Monday 26 August –What a night it was! And…all the way to Galway.

And what a night we had last night, to be sure to be sure!  Last evening we left the Shamrock B&B and walked the short distance to Foley’s pub – a small, quiet little place – where we had a pleasant meal.  Then we took a leisurely stroll through the graveyard over the road, as it was such a balmy evening. When we were walking back past the pub we heard music coming from the bar, so we crossed the road and opened the door, to be greeted by a mass of people  crowded into the small bar and listening to a group comprising a fiddler, a couple of acoustic guitar players (one of whom was also the vocalist) and some Irish bagpipes.  So in we went, managed to find a seat – and a pint – and we settled down to some real Irish pub music.  What an experience!  Eventually we wandered back up the road to bed.

This morning we were treated to an “Irish breakfast” - bacon, sausage, white pudding, tomato, egg, toast and marmalade – then headed north towards Limerick, passing through Newcastle, quite surprisingly, and stopping at Adare to visit the castle, only to be told that the compulsory tour was delayed because nobody had turned up to man (person?) the Heritage Centre information desk.  So after some morning tea we continued on to Limerick (There once was a plumber named Lee……). 

First stop was the Frank McCourt museum, housed in the actual schoolroom where he received his early education.  Some of the rooms were set up as they would have been when he was growing up in poverty (as portrayed in his Pulitzer-prize winning “Angela’s Ashes”), including a kitchen and a bedroom.  From there was strolled to the Tait Clock (Limerick’s Big Ben, built in 1867), then to a statue of home-town boy Richard Harris as King Lear and a walk across the bridge over the fast flowing Shannon River.  After lunch we visited St John’s cathedral, then headed north to Galway.

First port of call was Galway Cathedral, which was only consecrated 54 years ago and was built on the site where the former gaol stood. While still very new, the Spanish influence in its design gives it a classical look.  We then wandered around Galway for a while, pausing to watch a juggler standing atop an upright ladder and stopping for a chat with Oscar Wilde, before heading a little way out of town for our accommodation on the Wild Atlantic Coast.