A visit to Westport encompasses many aspects of the unique history of the West of Ireland. ℘℘℘ On a clear day the panoramic vista from Sheeaune Hill on the Castlebar Road approach to Westport, Co. Mayo, is breathtaking. The town snuggles in a cosy hollow that is dominated by the pyramidal peak of Ireland's holy mountain, Croagh Patrick. Clare Island -- the reputed burial place … [Read more...] about The Jewel of the West
Travel
Never Mind the Weather!
Ireland offers a warm welcome, even in winter. Dublin: The wind and rain lashed furiously on the tarmac at Dublin Airport, rocking our Aer Lingus Airbus like a gondola exposed to the elements on a mountaintop. We hadn't packed any sun block for this post-Christmas 2000 family trip to Ireland, but no one had told us we'd be landing in the monsoon season. It had proved … [Read more...] about Never Mind the Weather!
Sweet Avondale
California redwoods in Ireland? Yes, you can find a fine grove at Avondale Forest Park in County Wicklow about an hour's drive from Dublin. Avondale, now a national historic site and home of the Irish Forest Service, was the family estate of Charles Stewart Parnell, whose brilliant career as national leader in Ireland's fight for Home Rule was wrecked by the revelation of his … [Read more...] about Sweet Avondale
The First Word:
Now and in Time to Be
"I knew that we were Irish and I knew that Irish was the best thing to be."
– Novelist Alice McDermott
℘℘℘
When I immigrated to this country I had no idea of the history of the Irish in America – indeed, I had the idea that only someone born and raised in Ireland could call themselves Irish.
A Greyhound bus ticket at a cheap student rate that lasted three months and … [Read more...] about The First Word:
Now and in Time to Be
Hibernia: South Armagh
A tourist haven? Tommy Makem thinks so and he held a festival there to prove it. ℘℘℘ June, 2000. A bus packed with American tourists pulls out of Newry and takes the road to South Armagh. On one side it passes a British army observation post, currently being dismantled. On the other, a large poster advertises the first Tommy Makem International Festival of Song, which is … [Read more...] about Hibernia: South Armagh