in order to see Ireland in a detailed perspective you really need to rent a car and drive around. Every time you stop in a town you need to go to a pub and talk with people. People are very welcoming and you will get a good glass of Guinness wherever you go.
Listowel and John B. Keane
I didn’t know who Keane was but when I got into town and went to the pub people explained his literary creations.
Portumna castle
Ennis
The vertical lines indicate the corner of a stone. So a letter written on the left side of the corner is a different letter from the one written on the right side of the corner or one which goes through the corner.This is a member of the OPW (office of public works) showing me one of the stones with an example of the alphabet on the stone. OPW is the nationwide government organization dedicated to restoring and maintaining historical sites. You can get one of their cards which allows you to visit all of the sites for one year and it’s a very reasonable price. If you’re going to stay more than two weeks then I really recommend getting one of those cards to save some money if you intend to visit historical sites. Eamon was Prime Minister for many years but he was also one of the members of the 1916 uprising. This is the story of the Buick he brought from the US and used for official occasions after he became Prime Minister.
on to Limerick
A perfect pour every time. I spilled a little on the way back to the tableA harp recital to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day Outside King John’s Castle a group of dancers gathered A fellow in the pub indicated I needed to listen to this song
two days before St. Patrick’s Day in Limerick
Of course the Pipers were there Daniel O’Connell statue people lining the streetIn Ireland people like to buy small cars for economy and to fit the narrow roads. In Thailand everybody wants to have a big truck or SUV even if they can’t afford it The cleaning crew after the parade A restaurant called Wokking had some fairly good noodles since it’s a Chinese restaurant, basically. However they had no sauces at all which is very strange for a Chinese restaurant so I could not give it a really high rating.And of course you need to have gelato every day
The still house. The place to come for music in LimerickJust approve I was here This is an interesting solution. Since Covid it’s difficult to get people to work in hospitality especially in cleaning. This hotel, the George, gives you five euro a day each day you do not use the cleaning for the room. This can be used in the restaurant downstairs. This benefits the hotel since it cuts down on the need for cleaning crew, it benefits the customer and it also benefits the restaurant since a large number of Hotel customers don’t use the hotel restaurant. The hotel restaurant was all decked out in St. Patrick’s Day decorations Saint Mary’s The pre-Latin written language, Ogham, a clever series of strokesI thought this was interesting since after Henry VIII the churches were modified for the protestant Bent, the Church of England and they were called “the Church of Ireland“.King John’s Castle This castle was built after King John’s reign but named for him Excavating the Norman portion of the castle This fellow is named Ocean. He plays the harp and he explains the traditions and so forth of Ireland.
Ocean explained the Ogham system of writing which is a series of strokes or lines. In the very north of Ireland, in Donegal, there is a standing stone with this old writing on it. It was deciphered. He explained it has the traces of the Irish sarcastic humor. It says, “turn around“.
The old Norman portion of the cast The festivities begin in Arthur’s Quay Park She is Patricia to celebrate Paddy’s day I met some interesting people to chat with hereAnd of course another perfect PourAll lined up and ready to be topped offIt’s nice to see English is taught properly An old store, green grocer and news agent At Doolan’s pub the Kilkennys were playingAnd then a small group of experienced musicians and singers playing for the pub goers How do you spell day? It doesn’t really matter. It’s not a language clock, it’s a time clock. I guess somewhere you punch your time card.The deep diving outfitA very skillful man Take me back to my childhood The shopping District in Limerick A little humor If you want a clean undertaking this place looks very spic and spanBeautiful graffiti It is this organization that Frank McCourt’s mother used to get charity from as you will find from reading the book “Angela’s ashes“.
““Angela’s ashes”. This book is an accounting of Frank McCourt’s childhood in Limerick and his house is a tourist attraction but it’s not really his house it’s just a museum. If you happen to be interested in this book which some describe as dark and dismal”Angela’s ashes“. This book is an accounting of Frank McCourt’s childhood in Limerick and his house is a tourist attraction but it’s not really his house it’s just a museum. If you happen to be interested in this book which some describe as dark and dismal. Get the audiobook version in which Frank McCourt himself does the reading, narration. If you do that you will encounter Irish humor as he reads it and understand that part of the culture and why he words it the way he does but it must be through his reading that you get this humor.
This was the pizza that only cost me €3.50 because of my five eurocoupons for not requesting the room cleaningAdd to now you can see the “Codfather”. Go to the Still house pub at about seven or 8 PM and you might bump into the 87-year-old Paddy Fish.
Nengha
The birds started nesting
Terryglass
Some of these boats at the harbor needed some repair A beautiful swan on the lake The garden at the church with some religious flexibility Look at these decorations. I would never expect to see gremlins or fairies here
Portumna
This is the castle which is fairly interesting but has been greatly renovated since most of the large large houses in castles fell into repair at different times in the past eight centuries. Many large estate homes after the revolution were burned by the army in order to discourage the England affiliated wealthy from continuing their power in the country.
I saw some people posting somewhere that the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Limerick we’re not what they used to be. I’m sure things have changed but what was interesting was the participation. You would see many young people and kids with their own groups and self created decorations among the groups marching in the parade. This gave it a very family oriented feeling as opposed to the very commercialized in giant St. Patrick’s Day parades in some places in the world. It was a very fun and refreshing treat to be in Limerick on this day.
I saw this group since it was in my hotel bar after all the other events of the daySt. Michaels Catholic ChurchVery close to the milk market. A funny name for a place
The milk market
This is very much a university town and these were university students at the milk market eventSome of them had painted faces All the local characters showed up including Donald Duck This is what the milk market used to look like
the parade
The whole family came to watch the parade Just to prove I was there The kids were having a lot of fun Different military groups were marching The ambulance brigade These are the water rescue people Dive team I think this was the Japan Ireland friendship group Red Cross The suicide prevention people are very organized in Ireland I’m not sure what this group was but they were very colorful The Indian Association The Palestinians The kids would come by and want to slap hands. It was definitely a thing with the kidsA Limerick music group The swimming club The Ukrainians were there as well This group brought their own boat Jong athlete support group The Nepalese group The Nepalese really had an interesting costume A kids rugby group It looks like some high school kids from Missouri showed upThe Philippine group This was the karate kids Here comes the characters from the university kids Even Captain America showed up Toy story and Spider-Man I had this at the still house which is a nice rowdy local pubMusic at the still houseThey played a rebel song to the tune of “Roddy McCorley “Some people are just having fun dancingOf course I had to go listen to a harp concert at King John’s CastleA very crowded pub near King John’s Castle Near the old city wall The quiet man was a movie with John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara and Barry Fitzgerald. It was playing on the Hotel bar screenBack at the bar listening to the music
I was coming into Limerick a few days before St. Patrick’s Day to prepare for the celebration and to look around the town and find some pubs with some good music. I was overwhelmed with the interesting people, music, conversation and activities in town. One thing that amazed me is there are a large number of barbershops when 50 years ago there were only two. Walking around for one hour I passed 20 of them.
The Irish flag was fashioned in the later 1800s when a famous fellow went to France and was enamored with the French flag and the motto which many people I met no very well, Liberté, égalité, fraternité (liberty, equality, fraternity)
Killaloe
An old church Brian was a Chieftain in the 1200s and his future relatives became the O’Brien‘s since the name meant “of Brian” or ““son of Brian”.”son of Brian“.Ponte Vecchio had some pretty nice pizzaThis is also the famous title of a movie with Liam Neeson. A lot of of the story is pretty much the same as the movie but I looked at the movie information and it does not say it is based on this book. But Liam, as you will know, is Irish and this book is written by an Irish fellow. A view of the canal Again, the texture of the water was just so interestingThe national flag along the bridge It’s a nice view from the bridge in this cute small town The guest house I stayed in won the first prize in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in their small town
Ennis
A very delicious vegetables
Ennis Friary
There is not much left of this friary since it was abandoned several hundred years ago and then used again in the late 1800s.
Clare Museum
In this town also is the county museum. What was really interesting was this Buick which Eamon de Valera, the longest serving president off and on in Ireland, purchased in the US and brought to Ireland and used for official occasions. This Buick is sometimes used in parades but it seems it may have been retired a few years ago.This history is a little bit difficult to read but he is from this area. As you may well know he was against the treaty signed with the British government for the free state of Ireland. It was granted its own ability to govern itself but under the king of England. And the north was kept as part of the United Kingdom. He vehemently opposed anything less than a complete, independent republic and fought against the treaty and caused the Civil War after the treaty was signed.
I’m not quite sure who these forks and spoons were left for. Maybe there are spirits who need to cut a good piece of beef for the main course and use the spoons for some soup.Many named Patrick in Ireland are known as PaddyFor an abandoned Abby this is an amazingly well cared for graveyardI was wondering if this is the famous Finnegan from the book Finnegan‘s awake by James JoyceSome old remaining artwork
