BUNRATTY CASTLE

DAY 8 – August 10th

My first order of business was to send a "Happy Birthday" e-mail to my son - which I did.

We spent the morning at The Old Rectory and were ready to get on the road for Bunratty just before 2:00 p.m. Our drive in saw mixed sun and rain, rain and rain, and then rain, mist and rain ………

On arrival to Bunratty, mom opted for the gift shop rather than touring the folk park or castle – feeling that the two and one-half hours was better spent in shopping than out in the rain poking through old, thatched cottages and wandering about a castle. It is certain that the rain was plentiful. George and I bought some mead for our duty free and then the three of us headed up the street to Blarney Woollen Mills for more shopping. We passed “Dirty Nelly’s” on the way to the Avoca shop, which unfortunately had burned down. Then it was off to dinner at the castle. We were greeted by a very funny, and if in my worldliness I was to guess, a very gay, middle-aged man, who supplied many a laugh throughout the evening with his chatter to us and his admonitions for quiet in the house while young ladies sang and music was played. We were handed a mug of mead once through the door and entertained by a violinist, harpist, and singers until it was time to be lead into the dining hall. We were lucky in our seating in that it was approximately centre and while not right at the end of the table closest to the entertainment, it afforded us a better view from the other end. Dinner was accompanied by more mead, both red and white wine, and consisted of a cream of parsnip soup, bread, ribs, chicken, potatoes, vegetables, and dessert, and, with the exception of the dessert, our only utensil was a knife (one of which found it’s way into mom’s bag as a souvenir for our trip home – can’t take your eyes off of her for a minute - let’s hope she checks it at the airport, rather than try to put it in her carry on). We finished our dinner, or rather, we had our dinner, but the portions were too large to finish, and then headed back up the street to “Dirty Nelly’s” where a young (very) man bought mom a Guinness and spent the next hour or so flirting with her (George kept his eye on him and on mom’s purse for the duration, and eventually "Andy" announced he was “off home” and left, only to return a very short time later having removed his sand-coloured jacket and instead wearing a red shirt - which perhaps may have made him look different to someone who’d been plied with Guinness, but not George and I). For our part, George and I met a couple from Shannon and had a very good chat. We were finally able to pry mom away from the pub and headed back to Croom. The retriever at the house greeted me with a wagging tail that made her entire body vibrate; however, I can’t say the same for George and mom. She lowered herself and advanced on them, growling and barking until George convinced her that she’d met them before. I think it had surprised her that I had walked a bit in past the house to her and that she, only after greeting me, noticed that in the darkness there were a couple of other humans moving about. Whatever the reason, she apparently, despite the wiggling and wagging, makes a good protector of her people. Once inside, it was a quick shower and to bed.