The mist burned off the foggy mountains on this early morning in Killarney. Waking up and ready to get moving, we hopped onto the N22 and headed Limerick way. After many hills and rock lined turns we reached a town called Adare. We stopped into a very cool and still operational Catholic Church from the 1200's. As we peeked in the door to see this magnificent medieval structure, a group of red uniform clad school kids blessed themselves with Holy water and ran past us inside. It was a strange connection between antiquity and youth that pervades everyday life in Ireland. Again the rain came down as we jumped into a small cafe for some Irish coffee. Back on the road, we headed to Bunratty Castle which Louise suggested after this mornings breakfast. This 15th century structure was amazing. I've been wanting to physically see a castle since I was small and now I was standing in front of one. From the guard room to the dungeon, from the great hall to the chapel... Everything had been restored to bring a reality to the distant history that we learn in school. Down the steep stone steps we crept outside to the "folk park" which is a collection of historical Irish buildings and exhibits that displayed a time long past. We had a nice pint of Guinness and some warm soup inside their pub. We visited Irish Wolfhounds, chickens, pigs, and some ducks that decided to get very friendly with each other in the barnyard area. The gnarly old trees and numbers of black sqwaking birds almost seemed to know the story of the grounds from long ago. Very much worth the visit to the old fortress.
Rolling hills, stone fences, and green pastures surrounded us as we drove from Limerick to Doolin. We travelled to todays destination up and down slim winding roads with the sea in the background. The landscape became almost surreal as we approached town. We needed no map to find the Churchfield Inn as Doolin is a small former fishing village. We were greeted by Maeve the proprietor at the door to this country b&b. This place was grand and homey. After a short walk over a stone bridge we decided to step into McGann's for a pint and some supper. The peat fireplace was lit and our table was right next to it. You can't get more authentic than this. Again, this was a great locally sourced dinner of hamburgers and chips with a bit of a gourmet flare. The bacon on the locally raised beef burger was like nothing I've seen. Absolutely brilliant in its smokiness and resembling ham actually. Enough about food.... We traveled not more than half a block to a well known pub in Doolin called McDermott's. The young guys (teenagers) up on stage were really layin down some good ceili music! Really impressive for their age.... Or any other age. After a couple pints watching them traverse musical scales more than any jam band I met the lead singer up at the bar. He asked if I would like to get up and do a song. This was a great and unexpected treat in a place so well known for traditional Irish music. I'm not as technically skilled as the session players, nor do I know many of the songs but I through down a version of The Waterboys "Fisherman's Blues" with some flute accompaniment. I was a little rusty on the tune but the guys asked me if I'd like to do another... Hmmm... Ok. I didn't expect that either. "Is this what it is?" Is the first song that came to mind so I played a shortened acoustic version. This "mini-set" was great fun and was partially captured on a really poor cell phone recording. My Flip camera was out of juice.. Ugh. The previous day I met a music supporter from Chicago at our b&b. Funny who you meet in Ireland. Well, after a few more pints and listening to the locals at the bar we wrapped up the night and got ready to head home. The place seemed to be closing up and a peculiar drunk character was asking us if we could drop him off at his house... Well, no... That was not going to happen, but it was an interesting conversation all the same. He ended up traveling to the next pub that was open and we headed back to the room for some tele....
Rolling hills, stone fences, and green pastures surrounded us as we drove from Limerick to Doolin. We travelled to todays destination up and down slim winding roads with the sea in the background. The landscape became almost surreal as we approached town. We needed no map to find the Churchfield Inn as Doolin is a small former fishing village. We were greeted by Maeve the proprietor at the door to this country b&b. This place was grand and homey. After a short walk over a stone bridge we decided to step into McGann's for a pint and some supper. The peat fireplace was lit and our table was right next to it. You can't get more authentic than this. Again, this was a great locally sourced dinner of hamburgers and chips with a bit of a gourmet flare. The bacon on the locally raised beef burger was like nothing I've seen. Absolutely brilliant in its smokiness and resembling ham actually. Enough about food.... We traveled not more than half a block to a well known pub in Doolin called McDermott's. The young guys (teenagers) up on stage were really layin down some good ceili music! Really impressive for their age.... Or any other age. After a couple pints watching them traverse musical scales more than any jam band I met the lead singer up at the bar. He asked if I would like to get up and do a song. This was a great and unexpected treat in a place so well known for traditional Irish music. I'm not as technically skilled as the session players, nor do I know many of the songs but I through down a version of The Waterboys "Fisherman's Blues" with some flute accompaniment. I was a little rusty on the tune but the guys asked me if I'd like to do another... Hmmm... Ok. I didn't expect that either. "Is this what it is?" Is the first song that came to mind so I played a shortened acoustic version. This "mini-set" was great fun and was partially captured on a really poor cell phone recording. My Flip camera was out of juice.. Ugh. The previous day I met a music supporter from Chicago at our b&b. Funny who you meet in Ireland. Well, after a few more pints and listening to the locals at the bar we wrapped up the night and got ready to head home. The place seemed to be closing up and a peculiar drunk character was asking us if we could drop him off at his house... Well, no... That was not going to happen, but it was an interesting conversation all the same. He ended up traveling to the next pub that was open and we headed back to the room for some tele....
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