1989 Easter Holiday to Ireland. Introduction Ireland has a very changeable climate. The houses have to be sturdy. Houses are made of stone usually painted white. The roof is thatch and usually has only one floor. They burn peat on their fires as coal is very sparky and could catch the thatch alight. See below. Our house is nothing like this so I mean this in a general sense. Our house overlooks a lake in a village Pullaphouca (devils hole) in County Wicklow. Under the lake is a village which was flooded to make a reservoir to serve the nearby capital city of Dublin (Ath Cliath in Irish). There is a wind pump and a dam near here, but nothing much else, except a trout farm in the middle. The world water skiing championships are sometimes held in the next lake on from us. The lake offers water skiing, sailing and fishing. The area around offers walking, pony-trekking, horse riding, snooker, darts and golf. Day One We were delayed in flying from Heathrow because we missed our first flight, the 11:30 so we had to catch the 13:00 causing a four hour delay. Then the 13:00 was delayed by a further half an hour making a total of delay of four and a half hours. We flew over in a Boeing 747 400 and arrived in Pullaphouca at four pm. Day two We went shopping in Drached Nua (Newbridge in English). We came back through a town called Naas and got some Soda-Bread in a shop called Superquinn. Day 3 We drove down to Cork on to the south coast nto a town seeking lodgings but found none so drove on a little further out to a little Island in Cork harbour in Cobe and checked into the Commodore hotel. Day 4 We drove Cork to see what it was like and Dad said it was nice and I said it was awful. Then we drove out of Cork about five miles to Blarney to kiss the Blarney stone which is supposed to give you the gift of eloquence. It all started when a witch was saved by a lady by telling her of a stone in a castle. When you kissed the stone it gifted you the eloquence to disguise your evil deeds. Since then people halve flocked in from all over the world to kiss it. The old way was to be dangled by the ankles over the outside of the castle walls with a one-hundred and thirty five foot drop beneath you. Now they kiss it by bending backwards from the parapet walk of the battlements. They also have some druidic remains and a woodland walk. We then drove home. Day 5 We stayed in in the morning. When Dad came home from a walk we went over to Humfreystown House where some people live together and they all believe in God one way so they live together with each other. There are forty people living in one house. There are nineteen children to look after. They have a school and a crèche all in one building. After this we drove around the lake then went home. Day 6 We went to Newbridge again to post some letters. We also went to have a number plate fitted and I got some chocolate to make chocolate crispies. We then went to Dublin so Dad could post some letters. We had lunch at a very posh hotel where Ronald Regan stayed! Day 7 We bored around all day because Gran couldn’t be bothered to go out. However we did go for a walk down the lane and I ran down and skimmed stones across the water. Song Meng came over for the weekend on a midnight flight from Heathrow to Dublin. It was delayed for three hours. Dad went to collect her and he got back at four-thirty am. Day 8 We went to Newbridge again and we did the national lottery. WE came home and had a home-cooked Chinese meal, then played whist and we drew (including all the dummy rounds). Day 9 We went to Wicklow and on the way we passed through the Sally Gap where some peat diggers were digging. Dad took my photo there. Wicklow is quite a small county town, still it had a nice harbour and we had a walk there. The first trip was through the mountains and they changed scenery all the time, first it was an American theme….tum ta di da di di da di da da da da di da di da di da…..!!!!! as in cowboy theme music, then suddenly it changed into Dartmoor, then Germany, then Hadrians Wall, outstanding beauty! On the way back it was totally different, more like the Mid-Wales theme. Day 10 We went for a walk down the road, then we played cards. Song Meng went home also. Day 11 I went to Dad’s office in Kildangen Stud. We drove up to the gates and they opened automatically. The gates gave way to an enormous drive. We saw a massive mansion where the man who owns all the Billboards lives. This man sold his land and kept the mansion. He also kept a small family cemetery. Das’s firm HPDS designed all of the yeards. I drove round the site and there was a fairy ring which the builders wouldn’t build on as not to disturb the faeries. They had to move the site over two hundred meters because of this.. There are some new yards which are being built, but there are some already completed e.g. Totbridge and Bromfield. The Red Yard (left from predecessors) has been fully restored. They are also building a stud manager’s house near the horse’s practice track. The stud kills any injured animals even if they have a broken leg. I think that is cruel. The horses have a hospital yard, home yard, isolation yard, practice yard, crowd noise (a radio) even a maternity yard! It was so interesting I want to go again. Day 12 We stayed in all day. Day 13 We went to Howth, a town just north of Dublin. It was lovely. We wanted to go to an Island called Ireland’s Eye, but we culdn’t get a boat. Day 14 We went to the stud again with Gran and then we went to the Japanese Gardens in Kildare. Day 15 We flew back to London, Heathrow. Boo hoo! Goodbye Ireland! THE END
Posted on: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 14:11:26 +0000
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