| Ireland, December 2012 |
Ireland is one of the European countries I had never visited yet. My friends Pat and Roger have a daughter living there with her family. They stayed with them when I came back to Amsterdam, and they invited me to come and visit them.
I gratefully accepted their invitation, and I had a wonderful time.
I did not expect much regarding the climate. According to Wikipedia: "The climate of Ireland can be summed up as being mild, moist and changeable with abundant rainfall" After my visit I can add: and with lots of fog...:-).
So, don't expect many "touristic" pictures in this report.
As Bailieborough, where Angela and John live, is really countryside and not easy to reach, I was happy that Pat and Rocer came to the airport to pick me up. On our way back, they told me that that evening we would go to the church ...:-). Ciara and Roan, their grandchildren, were taking part in a Christmas musical organised by the school.
First we had dinner with my first glass of Guinness.
The musical was called "Nativity Rocks" and was a pleasure to watch. It was clear that the players had been rehearsing for a long time.
The next day started promising with the sun rising through the mist. We had a full Irish breakfast and then started our trip. Soon it became clear that the sun was losing the battle, so it remained misty with drizzle. |
 My first Guinness!
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 Dinner with Pat and Roger
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 Nativity Rocks!
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 Mary and Joseph
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 Roan and friends
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 The bungalow of John and Angela
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 Bringing the kids to school
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 Morning frost
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 A real Irish breakfast
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 White wagtail. looking for crumbs
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 Cavan County Museum
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| We decided to change our plans and went to the Cavan County Museum. Cavan is one of the counties of Ulster. I must confess that I didn't know much about the history of Ireland, had never heard about the Plantation of Ulster, the Great Famine or the Anglo_Irish treaty, so this museum visit was very informative!
After lunch we drove around the countryside, visited some villages and a lake, but the weather did not improve, so we went home, to enjoy a real Irish dinner, prepared by Angela.
 Inside the museum
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 Bird Residential Area
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 Scenic landscapes
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 Old cottages
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 Goujon for lunch
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 Modern "cottage"
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 Swan mother and child
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 Many decorated shops
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 Home of John and Angela
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 Angela preparing dinner
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 Cutting the bacon
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 Bacon and Cabbage
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The next day the weather had not improved, so we decided to visit some small towns and have lunch in the Cabra Castle hotel. My general impression of the country is that it is poor. We saw many derelict housing estates. But the landscape is fascinating, the rolling hills, the trees covered with ivy, many lakes. The mist and rain added to the feeling of magic.
 Shopping street
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 Derelict housing estate
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 One of the many lakes
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 Another swan family
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 Beautiful
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 But not easy walking
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 Another old cottage
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 Irish landscape
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 One year ago still a pub!
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The Cabra Castle was a pleasant surprise. After a complicated history it has now become a luxury hotel cum museum. The food was good and not really expensive
 Cabra Castle Hotel
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 In front of the entrance
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 An Irish wolfhound
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 The hotel bar
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 Nice interior
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 Hunting trophies
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 Lunch in the library
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 Our lunch
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 More Irish landscape
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 Strange tree trunk
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 Austere beauty
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 Carrickmacross
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 A pub
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 Collecting Christmas charity
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 Signs in English and Gaelic
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After lunch, we visited the small town of Carrickmacross (those Irish names!). The rain had stopped, so we had a walk in the town and visited a few places. Interesting was the Workhouse, dating back to the Famine years (1845-1852), where poor people without job and food had to go to stay alive.
 Funeral undertaker cum liquor shop!
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 The Poor Law Union Workhouse
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 From the side
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 Chlidren's dormitory
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 Derelict part of the workhouse
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 The Fever Hospital
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 Church
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 Another decorated shop
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 Dinner with the family
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 Black pudding with caramelised apples
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That evening we had a nice family dinner in Virginia. Because of the heavy fog we cancelled a plan to go to a pub with live music, instead we went home and spent a pleasant evening with the family.
The next day it was already time to say goodbye and take the bus to the airport. It will be nice to come back another time, hopefully with better weather.
 Enjoying our food
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 The family in a mirror
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 Roan with his Titanic
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 Father and son with another Titanic
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 Granddad teaching Ciara a trick
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 Mother learning from daughter
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 Angela and John in front of their bungalow
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 Finally a view from the house without fog!
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lightlingmk2 wrote on Dec 27, 2012:
Nice country Jan. Is this the Rep Ireland or British. The food is fantastic. |
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Kwai Loh wrote on Dec 27, 2012:
Hi KCLiew, My friends are living in the Republic of Ireland. They are planning to spend a few days in Belfast (Northern Ireland) but the situation there is at the moment not quiet (conflicts between Catholics and Protestants again). |
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