Sisters, Sisters...

Mary Ellen flew into Dublin to go on adventures with me in Ireland!  She arrived on Maynooth campus at about 6 in the morning, and I woke up to meet her and lead her back to my apartment.  Our reunion was so exciting that when we got back to my room we both went straight to sleep.  I had class that morning, but ME was grateful because then she had a chance to sleep more.  My classes finished just as a rugby match was starting on the pitches outside my window.  The cheering fans had woken up Mary Ellen and we went into the kitchen to watch a bit of the match through the huge corner windows.  I introduced her to my roommates, and we chatted for a bit.  My roommate Niamh was especially impressed with Mary Ellen since she had met President Obama.  She kept asking question after question about the president, his wife, and their daughters haha!  We went for walk around town so Mary Ellen could see what had changed and what had stayed just as she left it.  ME: A LOT had changed in the little town of Maynooth in the past 11 years. It made me feel very old! The new pub and grocery store that was completed in 2000 suddenly seems small and outgrown so the pub got a face lift and grocery store looks like a super-sized Walmart. We also walked up to Carton House, which is a large, beautiful estate that has been turned into a country club and golf course.  Afterwards we picked up a few groceries and made dinner, before all my friends came to hang out and meet my big sis.  The SMC chicks peppered her with questions and the frisbee team was up to its usual shenanigans.  ME: I learned from the frisbee team that you can fit three pints in an upside down frisbee – WHO KNEW?! Haha!  Afterwards, we headed down to Brady's pub for a pint before finally going to bed.

Mary Ellen and I caught a train to Galway the next day.  Unfortunately we were stopped for an hour which we later found out was due to some kind of crash on the tracks.  We had to laugh though because a few passengers near us were loudly speculating that there were "engine problems," but they immediately changed their tune upon hearing news of the crash.  We arrived in Galway at about 5 and checked into our B&B called the Eyre Square Townhouse (did someone say Jane Eyre?).  Next we headed down a pedestrian street lined with shops (cleverly named Shop St.) and explored a bit.  Most of the stores were closed, but it was fun to wander and peek in the windows.  We ended up in a pub called the Quays where we had fish and chips (ME) and salmon and potatoes (me) for dinner and a pint of Bulmers.  We were still pretty tired from the night before so after dinner we headed back to the B&B and slept to prepare for the next day.

In the morning, we stopped in the main square to rent a car and then began our odyssey down the west coast of Ireland.  ME: Maureen was an excellent co-pilot and kept an eye on the road signs/map and we only got turned around twice.  Our first stop was a rather epic one: the Cliffs of Moher!  They were magnificent!  Mary Ellen and I walked up both sides of the cliffs and I even climbed up to the top of the lookout tower.  The sky had been cloudy but once we arrived the sun started to peek through a bit, so it was a good day to see the cliffs.  We continued on, driving through the expanisve, rocky Burren until we reached the small town of Bunratty.  We walked around checking out the castle and Durty Nelly's Pub.  We also stopped in the ginormous Woolen Mills Shop.  Before tipping off, Mary Ellen let me drive down a quiet road for about five minutes.  It felt so weird to be on the left side of the road!

After driving a while more, we finally arrived in Killarney.  We pulled up to the Algret House and were greeted by the lovely Greta who owned the B&B.  We dropped off our things in the room and then walked into the center of town.  We even stopped inside Uncle Jack's favorite pub, the Laurels, for a pint and dinner.  The next day we had a delicious Irish breakfast and then spent the morning over at the Muckross House, situated close to the shores of Muckross Lake, amidst the beautiful scenery of Killarney National Park.  During the 1850s, Henry & Mary Herbert undertook extensive preparation for Queen Victoria's visit in 1861.  They say that she enjoyed her visit so much that if her husband hadn't died shortly afterwards, she would have bought her own residence in Kerry.  We explored the beautiful gardens and walked down by the lake which could not have been more like glass.  Back at the house our tour guide Patsy led us around describing some of the different furnishings and rooms.  All of the chairs had a prickly holly leaf on them to keep visitors from trying to take a load off haha!  ME and I both agreed that the best part of the house was the kitchen.  It was so interesting to see all of the cooking utensils, stoves, and ice coolers the servants would have used to prepare, store, and transfer food from the kitchen to the dining room.  After our tour, Mary Ellen I drove down the road a bit to see Torc Waterfall.  It's funny, but every time I see something beautiful, I think about how unique it is or how much it reminds me of Skaneateles.  And let me tell you, Torc Waterfall would be right at home in Skaneateles.

That whole morning the temperature had been rather mild but the sky was cloudy and we experienced a few light showers.  However, as we drove towards Dingle, the skies were getting more and more blue and the clouds were turning from gray and ominous to puffy and white.  No sooner had we arrived at the Greenmount B&B and dropped off our things then we were back in the car and driving up the Slea Head road.  The sun shone on the green hills and the sheep perched on precarious ledges gazing down at the white surf smashing itself against the rocks.  ME told me the old joke about the sheep in Dingle being born with two legs shorter than the others so that they could stand on the hills haha!  Slea Head drive was beautiful!  I enjoyed looking out at the Blasket Islands (even the Sleeping Giant who looked like Abraham Lincoln!).  We stopped at a quaint, little pottery shop on the way called Louis Mulcahy.  All of the pots and plates had colors that blended and melted into each other.  They were really pretty!  There was also a small bridge nicknamed the "Backwards Bridge" because water flowed over it instead of underneath.  We took a short nap when we got back to the B&B and then walked into the town to go to mass.  The priest spoke half in English and half in Gaelic and it must have been the family mass because during the homily, all of the children stood up right next to him and he talked straight to them.  The priest also commented on the unusually small numbers at mass.  Mary Ellen and I didn't really understand what he meant until after mass when we went just down the street to have a few pints at a pub that was filled with drunken men singing.  It couldn't have been past seven, so we knew that there must be a pretty important match on for them to skip mass and be that drunk that early.  We weren't very hungry so ME ran into the shop across the road quickly to grab some bread, cheese, and digestives which we feasted on back in the B&B before falling asleep.

In the morning we had another delicious Irish breakfast.  On a side note, Ireland has completely converted me to the wondrous powers of a "cuppa tae."  I now drink it all the time, although Mary Ellen says that I don't do it right because I like to add a bit of milk and sugar.  She's a purist!  After our delicious breakfast we loaded back into the car and drove down Connor's Pass.  It wasn't quite as sunny as the day before but the early morning mist was very beautiful.  We kept driving until we reached Tarbert where we caught a ferry over the River Shannon and continued to a little town of Doolin just north of the Cliffs of Moher.

We checked into the Atlantic Sunset B&B where Mom and Dad had stayed when they were in Ireland in 2003.  We chatted with the owner Bea (who has a nephew who studies at Maynooth but I haven't been able to find him) a bit before driving down into the town (all one block of it) and parking by the beach. The sun was so bright, especially on the water, that I wished I had brought sunglasses!  I climbed down the rocks to the water and spent some time collecting shells for Leigha, Kiera, and Fiona.  Mary Ellen and I decided to explore a bit and drove to Lisdoonvarna host to a matchmaker's
                                                                                                               festival in September.  We grabbed lunch
                                                                                                               there and drove back to eat by the beach.

There's Christy next to ME

We took a quick nap at the Atlantic Sunset and then went to Gus O'Connor's Pub for some fish and chips.  We stayed around and had a couple pints and were so happy that we did.  The band started to set up right next to where we were sitting!  It seemed like every single person in the pub was musically talented.  They all took turns playing instruments or singing.  My favorite song was called "Caledonia" and it was sung by a younger woman with just a guitar playing softly in the background.  She sang slow and kind of sadly but it sounded beautiful.  Of course, there were some lively tunes as well.  We ended up chatting with a few members of the band and some of their friends who sat beside us.  Noel played the flute and his daughter even joined in with what looked like a small accordion.  His wife Terry is actually the daughter of the original owners of Gus O'Connor's but they sold the pub a few years ago.  Noel's best friend Frank sat with his wife while he played.  He started chatting away with us and buying us round after round of pints (he called our Bulmers "apple juice").  He told us that he had a girlfriend who lived in America and that he had met her last September (we speculated later that he had met her at the matchmaking festival!).  We also met Christy who is in his late 70s and drives around a small tourist bus in the area. He is sweet as can be and enjoys listening to the music and sipping on  a cup of tea. Frank also told us all about his cow farm and how a calf had been born just that morning.  When we were finally kicked out of the pub at three in the morning, Frank took Mary Ellen, Christy, and I over to see the cows.  They were so cute, especially the calf!  Mary Ellen was on cloud nine being surrounded by her favorite animal, but her flats did not survive the mucky farm.  ME: Mom and Dad loved receiving a call from us at 9 p.m. Illinois time saying we had followed two Irish men into a cow barn at 3 am HAHA.  We finally collapsed into bed at four very tired but very happy.

On our final day of traveling we had an early breakfast and chatted with Bea before driving back to Galway.  We returned the car after having used a little over half a tank of petrol and driving 745 kilometers (approximately).  We walked back through Galway and stopped in the different little shops looking at all of the souvenirs, sweaters, and Guinness mugs.  We also went into Thomas Dillon's, the original maker of the claddagh ring.  And because Mary Ellen is the best oldest sister in all the land, she got a ring for me as well as herself.  We went to the train station and began the journey back to Dublin where we grabbed the bus back to Maynooth.  We stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few supplies for dinner.  I have nicknamed the six of us SMC girls who have stayed in Ireland for all year the Yearlings, and three of them came over to eat with Mary Ellen and me before we had to go to Roberta's class.  It is quite rare that we get a good meal cooked for us so we ate with gusto.  ME: I was amazed that spaghetti, sauce, frozen garlic bread and ice cream cake would be so yummy to these girls! Haha!  Mary Ellen and I were too tired to go out that night so we spent it hanging out in the common room with my roommates until we could no longer keep our eyes open.

The dreaded morning finally came.  After packing up all of her things, Mary Ellen and I headed into Dublin where I made sure she got the bus to the airport.  It was an absolutely spectacular week and I was sad to see her go.  However, I hope she knows that I'm already scheming our next Irish adventure, and this time Shannon will have to be there too!