Céad Míle Failte

Castles, concerts, parades and pubs. I have a lot to bring you up to speed on. I guess i'll start with our visit to the Lismore Castle. Earlier this week, we made a visit to a castle located on the far side of County Waterford. We didn't even need to enter the castle to get an idea of its brilliant design and historical significance, but we did have the privilege of doing so. Although it was largely reconstructed in the 19th century, we were still able to observe aspects of the castle that dated back to the 7th century. As the tour guide mumbled on about Dukes of Devonshire and Earls of Cork, we all explored the castles beautiful landscape. After our cameras had died and we had become exhausted of looking through them, we jumped on the bus and headed back towards our townhouses.

On the way back we made a stop at another, smaller castle; if you could even call it that. The story behind this one is quite interesting. A man, who's name I don't recall, planned on building a castle for his wife. She demanded a castle that matched the size and elegance of the one that her brother-in-law had built for her sister. The man intended to give her just that but failed in a historically memorable way. In the early stages of its construction (only the castle's entrance gate had been constructed), the man ran out of money, leaving him unable to ever complete the project. I give him credit, the gates were lovely; but i immediately discredit him for his inability to perform even a hint of financial planning.

The very next day, I experienced my first international concert. There is a huge star here named Christy Moore. I'm recommending that, before you continue reading, you watch a clip of him on youtube to better understand my experience. His music is what you would expect here in Ireland but you would never find this kind of music, or such a large fan base behind it, in the states. I really enjoyed the energy that he put into his music and the comical asides that he offered during his rest periods. This was a concert to remember especially under the condition we were invited to the concert as guests, free of charge. Another gracious welcome followed by yet another open bar. This was a night to remember, or forget based on your post-concert pub experience.

Dungarvan's seemingly endless line of hospitable gestures did not stop there. St. Patrick's day was this past Wednesday and the town honored us by asking us to lead their annual parade. We did so, carrying the flags of Ireland, the UK, the US and county flags. After our march through the town, we were welcomed by the local sailing club with lunch and drinks.

They really are the town of one hundred thousand welcomes!