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Fantastic trip to Ireland with friend Mindy Wilson. Flew to Shannon and travelled around the spectacular West Coast of Ireland. Our host was Mick Moloney, a tenor banjo player, Irish historian and folklore expert. There was live music every night... tenor banjo, Irish concertina, flute, Irish pipes, harp, accordion.
The hotels, all modern, were fantastic. The food was spectacular. Below are some of my favorite photos. I also have photos of the ruined monasteries, a real coal mine (the men worked on their backs in slots 18 inches high), the PanAm "flying boat" museum, the rock tomb of Queen Maevb, castles, churches, portal tombs, the grave of William Butler Yeats, Cliffs of Moher, St. Brigitte's well, rock walls, peat bogs, Martello towers, deserted potato famine village, island of Blasket, Galway town, the Burren, and other fabulous things we saw.
The Irish are very witty! Classic example: I bought an item for 7 Euros... gave the shopkeeper a 20 Euro bill. He gave me back a 10 Euro bill and 2 coins (which were 2 Euros each). I said, "Oh, I don't recognize these coins". He said: "I wish I had known that before I gave you the change." The Euro exchange was $1.12 so not too excruciating to shop.
View of 5 counties
Every field has a name
Irish coffee and scones on a boat ride on the River Shannon.
Music store with tenor banjos
Portal tomb
Friendly sheep.
Buskers in Galway
The windy Atlantic coast, the edge of Europe
The Cliffs of Moher
Galway lad playing tin whistle
Only saw 1 cat in 11 days. It was a sweet one!
Mindy buys Aran wool in Limerick
Mick Moloney and Brenda Castles
Brenda, the master coordinator, Mick's cousin. Whatever goes wrong, she's "the fixer!"
Our fabulous driver, Frankie Mulcahy. Toured with Riverdance. See him on youtube.
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Spectacular food. It's not peas and chips any more.
First Guinness... Irish coffee on the River Shannon. Draught hard cider. It seems like there was always a beverage in the pictures!
Contented mother and baby.