This morning we were all up early, as it was a "moving day". We had our final breakfast at the Nuremore Hotel and the porters had brought down our luggage and loaded it on to our coach. We headed north into the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Northern Ireland where not only the atmosphere changes but so does the currency. No more Euros for now, we are using the Sterling pound.
Once we cross the invisible border, we leave behind kilometers and we are back to miles. We arrived at the Ulster American Folk Museum in Omaha, Co. Tyrone situated on the original property of the Mellon family, as in Carnegie Mellon. Andrew Mellon left this homestead in 1721 and arrived in Pennsylvania with his family. They were poor farmers but his mother recognized his potential, packed him off to school and after becoming a lawyer, he eventually got into the banking business and you know the rest.
It was very interesting, we got to see re-enactments of blacksmiths in a forge, weavers making cloth, shop keepers selling the wares of the periods of the 18th and 19th centuries. At one point we boarded a ship bound for America, saw what the passenger quarters were like and then disembarked onto American soil to see what the Irish emigrants saw when they arrived in the New World. All of the little cottages and work shops had turf fires burning and as our weather was drizzling rain and damp, it could not have been more appreciated.
We had a nice lunch in the museum's cafe and then headed further north into the City of Derry, the second largest city in N. Ireland. We are staying at the City Hotel on the bank of the river Foyle which flows through the city out into the North Atlantic Ocean. The river divides the city and the two communities of Catholics on one side and Protestants on the other. The city has suffered through the "Troubles" which boiled over in the North in the 1960's until th Good Friday Peace Agreement in 1993. There still remains the spectre of sectarianism in the North and we can only hope peace will prevail.
We checked into the hotel and wouldn't you know I was given the Presidential Suite. Finally my state in life has been recognized! We had a nice dinner this evening and about twelve of us went to a local pub to listen to Irish traditional music. I stayed about an hour and came back to my palatial suite to write to you all. Another full day, and everyone has declared they are having a wonderful time.
Tomorrow we have a walking tour of Derry's Walls and some of the interesting and historical sites in the area before I plan a couple of surprises in the afternoon, weather permitting....see you later...time for my bath, massage and peeled grapes, yeh right...
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
April 24th
Toay was what we refe to as a "moving day", getting luggage down from rooms to the bus by the porters and having our last breakfast at the Nuremore Hotel.
Our tour today was to take us north into the United Kingom of Great Britain known as Northern Ireland. For me personally, the world changes as we pass across the border, where for almost twenty five years there has been no barricades, road blocks, police or soldiers manning the crossing points from the Republic into the North. I don't have these feelings when I'm in England, it has to do with the fact that historically, our island of Ireland has been divided and ruled for so long by the Crown of England, but the land belongs to Ireland. The North, since 1921, has been partitioned from the Republic because the ruling class Unionists and their followers refused to be a part of Ireland as one country, hence the name Unionist with the UK.
As many of you know the "Troubles" boiled over in the 1960's and it was not until 1993 that the "Good Friday" Peace Agreement brought a continued peace to this day, that still delicately holds the Catholic and Protestant communities together. Time will still tell.
We arrived at the Ulster American Folk Park in Omaha, Co. Tyrone where we were treated to live demonstrations of Irish life in the 18th and 19th centuries. Why emigration took so many Irish people from all parts of Ireland to the United States in those days. We saw a blacksmith hammer horse shoes into shape, weavers making cloth, shop keepers selling the wares of the time. All of these old homes were on the site of the original Andrew Mellon's, as in Carnegie Mellon, family home.
Our tour today was to take us north into the United Kingom of Great Britain known as Northern Ireland. For me personally, the world changes as we pass across the border, where for almost twenty five years there has been no barricades, road blocks, police or soldiers manning the crossing points from the Republic into the North. I don't have these feelings when I'm in England, it has to do with the fact that historically, our island of Ireland has been divided and ruled for so long by the Crown of England, but the land belongs to Ireland. The North, since 1921, has been partitioned from the Republic because the ruling class Unionists and their followers refused to be a part of Ireland as one country, hence the name Unionist with the UK.
As many of you know the "Troubles" boiled over in the 1960's and it was not until 1993 that the "Good Friday" Peace Agreement brought a continued peace to this day, that still delicately holds the Catholic and Protestant communities together. Time will still tell.
We arrived at the Ulster American Folk Park in Omaha, Co. Tyrone where we were treated to live demonstrations of Irish life in the 18th and 19th centuries. Why emigration took so many Irish people from all parts of Ireland to the United States in those days. We saw a blacksmith hammer horse shoes into shape, weavers making cloth, shop keepers selling the wares of the time. All of these old homes were on the site of the original Andrew Mellon's, as in Carnegie Mellon, family home.
Monday, April 23, 2018
April 23rd
Another early morning started with a delicious breakfast with the group and we boarded our coach and drove to Lough Crew Cairns or burial tombs near Oldcastle, Co. Meath. We had about an hour drive which is why I chose the Nuremore Hotel for it's location in the North Midlands. Our driver, Paul, said I should write a book called "Ken O'Malley's Backroads of Ireland" as I have him driving all over the place.We arrived at Lough Crew House and Gardens and I gave the lady, Noleen, in the cafe 50 Euros to borrow the key for the tomb we were going to visit, sounds like King Tut...that was a deposit to make sure I returned it. She told us to drive up the road about a mile and take the first left turn, which we did and I was quite happy when we were able to drive the bus all the way up to a parking lot. Little did we know that it was a two mile walk up a steep hill to 8oo ft elevation, that's 150 feet higher than Trump Tower in New York, whereupon we arrived at the top of the world in that area. We could see for about fifty miles in every direction. They said you could see seven counties in all directions. The view was amazing and worth the hike, though several of our group did not make the summit.
The cairn is 5000 years old and the surrounding area had mini Stonehenge circles. It was very chilly up there but Ken O'Malley luck held and it did not rain, we were blessed. Only two or three at a time could enter the cairn and the carvings on the stones were clearly visible, it had a very spiritual vibe.
We trecked all the way back down and drove back to the cafe for coffee, scones, fresh whipped crem and local raspberry jam, perfect after the hike. Noleen asked me asked if we wanted to check out the gardens but I told her we had walked enough today....four miles up and back.
We trecked all the way back down and drove back to the cafe for coffee, scones, fresh whipped crem and local raspberry jam, perfect after the hike. Noleen asked me asked if we wanted to check out the gardens but I told her we had walked enough today....four miles up and back.
We got back on the coach and the heavens opened, it started to lash rain, timing is everything. I planned on us spending some time in the old town of Kells about a half hour drive north on the way to the hotel. Some of the group needed to hit the ATM and the Bank for cash. I walked around a bit by myself and everyone else took time out to browse the shops and pubs. I visited an old church where Oliver Cromwell, that bastard who slaughtered the Irish in the mid 17th century, stabled his armies horses in and around that church. There is a round tower dating from the 10th century behind the church and that was quite impressive, still in one piece.
We headed back to the hotel and I believe most of us had a lie down before dinner after our busy day.
Sunday, April 22, 2018
Ken O'Malley Tour 2018
April 22,
Well, here we are in beautiful Ireland again. Our group is twenty people plus our driver Paul, from Westport, Co. Mayo where my father came from. This again, is a land only tour, which means everyone arranges their own airfares and I take care of everything else to do with the trip. Some people arrived a day or two early and several are staying on after our tour finishes at Dublin Airport on Sunday. The good news is....everybody arrived safely and on time.
We met Paul with our luxury coach at the airport and headed north west to Co. Monaghan and the town of Carrickmacross. we are staying the first three nights in an old vintage hotel called the Nuremore Spa Hotel and Country Club, there is an eighteen hole golf course attached to the property. Too bad, I won't have time for a round.
We arrived around 4:30pm and checked into our rooms, then met in the bar for drinks before dinner. Our rooms have beautiful views of the lake and surrounding countryside. I asked for an upgrade and they gave me an executive suite with a butler/valet....just kidding about the butler. It's a lovely hotel. There was a wedding on yesterday and the parade of dresses and hats was very impressive.
We sat for dinner at 7pm and unfortunately, it seemed to take forever and we were all really tired. However, the food absolutely made up for the wait and confit of duck to start, followed by braised local lamb shank and my apple crumble with berries was divine. Most everyone trooped off to be by 10:30, though some of the ladies went into down prowling for young men. I was in bed by 11 and passed out immediately.
April 23
I told everyone last night "8:30 for breakfast and we're out of here for our day trip at 9:45", well that sounded good until we were delayed by one of the group who ended up not joining us after all. We arrived at Trim Castle around 11am and had the full tour. This castle was built by the Norman Lord Hugh DeLacey in 1171 and the third final story was added by his grandson in 1203. It is the largest and one of the first Norman castles built in Ireland and has a very colorful history, from assasinations to sieges and all kinds of mayhem. The group loved it, I will post photos.UIKEYINPUTUPARROW
After Trim we drove to the Hill of Tara, also in Co. Meath where the ancient High Kings were crowned and saw the Stone of Destiny, which supposedly cried out three times if the new King was genuine...it's one of Ireland's most visited sites and includes stories of ancient Pagan history, spiritual ceremonies and more modern 19th century political rallies....best of all it never rained anytime we were visiting the sites. Bright and sunny most of the day.
We headed back to our hotel and arrived about 5:30. Dinner was at 7 and this evening I had a lovely salmon dish with a decadent warm chocolate cake and sauce and ice cream for desert. Tonight I sang songs between courses and finished off with a few after dinner. Jet lag setting in for most of the group so a lot of them retired right away. I met some old friends who popped in from a town about twenty five miles away in Northern Ireland and we stayed up a bit and talked. They lived for a long time in Orange County but retired home about seven years ago.
We've another early start tomorrow, going to the Louth Crew Neolithic burial tombs. I'll catch up tomorrow night....
After Trim we drove to the Hill of Tara, also in Co. Meath where the ancient High Kings were crowned and saw the Stone of Destiny, which supposedly cried out three times if the new King was genuine...it's one of Ireland's most visited sites and includes stories of ancient Pagan history, spiritual ceremonies and more modern 19th century political rallies....best of all it never rained anytime we were visiting the sites. Bright and sunny most of the day.
We headed back to our hotel and arrived about 5:30. Dinner was at 7 and this evening I had a lovely salmon dish with a decadent warm chocolate cake and sauce and ice cream for desert. Tonight I sang songs between courses and finished off with a few after dinner. Jet lag setting in for most of the group so a lot of them retired right away. I met some old friends who popped in from a town about twenty five miles away in Northern Ireland and we stayed up a bit and talked. They lived for a long time in Orange County but retired home about seven years ago.
We've another early start tomorrow, going to the Louth Crew Neolithic burial tombs. I'll catch up tomorrow night....
Monday, April 17, 2017
Monday April 17
The morning started with a smoked salmon and cheddar cheese omelet and all the usual trimmings. I'm writing these blogs since I woke up at 3:30am this morning and could not go back to sleep. I'm downstairs in the quiet of the breakfast room, it's now 6am...the birds are chirping outside but all around this 280 year old house house, nothing is stirring, not even a mouse...only the almost silent tapping of my keyboard.
After our breakfast we headed off again at 9:30 for another very long driving day. I know I pushed Paul, our driver, but he was cool...our first stop was the town of Kinsale, a two hour drive east and south to the coast. Today one of the culinary gems of Ireland but well known for its historic Battle of Kinsale in 1601, the defeat of the Irish clans by the English army ended the old Gaelic era, and began the complete colonization of Ireland by England for the next three hundred or so years. After a very pleasant walkabout we drove to Skibbereen and I shared the sad moments at the Famine graveyard just outside town where there are 9-10,000 unidentified bodies of the Irish dead buried in a space half the size of a football field...or smaller. A saying is written nearby, " Never was the price of bread so cheap, and the price of human life so dear". This Irish holocaust took place between 1845 and 1850, when 1,000,000 people did and 1,000,000 + emigrated because of the Great Hunger, the potato blighted famine, the greatest human disaster of the 19th C.
We drove on to the most south westerly point of Ireland, the Mizen Lighthouse Station, a two hour drive from Skibbereen. I must say, so far, our group has been great for the duration of these last two days' drives... My cousin Stephen O'Sullivan is the manager of the Visitor Center and he was actually one of the last Irish Lights Lighhouse Keepers who worked on the Mizen Lighthouse. His mother's family, the O'Donovans, had worked as lighthouse keepers for generations, and though Stephen was born and raised in London, he got the job as a very young man in the early 70's.
Unfortunately, Stephen was unable to meet our group but much to my amazement his twin sister Anne, flagged down our bus outside the village of Goleen nearby, where their family have lived for generations, I didn't even know she was visiting her own home for Easter, and she boarded the bus asking for me...we have not seen each other in over ten years and our reunion was magic. She and her husband Chris got to meet Rory and they invited us back to stay with them anytime...what a treat.
Now for the real information ... I can only tell you all that the scenery down around the Mizen Lighthouse , Goleen, Barleycove and Glengarrif has got to be the most breath taking in all of Ireland....and I had never ever been there before. Karen, from Long Beach, who initiated the tour as a trip to her immediate family, and welcomed anyone else who wished to join us, had specifically asked to visit Kinsale...this prompted me to visit a lifelong wish, Mizen Head and my God was it worth it...a very long drive down the Bantry Bay peninsula but....beauty beyond my imagination. Everybody, despite the ten hour day tour were so impressed.
We returned to Kenmare in less than two hours and headed into town to grab a bite. Many of us assembled in McCarthy's Pub for a bite...Rory had a delicious local wild salmon dish in a veloute sauce, I had the stuffed leg of pork, unfortunately I think it was probably prepared on Holy Thursday last and reheated last evening. I could have used it to resolve my shoes but you win a few etc...
We came back to the Lodge and I sang for about an hour again by he fire in the parlor and we all retired once again around midnight. As it is now 6:20 am on Tuesday, I'm signing off and will go upstairs to his Lordship's room and see if I can't grab 40 winks ! It's a moving day today, we are packing up and driving north west to the Cliffs of Moher in Clare and on up o Westport for the next three days....catch you all later...
The morning started with a smoked salmon and cheddar cheese omelet and all the usual trimmings. I'm writing these blogs since I woke up at 3:30am this morning and could not go back to sleep. I'm downstairs in the quiet of the breakfast room, it's now 6am...the birds are chirping outside but all around this 280 year old house house, nothing is stirring, not even a mouse...only the almost silent tapping of my keyboard.
After our breakfast we headed off again at 9:30 for another very long driving day. I know I pushed Paul, our driver, but he was cool...our first stop was the town of Kinsale, a two hour drive east and south to the coast. Today one of the culinary gems of Ireland but well known for its historic Battle of Kinsale in 1601, the defeat of the Irish clans by the English army ended the old Gaelic era, and began the complete colonization of Ireland by England for the next three hundred or so years. After a very pleasant walkabout we drove to Skibbereen and I shared the sad moments at the Famine graveyard just outside town where there are 9-10,000 unidentified bodies of the Irish dead buried in a space half the size of a football field...or smaller. A saying is written nearby, " Never was the price of bread so cheap, and the price of human life so dear". This Irish holocaust took place between 1845 and 1850, when 1,000,000 people did and 1,000,000 + emigrated because of the Great Hunger, the potato blighted famine, the greatest human disaster of the 19th C.
We drove on to the most south westerly point of Ireland, the Mizen Lighthouse Station, a two hour drive from Skibbereen. I must say, so far, our group has been great for the duration of these last two days' drives... My cousin Stephen O'Sullivan is the manager of the Visitor Center and he was actually one of the last Irish Lights Lighhouse Keepers who worked on the Mizen Lighthouse. His mother's family, the O'Donovans, had worked as lighthouse keepers for generations, and though Stephen was born and raised in London, he got the job as a very young man in the early 70's.
Unfortunately, Stephen was unable to meet our group but much to my amazement his twin sister Anne, flagged down our bus outside the village of Goleen nearby, where their family have lived for generations, I didn't even know she was visiting her own home for Easter, and she boarded the bus asking for me...we have not seen each other in over ten years and our reunion was magic. She and her husband Chris got to meet Rory and they invited us back to stay with them anytime...what a treat.
Now for the real information ... I can only tell you all that the scenery down around the Mizen Lighthouse , Goleen, Barleycove and Glengarrif has got to be the most breath taking in all of Ireland....and I had never ever been there before. Karen, from Long Beach, who initiated the tour as a trip to her immediate family, and welcomed anyone else who wished to join us, had specifically asked to visit Kinsale...this prompted me to visit a lifelong wish, Mizen Head and my God was it worth it...a very long drive down the Bantry Bay peninsula but....beauty beyond my imagination. Everybody, despite the ten hour day tour were so impressed.
We returned to Kenmare in less than two hours and headed into town to grab a bite. Many of us assembled in McCarthy's Pub for a bite...Rory had a delicious local wild salmon dish in a veloute sauce, I had the stuffed leg of pork, unfortunately I think it was probably prepared on Holy Thursday last and reheated last evening. I could have used it to resolve my shoes but you win a few etc...
We came back to the Lodge and I sang for about an hour again by he fire in the parlor and we all retired once again around midnight. As it is now 6:20 am on Tuesday, I'm signing off and will go upstairs to his Lordship's room and see if I can't grab 40 winks ! It's a moving day today, we are packing up and driving north west to the Cliffs of Moher in Clare and on up o Westport for the next three days....catch you all later...
Sunday April 16
Breakfast, prepared by our hostess Maura and her staff, can only be described as a little bit of Heaven to start the day. Besides the usual hearty Irish fry up breakfast, Maura provides many delicious treats and options. We started with local yogurt, local honey and shaved almonds, followed by, for myself Dover sole on the bone....OMG...Rory had a huge plate of bangers, rashers, puddings and eggs..terrific breads and toast with lashings of tea and coffee...what a start to our day, to be repeated daily..
We left the house at 9:30am and drove to Killarney for Easter Sunday mass at the cathedral, built in the mid 19th C. Less than an hour later the non-believers and heathens joined us back on the bus and we headed off for the Ring of Kerry. No rain at all and the sun broke through several times as the day itself was very mild, about 52 degrees. As always the scenery is splendid and we stopped regularly for photos. Lunch in the charming village of Sneem, pronounced "Schneem" was the best chowder ever...Rory had bought two baguettes with two lovely cheeses for sampling later, at a bakery, and left the bloody stuff in the restaurant behind us...too bad, local cheeses...the food here in Ireland is amazing...a long way from the bacon and cabbage days.. It was a long day and an hour later we were back in Kenmare about 6pm. We had a dinner reservation for everyone at Packy's Restaurant in town, and though a bit pricey was fantastic by everyone's account. Rory had the roasted cod in lemon butter and I had the halibut special, it was as tender as anything and perfectly cooked.
I regaled everyone later with an impromptu concert back at the Lodge for about an hour and all headed for bed just about midnight. I slept the sleep of the Gods...
Breakfast, prepared by our hostess Maura and her staff, can only be described as a little bit of Heaven to start the day. Besides the usual hearty Irish fry up breakfast, Maura provides many delicious treats and options. We started with local yogurt, local honey and shaved almonds, followed by, for myself Dover sole on the bone....OMG...Rory had a huge plate of bangers, rashers, puddings and eggs..terrific breads and toast with lashings of tea and coffee...what a start to our day, to be repeated daily..
We left the house at 9:30am and drove to Killarney for Easter Sunday mass at the cathedral, built in the mid 19th C. Less than an hour later the non-believers and heathens joined us back on the bus and we headed off for the Ring of Kerry. No rain at all and the sun broke through several times as the day itself was very mild, about 52 degrees. As always the scenery is splendid and we stopped regularly for photos. Lunch in the charming village of Sneem, pronounced "Schneem" was the best chowder ever...Rory had bought two baguettes with two lovely cheeses for sampling later, at a bakery, and left the bloody stuff in the restaurant behind us...too bad, local cheeses...the food here in Ireland is amazing...a long way from the bacon and cabbage days.. It was a long day and an hour later we were back in Kenmare about 6pm. We had a dinner reservation for everyone at Packy's Restaurant in town, and though a bit pricey was fantastic by everyone's account. Rory had the roasted cod in lemon butter and I had the halibut special, it was as tender as anything and perfectly cooked.
I regaled everyone later with an impromptu concert back at the Lodge for about an hour and all headed for bed just about midnight. I slept the sleep of the Gods...
Saturday April 15
My trip this year started out with a minor heart attack when I left my very expensive 1919 Gibson A4 mandolin on the sidewalk out side the Aer Lingus terminal at LAX in Los Angeles. My manager Chris had just dropped one of my fellow travelers, Eva, who had flown in the day before from Phoenix, and I at the airport and after hugs and good byes, I walked in to the check in only to receive a phone call and instantly panic realizing my mandolin was not with me. I rushed out and thre was Chris frantically trying or reach me...I thought what a possible nightmare start to the trip...all is well.
Everybody showed up, all fifteen who were flying with me, eight more were making their own way to Dublin from scrawl other different parts of the US. After a long but not too arduous flight, ten hours direct to Dublin everybody met up in Dublin Airport, we met our new driver Paul and off we went. We picked up my son Rory in the city, he had flown over days earlier and had retrieved my Martin guitar which I leave with one of my brothers in Dublin.
We drove south west for four hours to the beautiful town of Kenmare, Co. Kerry for the first three days of our tour and arrived about 7:30pm at our two side by side guest houses. Our principal guesthouse here is the Shelburne Lodge, built in the 1730's for Lord Shelburne who built the town of Kenmare to support his vast estates, he signed the Treaty of Paris ending the US British Revolutionary War and went on to become Prime Minister of England in the 1780's... I believe I have his Lordship's room, naturally....the house is extremely charming and took six years to completely restore by the present owners. Due to our number, several are staying at the equally lovely "The Lodge" next door.
We went up to the nearby Lansdowne Hotel to the the Poets's Bar for a lovely dinner at about 9pm. Rory and I both had incredible "locally raised" lamb shanks... We listened to a bit of traditional music and all retired for the evening.
My trip this year started out with a minor heart attack when I left my very expensive 1919 Gibson A4 mandolin on the sidewalk out side the Aer Lingus terminal at LAX in Los Angeles. My manager Chris had just dropped one of my fellow travelers, Eva, who had flown in the day before from Phoenix, and I at the airport and after hugs and good byes, I walked in to the check in only to receive a phone call and instantly panic realizing my mandolin was not with me. I rushed out and thre was Chris frantically trying or reach me...I thought what a possible nightmare start to the trip...all is well.
Everybody showed up, all fifteen who were flying with me, eight more were making their own way to Dublin from scrawl other different parts of the US. After a long but not too arduous flight, ten hours direct to Dublin everybody met up in Dublin Airport, we met our new driver Paul and off we went. We picked up my son Rory in the city, he had flown over days earlier and had retrieved my Martin guitar which I leave with one of my brothers in Dublin.
We drove south west for four hours to the beautiful town of Kenmare, Co. Kerry for the first three days of our tour and arrived about 7:30pm at our two side by side guest houses. Our principal guesthouse here is the Shelburne Lodge, built in the 1730's for Lord Shelburne who built the town of Kenmare to support his vast estates, he signed the Treaty of Paris ending the US British Revolutionary War and went on to become Prime Minister of England in the 1780's... I believe I have his Lordship's room, naturally....the house is extremely charming and took six years to completely restore by the present owners. Due to our number, several are staying at the equally lovely "The Lodge" next door.
We went up to the nearby Lansdowne Hotel to the the Poets's Bar for a lovely dinner at about 9pm. Rory and I both had incredible "locally raised" lamb shanks... We listened to a bit of traditional music and all retired for the evening.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
