A second fabulous Mick Moloney trip. This time in Northern Ireland, all the way to Donegal and back down through Galway. We started in Dublin and flew back from Shannon. Highlights included the Armagh Rhymers, the Titanic Museum (the Titanic set sail from Belfast), two speakers in Derry (one Catholic, one Protestant who both lost brothers on Bloody Sunday when the British murdered unarmed citizens of Northern Ireland), so this was a thoughtful episode. Not sure if the Catholics and Protestants will ever reconcile. The Donegal Lough Eske Castle hotel was EXTRAORDINARY and the staff greeted us ala Downton Abbey waving in their uniforms from the front steps!

 

Travelled with my best banjo buddy Lauren O'Donnell Weinstein from Florida and we visited her ancestral O'Donnell castles. She celebrated her birthday on the Aran Island! Fish and chips in Killybeggs, one of the best places in Ireland for fish and chips (I had hake). Awesome boat ride to Inishmore, an Aran island, where I bought an Aran sweater. Finishing in Galway with a house concert on the Burren. The Euro exchange in the Republic of Ireland ranged from $.97 to $1.07, so a great bargain for us Yanks. EVERY night there was a concert with Mick, Brenda and his friends, including several that included the Irish Uillean pipes. The food in Ireland is farm to table and presentations are beautiful.

​

I stayed in the same Old Ground Hotel where we stayed last year and the lovely gray and white cat is still in residence! It has a home in the double doors between the lobby. It is well fed, did not care for the leftover salmon plate I brought it. Very pet-able.

​

Fabulous farm to table food. Best seafood chowders, best Guinness brown bread.

​