The Christy Moore experience in Puckane

Wednesday March 26
Time to leave Inis Mor, the greatest place on Earth. We catch the ferry to Rossavaeal and bus to Galway. We are looking forward to spending time in Galway with plans to have a long run beside the water. We catch a bus to Shannon at 4 so we have 7 hours here. We drop by the ferry office/travel center to see if they have a left luggage. And who do we meet? Moira! She is the woman that sold us our ferry tickets when I went with the children. She had read my blog since then and remained in contact at times. She remembered me. How exciting. We left our bags there and went to the bus office to clarify our departure time. There is a bus in 15 minutes! We could make it and have more time in Shannon/Limerick. So we rush back to the ferry office and grab our bags. I wanted a picture with Moira but she was on the phone. I was happy to go but a little sad since the weather was perfect in Galway.

Picked up a rental car at Shannon airport. I thought james reserved the car so he would be the one driving. Nope, I guess I reserved it in my name. That means I am *gulp* driving on left side! I tell myself over and over that this will be nothing like Budapest. I can do this. I sit in thcar for a while before starting it. It’s a manual, oh dear. But the pedals are the same. I practice in the parking lot with many reminders from James to drive on the left. It’s not so bad. We head for the freeway. Awkward but fun. The roads are quite small. We check in to our hostel and talk with the manager. He tells of how the children attend summer school on the islands or on the peninsula to learn Irish and Irish dance. They take Irish in school but every child goes to a few weeks of immersion where they still speak it as a primary language. It is a rite of passage. They are about 14.

We explore countryside near Limerick and end up in Ballina and Killaloe, a beautiful and quaint town. We grocery shop while raining and find cheap, vegan spaghetti o’s and baked beans. We walk about and find a café where we can sit and eat our cheap food. We assumed we could orfer some tea. Instead we eat lunch at the café- grilled veggie panini, beans and potatoes. The town is absolutely beautiful on the river Shannon characterized by cobblestone streets, churches and sun. We talk about bringing the children here too.

On the way to Nenagh we see many sheep with their lambs. We have seen this everywhere in Ireland. I loved seeing the lambs nursing and running. They are just so cute! Our trip to Nenagh is a quick stop taking photos of the castle turret. I have heard that the rook in chess sets is from this castle. Finally Puckane. A tiny village with cute cottages. We find Kennedy’s pub as mentioned in Christy Moore’s song about the Pogues.

He sings: I was halfway between Puckane and Nenagh. I was looking for the Shannon but ended up in a mushroom field near Corta Lacha. I stumbled into a fairy ring and Jeezuz I couldn’t get out. I saw an old man walking down the road and said to him, “give us a hand to get out of this fairy ring.” When he got me out I asked, “Where ya going?” He said, “I don’t know.” I said, “I’ll go there too.” He took me to Paddy Kennedy’s pub. Ah into the snug. He read me a few of his poems. They were wonderful…after a few drinks. So I took out my guitar and played a few songs and he put on the jukebox. I heard a think I never heard before. About a rainy day in Soho and a pair of brown eyes and the coffin ships sailing across the broad Atlantic fog. The sick bed of cucullum. Aya…And then the Fairytale of New York. “Merry Christmas.. I love you baby.” And it was Shane McGowan from County Tipperary right there in the snug and I kissed him on the lips and said “Shane I love you too.”

The pub was quiet with a bartender born in Puckane 70 yrs ago. She was a beautiful woman. There was family form Vancouver. We watched television, the news and flashback to 1988 giving us a great history of Ireland. I met a man from Illinois who was a long distance runner. He was with his twin brother and parents exploring family history. James talked with an Irish man during the flashback show on tv. He had 2 pints of Guinness and was quite happy. I had a pack of vegan chocolate biscuits. We left pub after a few hours. The bartender and Irish man wishes us the best of luck. “This is everything I had hoped for!” James exclaimed as we left the pub. We drove to hostel, ate dinner, the spaghetti o’s and met some older people from Australia. Earlier I had not been feeling very pretty. My hair was messy and my face felt dirty so I found a facial exfoliant and applied the mask.