アイルランドの空と女のこころ。
Now in case you don’t know it Ireland really is a very beautiful country. And the reason it is so beautiful is because it is so green. And the reason it is so green is because it rains all the time. Well, not all the time - but a LOT. Now having been too long over here, I somehow managed to forget this and neglected to bring my winter clothes. And having bought a raincoat in Dublin, the one time I ventured out without it (it being sunny), it suddenly started raining, then hailing and then thundering and lightening. Irish weather you see is as changeable as a woman’s mind. Still all part of the fun I suppose.
The following pictures were taken between August 1st and 6th. I was staying with my parents, my sister Christina and her husband John Mulry at Rose Cottage Balcunnin. My parents inherited some land there three years ago which has apparently been owned by the Lambe family for 300 years. But that could be my Dad putting arms and legs on it as he is oft wont to do. Besides cleaning gutters and raking up grass, I did manage a couple of trips into Dublin’s fair city (where the Poles are so pretty) to hang out with my old friend Michael Staunton (after an interval of a decade) and also into Skerries to reacquaint myself with my cousins Marie, Katherine and Jim (after 16 years!). It was very good to see everybody looking all well and happy, although after such a long time I did feel a bit like I was stepping out of a time machine. Most evenings I and the Mulrys (John and Christina) took a pleasant 20 miute stroll over to the Man O’ War pub. Pleasant that is until the one night we were chased by a big black and very aggressive dog and his little yappy mates. He just needed the hard word though, so that was ok. To get extra information just hover your cursor over the pictures or double click for a closer look.
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On the 7th my parents bimbled back to England and the Mulrys and I rambled on to Roscommon and then Ballinasloe (gateway to the west) to meet John’s countless cousins and enjoy endless cups of tea and an infinite number of biscuits. That evening and the next we stayed with John’s cousin Martin Naughton and his family. Martin moved his family back to Ireland from Birmingham a few years back and is now living every plastic paddy’s dream. Nice to see they’ve all settled in so well. Many thanks to Martin (Mr. President), Liz (Mrs. Happiness), Kimberley, Charlotte and Thomas for having us. I think (besides heaps of booze) the highlights were going out on the motorboat (almost had a trouser-accident driving it mind) and learning hurling from Thomas. Oh and of course the pub tricks. Good times.
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A little piece of heaven fell out of the sky and they called it Ireland.
From the 9th we went on to Achill, an incredibly beautiful island off the west coast of County Mayo. Words can’t describe how lovely it is there (especially on the rare occasions the sun comes out) so I took lots of pictures to save me the bother. Again John seemed to be related to, well, everybody really. Still everybody was super friendly and the food was delicious (especially at Mastersons) and the Guinness and Smithwicks Ale flowed.
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During the trip I noticed that my sister has taken to saying “Ar” when she means “yes”. I’m sure she didn’t used to say “Ar” when she means “yes”. Why would someone in her forties suddenly decide to start speaking like a pirate I wondered… And then I found myself saying it.
And then it was all over and the last pint was supped and I only had one regret; that I didn’t see more live traditional music. Too many places had “live music” that consisted of one old guy, his electronic organ and an overbearing drum machine. Which is just noise basically and ought to be outlawed. Other than that it was a good trip and now I’m back here in Kyoto in this intolerable heat, a crafty cockroach that greeted me in the doorway when I came in (and scuttled swiftly into hidden depths) and a dodgy air-conditioner. Here are some more pics from the last day. Many thanks to John and Christina for taking me on the Mulry tour. It was a good one.
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Now that I’m fervently blogging again, Deep Kyoto is also up and running and today’s post is on MK Taxis out of sheer gratitude. I always use them travelling to and from the airport here, but this time I managed to mix up my return date (due to the time difference). I didn’t realise this till they called me up at 3 in the morning (Irish time) to ask me where I was. Somehow they managed to figure out my incoherent mumblings and when I did arrive in Japan a day late they were all ready for me and full of smiles so that was nice.
