Malahide

Bridget, Tennille, and I took another small day trip today to Malahide Castle. It was home to the Talbot family who were a sort of royal family for nearly 800 years. The weather cooperated a little better, it was mostly sunny and only misted on and off for a little while. The town is really cute and the castle was pretty impressive. We were then going to go to the model railroad museum/children’s museum but it was closed (despite the fact that the sign on the door stated it should’ve been open, that’s Ireland for you).

Bru na Boinne, County Meath

Today Bridget, Tennille, and I decided to do a day trip to The Boyne Valley despite the extremely poor weather. On the way out to Meath, we stopped in Drogheda to see St. Oliver Plunkett’s head which is encased in a shrine in St. Peter’s Church. We then made our way to the Hill of Slane which is where St. Patrick lit the first paschal fire in direct defiance of the pagan kings at nearby Tara. Next stop was Newgrange. Newgrange is the best known Irish passage tomb said to be older than both the pyramids and Stonehenge. The tomb contains a cross shaped passage that is illuminated by the rising sun during the winter solstice. The rocks in and around the tomb contain various carvings including the tri-spiral which is one of the more recognizable Irish symbols. On the way home we stopped at The Hill of Tara which was the seat of the High King of Ireland and an ancient sacred site. The weather was total crap the whole day. It was pouring and super windy. We all came back soaking wet and muddy and with wind burn. We were all glad we went though. They were all pretty impressive sites, especially Newgrange.

Nizlopi

I dragged Tennille with me to go see Nizlopi at Whelans. I partially just wanted to go to a gig at Whelans so I could see the room where P.S. I Love You was filmed. They are a duo out of the UK and are amazing. Check them out on myspace or i-tunes.

Tommy Keeney

Cathal’s brother’s funeral was today. I have officially survived my first Irish wake and funeral. For unknown reasons, Tommy drove his jeep off of the pier in Killybegs on Sunday at high speeds. There were witnesses at the scene but the water is deep, dark, and extremely cold. Divers recovered his body about a half hour later and then they had to use a crane to remove the jeep which was then sent to be scrapped. He was pronounced dead at the scene. There was no indication that this was going to happen and nobody had any idea that anything was wrong. I think that is the hardest part for everyone right now, no one knows why. Irish wakes and funerals are pretty different from anything I’ve been to. Tommy was removed from the hospital where the post mortem was performed and taken home. He stayed there Monday and Tuesday where the wake was happening. I went up on Tuesday and went down to the house in the early evening. Cathal urged me to go say hello to his mom, Kathleen. Unbeknownst to me, Tommy’s body was in the same room. I got a little bit of a shock. They had cleared out the back bedroom and Tommy’s coffin was there against the wall. The rest of the room was lined with chairs where various family members were sitting. It was weird to me to think that he just stays in the house for two days and nights. Like if you woke up to get a glass of water, there he would be. Now, it’s not quite like that. There were a load of people that were there all night. Someone is always with the body. Another thing about Irish people is that they think everything can be made better with tea. I must’ve been asked over a hundred times if I would like a “cuppa”. They also had little silver trays of candy and cigarettes (yes, cigarettes) in various places around the house. Everyone just hangs out there for hours, I was there for five hours myself. They then have a rosary at 10 p.m. I snuck out before that. The body was then removed from the house to the church on Wednesday morning. The service was packed and there was a crowd of people outside as well. In a bit of comic relief, Tommy’s nearly 3 year old son Oisin called the priest a f!@*ing bastard when he tried to take a toy tractor out of his hands to put in the casket. Luckily everyone just kind of ignored it. Oh, did I forget to mention the amount of alcohol that was consumed on each night after the wake and funeral. Irish people must think someone’s chances of getting into heaven are directly proportional to how much alcohol you drink during their wake/funeral. So, it was pretty much totally stereotypical I guess. It’s going to be a hard winter for the Keeney’s. Christmas time is also the anniversary of Cathal’s cousin’s death. He went missing a couple of Christmases ago and was found drowned in a river. Then Oisin’s birthday is in early January and the three sisters all have babies due in January/February. Please keep the Keeney’s in your thoughts.

Introducing...Alannah Frances Cannon

Little Alannah finally made her way into the world today. She weighed 8 lbs 4 oz. The middle name is in honor of Dermot’s Dad Francis. I’m very proud of Alisha, she was a trooper through the long, long labor. She also survived the Irish healthcare system, so...props to her. Everybody is happy and healthy and as you can see, she is absolutely perfect.

Kilkenny

Tennille, Bridget and I went to Kilkenny last weekend just to get out of the city. It’s about a two hour bus trip south westish from here. Tennille and I went down on Saturday while Bridget nursed a migraine and caught up on her sleep. Friday night we stayed at Foulksrath Castle, a 16th century castle turned hostel. It’s also said to be haunted. It is about a 20 euro taxi journey from the city center but it was well worth it. I didn’t get any ghost vibes or anything and there aren’t any odd shadows in our photos. We went out to a couple of places that were recommended to us by people from work. Kilkenny is a popular place for hen and stag parties so the nightlife on the weekends is super good. The highlight of the night was Langtons, a hotel/nightclub. They had a live band for the first part of the night and a d.j. after that. It was a blast. Sunday we met up with Bridget and had some brunch at the Marble City Tea Room...delicious. Then we checked in to our new hostel for the night, Mac Gabhainns Backpackers Hostel. This one was right in the city center. Very nice. They gave us the four bedded en suite to ourselves so it didn’t even really feel like a hostel. We then did the obligatory Kilkenny Castle tour. It was really good. They also have a small art gallery in the basement which had a super awesome show going on, it was the art of Atsushi Kaga (www.atsushikaga.com). It’s the kind of art that’s right up my alley. There are loads of cute little boutiques in the city so we did some shopping for the rest of the afternoon. We had some really good meals too. I didn’t want to leave on Monday. It’s the kind of place that I could see myself living in. Good shopping, good eats, good nightlife, small town feel. See my photos in the Kilkenny link above.
On a sad note, Bridget bought her plane ticket home. She goes for good on November 11th. It’s a long and complicated story but the gist is she hates work enough to go back home. We’ll be very sad to see her go. Tennille will be taking over her room at least.
Happy Birthday Chandra (I bought her New Kids On The Block tickets for me and her in January)!