Making a Few Visits to Chat

We woke on our second day in Ireland with plenty of "jet lag," but the "Full Irish Breakfast" at Hotel Westport gives you enough protein to carry on. So, we called Bridie and then Patsy to see if they were available for a visit.

If you were traveling with us last year, you know the way to get to Patsy and Joe's in Kilmeena...

...just head north out of Westport for a few miles, then turn left at the store...

...and head on to the sea (even though we were warned by our cousin, Margaret, not to be traveling down a road with grass growing in the middle)...
...when you get to the sea (Clew Bay), take the right fork and look for Patsy and Joe's green gate "up a ways..."
And there's Patsy, as gracious as ever (and Joe is out back surveying this year's garden).
We had our usual great visit with Patsy and Joe and got to hear about some of the local events that included a terrible rain storm with so much run-off that you couldn't even fish in a nearby lake---and a sad funeral that included a "boat procession" in from one of Clew Bay's islands to the church---a huge resort going up on one of the islands that would cost around 2000 Euro to stay for a weekend---and, worst of all, a bad northwest wind that blew most of the blossoms off Joe's apple trees, leaving them with only a few apples on a few trees. But Joe's vegetable garden looked great with tall onions, and potato vines that must have been two-to-three feet tall.

Well, we tied them up all afternoon with talk about family history and the like, then rushed back to Hotel Westport to have a chat with Michael (but without Bridie who was busy baby-sitting some of the grandkids). Michael has a hectic work schedule, but he still took time to visit with us for two hours before going on to another appointment.

That's Michael in the photo above, busy on the phone right after we mentioned in our chats about the Prendergast family line that there was a book called, "Louisburg: A History," that we couldn't find anywhere. Well, Michael just calls up the local author, John Lyons, and checks to see if there are any copies around. Mr. Lyons gives Michael two phone numbers of men who might know if there are any to be had and by the time Michael finishes talking to the second man on the list, he has the book all lined up for us to pick up. (Talk about a talented person.)

Just starting out on our holiday and already we had a chance to meet up again with some wonderful people.