Over the three weeks that I've been here, I had the privilege of having a few chats with Nora about what life was like in Tullygarvan when she was younger. I've recorded these conversations so that I don't forget all the fabulous memories she has of life in those days.
Here's a link to the part where she talks about the farmhouse.
(Nora struggles a little with her hearing, and I struggle a little with the Clare accent!!)
Nora talks about the fact that the farmhouse in Tullygarvan where she now lives goes back over three generations. In fact it's quite possible that my great great grandfather lived in this very place. It was originally just one room with partitions, but later on they adapted and expanded as times allowed.
In the photo above if you look to the left of Nora, in the doorway, you can see the thickness of the walls - the white part!
Some of the things she mentions in that part of her memories is that electricity was connected when she moved there, but they only had one light - in the kitchen. The rest of the house used paraffin lamps.
Also originally the water was not connected to the house and it was only in relatively recent times that they were able to build a bathroom and a kitchen.
Here's the porch at the front of the house that she mentions
The porch at the front of the house
Here's the kitchen
Nora's kitchen
She also talks at the start about when she moved in, her mother-in-law Marie Curtin (Nee Considine) lived there with them. She said Marie's husband Austin had died quite a while before that.
Nora's husband Pat had a brother Sean and sadly he died with trouble with his lungs.
To put Nora and her husband Pat into the family tree, here's a pic of their lineage
Where Nora fits into the family tree
So Nora was the wife of Patrick Curtin. Sadly Pat died n his early 50s and left Nora with two young children (Sean and Marie) and the farm to run.
Pat's grandfather, Michael, was the brother of my great grandfather John, who emigrated to Australia.
Nora shared some memories of the jobs she had to do on the farm.
There's so much more in those interviews, but it will take more time to edit them, so that I can share parts of her story
She is an amazing lady though, to have coped with so much in her life. It was such a delight to talk to her over the past few weeks and I hope we can talk some more.
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PS Meant to add some pics of the beach today - it was a glorious day in Lahinch!
The Hawks game was on my International AFL channel today - only trouble was it was on at 4am. I thought I wouldn't bother watching it live as I could watch the replay later today. But I just happened to be awake at 4 am and thought I would do a quick score check.... Well, for once we were winning so I couldn't resist turning it on. And once I started, I had to watch it through to the end! Think I'll need an early night tonight! 😁
I didn't have a lot planned for today. It's Sunday so I thought I would go to Mass at 10 am and Marie had offered to help me with my washing again -thanks Marie! So I dropped up to her place and had a quick coffee with them and dropped my washing off.
They were on the move, because they were going to Ennis to watch Clare play Cork in another very important game in the round robin to see who represents Munster in the all Ireland finals. I chose to stay home and watch it on the TV. I'm watching it now as I write this and at half time Clare are ahead - Clare 1-13 to Cork 1-08. Hope they can keep it up.
So when I returned from Marie's I went down the beach. The tide is a long way out still...
Lahinch Beach this morning
Lahinch Beach this morning
It was the first time I had seen the lifeguards and the flags out..
Lifeguard Station
Flags on the beach
While I was on my walk, I decided I felt like some soup for lunch so I went to Val's cafe and had some lovely home made Vegie soup and soda bread.
Soup and Soda Bread
Late edit…
Clare won by one point!! 2-22-28 to Cork 3-18-27 (Goals worth 3 points)
Very exciting in the last few minutes….
So it was not a very exciting day - but it was good just to go gently after my big Galway adventure yesterday. To be honest, I don't think I"m going to go too far and wide this week. I just really want to stay in Lahinch and soak up the vibes of this place, and make the most of being here.
This time next week I'll be in Dublin.... almost ready to go home.
So I had my usual dinner at the Atlantic Hotel tonight - half serve of Roast Beef and Vegies.
Walked home along the beach..
Interesting way of placing the flags with the tide coming in!!
Tides coming in tonight
Tides coming in tonight
Tides coming in tonight
So the day started very early, but it was worth the effort of getting up that early.
Then this arvo Clare won the Hurling - so the Shannons will be happy!
It was quick visit to the Beach this morning as I had plans to go to Galway City today.
Lahinch Beach this morning
Lahinch Beach this morning
I was a bit slow off the mark this morning after my big night out but I collected a take away coffee and I was on my way.
I thought I would go up the main highway to get there and come back along the coast road but that's another story! We'll get to that later.
Map Lahinch to Galway
So the road to Galway was great - 2 lane highway all the way, once I left Ennis.
Until I got to the outskirts of Galway.... !!
I don't why on earth I decided to go to Galway on a Saturday - it was absolutely teeming with people.. bumper to bumper traffic and all the car parks were showing "Full" signs!
But I had planned to park in the Cathedral car park (where I had parked before) and I must've had someone looking after me, because I just jagged it between the people coming out from the 11 am Mass, and the people going in for the First Communion Mass at 12.30 pm.
It's definitely First Communion season right now, and Marie and Pat and family were off to Quin today for the First Communion of Pat's niece. And we had First Communion here in Lahinch two weekends ago...They must be waiting for the nice weather in May!
Anyway... I found a car park at the Cathedral, so I started my Galway City adventures there..
Here's a few pics of the Cathedral... it's a lovely Church. I didn't have much time to stay there, because all the little girls and boys were traipsing in for their big day.
Galway Cathedral
Galway Cathedral
Galway Cathedral
Galway Cathedral
Galway Cathedral
I lit a few candles there for all my friends and family who are struggling with illness atm....
Then I moved on to go into town - just a short walk away.
Over the River Corrib...
If you look very closely in both pics you will see an Angler... apparently earlier today they caught a massive big Salmon here, according to the bloke who stood beside me as I was taking it!
River Corrib
River Corrib
The last few times I've been to Galway, I seem to lose my bearings and find it difficult to return to my car. So I took special notice of the way I got into town etc... but when I came to leave, I still struggled to find my way. Had to get Google Maps out to show me where to go! The city seems to have lots of little alleyways and it's hard to line them up with where you want to go!
I started off in Eyre Square -it's also named JFK square after John F Kennedy - former US President.
Eyre Square
Eyre Square
It's a lovely green patch in the middle of the town and lots of people gather there to just sit and relax and perhaps eat their lunch etc..
While I was there, I spotted the Hop On Hop Off Bus and thought that would be a good idea to view the town as a whole. It took 45 minutes and it was great - I don't think I could've walked that far in the time I had.
Hop on Hop off Bus
Me on the Hop on Hop off Bus
The bus stopped for 5 minutes at Salt Hill, and there was a perfect view across Galway Bay
After that I went for a walk through the town. As I mentioned above the town diverges into multiple little alleyways, filled with lots of different shops. There are multiple tourist type shops full of mementos of Ireland! You will be pleased to know that I resisted everything!!! I'm not bringing back any souvenirs this time!
Galway City
Galway City
There are different quarters - the Spanish Quarter and the Food Quarter and I'm sure there are others as well....
There was also a little market - bit like the old Subi markets in Perth
Galway Markets
Galway Markets
This shop was very popular with queues inside the shop
Genuine Irish chips made with real potatoes!!
One little quirky thing they told us on the commentary on the bus was that this Church, St Nicholas, only had a clock face on 3 out of the 4 faces... because they didn't want the peasants to have the time of day...
St Nicholas Church
St Nicholas Church
So that was my day in Galway. As I mentioned above I thought I would take the coast road home and it was just lovely until I got to Ballyvaughan. I stopped there at the same little coffee shop that I had stopped at earlier in my journeys. It was lovely coffee and I was ready to resume my drive.
In theory it should've only taken about 40 minutes, but I don't know what got into my Google Maps but she was determined to take through some very obscure roads, including going up some very high hills into the mist and heavy rain which was developing by now.
I really knew where I was going more of less, but she was determined to take my via obscure roads... It eventually took me about and hour and a half from Ballyvaughan., thought quite heavy rain and mist. I'm going to have to learn to just really follow the roads I know and not be seduced by her commands! I think it calculates which route will be quickest, regardless of the state of the little roads it takes you on.
Anyway I was very grateful to get home, as I was now beginning to wilt a little after my late night last night!!!
The might Hawks are on at 4 am my time tomorrow... not sure that I will be able to watch it live.
And Marie has once again offered to help out with my washing tomorrow - these are the important things in life!!!
I had, what you would call in bus touring parlance, a relaxed start to the day today! I didn't wake up until 9 am. There was no Mass today, because I think there were a couple of funerals happening - certainly seemed to be a lot of cars at the Church in Ennistymon when I went through that village later.
So I took my time and did my walk by the sea. Tide was way out this morning. Nearly needed to walk to the US to get to the water!!!
Lahinch Beach this morning
Lahinch Beach this morning
Then I went to Val's coffee shop for my morning coffee - and that was my lucky break!
There's a lovely girl there who works as a waitress - Siobhan - and last time I was there, she was the one who directed me to the Holy Well at Kilmaley. So we started off talking about that, and how I actually had the wrong well!!! Anyway, she said she had been thinking about places I could go, and she asked me if I'd been to Dromore Wood.... to which I said no! So after chatting to her and hearing about it, it was immediately in my plans for the day. And what a bonus that was!!!
It was just glorious.... but we'll get to that in a minute!
I had mentioned to Siobhan earlier that I would like to go to Clare Abbey - which is a set of ruins outside Ennis - so she helped me plan my day where I went to the Abbey first, then on to Dromore Woods.
So here's today's map
Dromore Woods is top right of blue road
Wikipedia once again tells us a little about this Abbey .
It was the largest and most important of the Augustinian Monasteries.
Bishop Fintan Monahan has prepared an interesting video about Clare Abbey
Clare Abbey
Clare Abbey
Clare Abbey
Clare Abbey
Sad tombstone
Some tombstones were very old
Apparently this monastery lost favour with the Chieftains, as once again Wikipedia points out...
In the thirteenth century, the two leading clans of County Clare, the O’Briens and the Macnamaras, changed their family burial places to Ennis Friary and Quin Abbey. Within a few years, most of the local chieftains had abandoned the Augustinian monasteries and the monastic buildings fell into disrepair."[6]
It was interesting enough, but there were no signs with any history or telling its story. And I was the only one there!!! Bit eerie sometimes!
Anyway, I loaded up my Google Maps again and we headed for Dromore Woods.
And it was perfectly splendid!! It reminded me of Sherwood forest where Robin Hood used to hangout as he hid from the Sheriff of Nottingham! In some places it was so dense that you couldn't see very far into it....
The green colours were just outstanding - here s a few pics...
Dromore Woods
Dromore Woods
Dromore Woods Map
Dromore Woods
It is situated on Dromore Lough and it was a magical setting..
Dromore Lough
Dromore Lough
I sat on this bench to eat my sandwich which I had brought with me
Dromore Woods Bench
It was just as well I brought something with me because the visitor's centre was closed. They only open on Sunday! Lucky they had a portaloo though!!! 😁
Dromore Woods Visitors' Centre
It was so still - and once again I was the only one there. I took a little video because all you could hear was the birds... Turn your sound up and see if you can hear them too...
So that was my lovely day in the Woods. If you would like to read more, click on the this link to the Dromore Visitors Centre
So I set off for home, chuffed with my day! I came home through Corofin and I was just thinking how clever I was to feel at home on this windey little road, and then....
A little light flashed on my dash board saying my front right tyre has low pressure and I should check it... eeeekkkkk..
So, here was I in the middle of nowhere on a windey road where you couldn't stop! I eventually came to a place where I could pull in and I got out and had a look at the tyre. It didn't look too bad, but you could see it probably was a bit flatter than the others...
At this stage I was about 5 kms from the main road to Ennistymon, so I thought I would chance it and drive very slowly into Ennistymon. I made it safely and there was a petrol garage on the way in, and I asked them if they had a mechanic. They said no, but there was a place on the way out of Ennistymon, on the Lahinch Road, and he was not only a mechanic, but it was a tyre place as well....
The guy there was lovely. I took my car around the back and he checked all the tyres for me. It certainly was a bit lower, but he didn't seem too worried. He just said keep your eye on it for the next few days and see what happens. Then he re-set my dashboard, so that it didn't keep coming up again. And he didn't charge me !
God bless the man in the garage.... He wouldn't let me take his photo!!!
But here's my car in his garage...
Tyre sorted
So it wouldn't be a real Wattle Wanderings without a few dramas. And I've been very lucky so far. I was thinking of going to Galway tomorrow, but I'm not sure that I'm brave enough. It's an hour and a half journey and I would hate to get a flat whilst on the road. Might have to re-consider my options.
I'll have a look at the tyre in the morning and maybe go from there....
But thank you Jesus for getting me home safely today!!!! 🙏
Marie and I met for dinner at the Atlantic Hotel and it was our lucky night because the crowd came in and were celebrating Susie's 90th birthday.
Marie and Moira having dinner
And it was a hoot. They had some musos that played songs that I knew really well, and various people got up and sang as well.
Husband and wife musos
Marie introduced me to heaps of people, but the most famous one was Willie Daly - the Matchmaker from Lisdoonvarna! He calls himself the "last traditional matchmaker in Ireland!" Who knows what happens next!!!
