August 8th, Dublin

Hi folks! Michael got his eye checked at Waterford Regional Hospital yesterday; they said the pressure was normal and the retina was flat, but there is inflammation in the eye. He has a bunch of drops and ointments for his eye that have to be put in at various inconvenient times.Vision seems to be improving somewhat, so that's a good sign.

There's finally video of the World Record attempt on Achill Island on youTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sx7MnhPhh8

We're wearing bright red and blue jackets, standing side-by-each, but I don't know if you'll be able to find us!

We went on to see the ruined abbey at Jerpoint and then headed for Athlone. An acquaintance of Karen's from sessions in Calgary had told her about a session in Sean's Bar (the oldest pub in Ireland!) on Saturdays, so we stopped in for a bit. Although Coleman wasn't there that night, everyone was very welcoming and we knew a few more of the tunes than we have at other sessions we've been to.

Today we went to visit Clonmacnoise, one of Ireland's most important monastic cities. Many of the buildings date to the 10th century and are in surprisingly good shape considering how often the site has been attacked by one group or another.

We headed for Dublin and toured Kilmainham Gaol, which has associations with many Irish uprisings, especially the Easter uprising sf 1916. It's over 200 years old, and conditions for the early prisoners were very poor - deliberately so, because they felt that if prison conditions weren't worse than those outside there would be no incentive to stay out of trouble.

Tomorrow will be our only full day in Dublin, so we'll have to make the most of it. There's lots to do, so we'll have to choose what we are most interested in. We'll probably spend most of  the day on foot, because our B&B is very centrally located. After all that walking, we may be happy to be sitting on the plane on Tuesday!

Thanks for following along! We're looking forward to telling you more about our trip when we're home!

oldest pub in Ireland

Clonmacnoise

Kilmainham Gaol

August 6th, Kilkenny

Hi folks! We found a sort of session in Doolin (a singer/flautist, a Harper and a concertina player). They invited us to join in, but once again we didn't know many of the tunes.

In the morning we had a chance to chst with James Cullinan, the chef at our B&B and a well-respected local fiddler. The the food was amazing, and James was a very pleasant fellow - encouraging of our musical endeavours and very modest besides.

The next day we went to Killinaboy to see a church with a high-relief sheela-na-gig over the door, then visited the Kerry Couny Museum which gave history of the area back to stone-age times. There was an interesting exhibit of photos going back to the 50s and 60s. It was quite sobering to learn that well into the 1960s children in the area didn't go to high school, and that most rural homes didn't have indoor toilets or running water. We then drove around the Dingle Peninsulla, which had perhaps the most stunning scenery we've seen so far (esecially the Slea Head Drive). Our B&B had a fabulous view over the water in Ballydavid. We checked out a local pub where a French family (three generations!) were playing far too fast and without feeling, so we left:

The next day we drove most of the Ring of Beara. The scenery was lovely, but some of the roads were pretty scary! The B&B had a five-star rating, but was priced about the same as others because of the recession and an oversupply of accommodation.

Today we visited the Rock of Cashel, a grand religious complex with ties to St Patrick. We unexpectedly spent a good part of the day in the hospital in Kilkenny - it seems likely that my eye is Infected again. I've got some eyedrops, but they want me to see a specialist in Waterford tomorrow.

Tonight we're staying in a beautiful 200-year-old farmhouse.

coast along the Slea Head Drive

August 3rd, Doolin

Hi folks! This entry will be brief - I'm typing two-fingered on my iPod. We're staying at a beautiful guest house/restaurant here, run by James Cullinan. He's a very well-respected local fiddler, and also chef for the restaurant. We're going to find a session in a bit (everything starts late!), but we don't know if we'll be able to sit in.

A couple of days ago we drove through the Connemara hills. We saw Matt Molloy's pub in Westport, Croagh Padraig, Kylemore Abbey and a monument to those who died on the famine walk in the Doo Lough Valley. We tried to sit in with some local players at a pub. Although they played lots of great tunes, we didn't know many of them, and when we asked them about tune names they didn't know or we couldn't understand them.

The next day we walked to a ruined castle overlooking the water, and then drove round the Sky Road. It was a bank holday, so the shopping/pub district in Galway was really jumping. We took a walk down to Galway Bay before going to our B&B in a thatched-roof cottage. The weather was damp and chilly, but our hosts had a peat fire burning, and they offered us a cup of tea before we turned in.

This we did some shopping while waiting for our laundry to be done. Michael got a better whistle than he's had. We saw the Poulnabrone Dolmen (a stone-age portal tomb - you can Google it if you don't want to wait for our pictures) and then we went to the Cliffs of Moher. It's been neat to see places that relate to tune names - the Cliffs of Moher, Oranmore (where the bucks are from), and we drove along the Road to Lisdoonvarna!

memorial for victims of the Famine March

Poulnabrone Dolmen

August 1st, Achill Island

Hi folks!

Went to a gala performance of some of the teachers, but unfortunately neither of our teachers played. It was a good concert though. Heard that there was a good session afterwards, but as the concert didn't finish up until after midnight, we didn't stay for the session. Most things seem to start up nearly an hour after the scheduled time, so the sessions are usually very late starting as well. School is over now, and we've had a good experience on the Island - it feels like family here, as everyone is so friendly and welcoming.

Yesterday was the Guinness World record attempt. There were over 1,000 people on the beach playing 'The Dawning of the Day' (or also known as Raglan Road) on penny whistle. If you Google Scoil Acla world record attempt, perhaps you will see us playing!

In the afternoon we had our student recital. There was a bit of confusion, because some of the teachers left early (they had weekend gigs elsewhere) so some classes were combined, and others were led by teachers other than their own. It was pretty cute watching some of the really young kids in the beginner classes. We were a bit surprised by how many concertina classes there were, and by how big they were. There certainly aren't so many concertina players in Calgary!

Today we're heading south into Connemara as we start our last week in Ireland.

Personal notes: Happy Birthday to Meredith! Have a great trip, Alastair! Hope your half-Ironman went well, Katja!

Guinness World Record attempt on Keel Beach

Michael (blue jacket) in his class recital

Karen (red jacket) in her student recital