Week 3: Donegal, Work, A Lunchtime Hike, Meeting Casey & Max, O'Neill's Pub and Back to Cobh

Monday, July 6 (Donegal)

I extended the long weekend and took the day off. I may not return home feeling like I had a true vacation just because of how my work weeks are playing out. But a five-day weekend was pretty great!

From Mary & Alo's, we headed off for Donegal. I had it in my head that I wanted to potentially double my Irish tweed jacket collection so we headed north — the long way, of course — for Donegal town. We also had plans to return to a restaurant we hit a few years ago, the Rusty Mackerel, for the best seafood chowder. 

The drive was beautiful, the mission to purchase another tweed jacket was successful, and the chowder was as delicious as we remembered (even if the portion of fish and chips had gotten smaller). 

When we got back to the farm, we were too exhausted to venture out and go to the pub. A first for us on this trip! 

Tuesday, July 7 (Work, A Run in the Country, Clancy's in Knockvicar)

It was a bit of a frustrating day of work due to having to cancel one call, changing up another one and having another one cancelled on me. I've been mindful of scheduling my work days so that I work for half my day in the mornings, then take a chunk of time off during the middle of the day — in hopes of fitting in some sort of an adventure — and then finishing up the second half of my day so there's overlap with my west coast colleagues for calls. Today, that didn't quite work out as planned when three of my four scheduled calls got changed around for one reason or another. 

Once things went sideways a bit, I took myself out for a country run to try and make the best of it. 

In between calls, I dropped John off in town so he could watch the World Cup. When my work day wrapped up, I collected him and took him to another favorite pub of mine in the area: 

I was grateful the day ended on a nice note, by John's side in a nice pub knitting with a glass of Guinness. 

Wednesday, July 8 (Work, Mullaghgarve Mass Rock Walk, The Thatch)

Today was the kind of day I hoped to have when I envisioned working while in Ireland. I got up and had a super productive four-ish hours and then took off for a daytime adventure before heading back to the farm for another four-ish hours of work.

I looked at the saved locations in my Google Maps and found a place I had identified that was only about 35 minutes away: Mullaghgarve Mass Rock. I was promised a "gentle walk" and spectacular views. John came with me and I can't say that he loved it, but he was a good sport about it. I'd say it was a bit more strenuous than a gentle walk and the views were spectacular, although it was a bit washed out so the photos don't quite do it justice. 

The views on the way up: 

Nearly there:

Made it to the top:

Because John was such a great sport, I treated him to a 99 (my first of the trip) before going back to work for the evening. 

After wrapping up my work day, and a handful of calls, John and I headed to the Thatch. It was a nice night of music and we closed the place down around 2:00 a.m. because we got to enjoy a long chat with Gene. 

One of my favorite parts of the night was when I was looking for Gene, who had disappeared. That is not unusual. In fact, it's so par for the course. When it does happen, it could be anything: going to pick up a pint of creme, borrowing a barrel of Guinness, falling asleep in his car/house, watering the flowers, etc. As it turns out, he was being interviewed for (I believe) the Leitrim Life magazine. I ended up talking for a while with the woman who came to talk to him, sharing the story of how we met and the crazy ways that chance encounter has made my life so much more interesting than I ever could have imagined. She ended up taking a photo of the two of us, so I'll have to find out if anything I shared with her ends up in the article. 

Thursday, July 9 (Work, Mullingar to Meet Casey & Max, A Run in the Country, The Thatch)

I got in a bit of work before John and I took the train to Mullingar. Because John is of a certain age and is an Irish resident, he qualifies for the Free Travel Scheme. While I don't mind driving in Ireland, I jumped at the chance to take the train. Not only did I not have to drive, but I could get work done while en route to meet Casey and Max.

The train couldn't have been easier and more convenient. We got off in Mullingar and had a bit more than an hour to kill. I gotta say, it's a bit of an odd place. I didn't love it and I'd be fine if I never went back. But it was the perfect halfway meeting point for all of us. 

I LOVED meeting Max and getting to see Casey. It's been crazy that we haven't connected before this, but with some of Casey's travel plans and the commitments I've had since being here, this was the best we could do. 

We walked around town, I stopped into the best toy store with the most impressive collection of toy tractors and accessories, we had a weird lunch in a place that could have easily passed for a convalescent home, and then we capped off the visit with a pint (for some of us) before going our separate ways. 

I had an evening filled with calls that kept me busy right up until quitting time. Plus I had some loose ends I needed to tie up since tomorrow is a day off. 

I was a bit (read: a lot) amped up after the second half of my work day and needed fresh air desperately. John was perfectly happy at home watching TV and waiting for the World Cup game to start so, in an unusual turn of events, I went out and he stayed in.

I parked my car at the Thatch, had Gene hold onto the keys, and off I went on a 3 1/2 mile run along the country roads around Gene's house that make me so happy. I try not to stop when I run, but when I stumbled upon this scene, I just couldn't help it.

I just smiled and laughed at the scene in front of me, feeling incredibly grateful for how my evening was unfolding. 

I had a great run that landed me back at the Thatch. Although it was a quiet night, I had a nice time nursing a Guinness and knitting while chatting with the handful of people who did come in. Apart from myself and Austin, there weren't any other locals in. Which just goes to show that you just never know what a night at the Thatch is going to be like! Regardless, I was happy and made it back home just a little past midnight. (Santa Monica Molly would never go to the pub around 10:00 p.m., nor would she regularly stay out past midnight. But sure, that's just kind of how it goes here.)

Friday, July 10 (The Long Drive to Cobh by way of O'Neill's Pub in Gowran)

I knew today was going to be a long day of driving. We were considering a few different options: heading straight to Cobh (about a 3 1/2 hour drive), going to Mizen Head in West Cork to explore a new to me part of Ireland (about a 5 hour drive), or going to Cobh by way of Kilkenny so we could pop into our friend's pub in Gowran and make a stop at Nicholas Mosse Pottery (also about five hours). 

I didn't feel up to Mizen Head and I didn't have the sense to go straight to Cobh for fear of having a day without a planned adventure (could you imagine?), so we headed off for Nicholas Mosse Pottery and would then pop into James's pub just about 10 minutes down the road. I wanted to surprise him, which I knew was a bit of a gamble. But I reasoned that the trip would be a success no matter what because I'd get something from Nicholas Mosse. (I was right). 

Luckily, James was there and we had a good couple of hours visiting with him, and his girlfriend Christina, in his beautiful pub. It's the type of place you could spend hours in. A few pints in for John and a glass of Guinness in for me, we had to make a decisionsettle in for the night and find a place nearby to stay or head off for Cobh. Shockingly, we made the sensible decision and continued on our way. Mostly because starting drinking around 2:30 p.m. could only lead to one sloppy outcome. 

We left there needing some food so drove up to the filling station just up the road and split a ham and cheese sandwich and some crisps in the car before heading to Tramore to take the Copper Coast scenic route to Dungarvan and continue onto Cobh. 

It was a beautiful drive, but after leaving Elphin at 10:30 a.m. we were looking at 10 hours in the car and I was toast. Plus, Ireland is experiencing another heatwave. At one point the temperature got up to 32° C (89.6° F). So, it was roasting. Uncharacteristically, I didn't do much pulling over to take photos of the beautiful scenes along the way. But below were the few I did capture before dropping John off at the pub.

I finally made it to Catherine & Eddie's where I unloaded the car before chilling the F out — a necessity with the massive headache I was nursing. Being in the car for so long and having to concentrate so much due to all the driving, plus not a lot of water and no real meal meant I arrived to the house in quite the state. 

It was nothing a little bit of time in Catherine & Eddie's company couldn't fix. Plus the always entertaining visit from Ter. 

It was a very good day, as I knew it would be, but by the end of it I knew I'd need a day off from being in the car tomorrow. 

John and I have one week left on our month-long trip home. The length of this visit means I'm not feeling all sorts of depressed about having just one week left. While I don't feel relaxed and restored, I still feel happy and grateful. This last week will be filled with a little bit of work, more exploring and plenty of time with friends and family. There's truly nothing to complain about. 

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A Sunday Spin to Galway and a Mini Pub Crawl

When our plans went a little sideways, we needed to come up with a new plan to reconnect. There were a couple options on the table: I drive down to Cobh and we spend a few days down there or John takes the bus somewhere for me to collect him. Either John was spending about 3 1/2 hours on a bus or I'd be spending the same amount of time in the car. John was very gracious about the time I've spent driving and he offered to take the bus to me. We compromised and I offered to collect him in Galway. So Sunday morning, I took off giving myself plenty of time to pull over and take photos anytime I felt inspired. While John is also very gracious about letting me do this when we're together, I recognize that it can get to be a bit much. Here's what inspired me on the two-hour drive to Galway:

I gave myself a couple of hours in Galway so I could walk around, shop and get a latte while writing in my journal before John got in. Unfortunately, the bus driver got lost at a detour and that added about an hour onto John's already long journey. I felt bad, but put the extra time in Galway to good use. Even though the weather wasn't the best — misty and rainy the whole time — I enjoyed walking around without any time pressure.

I've spent a lot of time in Galway during my many trips to Ireland and being there made me happy as I thought back on the wonderful memories I have, especially with my friend Robin. We grew up together in Connecticut, stayed in touch after my family moved to northern New Hampshire, lost touch for several years, and then reconnected after college when Robin tracked me down after reading an article Kara wrote in Real Simple about the hike we did to scatter our father's ashes on top of Mount Lafayette. 

Robin's grandmother was born in Ireland and she secured her Irish citizenship with the plan of moving to Italy. She went on a trip to scope it out, stopped in Ireland, and came back to New York City with plans of relocation to Ireland instead. Any time I came to Ireland, Robin and I met up and had adventures that took us to Donegal, Derry, Gene's and tons of other places in between. 

This was my first time back in Galway since she moved and my God did I feel her absence and her presence. It's funny how a place can do that. I missed being in Galway with Robin but I was comforted by all the time we did spend together. 

My first stop after parking the car was to check out The Dough Bros, a pizza place that's so good, I've heard about it in the states. I got in line shortly after it opened and watched the line continue to grow as I sat and enjoyed my pizza. It was really good; I could see why it's been voted the 15th best place to get pizza in the world.

From there I wandered around, popping into shops, walking through the outdoor markets, and writing in my journal for a bit. 

When John finally got in, about an hour after he was supposed to, the plan was to go to Cong for a little adventure. It's where Ashford Castle is and where parts of The Quiet Man were filmed. It'd been many years since I'd been there and I had a nice little itinerary planned so we could explore both the castle and the town a bit. I left the choice up to John who upon seeing the weather in Galway said: "It's a c*nt of a day." So we pivoted and made other plans.

More than 15 years ago, Robin gifted me this book

Here's the description: Ireland is synonymous with pubs, traditionally the focal point of community life. Yet in 21st-century Ireland the traditional pub is rapidly disappearing.

This nostalgic tour presents pubs from all four provinces that epitomize the charm of old Ireland. They range from the richly decorated Victorian bars of Belfast and Dublin to country shop pubs that double as grocery stores. James Fennell's atmospheric photographs and Turtle Bunbury's engaging descriptions capture the essence of each pub and provide a rich chronicle of this unique facet of community life.

Here is a tribute to the way things were, a representative record of what survives and a reminder of the charm of the Irish pub.

More than 50 pubs are featured and every time I come home to Ireland, I visit ones that are in my path in my quest to try and see all that are still around. So when we cut Cong from the afternoon plans, I pointed us in the direction of Coyle & Sons. It was a beautiful pub to pop into where I enjoyed a glass of Guinness and John had a couple of pints while watching the end of the Limerick vs. Clare hurling match. 

From there I took John into Strokestown where we visited one of my favorite pubs, Anthony Beirne's. It wasn't my first visit on this trip, but it was John's. You can get petrol/diesel out front before walking into the hardware/grocery store and continue through the unassuming door which brings you into the pub. We had a chat with the current owner, Francis — who I had met the week prior — and just enjoyed being back in one another's company. 

Our third and final stop of the day was back to Cathal's (The Central Bar) where we met up with Mary & Alo and chatted with Slim (Shady) — real name Kevin — Noel, Adrian and some of the other locals. It's such a fun, low-key pub (most of the time!) and at one point, I just sat back and smiled at how my worlds were colliding.

I don't take for granted how easy it is for John to fit into my life here and how easily he gets on with my friends and vice versa. For so long, I've had this life over here that was exclusively mine and I have this life over in Santa Monica that most of my friends from here know very little about. The two didn't mix for a whole host of reasons. So it truly makes me so happy that these two parts of my life have intersected harmoniously. It's small and simple, but it's a very big and important thing for me.

After our three stop pub crawl, the night ended at the chipper. Which is always a great sign!

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