29 May 2008

Ireland

Well here we are in Ireland at last. Spain was great, but it is a bit of a relief to be a) in a country where you can talk de talk b) where the boys can run around and wrestle with other boys and c) have people rather than places as our main destinations each day. Sorry about the large gap since our last update but we have been flat out visiting etc and don’t have the large slabs of down time where we normally do the blog.

In brief, we departed a very warm Seville and arrived in a chilly, wet and windy Dublin. Hired a car and did obligatory getting lost thing on our way to cousin Carmel’s place near Mullingar. Her and Liam have 3 boys of similar ages to ours and they are getting on famously.

Went and visited Aunty May and John on 1st day then came back here so the boys could run around some more after school. Dee and Rosarie and her daughter came over and went with Lisa to check out the hotel where we are having a get together/ combination birthday (my 40th, Paul Deegan’s 50th, Aaron Glennon’s 8th)

Niamh and Brett’s wedding was on a sunny but breezy Saturday. Everything from the priest to the venue were top shelf. Caught up with many of the relly’s including some I didn’t meet last time (Enda, Tom Toohey) and a couple I didn’t know existed (Ryans – mums cousins). The reception was at a very impressive old country manor (Middleton House) which we took over. The wedding was typical of one of our family weddings in that it was a fantastic evening. The boys had a ball as well – Eamon in the games room and Riley watching (and filming) the adults at play and having a dance with assorted aunties and others. When I put them to bed around 1.30 , Riley thanked me for being Irish! A group of us were still singing and drinking shots with the bride at 5 am the next morning. Niamh’s dress looked like she had been cutting peat in it by the end of the night. It was great craic all round.

Got up gingerly on Sunday morning. Everyone seemed in good enough shape but sleep deprived. We had foolishly organized to go over to May’s for Sunday lunch (not thinking that we would pull an allnighter), so we headed over to her instead of to bed where we should have gone after checking out. Got about an hour nap back at Carmel’s before we headed off to the aforementioned get together/ combination birthday at Bloomfield House. It was the perfect venue as the kids had acres to run around in while we adults (30 or more at any one time) hid inside out of the wind. Things were starting to wind down around 9 or so when Niamh and Brett and some of his entourage arrived and the whole show kicked off again. Myself and Carmel got to bed around 1 am. I think my Irish connections are trying to kill me!

Monday saw us head into Mullingar to do some shopping and emails. We then drove out to aunty Ethyl’s for lunch. Rosarie brought over uncle Pop and John (another cousin I met for the 1st time), and Frank came over later from work. Our boys were polite but very bored as we talked away for hours. We made our way over to Pops place for a look and the boys saw the extensions that their grandad built before coming to Australia. The place is a lot cleaner and neater than last time we were there as John is staying full time to care for Pop. Pop himself was surprisingly good. He looks frail but was quite chatty and seemed to follow the conversation pretty well most of the time.

Today we are heading over with our hosts to Lough Crew to have a look at one of those 5000 yr old burial chambers that the sun only shines into 1 day a year. We are going over to Dan and Rose for supper this evening and will also catch up with Ollie and his fiancé Une.

I hope that all is well over there. Mum I hope you had a great birthday and that you have a speedy recovery from your fall (which you neglected to mention when we chatted, but your nieces over here dobbed you in). Cheers
Rob

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