|
St. Patrick's Day in the
Land of the Leprechauns by Irene Gray Have you ever wondered what it would be like to actually spend St. Patrick's Day in Ireland? Well, nineteen folks from the Searcy area led by Irene Gray, Classic Club Co-ordinator for Simmons First Bank, did just that. After arriving in Dublin and having a tour of the city, which included a visit to Dublin Castle, it was off for an evening of Irish dancing and singing at the Abbey Tavern. As we journeyed through the countryside we arrived at Glendalough with its sixth century round tower and church. The purpose of the tower was to watch for enemies approaching the area. The cemetery surrounding the church and tower is full of old Celtic tombstones. During our visit here we were pelted with a little snow shower, which did not stick, but was beautiful. We also saw heather blooming here outside the welcome center. As we journeyed along we boarded the ferry (bus and all) and crossed the River Shannon. As we turned around the point of the land we saw the old lighthouse on the shore. On to Waterford, and a visit to the Waterford Crystal Factory, where we saw crystal being blown, then being etched and we saw many examples of famous trophies made by Waterford, including the Super Bowl trophy that the Denver Broncos (my team) won. For the golfers in the group we also saw The Players Trophy. As we traveled through many small towns and villages we saw decorations everywhere for St. Patrick's Day. Pubs had really decorated up but I will tell you they do NOT drink green beer. We went to a large farmhouse out in the countryside for Tea and Scones one morning and as it was a working farm as well as a Bed and Breakfast, we got a tour of the operation by the extended family living there. They treated us like family and we enjoyed getting to know them. Farming is not as extensive in Ireland as it once was. Some crops, such as sugar beets, have been a staple there for years, and now their last sugar beet factory is closing. We did see some cabbages growing along the wayside. Of course, some enjoyed the corned beef and cabbage on the menu on St. Patrick's Day. The morning of St. Patrick's Day we were in Cork and saw a part of the parade going on there. It was different from our parade, but had many students in it. There was a light rain so many had on their bright yellow slickers to keep the rain off but the streets were crowded and they were having a good time. We went on to Killarney, where we would spend two nights, and checked in to our hotel, which was right down town. Across from the hotel entrance a local band was playing when we arrived and the town was very crowded. Lots of green was everywhere, even clothes on display in shop windows had green clothes on for this holiday. St. Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland so his day is one of the biggest days of the year there. Street and road signs in some areas were in both Gaelic and English. There are parts of Ireland that are strictly Gaelic and if you live there you must speak only in Gaelic. (Americans beware, don't get lost there as you would get directions in Gaelic, which you would not understand). We encountered sheep on the road around the Ring of Kerry. They do have the right away and you must stop for them. By the way, pedestrians do NOT have the right-of-way in Ireland so you must watch both ways before crossing the road. En route to the Cliffs of Moher we had a stop for pictures of O'Brien's Castle, on the lakefront, which is still in very good condition. In Galway we visited the Cathedral. One small room has a special plaque (inlaid picture) of John F. Kennedy, as he visited Ireland and this Cathedral just a few months before his death. Swans were on the lakes and we enjoyed watching them gliding along. Fishing is great in Ireland and we enjoyed local salmon and other fish at dinner several times. Thatched roof houses used to be the norm in Ireland but no more. They are so expensive to replace now and you cannot get insurance on houses with them because they burn so fast if they catch fire. I hated to see so few as they have always been such a part of Ireland to me. At a lunch stop at the Old Schoolhouse Restaurant alongside the beach the locals were all out walking on the beach enjoying the warm sunshine. The weather was like Arkansas, a little rain, a little snow, some sunshine, etc. so we just took it all in stride and missed nothing. We saw and passed around the only fjord in Ireland and visited the Connamara Marble Factory. We went to Sligo to visit the cemetery where the writer W. B. Yeats is buried and also the church on the grounds where his father had been one of the pastors. This cemetery also had many old Celtic tombstones. One even had the same last name as our bus driver/guide but he said it was no relation. We had access to a book on the bus with the Irish family names in it so many looked to see if they had ancestors from Ireland. Some, like me, were surprised to find some of their grandparents or great-grandparents last names in this book. In Westport the town square has a huge statue to St. Patrick and beautiful spring flowers were blooming all around it. We went into a part of Northern Ireland also. We stopped at the statue that was erected honoring the peaceful settlement between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. England still rules in Northern Ireland and things are more expensive there, too. We saw the castle owned by Lord Mountbatten, Prince Charles' uncle, who had his boat bombed there near his castle, killing him. We saw Slane Castle, in the town of Slane. It is very large with extensive grounds. It costs alot of money to keep these places up so the owners of Slane Castle rent it out a couple of times a year for concerts such as Bob Dylan but the locals do not like this. In the Boyne Valley we saw the underground burial chambers from centuries back. As we drove along we saw the deep ridges in the mountains where the potatoes used to grow before the potato famine, which killed thousands and thousands of the Irish population. Now they import lots of their potatoes. One thing we did notice was that on our dinner plate each evening we had two different kinds of potatoes so the Irish still love potatoes. The Irish people are so friendly and there is so much history in Ireland that it makes visiting this country a wonderful experience and nineteen of your friends and neighbors from Searcy Arkansas now know this!  |
