MONDAY’S MAGICAL MOMENT

Ah, soon…………..this was the first cut of hay last year in Moynalty, County Meath.  Soon, soon……………  In the meantime, I’m guiding a small group of tourists through the west and north of Ireland, which are very much overlooked regions of this magical country.  I’m in Lisdoonvarna tonight (County Clare)  , Kilronan on the Aran Island of Inis Mor_(County Galway) tomorrow then on to Connemara……………….

 

Copyright  2013     Mary Jane  E Clark

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MONDAY’S MAGICAL MOMENT: BOYLE, COUNTY ROSCOMMON

MONDAY’S MAGICAL MOMENT: BOYLE, COUNTY ROSCOMMON.

MONDAY’S MAGICAL MOMENT: BOYLE, COUNTY ROSCOMMON

Last September, I was able to return to my  grandmother’s birthplace.  Thanks to a wonderful hotel desk clerk at the Kilronan Castle Hotel and then a great butcher on Peter Street in Boyle, County Roscommon, I was able to locate the “auld homestead”.  Knocked on the door and was given traditional Irish hospitality for several hours, got names and locations of my great-uncle William’s buddies, tea and bickies , and the deeds dating back to 1905……………  On my return trip to County Meath, we were treated to incredible rainbows!

Copyright 2013                                Mary Jane E Clark

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MONDAY’S MAGICAL MOMENT: BLARNEY CASTLE, COUNTY CORK

I loved my first visit to Blarney Castle in County Cork!  Although the winding staircases got steeper and steeper, narrower and narrower, and wetter and wetter, it was wonderful to achieve the top!  The views were incredible.  And, of course, most visitors, including my daughter, lay down on their backs, had someone hold their legs and reached WAY back to kiss the Blarney Stone.  I passed (bad back, bad knees, blah blah……).  The Stone of Eloquence supposedly bestows the “gift of gab” on those who kiss it.  I figured I already had it so I just kissed my daughter!  And we made our way back down all those stairs.

Copyright 2013                              Mary Jane E Clark

Also published on http://www.IrishCustomTours.com

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MONDAY’S MAGICAL MOMENT: O’CONNELL STREET, DUBLIN

On this Easter Monday, my thoughts go to the Easter Uprising of 1916, the main locale of which was the General Post Office  (GPO) on O’Connell Street in central Dublin.  Although it was ultimately unsuccessful, the execution (and martyrdom) of its leaders roused the sentiments of the general Irish populace to support independence from Britain.  This statue of Daniel O’Connell is at the bottom of O’Connell Street and commemorates the man who, in 1829, succeeded in the quest for Catholic Emancipation, ie Irish Catholics were granted the right to hold political office without swearing a Protestant Oath of Supremacy.

From “Easter 1916“

William Butler Yeats

All changed, changed utterly

A terrible beauty is born

Copyright 2013                               Mary Jane E Clark

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