According to Sean and James Egan, it's true. James Keith and David are suspicious, because they know all the words to 'Canada's Really Big' by the Arrogant Worms. Apparently, there are many underground levels we haven't seen, and less gravity in the North of Ireland where Finn McCool is from, so everything is really really big up there. Irish weather has been living up to the legend for the past few days. heavy rains and even some flooding along the rivers in and around Dublin. It's made drying the laundry quite a chore.
Yesterday we spent some time planning the last weeks of our adventure (Stonehaven, Aberdeen, Keith, Inverness, Glenfinnian, Isle of Mull and maybe Iona, Loch Lomond, and perhaps the two big cities of Scotland, then to Balla in Wales, Bath and London) and then headed out to see one of the largest tall ships in the world at the Liffey quays.
So, the ship is the Liberdad from Argentina. It is a massive three-masted full rigged ship, used for officer training. It is in Ireland to celebrate the fact that the Argentine Navy was founded by an Irishman, Admiral Brown.
Who knew.
In fact, the US Navy was also founded by an Irishman from Wexford - John Barry. There is a statue of the man in Wexford which, at one time, was visited by US President Eisenhower for a dedication. Anyhow, the Argentine ship was not open to visitors at the moment we arrived, but John Egan spoke to the young officer in charge in Spanish and they let us sailors on for a mini-tour. We also met Deirdre's cousin Cormac, his wife Neive and their 2 year old daughter Isabel down at the ship. When it really started raining hard, we repaired to O'Brien's Ferryman pub on the docks (to hear some real sailors swear) for a pint. Nice visit. Cormac is in a band called 'Stoat' - they have a web page if you are interested.
Last night, Deirdre and I joined Dan Egan at the Abbey Theatre (founded by Yeats) to watch a performance of the Crucible (Arthur Millar). Great performance, and a fine time at the pub after as well. Dan claims to be saving for another trip to Canada some time in the next 5 years or so, and we'll try to hold him to it.
Today we headed North into County Meath to see Seamus at the seminary where he lives, and to visit the 5200 year-old tomb at Newgrange. Older than lots of stuff in Egypt, it is. We had a a great time with the Egan men, and are now back in Dublin getting ready to fly tomorrow.
We have had such a great time in Ireland. Everyone has taken great care of us, and we've enjoyed every visit. Hopefully it will not be another 16 years before we return.
Many apologies for not updating pictures; I have been trying, but there is something wrong with the interface for our page here. They won't upload! We'll keep trying, or create another page for pictures (all 5000+ of them?). Cheers.
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Hi Gang,
I have been regularily reading your updates and see that you are having a marvelous time. You will have a hard time adjusting to life back in Calgary when it's all over. Thanks for the Post card on your birthday Rob. Lot's happening around here. Firstly I thought I mentioned it way back but I had to put Diva down back in February as her breathing was getting way too difficult with her blocked nasal passage. Poor thing - 13 years old but she had a great life. Another sad departure.
I just got back from a week in Cape Breton where I set Charlie up for the summer. He plans on staying two months which will be a stretch as he really is having troubles with he back, balance, and weight loss. He's getting skinnier if you can imagine it. We had a memorial out there at the Gaeilc College for Sheena and her Mom last Monday which was nice but very hard for Charlie.
In other news - I'm moving to Ottawa as I got a job at the National Gallery in the design department. I wanted to leave Winnipeg and this opportunity came up. There was exhibt design work all over the place so I had lot's of options. Ottawa is a place that Sheena and I had in mind. I move for Sept. 1 but started doing some work on short trips already. I'll have to figure out the Charlie thing but he has his nephews in Winnipeg that are more a part of his life now so he should be OK here.
I'm selling the loft but keeping the cottage so you guys can drop in next summer if you like.
Thanks for keeping the blog. I've learned a lot about the places you visit. Such an amazing adventure. Take care and I'll send you a couple of photos I found of Sheena - at Shadow lake on the May long weekend back in 1990. I still miss her like crazy as you can image but all the changes happening will hopefully help me see beyond. Take care and love to the boys.
Gordon
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