautiful sunsets in Ireland too
Ballinadee

Comments

[jo]

Good Luck for the Future !
Hi Amy/Ed.....I'm glad to have read your blogs....especially this one....it deeply touched me as it sends a very good message to the world. Although now broke, you still have each other and together gained precious memories and a wealth of experience and knowledge about different cultures and our world that you can pass on to your family, friends and future grandkids......GOD Bless you both.....cheers ! Jo