October 2 Saturday - Dublin to Galway

This was our first full day in Ireland. We landed in Dublin at 7:00 am and proceeded to arrange for a rental car. The rental cars in Ireland are dispicable. Bumps and bruises over the entire skin of the car. Once we entered the motorway I sensed something amiss with the steering but wrote it off to the oddity of driving with the drivers side on the right. Anyway ... we headed for Trim and Trim Castle where we had arranged ahead of time to meet up with Paul and Trudi who were just finishing there tour of the island. We arrived in town to see them walking down the walkway. We joined them, buying a pass to visit historical sights all over Ireland. We had a delightful walk with the Ippels through the area surrounding the castle and then inside the castle courtyard itself.

Trim castle is an Anglo-Norman castle, possibly the first stone castle in Ireland. It is located about 28 miles northwest of Dublin in County Meath, along the banks of the River Boyne. Trim is, in Tom McNeill’s words, “the finest and largest castle in Ireland” (McNeill 244), and it has a reputation as the king of Irish castles. The movie Braveheart was filmed here.

We bid them a fond farewell and continued our trip westward towards Oranmore, just outside Galway. We had booked our only lodging of the trip ahead in a small B&B.

On the way, we found a small family run pub called Furey's. Very quaint and cozy with a peat fire burning to keep away the chill. You can check it out at ... http://www.ireland-guide.com/establishment/fureys_bar.5434.html . We had good sandwiches and split a pint of Guinness. Back on the M4 towards Galway.

We arrived in Oranmore early afternoon and found our way to the B&B with some help from the local travel bureau. We were welcomed by the owner and settled our belongings into quite a lovely room. The B&B was just outside town so we walked back into town looking for points or pints of interest. The B&B owner told us that the Coach House Hotel had good food and that we should check it out. We walked past a small business enclosure with several shops and checked it out. Continued on down to The Coach House Hotel and went inside just to see what kind of ambience they had. It was rather nice but we wanted to investigate all of our options. We headed further into town and found McDonagh's, a small thatched roof pub pretty much in the center of the village. Went inside and each ordered a half pint. Several locals engaged us in conversation. The friendliest, Collum, gave us all kinds of valuable information. We discussed politics, families, economics and most important ... restaurants. He gave us several options in town. But, he said, if you really want to have an experience, go to Moran's Oyster House on The Wier. You're only here once so you should try it ... it's only an 18 kilometer drive to a beautiful spot on Galway Bay. We continued talking and went to pay our bill but before we could, we learned that Collum had taken care of it and had two more half pints on their way. So we talked some more about children and family.

We left for more walking and headed back towards the B&B but not before taking a detour to the castle that was situated on the bay. It had no name and was boarded up but it had a tremendous view. Someone with some money could really do it up right. Continued our hike and both of us were ambivalent about eating out and travelling some more, especially since it was only our first day in Ireland.

Collum won out and we headed back to the B&B for a quick change of clothes. We arrived in Kilcogan and turned onto the small road heading for the bay. The hedgerowed lane was so narrow only one car could maneuver. Arrived outside Moran's Oyster Cottage and parked the car. Marlene went in to scout it out. She reappeared and was madly waving her arms which was a sure sign that we would eat here tonight. Marlene had already secured a very cozy little table built into a bump out. This was the original part of the oyster cottage and was quite small. We both sat down and ordered Galway Bay grilled oysters along with a salad that we told the waitress to have the chef make up for us. This meal was absolutely the best meal we had in Ireland. Magnificent!! If you want to read more about it check out ... http://www.ireland-guide.com/establishment/morans_oyster_cottage.3566.html .

Then there appeared to be a small group congregating inside this very small part of the establishment. It turned out that it was a group of folks who had gone to college together and had an annual get-together ... an evening of pub crawling complete with limo. There were 10 of them and once they had procurred their respective pints, a lead fellow began singing. His name was Jim, I believe, and he was the person who started almost all the songs, and then those who were able, would join in. After a couple of songs, Jim began singing The Irish Rover and we began rapping our glasses on the wooden table, keeping time with the beat of the song ... no nay never, no never no more. Soon another familiar song was started and I began singing the chorus along with the group. Before long the group asked us to join in. I remember singing The Band Played Waltzing Matilda, a song written by Eric Bogle and then The Willie McBryde song that he made famous. Jim was magnificent! He knew all the lyrics and he knew all the tunes.

Not long after we were asked to sing along, we asked them if they would like for us to sing them a song and so Marlene and I sang With Someone Like You. They loved it! We were photographed and video taped and some of the kitchen staff even emerged to see us singing. After a few more songs we sang The Storms Are On The Ocean to a receptive group.

What a wonderful time we had! What a delightful group of people. They were marvelous and most friendly to us Americans.

The evening soon started to come to an end. The group had to move on to the next pub and the limo was waiting. I exchanged email addresses with a chap, Bryan Doyle who lived in Cork. He actually invited us to his home for supper.

Before the group left however, a camera was placed on the floor of Moran's Cottage and we were all asked to circle it with arms clasped around each other. The timer was set and the camera snapped our smiling faces, 360 degrees of heartfelt fun and merriment. You can see Marlene and me on the far left. Bryan sent me the photograph titled "View From the Grave".

Note: Note that all of the folks we partied with were being ferried around using a limo. Therefore they could consume as much Guinness as they wanted. We however were made aware that police in Ireland do not take kindly to drinking and driving. Therefore Marlene and I would only ever share one Guinness. And despite that, we had a most wonderful time.