I walked all the way down to the house where George Bernard Shaw grew up.
Here's the message on a plaque on wall of front facade:
Bernard Shaw
Author of Many Plays
Was Born in this House
26 July 1856
Like in London, these oval plaques on the walls are popular.
After getting up at about 9 am—lying in bed at the hostel and wondering how on earth I’d climb down from the top bunk—I went out to the dining room on the ground floor, and it turns out that they stop serving breakfast at 9 am and the place is bare; there’s only the vending machines.
I walked all the way to Shaw’s birthplace—found it—and it turns out the hours I have are incorrect: they don’t open till 2 pm, like 2-5, rather than 11-5 on Sundays. On the bright side, at least I know how to get here (assuming I come back later) and I saw the vegetarian café Juice on my way over, and it opens at 11 am. By the time I get there, it should be open.
Sunday’s not a good day to be in Dublin—they don’t even have plays on Sunday. Even St. Louis has plays on Sunday, and it’s flamingly Catholic.
In hindsight, next time I’m hanging out alone in a foreign city, and the hostels don’t have single rooms, I’ll splurge and stay in a dorm or hotel, at least part of the time. Just have to spend less on books! Well, not get any souvenirs, probably. Easier said than done.
I suspected that if I got a bed in a dorm room with 16 beds, I’d be with 15 college students, making noise and coming in at all hours, but I didn’t anticipate an obnoxious drunk babbling on and on at one am. I got to the hostel a little before 11:30 pm last night (the play was out at 11), and the lights were on in the room, #118, “the Harding Room” and a few people were asleep or at least in bed. I tried to keep quiet, got my stuff to take a shower, but had to ask for help with the door—you have to simultaneously press the “door release” button and push the door open. It’s really quite easy for me now that I know how.
Julia Kavanaugh (1854-1877)—Irish novelist (portrait in National Museum of Ireland)
After finding that Bernard Shaw’s birthplace would be closed till 2 pm, I sat on the steps and rested for a bit, writing in this journal, and then I backtracked till I came to the vegetarian restaurant called Juice, but it wasn’t 11 am yet, so they weren’t open. Fortunately, I was carrying my bottle of tap water. Ireland does not have drinking fountains. If you order ice tea in Ireland, you’ll be laughed at, as Dave or someone on the tour discovered. If you ask for ice, you might be laughed at, though I don’t think that’s the case in such an urban place as Dublin.
Anyway, I wandered up the street and looked at the store fronts and the 18th century architecture. That South Great George St. has a fine selection of ethnic restaurants—there’s even an Indian restaurant right next door to the Chinese restaurant Good Food.
After Juice opened, I had water (went through two glasses), an incredible glass of “apple juice” that was almost a smoothie and surely contained pineapple, and I had a big salad with cooked tofu in a Chinese sauce. While eating, I read more of Liz’s book on Dublin and noted that the National Gallery opens at noon on Sunday, so I decided to go there and stay till about 2. I did just that but stopped at a couple stores in Temple Bar along the way.
I went back to the hostel for the new (daily) password, sunscreen, and my sunglasses.
I’ve finally been through George Bernard Shaw’s birthplace and took a couple of pictures—I figure since Karen has pictures of Oscar Wilde House for me, it’s OK to not take pictures there. Well, at least, I only have one picture left, so I might do that. It was sort of like a time machine, going back and seeing Shaw’s childhood, of which he didn’t have a lot of nice things to say. Hmm. His mom was a singer and had pretensions.
When watching the film A Man of No Importance, I used to think some of the actors, such as Rufus Sewell, were doing English accents rather than Irish, because they couldn’t get it right. But I was very wrong—Rufus Sewell was definitely speaking with a distinctly Dublin accent. There’s a somewhat annoying young man talking with almost the same voice beyond the next tree.
I’m in St. Stephen’s Green, the most popular park in Dublin, and from what little I’ve seen so far, I much prefer Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park in London. There is a band in the distance—I think I’ll put my shoes back on (now that I’ve rested my sore feet) and go try to find this bandstand….
I did find the bandstand, but I didn’t feel like parking myself there—I went back to this lake that I found on the way, ducks, rocks, weeping willows—very pleasant. Though I’m rather dubious about the background sounds—I can still hear the band at the bandstand, but louder than that is drums—like a parade—coming from the opposite direction, possibly from outside the park, because it’s in the direction of the Fusilier’s Arch. The drums remind me of London, particularly the strange procession similar to a Chinese dragon but with mice masks, by the Thames on the way from the Globe. I think I’m in the mood for rather gentler music.
At Shaw’s birthplace, I had a recorded tour guide [now the band is playing Beatles music] and one of the things the tape said was [Oh, baby ducks!] “Imagine living in a house with no privacy,” and went on to mention servants running up the stairs and such. Yeah, you don’t get much privacy staying at a hostel, either! Not to mention going to a park occupied by so many people. But at least this isn’t my permanent home, and now I finally want to go back to my house and cats, even though they’re in Bigotville. Sometimes I’m really a homebody, like Linda.
I’m hearing Italian accents and Japanese—well, in both cases, they’re speaking their native tongues, not just accents. In some ways, Dublin comes off as a smaller and less impressive version of London. Give me the steep hill leading to the Abbey Cultural Centre in Ballyshannon, or the wind and rain of the Dingle Peninsula, rather than this!
Maybe on the way back from the park I might stop at a café or pub and have tea, but I don’t intend to return to the hostel before 9 pm today, maybe ten. I can take a shower and go straight to bed, and then I’ll be prepared to wake up early the next two mornings. I want to get to Oscar Wilde House by 10:15 tomorrow morning, for the first tour, and the following morning I want to get up really early—by 7—to get to the bus station so I can get to the airport in plenty of time. In fact I might want to find the Busaras bus station tomorrow, after Oscar Wilde House, just so I know the way and don’t get lost on the morning that I’m hopping on a plane. Bus stations and airports make me nervous, really—but I’ll be fine once I’m at the correct terminal.
I’ve concluded that Liz had the right idea in hanging out in Dublin alone before the tour—not to mention staying at the Eliza Lodge--not after the tour and staying at a hostel. After all that socializing, and whirlwind tour, and music, and luxurious hotel accommodations, here I am in a metropolis and staying at a hostel where I feel out of place, since I’m neither in my early 20s nor traveling with friends or classmates. On the other hand, I am in Ireland still, for a little longer, and I’m doing sightseeing during the day—and of course there was the play last night at the Abbey Theatre.
Now the strange drums are accompanied by a horn—or maybe that doesn’t go with the drums. Maybe I’ll walk around to the other side of the lake and see if I can get a good look at the performers—perhaps something like the Kodo drummers.
Sunday, August 7, 2005
Saturday, August 6, 2005
Dublin, Ireland
We had breakfast in the cafeteria at Trinity College. Even a cafeteria supplies, of course, tea and the ubiquitous little pitchers of milk. The group really parted, and then I dragged my wheeled suitcase down the sidewalk to the hostel, Kinlay House, to check in--that’s if I can at that early hour. I forget, really.
For the hostel, you have to bring a towel. Sounds like a Douglas Adams joke.
Dublin Authors:
Joseph O’Connor (Sinead’s brother)—writes novels, such as The Star of the Sea. What a talented family.
Jennifer Johnston
John Banville
Nuala O’Faolain—author of Are You Somebody
Clair Kirby
Eavan Boland
Roddy Doyle—The Woman Who Walked Into Doors.
Poetry Ireland: www.poetryireland.ie
I wandered around Dublin Castle and went to the Chester Beatty Library and Museum
(Lots of Asian stuff, and most of the stuff there is manuscripts and such) After looking at the exhibit, I went to the little museum shop and got a Tibetan coloring book (gee, I might make my own thangkas using some of these pictures), a catalog of this museum, and a Buddha magnet.
I saw Raj Kunwar—an old Indian romance novel, about a woman who transforms into a deer.
Plaque on a stone wall around Dublin Castle—on the Chester Beatty side (yes, the library is in the compound of Dublin Castle):
No 7 In Hoey’s Court (now demolished) about 100 ft NW of this spot
It is reputed that Jonathan Swift Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, was born on the 30th day of Nov 1667. He died on the 19th day of Oct, 1745 MCMXII
For the hostel, you have to bring a towel. Sounds like a Douglas Adams joke.
Dublin Authors:
Joseph O’Connor (Sinead’s brother)—writes novels, such as The Star of the Sea. What a talented family.
Jennifer Johnston
John Banville
Nuala O’Faolain—author of Are You Somebody
Clair Kirby
Eavan Boland
Roddy Doyle—The Woman Who Walked Into Doors.
Poetry Ireland: www.poetryireland.ie
I wandered around Dublin Castle and went to the Chester Beatty Library and Museum
(Lots of Asian stuff, and most of the stuff there is manuscripts and such) After looking at the exhibit, I went to the little museum shop and got a Tibetan coloring book (gee, I might make my own thangkas using some of these pictures), a catalog of this museum, and a Buddha magnet.
I saw Raj Kunwar—an old Indian romance novel, about a woman who transforms into a deer.
Plaque on a stone wall around Dublin Castle—on the Chester Beatty side (yes, the library is in the compound of Dublin Castle):
No 7 In Hoey’s Court (now demolished) about 100 ft NW of this spot
It is reputed that Jonathan Swift Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, was born on the 30th day of Nov 1667. He died on the 19th day of Oct, 1745 MCMXII
Friday, August 5, 2005
The Rock of Cashel
Dingle
The music last night was beautiful—a full-size set of Irish pipes, a fiddle, and a 12-string guitar. And we sat really close to the musicians. There was a sort of window, a big one, between our booth and the musicians, and hanging over the stage were various instruments—accordions, violins, a lute or bouzouki, etc.
Today we’re getting on the bus at 8:30, so no messing around.
From the bus, I noticed a sign: Acute Bends Ahead (square yellow sign, very curvy road amid more illegible word—don’t bloody write in longhand on a moving bus.)
Ah, just look at that bend. It’s so cuuuute.
Lambs wag their tails while nursing, like kittens purr. Contentment.
Killarney
We stopped at Killarney, 10 am, for restroom break (and Matthew needed to gas up the bus). Killarney Outlet Centre—looks like an American mall. I bought a wooden Buddha—nontraditional—at a booth in the hallway. After looking at “before and after” photos of Killarney—photos taken around 1900 next to the same place photographed in 2004. Some haven’t changed, but one street scene showed a couple of thatched-roofed cottages between some buildings that look about the same (the cottages have been replaced—or at least altered a great deal).
Cill Airne = Killarney
“165 people killed on Cork roads in the past four years.”
I could make a comment about drinking and driving, but it might sound like I'm stereotyping the Irish, so I'll refrain.
On the way into Mitchellstown, Matthew explained that the wall on our left dates to famine times, when poor people were paid one pound a day to build the stone walls (and 140 pennies equaled a pound then). The wall is between five and seven feet high by the looks of it and doesn’t look very thick, but I could be wrong—it might be two or three rows of stone. This wall would have surrounded a lord’s estate.
Garde = police
The Rock of Cashel
Bru Baru—for lunch—“There is no brew at Bru Baru.” --Dave
Rock of Cashel (pretty much across the street from Bru Baru)
We stopped at the Visitor’s Centre called Bru Baru, where we had a simple lunch of soup, sandwiches, and tea in a room reminiscent of a medieval great hall, particularly in the style of fireplace and the medieval-looking banners hanging overhead. There are long wooden tables and benches and high rafters. There’s also a gift shop down the hall, where I got a Bru na Boyne-inspired necklace for Jill and a toy sheep for Malcolm. That was after I finished lunch and scurried outdoors to take pictures. The Rock of Cashel is way overhead, the mountain overlooking Bru Baru.
When the group was all ready, we headed for the mountain and climbed up to the front gates, where we waited to get in and took pictures. We followed Dave through the gates with a young tour guide named James who led us to a rather worn down Patrick’s cross (actually, a replica of the one indoors, sheltered in a one-room museum). He told us about the history of the Rock of Cashel. The original building was a castle in the forth century, but it was a simple one and built of wood and hasn’t survived. The only surviving buildings are religious, not castle architecture, and date from the 12th, 13th, and 15th centuries. There’s a lot of harsh wind up on that mountain, and that alone has damaged the buildings—there’s a chunk that’s fallen off the big cathedral.
As for the cross of Patrick—if you can wrap your arms all the way around it and your hands touch, you’ll never ever have to [it looks like “chache”, but that doesn’t make any sense—maybe “age.”] and if you hop nine times counterclockwise around the cross, you’ll be married within the year. I was tempted to try the first, but definitely not the latter.
Dublin
In the evening, we arrived in Dublin around 5:30, checked in to the Trinity College dorms and went to a really fancy restaurant for our farewell dinner. I spotted a picture of Johnny Depp and pictures of other actors on wall behind our tables and on other walls. Lots of maroon, lots of mirrors—it’s a theatre-oriented restaurant, like a famous one in New York that I can’t remember the name of (but it’s in a Muppets movie). Phil awarded everyone something different—like Linda’s award had to do with knitting—and the prizes were shamrock tiepins or Irish flag tiepins. I got a shamrock, “I wonder what she’s writing about me in her backward journal”award. (Yes, I was visibly writing in my journal a lot, and I open it right to left because I’m left handed and can.)
The music last night was beautiful—a full-size set of Irish pipes, a fiddle, and a 12-string guitar. And we sat really close to the musicians. There was a sort of window, a big one, between our booth and the musicians, and hanging over the stage were various instruments—accordions, violins, a lute or bouzouki, etc.
Today we’re getting on the bus at 8:30, so no messing around.
From the bus, I noticed a sign: Acute Bends Ahead (square yellow sign, very curvy road amid more illegible word—don’t bloody write in longhand on a moving bus.)
Ah, just look at that bend. It’s so cuuuute.
Lambs wag their tails while nursing, like kittens purr. Contentment.
Killarney
We stopped at Killarney, 10 am, for restroom break (and Matthew needed to gas up the bus). Killarney Outlet Centre—looks like an American mall. I bought a wooden Buddha—nontraditional—at a booth in the hallway. After looking at “before and after” photos of Killarney—photos taken around 1900 next to the same place photographed in 2004. Some haven’t changed, but one street scene showed a couple of thatched-roofed cottages between some buildings that look about the same (the cottages have been replaced—or at least altered a great deal).
Cill Airne = Killarney
“165 people killed on Cork roads in the past four years.”
I could make a comment about drinking and driving, but it might sound like I'm stereotyping the Irish, so I'll refrain.
On the way into Mitchellstown, Matthew explained that the wall on our left dates to famine times, when poor people were paid one pound a day to build the stone walls (and 140 pennies equaled a pound then). The wall is between five and seven feet high by the looks of it and doesn’t look very thick, but I could be wrong—it might be two or three rows of stone. This wall would have surrounded a lord’s estate.
Garde = police
The Rock of Cashel
Bru Baru—for lunch—“There is no brew at Bru Baru.” --Dave
Rock of Cashel (pretty much across the street from Bru Baru)
We stopped at the Visitor’s Centre called Bru Baru, where we had a simple lunch of soup, sandwiches, and tea in a room reminiscent of a medieval great hall, particularly in the style of fireplace and the medieval-looking banners hanging overhead. There are long wooden tables and benches and high rafters. There’s also a gift shop down the hall, where I got a Bru na Boyne-inspired necklace for Jill and a toy sheep for Malcolm. That was after I finished lunch and scurried outdoors to take pictures. The Rock of Cashel is way overhead, the mountain overlooking Bru Baru.
When the group was all ready, we headed for the mountain and climbed up to the front gates, where we waited to get in and took pictures. We followed Dave through the gates with a young tour guide named James who led us to a rather worn down Patrick’s cross (actually, a replica of the one indoors, sheltered in a one-room museum). He told us about the history of the Rock of Cashel. The original building was a castle in the forth century, but it was a simple one and built of wood and hasn’t survived. The only surviving buildings are religious, not castle architecture, and date from the 12th, 13th, and 15th centuries. There’s a lot of harsh wind up on that mountain, and that alone has damaged the buildings—there’s a chunk that’s fallen off the big cathedral.
As for the cross of Patrick—if you can wrap your arms all the way around it and your hands touch, you’ll never ever have to [it looks like “chache”, but that doesn’t make any sense—maybe “age.”] and if you hop nine times counterclockwise around the cross, you’ll be married within the year. I was tempted to try the first, but definitely not the latter.
Dublin
In the evening, we arrived in Dublin around 5:30, checked in to the Trinity College dorms and went to a really fancy restaurant for our farewell dinner. I spotted a picture of Johnny Depp and pictures of other actors on wall behind our tables and on other walls. Lots of maroon, lots of mirrors—it’s a theatre-oriented restaurant, like a famous one in New York that I can’t remember the name of (but it’s in a Muppets movie). Phil awarded everyone something different—like Linda’s award had to do with knitting—and the prizes were shamrock tiepins or Irish flag tiepins. I got a shamrock, “I wonder what she’s writing about me in her backward journal”award. (Yes, I was visibly writing in my journal a lot, and I open it right to left because I’m left handed and can.)
Thursday, August 4, 2005
The Dingle Peninsula
Tim Collins was our tour guide around the Dingle Peninsula, out in the country rather than in the town of Dingle. He was a tall, white-haired guy with bright blue eyes and looked very Irish. I can't help but notice we've never had a female tour guide.
Ring forts—go back 2000 years—connected with fairies in legend—we just passed one, where the land is up several feet, and plants are growing on it. It's a big round stone wall, reminiscent of stone cattle walls. It’s obviously very old and full of atmosphere, perhaps haunted.
Narrow road—1840s-1850s, for carriages and carts.
Ring of Kearay—another peninsula, about 100 miles around
Beehive huts (several in a stone wall) 2000 years old. Pretty when they’re intact, though even the ones we walked around, with just the foundation left, were really cool looking. I really like old stone buildings.
We went to a 6th century foundation of a monastic settlement (I took lots of photos, despite "oh the dreadful wind and rain"), which included a stone wall circling around beehive cells. Also inside the wall was a small rectangular church, or rather the foundation of one. In front of the church foundations, on the left side of the door, was the simple tombstone of the abbot, and about a foot or two in front of that is a little circle of stones indicating where he died.
It was very windy and wet, and there we were trudging along paths and climbing slick stone walls to look at really old architecture. I’m so glad I got this raincoat for the trip.
We took another stop at the Visitor’s Centre for a 7th century oratory. We went into the registrar’s gift shop, where those of us who wanted to walk through the rain to the oratory went to one side of the room, and those who wanted to be relatively dry and just go to the film presentation and coffee shop went to the other side. I of course went to see the oratory.
Dave bought our tickets, and off we went back into the rain and wind, and the wind seemed, if anything, stronger. We walked the several meters along a path in a field, and oh my it was worthwhile. The oratory, a place for worship and meditation, is the only one of its kind still intact. It's a beautiful little grey stone building. The stones are piled up till they form a point at the top, and before that the ceiling is slightly curved. A small window is at the back where there would have been an altar beneath it (a bouquet of orange flowers leaned against the wall instead of an altar), and a low door at the front. We gathered inside, and it was perfectly dry—I wanted to stay in there longer. The floor, in the 7th century, would have been covered with straw or reeds. It lasted so long in part because in medieval times, it was kept as a shed—a wood shed or something, but it’s still a bit surprising that it is still intact, so perfect. Next to it are a couple of stones with crosses carved on them, and there’s a low stone fence around them.
Next—and by now we were thoroughly wet; my pants and jacket were soaked, but my hiking boots are so good that my feet were quite dry—we stopped at the ruins of a 15th-century church. It had worn down, simple gargoyles, and there were two rooms. At the back of the church, in the center back wall, there’s a long narrow window called the eye of the needle. It’s been worn down, widened somewhat, because people climb through that window; they believe it will bring salvation.
Oh, yes, in front of the church, we stopped to take a look at a large stone cross that’s 2/3 underground. And a few steps beyond that is a tall, skinny stone with ancient language marked on it—I think it’s 4th century Ogham—where there’s a perpendicular line with slanting marks along it. At the top is a hole through which people standing on either side can reach and give a sort of handshake, like making a pledge. Actually, before we reached either of those, there’s a simple sundial that, according to Tim Collins, the tour guide, tells the right time two days out of the year. It’s not properly lined up with the West.
32,000 ring forts on this island
Population five million (one million in Dublin)
Ring forts—go back 2000 years—connected with fairies in legend—we just passed one, where the land is up several feet, and plants are growing on it. It's a big round stone wall, reminiscent of stone cattle walls. It’s obviously very old and full of atmosphere, perhaps haunted.
Narrow road—1840s-1850s, for carriages and carts.
Ring of Kearay—another peninsula, about 100 miles around
Beehive huts (several in a stone wall) 2000 years old. Pretty when they’re intact, though even the ones we walked around, with just the foundation left, were really cool looking. I really like old stone buildings.
We went to a 6th century foundation of a monastic settlement (I took lots of photos, despite "oh the dreadful wind and rain"), which included a stone wall circling around beehive cells. Also inside the wall was a small rectangular church, or rather the foundation of one. In front of the church foundations, on the left side of the door, was the simple tombstone of the abbot, and about a foot or two in front of that is a little circle of stones indicating where he died.
It was very windy and wet, and there we were trudging along paths and climbing slick stone walls to look at really old architecture. I’m so glad I got this raincoat for the trip.
We took another stop at the Visitor’s Centre for a 7th century oratory. We went into the registrar’s gift shop, where those of us who wanted to walk through the rain to the oratory went to one side of the room, and those who wanted to be relatively dry and just go to the film presentation and coffee shop went to the other side. I of course went to see the oratory.
Dave bought our tickets, and off we went back into the rain and wind, and the wind seemed, if anything, stronger. We walked the several meters along a path in a field, and oh my it was worthwhile. The oratory, a place for worship and meditation, is the only one of its kind still intact. It's a beautiful little grey stone building. The stones are piled up till they form a point at the top, and before that the ceiling is slightly curved. A small window is at the back where there would have been an altar beneath it (a bouquet of orange flowers leaned against the wall instead of an altar), and a low door at the front. We gathered inside, and it was perfectly dry—I wanted to stay in there longer. The floor, in the 7th century, would have been covered with straw or reeds. It lasted so long in part because in medieval times, it was kept as a shed—a wood shed or something, but it’s still a bit surprising that it is still intact, so perfect. Next to it are a couple of stones with crosses carved on them, and there’s a low stone fence around them.
Next—and by now we were thoroughly wet; my pants and jacket were soaked, but my hiking boots are so good that my feet were quite dry—we stopped at the ruins of a 15th-century church. It had worn down, simple gargoyles, and there were two rooms. At the back of the church, in the center back wall, there’s a long narrow window called the eye of the needle. It’s been worn down, widened somewhat, because people climb through that window; they believe it will bring salvation.
Oh, yes, in front of the church, we stopped to take a look at a large stone cross that’s 2/3 underground. And a few steps beyond that is a tall, skinny stone with ancient language marked on it—I think it’s 4th century Ogham—where there’s a perpendicular line with slanting marks along it. At the top is a hole through which people standing on either side can reach and give a sort of handshake, like making a pledge. Actually, before we reached either of those, there’s a simple sundial that, according to Tim Collins, the tour guide, tells the right time two days out of the year. It’s not properly lined up with the West.
32,000 ring forts on this island
Population five million (one million in Dublin)
Wednesday, August 3, 2005
From Kinvara to Dingle, Ireland
Kinvara
In the countryside outside Ennis, there’s a fairy bush, and in order to not tear the bush down, the highway was curved away from it. It is reputed that most fairies live under the bushes (white thorn bushes)—always standing alone in the middle of the field.
Rafery (Raferty)—poet, local to Kinvara (was mentioned at the Banquet)
32 counties in Ireland—traditionally, Irish harps have 32 strings.
Hookers—such as in Kinvara—are boats. Dave the tour guide led us to believe that there were prostitutes in Kinvara—he kept saying “hookers” and at some point as the bus was about to cross a bridge, he said that there were some up ahead, and the judge Matthew started to say something about not judging someone by their profession (a little surprising, judging by his profession)…and Dave said, “There are a couple on our left!” And yes, they were boats. With hooks.
“75 People Killed on Limerick Roads in Last 4 Years.”
(Sign—no jokes about Irish drunks please.)
Adare
We just passed a golf course with big old oak trees and with a large castle ruin.
We shortly afterwards passed:
Lots of thatched roofs
I took pictures of a park—trees, a brook with a quaint bridge, and of course palm trees—you can get used to seeing them, even though it’s not what I would have expected to see in Ireland.
I shopped at the Black Abbey Shop across the road from the park.
"Off-license" means it's where you can buy your liquor and bring it home (instead of drinking it there, like at a pub)
Listowell
We stopped in Listowell for lunch, in Kerry County. It's reputedly a very literary location, although judging by the books I saw in the bookstore at the place where we had lunch, it specializes in Dead White Male authors. Really, just because the words "pen" and "penis" are similar, doesn't mean you have to have both in order to write.
I had lunch and was going to the Visitor’s Center Museum but was short on time, so I wandered around and took two pictures of the colorful buildings. Given how much we eat on this tour, it would make sense if I skipped lunch altogether; that's the meal that we have to pay for ourselves.
Dingle
Alpine House—Bed and Breakfast in Dingle
We had dinner at Fenton’s Restaurant, and they made me a really special dish, with many broiled vegetables mixed with couscous and spices and topped with slabs of grilled cheese, perhaps goat cheese. They specialize in seafood, and although three other people on the tour call themselves vegetarians, I'm the only real vegetarian; in other words, I don't eat any kind of meat, including fish.
Afterwards, we went to St. John’s Church and attended a folk music concert. An American, Harris Moore, played the dulcimer (which is not native to Ireland, but it works well with Irish music). He also praised public radio and played beautifully.
After pigging out so much, I had an upset stomach (resulting in diarrhea back at the B&B), so I didn’t go pub hopping like most of the group; Liz and I walked back to the B&B and agreed that it’s good to have a quiet evening off. (The concert was early, like 7 pm). If I had been feeling better, I might have picked up the CD of the singer—I would have liked to have heard what she sounds like when she doesn’t have a cold.
In the countryside outside Ennis, there’s a fairy bush, and in order to not tear the bush down, the highway was curved away from it. It is reputed that most fairies live under the bushes (white thorn bushes)—always standing alone in the middle of the field.
Rafery (Raferty)—poet, local to Kinvara (was mentioned at the Banquet)
32 counties in Ireland—traditionally, Irish harps have 32 strings.
Hookers—such as in Kinvara—are boats. Dave the tour guide led us to believe that there were prostitutes in Kinvara—he kept saying “hookers” and at some point as the bus was about to cross a bridge, he said that there were some up ahead, and the judge Matthew started to say something about not judging someone by their profession (a little surprising, judging by his profession)…and Dave said, “There are a couple on our left!” And yes, they were boats. With hooks.
“75 People Killed on Limerick Roads in Last 4 Years.”
(Sign—no jokes about Irish drunks please.)
Adare
We just passed a golf course with big old oak trees and with a large castle ruin.
We shortly afterwards passed:
Lots of thatched roofs
I took pictures of a park—trees, a brook with a quaint bridge, and of course palm trees—you can get used to seeing them, even though it’s not what I would have expected to see in Ireland.
I shopped at the Black Abbey Shop across the road from the park.
"Off-license" means it's where you can buy your liquor and bring it home (instead of drinking it there, like at a pub)
Listowell
We stopped in Listowell for lunch, in Kerry County. It's reputedly a very literary location, although judging by the books I saw in the bookstore at the place where we had lunch, it specializes in Dead White Male authors. Really, just because the words "pen" and "penis" are similar, doesn't mean you have to have both in order to write.
I had lunch and was going to the Visitor’s Center Museum but was short on time, so I wandered around and took two pictures of the colorful buildings. Given how much we eat on this tour, it would make sense if I skipped lunch altogether; that's the meal that we have to pay for ourselves.
Dingle
Alpine House—Bed and Breakfast in Dingle
We had dinner at Fenton’s Restaurant, and they made me a really special dish, with many broiled vegetables mixed with couscous and spices and topped with slabs of grilled cheese, perhaps goat cheese. They specialize in seafood, and although three other people on the tour call themselves vegetarians, I'm the only real vegetarian; in other words, I don't eat any kind of meat, including fish.
Afterwards, we went to St. John’s Church and attended a folk music concert. An American, Harris Moore, played the dulcimer (which is not native to Ireland, but it works well with Irish music). He also praised public radio and played beautifully.
After pigging out so much, I had an upset stomach (resulting in diarrhea back at the B&B), so I didn’t go pub hopping like most of the group; Liz and I walked back to the B&B and agreed that it’s good to have a quiet evening off. (The concert was early, like 7 pm). If I had been feeling better, I might have picked up the CD of the singer—I would have liked to have heard what she sounds like when she doesn’t have a cold.
Tuesday, August 2, 2005
Exploring Ireland
Westport
We are staying at the Westport Inn Hotel, in the little town of Westport, in the Republic of Ireland, and the hotel is really impressive. I have a room with two beds (one double and one single) and the bathroom has a big tub—I took a hot bath last night. At 6:30 pm we went to a party in Dave’s room—Irish crackers and four types of Irish cheese and alcoholic beverages such as the Bailey’s Irish Cream that I sipped—and he actually has a four-poster bed that’s elaborately carved. Even the head of my beds have elaborate carving, and everything done in natural wood. Breakfast starts at 8, so I’ll be going down in les than ½ hour.
Last night, we went down to Matt Malloy’s—the red-painted pub (well, the front façade is red)—the bar owned by one of the Chieftain’s and we went to a back room where there was an empty stage but a bunch of our group gathered around a table in a corner. When the music finally did come, around 10 pm, it was in the tiny room before this one, so we couldn’t really hear it, but we sat around drinking and talking for a while anyway. When Dave and I turned to leave, the tiny room was blocked off with people and we finally got a glimpse of the musicians, all seated at a booth. We turned around and found another exit, escaping out into an alley with trash receptacles.
Oh, yes, before that, I did some shopping around town with Linda and bought a souvenir for my mom and a Tara brooch for myself, although it was a great deal smaller and simpler than the real one that we saw at the museum in Ireland. And we went to a bookstore and I bought four books—all centered around Ireland, at least. We took our books to the hotel, and after putting mine into my luggage, I went up to the party in Dave’s room. Bailey's really warms you up. It's no wonder it's popular in Ireland, but this is summertime and I was getting hot drinking that stuff. It was quite yummy, though.
After the party, I went with Liz and Phil to a little Indian restaurant in the basement of a building—and it was really great food. Also great conversation. Phil and Liz are extremely liberal, and Liz like me isn’t a christian (I do remember earlier on the trip she said she has lots of books on Newgrange, so maybe she’s Pagan). We had a wonderful conversation about our dysfunctional families and about the dysfunctional families of people we know. I talked about my aunts, not to mention my brother and x-sister-in-law and her crazy parents.
Types of Irish tunes/dances:
Reel: 4-4 time
Hornpipe: 4-4 time plus a couple notes tacked at end (more swinging)
Jig: 6-6 time
Slip jig: more stuff thrown in
Oscar's—name of the hotel bar, and the ad copy includes a little portrait of Oscar Wilde in an oval. We had to walk through the bar to get to the restaurant for breakfast.
I unfortunately didn’t get to meditating this morning—all the more reason to be sure to do it tonight, no matter how late I’m out.
Limericks
While driving around and looking at breathtaking scenery—mountains and lakes-a couple people on the bus, namely Esther and Matt (the judge, not the bus driver) came up with limericks on the spot and spoke them into the microphone at the front of the bus.
The sheep in Ireland are lively
They like to stand in the driveway.
When the tour bus comes ‘round the corner,
They make a mad dash and flounder
And move aside without having a mourner.
That totally sucks. Someone asked me to do a limerick, and I said, “I write free verse.” The limerick I did write isn’t fit to share, although that certainly doesn’t stop Matt.
I just saw a spotted grey and white donkey in the same field as a brown horse and a brown baby horse.
“It’s not like they go to Bombs are Us,” Phil just said, in response to something about terrorists. (Someone’s reading a newspaper.)
Today we’ve passed several ruined churches (probably thanks to Cromwell) and a couple of castle ruins (also probably thanks to Cromwell). One of them was close to the road, and it was the simple kind that’s just a square tower. It’s overgrown with ivy and only has, at most, two storeys left. The other one, which we just passed, was only one wall covered with ivy, and it might have been another church, really, since there wasn’t much left and it was further from the road, it was hard to tell.
It’s a grey and rainy morning, although yesterday in Westport it was clear out, with a bright blue sky and fluffy white clouds. Really cute town with lots of storefronts painted in bright colors. Before we left this morning, I took a picture of the town centre with the clock tower.
Galway City
Trolley bay—the framework for parking grocery carts in the parking lot
Modern shopping centers--this town looks too American.
Salt Hill, holiday resort area, hotels double as student housing in winter.
Cladaugh ring, associated with this area--facing away from you=looking for companionship. Toward you=not interested or already have husband/boy friend
Heart of the city: much more quaint-looking architecture, reminiscent of Westport.
After Galway
We came to some more farmland and later stopped for a potty break at a cafeteria-style restaurant. After the restrooms some of us (including me) got drinks and snacks, and I was at the register behind the funny Dave. He jokingly asked the cashier if he could see her supervisor, because of something a server said. He had said, “Don’t confuse me, I’m groggy.” And she had replied, “What’s wrong? Too much sex and beer last night?”
Ennis
We are staying at the Westport Inn Hotel, in the little town of Westport, in the Republic of Ireland, and the hotel is really impressive. I have a room with two beds (one double and one single) and the bathroom has a big tub—I took a hot bath last night. At 6:30 pm we went to a party in Dave’s room—Irish crackers and four types of Irish cheese and alcoholic beverages such as the Bailey’s Irish Cream that I sipped—and he actually has a four-poster bed that’s elaborately carved. Even the head of my beds have elaborate carving, and everything done in natural wood. Breakfast starts at 8, so I’ll be going down in les than ½ hour.
Last night, we went down to Matt Malloy’s—the red-painted pub (well, the front façade is red)—the bar owned by one of the Chieftain’s and we went to a back room where there was an empty stage but a bunch of our group gathered around a table in a corner. When the music finally did come, around 10 pm, it was in the tiny room before this one, so we couldn’t really hear it, but we sat around drinking and talking for a while anyway. When Dave and I turned to leave, the tiny room was blocked off with people and we finally got a glimpse of the musicians, all seated at a booth. We turned around and found another exit, escaping out into an alley with trash receptacles.
Oh, yes, before that, I did some shopping around town with Linda and bought a souvenir for my mom and a Tara brooch for myself, although it was a great deal smaller and simpler than the real one that we saw at the museum in Ireland. And we went to a bookstore and I bought four books—all centered around Ireland, at least. We took our books to the hotel, and after putting mine into my luggage, I went up to the party in Dave’s room. Bailey's really warms you up. It's no wonder it's popular in Ireland, but this is summertime and I was getting hot drinking that stuff. It was quite yummy, though.
After the party, I went with Liz and Phil to a little Indian restaurant in the basement of a building—and it was really great food. Also great conversation. Phil and Liz are extremely liberal, and Liz like me isn’t a christian (I do remember earlier on the trip she said she has lots of books on Newgrange, so maybe she’s Pagan). We had a wonderful conversation about our dysfunctional families and about the dysfunctional families of people we know. I talked about my aunts, not to mention my brother and x-sister-in-law and her crazy parents.
Types of Irish tunes/dances:
Reel: 4-4 time
Hornpipe: 4-4 time plus a couple notes tacked at end (more swinging)
Jig: 6-6 time
Slip jig: more stuff thrown in
Oscar's—name of the hotel bar, and the ad copy includes a little portrait of Oscar Wilde in an oval. We had to walk through the bar to get to the restaurant for breakfast.
I unfortunately didn’t get to meditating this morning—all the more reason to be sure to do it tonight, no matter how late I’m out.
Limericks
While driving around and looking at breathtaking scenery—mountains and lakes-a couple people on the bus, namely Esther and Matt (the judge, not the bus driver) came up with limericks on the spot and spoke them into the microphone at the front of the bus.
The sheep in Ireland are lively
They like to stand in the driveway.
When the tour bus comes ‘round the corner,
They make a mad dash and flounder
And move aside without having a mourner.
That totally sucks. Someone asked me to do a limerick, and I said, “I write free verse.” The limerick I did write isn’t fit to share, although that certainly doesn’t stop Matt.
I just saw a spotted grey and white donkey in the same field as a brown horse and a brown baby horse.
“It’s not like they go to Bombs are Us,” Phil just said, in response to something about terrorists. (Someone’s reading a newspaper.)
Today we’ve passed several ruined churches (probably thanks to Cromwell) and a couple of castle ruins (also probably thanks to Cromwell). One of them was close to the road, and it was the simple kind that’s just a square tower. It’s overgrown with ivy and only has, at most, two storeys left. The other one, which we just passed, was only one wall covered with ivy, and it might have been another church, really, since there wasn’t much left and it was further from the road, it was hard to tell.
It’s a grey and rainy morning, although yesterday in Westport it was clear out, with a bright blue sky and fluffy white clouds. Really cute town with lots of storefronts painted in bright colors. Before we left this morning, I took a picture of the town centre with the clock tower.
Galway City
Trolley bay—the framework for parking grocery carts in the parking lot
Modern shopping centers--this town looks too American.
Salt Hill, holiday resort area, hotels double as student housing in winter.
Cladaugh ring, associated with this area--facing away from you=looking for companionship. Toward you=not interested or already have husband/boy friend
Heart of the city: much more quaint-looking architecture, reminiscent of Westport.
After Galway
We came to some more farmland and later stopped for a potty break at a cafeteria-style restaurant. After the restrooms some of us (including me) got drinks and snacks, and I was at the register behind the funny Dave. He jokingly asked the cashier if he could see her supervisor, because of something a server said. He had said, “Don’t confuse me, I’m groggy.” And she had replied, “What’s wrong? Too much sex and beer last night?”
Ennis
We stopped in Ennis for lunch.
Matthew told us about a strange group of gypsy-like people who travel in expensive modern trailers that include satellite discs and flush toilets and four-wheel drive. Travelers—that’s what they’re called, or tinkers. These people are extremely Catholic, but they overlook “thou shall not steal.” These travelers are legally allowed to drive onto people’s property if the gate is open (that is, in Ireland every house is surrounded by a stone or brick or otherwise fence with a gate). The girls marry when they’re fourteen, fifteen, sixteen (legal age is 16, and driving age is 17). They get their own trailer-caravan when they marry. They also tend to marry second cousins. Weddings can be quite violent—if there’s an argument, they’ll grab sticks and beat each other. It sounds to me like they need to attend Marshall Rosenberg’s nonviolent communication seminars. Some of their kids go to school, but not all, for instead they’re taught how to steal. If someone lets them stay in a house for the winter, they’ll stay for a week or 10 days and sell everything, and they go off to another county. The laws protect them, even though they’re thieves.
Ennis—Lynn just said that she and Dave just ate at a restaurant where the couple beside them was from Emporia, Kansas. Small world!
Cliffs of Moher
On the way to Moher, we just passed a faerie bush. It was tallish and slender and leaned dramatically from the center and had a couple red flowers. (I drew lines indicating the slant—an idea for a sculpture would be to make a faerie that’s pretending to be a faerie bush, based on that one.)We just passed another castle that was less than a whole wall. It had an arrow slit, which is more than I can say for the one we saw a few minutes ago. Lots of castle ruins and cathedral ruins.
Aran Islands (known for Aran sweaters)—three islands, small, medium, large
We had a limited amount of time to look at the Cliffs of Moher, but I absorbed a lot of scenery during that short time. We climbed a steep path, climbing and climbing, and came to an eighteenth-century gothic folly that was being used as a tourist shop on the first floor; you could also pay a small fee to climb up the winding staircase and view the cliffs from above in the tower, but I didn't feel like paying the fee for that, though I would have if we had had a couple hours rather than only forty-five minutes to spend there.
The Cliffs of Moher are probably about the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. I mention this even though I've been to Colorado a few times, and I've been to continental Europe, to four German-speaking countries. The cliffs are very tall and steep, and you can look down close to the edge and see some big rocks surrounded by splashing waves.
The Burren
The perp Sean at the Burren had Noel taste a berry with a bizarre bitter taste that she said was the weirdest thing she’d ever tasted and made her tongue numb, and the perp said, “It makes girls stop talking.” I said somewhat quietly, “It should make boys stop talking.” Goddess knows, misogynist pricks like him are the ones who need to shut the fuck up, I thought, whereas women need to speak up.
As if that weren’t enough, he made many misogynistic comments throughout our tour, including a snide-ass remark that Irish “girls” will club their husbands with a stick. (If anyone made the mistake of marrying him, she’d have plenty of reason to do so.) Liz asked if people use the berries (or something) to make jelly, and he said no, “Irish girls don’t make jelly anymore,” and they’d beat a man over the had for suggesting it, and they have other things on their minds, and they wouldn’t want to break their nails.
We had walking sticks, since we were walking around on slick limestone with lots of holes and dips of earth between the sheets of limestone, and I kept looking at my walking stick and feeling really tempted to use it as a weapon. I rather think that Caroline at least would have joined in, since she was the one who said, “Do you get the feeling he doesn’t like women?” and I replied something like, “Oh, yeah, big time.” I was in a fuming rage most by that point. Dave the tour guide explained that he’s a bachelor farmer, as if that were an excuse—as if there were any such thing as an excuse. No wonder he’s single—not even the most clueless woman would marry such a pile of stinking excrement. Here's an ironic thing about misogyny: if a woman hadn’t given birth to the misogynist asshole, his worthless ass wouldn’t exist.
The stupid prick kept making these ignorant misogynist comments, and it really pissed me off, even though I had suspected I’d encounter a lot of misogynistic bullshit in Ireland. Lovely scenery, but get rid of the men. Either evolve or become extinct. (Of course, that’s my opinion of 80% of the male population in general, not just in Ireland.) Last night, when I went to bed, I tucked Yeats away in my purse and got back to reading some of the book that I brought with me to Ireland, The Serpent and the Goddess: Women, Religion, and Power in Celtic Ireland, to cleanse myself. Just gotta do it, probably tonight also.
Kinvara is the name of the town that has the hotel with thatched roof, Merriman Hotel. It's the largest thatched roof in Europe.
Dunhaugh Castle
The medieval banquet at Dunhaugh Castle last night was a delight. We first drank mead while listening to a harpist, and the actors (two woman and one man—and also the female harpist) introduced themselves as their characters and gave some historic background about the castle. A king Goya lived there in the 7th century. As everyone was filing toward the staircase, after having finished a cup of 15 proof mead, Minnie was pouring mead out of the pitcher and offering some, so I giggled and held out my cup, and she filled it. We went up a narrow spiral staircase—it may have been two floors, and I said, “It’s the Tower of London all over again.” We got to the Grand Hall, where there was a pavilion-like stage on one end for the actors, and the rest of the room was full of the long tables and benches. Dave and Lynn sat in the far center seats under a window and facing the stage so they were crowned king and queen. This resulted in Dave making some ornery proclamations and such, being the outgoing ham that he is. The food was good, and it took me a long time to finish the mead and switch to white wine, which I don’t think I ever finished, and I had to drink some water. Some of us didn’t want to start with salmon and had melon instead, and they made stir-fry for me and I think a few others—there are about three other people who don’t eat meat, though two make the exception for fish. Afterwards, we had apple tart with crème. There was acting and singing between the serving of courses and after the dinner. Basically, it was a dinner theater in a very old castle. I would have liked a tour, but they only do that in daytime. There’s a crafts workshop up above, closed in the evening.
In the gift shop, I bought a little tiny bottle of mead. Someone else bought six little tiny bottles of mead, even though full size bottles were available. Of course, the small ones are easier to pack.
Monday, August 1, 2005
Yeat's Grave
On the bus:
There’s a castle off in the distance, on a hill. According to Dave the tour guide says it’s probably an 18th or 19th century English castle, not fortified and Irish—Cromwell would have torn it down.
Countess Markovitz lived there—late Georgian, 1830s—first woman elected to Irish House of Commons. Yeats was a regular visitor, and we’re visiting his grave today.
This morning, from my bay window, I saw a beautiful short-haired white cat patrolling the BB grounds.
At dinner last night, Matthew the bus driver talked about his family. He’s the fifth of 8 children and his father is reluctant to pass the farm on—people from his generation want to hold onto the land for themselves, and Matthew was the only one interested in the farm. But even after getting married and having kids, he still didn’t have the farm, so he left and got jobs elsewhere (including bus driving). Ever since 1999, all his siblings have been giving him the silent treatment. One of his daughters (he has three kids) goes to high school and is in the same class as one of her cousins, and if she speaks to the cousin, she turns away. It’s not like they wanted the farm in the first place.
Drumcliffe
This is the site of Yeats’s grave, in an old churchyard, and the site of 9th century monastery.
A ninth century high cross stands at the same cemetery as Yeats’s grave, though it’s up on a wall. There's also the ruins of another round tower.
I stood over W. B. Yeats’s grave with the Cranberries song “Yeats’s Grave” appropriately running through my head, even though I don’t have many of the lyrics memorized. The atmosphere, the setting and all, got me feeling rather melancholy. Soon everyone gathered around Yeats’s grave, and Jim, the Yeats expert, recited one of his poems, “The Hosts of the Air.”
O’Driscoll drove with a song
The wild duck and the drake
From the tall and the tufted reeds
Of the drear Hart Lake.
And he saw how the reeds grew dark
At the coming of night-tide,
And dreamed of the long dim hair
Of Bridget his bride.
He heard while he sang and dreamed
A piper piping away,
And never was piping so sad,
And never was piping so gay.
And he saw young men and girls
Who danced on a level place,
And Bridget his bride among them,
With a sad and a gay face.
The dancers crowded about him
And many a sweet thing said,
And a young man brought him red wine
And a young girl white bread.
But Bridget drew him by the sleeve
Away from the merry bands,
To old men playing at cards
With a twinkling of ancient hands.
The bread and the wine had a doom,
For these were the host of the air;
He sat and played in a dream
Of her long dim hair.
He played with the merry old men
And thought not of evil chance,
Until one bore Bridget his bride
Away from the merry dance.
He bore her away in his arms,
The handsomest young man there,
And his neck and his breast and his arms
Were drowned in her long dim hair.
O’Driscoll scattered the cards
And out of his dream awoke:
Old men and young men and young girls
Were gone like a drifting smoke;
But he heard high up in the air
A piper piping away,
And never was piping so sad,
And never was piping so gay.
Even without knowing a huge amount about Yeats, I found it moving, and he did it entirely from memory. He afterwards said he was inspired by one of the Clancy brothers, who recited it at a concert. At the grave, a lump formed in my throat and tears in my eyes, but I didn’t want anyone to notice—I didn’t think anyone else was about to cry, and it struck me as silly. I’m not usually so sentimental. I got really in the mood to read some Yeats so I bought The Collected Poems of Yeats in the gift shop (and a metal cat sculpture based on a cat picture in the Book of Kells).
La Sola—has performed in Chicago and KC, and is from this area, Sligo.
Crough Patrick—pyramid-shaped mountain where Catholic pilgrims take off their shoes and climb or crawl (yesterday would have had a crowd—blood on the rocks from bare feet). As it was, a lot of people were climbing.
Killary Harbor
Killary Harbor is the only fjord in Ireland. So basically it's this big curving piece of bright blue water, and there are very green hills surrounding it. Lynn asked me if I wanted my picture taken standing in front of the fjord, and I said yes. Dave the kidder offered to stand next to me in the picture so that I could tell my mother this is a guy I met in Ireland.
1921—England wanted it, Ireland kept it.
At the Museum for Wool and Sheep, a guide demonstrated spinning, antoher stopped by and weaved and we went out and I petted sheep. Two cute lambs, one Welsh black sheep, large range of sheep. Three-horned sheep was supposed to have four horns, but one was broken; vaguely reminiscent of a unicorn.
Delphi Lodge is a country estate that got its name because a friend of Lord Byron’s saw it and was reminded of Delphi (having been on the Grand Tour of Europe). The bus just passed it in the woods—long path with signs and gateposts flanking it, and it’s a big big house, painted grey with white trim.
During the famine, forty poor starving people walked a great distance to the Delphi Lodge to beg for food, but the English landlord refused, and they all died of starvation. On the landscape nearby, with a lake and mountains and grassland but not trees, a cross was put up by an African group, during the tail end of Apartheid (photo). 12 miles down the road from Delphi, but at that time there was no road—it was like trying to do a marathon when you’re starving to death in harsh weather.
Louisburgh
A grant from the EU is promoting forestation—conifers from Scandinavian countries. Could plant evergreen, or deciduous trees but they don’t grow as fast. 25 years after planting, you own the plantation.
A disadvantage of these deciduous plants is that they have an acidic coating that’s getting into the lakes and rivers, polluting them. Like, duh, so what if they’re faster?! Plant the trees that are compatible with the island’s ecology! Why do people have to be so stupid about ecology?
The European Union (EU) is really helping the Irish economy. Evidence includes all the house building we see.
Mirrisk Millennium Park (I’m not sure I spelled that right—messy handwriting)—photos:
Famine Memorial (ship with skeletons)
Ducks in pond
Lake and islands in distance
The park is across the road from the path leading to the pilgrimage mountain.
I’ve decided that I like sheep. They’re cute, they’re friendly, and they make funny noises. Baa-baa—it really is loud and comical close up.
So far I’ve seen four black sheep, and I think they’re the prettiest, probably in part because they stand out amid all the paler sheep. They’re actually a very dark brown, maybe a little black, but more brown. Being a black sheep is cool.
At the Wool and Sheep Museum, when we went outside to see the sheep, the guide called the old dog, Shep, and eventually he came jogging up. But after she let him in through the gate, he ignored the sheep and headed for a wooden fence near some people from the tour group, and he squeezed between two wooden planks in the fence, escaping to the sidewalk.
At one point early in the trip, we saw about four sheep running downward on a mountain—that was a sight. They can actually run pretty fast, when they want to. Today I saw a pair running side by side, as if racing the bus. And around the lake, some of them are down low on the bank, even on sort of cliffs.
Grada—Irish band (Bob said they’re really good—there was a poster advertising a concert in the window of a pub, but unfortunately we won’t be here to see them)
There’s a castle off in the distance, on a hill. According to Dave the tour guide says it’s probably an 18th or 19th century English castle, not fortified and Irish—Cromwell would have torn it down.
Countess Markovitz lived there—late Georgian, 1830s—first woman elected to Irish House of Commons. Yeats was a regular visitor, and we’re visiting his grave today.
This morning, from my bay window, I saw a beautiful short-haired white cat patrolling the BB grounds.
At dinner last night, Matthew the bus driver talked about his family. He’s the fifth of 8 children and his father is reluctant to pass the farm on—people from his generation want to hold onto the land for themselves, and Matthew was the only one interested in the farm. But even after getting married and having kids, he still didn’t have the farm, so he left and got jobs elsewhere (including bus driving). Ever since 1999, all his siblings have been giving him the silent treatment. One of his daughters (he has three kids) goes to high school and is in the same class as one of her cousins, and if she speaks to the cousin, she turns away. It’s not like they wanted the farm in the first place.
Drumcliffe
This is the site of Yeats’s grave, in an old churchyard, and the site of 9th century monastery.
A ninth century high cross stands at the same cemetery as Yeats’s grave, though it’s up on a wall. There's also the ruins of another round tower.
I stood over W. B. Yeats’s grave with the Cranberries song “Yeats’s Grave” appropriately running through my head, even though I don’t have many of the lyrics memorized. The atmosphere, the setting and all, got me feeling rather melancholy. Soon everyone gathered around Yeats’s grave, and Jim, the Yeats expert, recited one of his poems, “The Hosts of the Air.”
O’Driscoll drove with a song
The wild duck and the drake
From the tall and the tufted reeds
Of the drear Hart Lake.
And he saw how the reeds grew dark
At the coming of night-tide,
And dreamed of the long dim hair
Of Bridget his bride.
He heard while he sang and dreamed
A piper piping away,
And never was piping so sad,
And never was piping so gay.
And he saw young men and girls
Who danced on a level place,
And Bridget his bride among them,
With a sad and a gay face.
The dancers crowded about him
And many a sweet thing said,
And a young man brought him red wine
And a young girl white bread.
But Bridget drew him by the sleeve
Away from the merry bands,
To old men playing at cards
With a twinkling of ancient hands.
The bread and the wine had a doom,
For these were the host of the air;
He sat and played in a dream
Of her long dim hair.
He played with the merry old men
And thought not of evil chance,
Until one bore Bridget his bride
Away from the merry dance.
He bore her away in his arms,
The handsomest young man there,
And his neck and his breast and his arms
Were drowned in her long dim hair.
O’Driscoll scattered the cards
And out of his dream awoke:
Old men and young men and young girls
Were gone like a drifting smoke;
But he heard high up in the air
A piper piping away,
And never was piping so sad,
And never was piping so gay.
Even without knowing a huge amount about Yeats, I found it moving, and he did it entirely from memory. He afterwards said he was inspired by one of the Clancy brothers, who recited it at a concert. At the grave, a lump formed in my throat and tears in my eyes, but I didn’t want anyone to notice—I didn’t think anyone else was about to cry, and it struck me as silly. I’m not usually so sentimental. I got really in the mood to read some Yeats so I bought The Collected Poems of Yeats in the gift shop (and a metal cat sculpture based on a cat picture in the Book of Kells).
La Sola—has performed in Chicago and KC, and is from this area, Sligo.
Crough Patrick—pyramid-shaped mountain where Catholic pilgrims take off their shoes and climb or crawl (yesterday would have had a crowd—blood on the rocks from bare feet). As it was, a lot of people were climbing.
Killary Harbor
Killary Harbor is the only fjord in Ireland. So basically it's this big curving piece of bright blue water, and there are very green hills surrounding it. Lynn asked me if I wanted my picture taken standing in front of the fjord, and I said yes. Dave the kidder offered to stand next to me in the picture so that I could tell my mother this is a guy I met in Ireland.
1921—England wanted it, Ireland kept it.
At the Museum for Wool and Sheep, a guide demonstrated spinning, antoher stopped by and weaved and we went out and I petted sheep. Two cute lambs, one Welsh black sheep, large range of sheep. Three-horned sheep was supposed to have four horns, but one was broken; vaguely reminiscent of a unicorn.
Delphi Lodge is a country estate that got its name because a friend of Lord Byron’s saw it and was reminded of Delphi (having been on the Grand Tour of Europe). The bus just passed it in the woods—long path with signs and gateposts flanking it, and it’s a big big house, painted grey with white trim.
During the famine, forty poor starving people walked a great distance to the Delphi Lodge to beg for food, but the English landlord refused, and they all died of starvation. On the landscape nearby, with a lake and mountains and grassland but not trees, a cross was put up by an African group, during the tail end of Apartheid (photo). 12 miles down the road from Delphi, but at that time there was no road—it was like trying to do a marathon when you’re starving to death in harsh weather.
Louisburgh
A grant from the EU is promoting forestation—conifers from Scandinavian countries. Could plant evergreen, or deciduous trees but they don’t grow as fast. 25 years after planting, you own the plantation.
A disadvantage of these deciduous plants is that they have an acidic coating that’s getting into the lakes and rivers, polluting them. Like, duh, so what if they’re faster?! Plant the trees that are compatible with the island’s ecology! Why do people have to be so stupid about ecology?
The European Union (EU) is really helping the Irish economy. Evidence includes all the house building we see.
Mirrisk Millennium Park (I’m not sure I spelled that right—messy handwriting)—photos:
Famine Memorial (ship with skeletons)
Ducks in pond
Lake and islands in distance
The park is across the road from the path leading to the pilgrimage mountain.
I’ve decided that I like sheep. They’re cute, they’re friendly, and they make funny noises. Baa-baa—it really is loud and comical close up.
So far I’ve seen four black sheep, and I think they’re the prettiest, probably in part because they stand out amid all the paler sheep. They’re actually a very dark brown, maybe a little black, but more brown. Being a black sheep is cool.
At the Wool and Sheep Museum, when we went outside to see the sheep, the guide called the old dog, Shep, and eventually he came jogging up. But after she let him in through the gate, he ignored the sheep and headed for a wooden fence near some people from the tour group, and he squeezed between two wooden planks in the fence, escaping to the sidewalk.
At one point early in the trip, we saw about four sheep running downward on a mountain—that was a sight. They can actually run pretty fast, when they want to. Today I saw a pair running side by side, as if racing the bus. And around the lake, some of them are down low on the bank, even on sort of cliffs.
Grada—Irish band (Bob said they’re really good—there was a poster advertising a concert in the window of a pub, but unfortunately we won’t be here to see them)
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