Filed under: Dublin
On Sunday we went to Killiney Beach with friends. Actually we went with some of the friends we saw last night: Paul & Mary and two of their kids Imogen (age 6) and Lochlann (age 2).
It was way to cold for me to go into the water – but the dads and kids had a great time in the water and Mary and I – and for the most part the younger kids had a good time watching them. Killiney Beach is kind of a funny place. It’s beautiful. It’s kind of rocky and hard on the feet. There’s a much bigger drop off than we ran into in Lahinch. And the DART (the local train) runs right behind it – but if you’re on the beach with kids that’s a big plus. Also it’s a big plus if you don’t live near Killiney but live close to a DART station – it’s a quick trip out.
We topped off the day with a stop in the The Club in Dalkey – a nice pub that at least seemed happy to have kids.
Filed under: Dublin
On Saturday, we went into the docklands for the maritime festival. The weather was amazing. The festival nearly made up for the fact that we’ll be missing Grand Old Day this year. There were loads of booths set up with different crafts and food. We tried the paella, which Patrick and I always liked backed when we lived in Spain. This paella wasn’t quite a good.
The girls went on the merry-go-round. I think the big girls decided that they are officially too old for merry-go-rounds, especially if the horses don’t go up and down. The girls did a craft project and we just sat and enjoyed the day.
We also met up with a friend from home – Shelia, who recently got her PhD in art from University College Dublin. (Patrick goes to UCD.)
At night we met up with some of Patrick’s friends from years ago: Paul & Mary, David, Des and Tom. Well, they went to see iKeano and I met up with them later. We stayed out way too late but had a great time at Café in Seine. It’s a loud pub/disco with lots of people looking for love but it’s a fun place to go with a crowd.
After the pub we ended up at Eddie Rockets, the girls’ favorite restaurant.
Filed under: Dublin
Monday night we went out with some of Patrick’s friends from school. Sophie was traumatized over turning 23. I hated to tell her that my kids were closer to her age than I am.
On Tuesday Kate’s class got their Communion pictures done. It took all morning. Everyone looked great again but I have to say that I prefer the option of getting the pictures done on the day of the event.
But we were OK with hanging out since Lily had a music performance soon after the pictures. Her class had been studying African music for a few days and was doing a performance for the younger kids. I was very impressed with the girls’ ability to watch a screen for cues while playing their instruments. They did a great job!
I don’t know if you’ll be able to make out Lily in the video because she was naturally positioned behind a tall girl with good posture – but I thought it would be fun to hear her anyways.
Filed under: Dublin
Sunday was Africa Day at the Dublin Castle. The weather was amazing! And either the weather or tourism season seems to have people coming out in droves. There were swarms of people.
There were information booths, great music, food and drinks. Sadly we missed the Republic of Loose and Sinead O’Connor at the end of the evening but the bands we heard we a lot of fun. It was great to see some of the African dancers. You can see some pictures of Aine on the dance floor.
Filed under: Dublin
Saturday was Kate’s First Communion. It’s a much bigger deal here than it is at home – but it was very nice. She looked beautiful and it was fun to see all of the girls in their best. There was one little girl who had a fur jacket sort of thing. Many girls had their hair done and several had been tanning or had manicures.
Kate did a reading and did a great job!
After the First Communion w went to lunch at the Herbert Hotel in Dublin. It was very nice. We were the only table for the first tow courses, which worked out very well for us since they were able to give us full attention.
After a nap we then headed to Bray. The tide was in and the waves were really high so it was fun to be on the beach.
Filed under: Dublin
Thursday night we went for a nice dinner at a place called the Beaufield Mews. It’s not far from the house in Stillorgan, which is an area I usually associate with the bowling alley, not nice dinners but this restaurant was like a place in the country.
There was an art gallery upstairs. We saw one painting that cost €10,000. There was also a big garden in the back – in fact we saw a fox in the garden.
The food was good and the waiter was a character. We had a very nice night.
Filed under: Uncategorized
On Wednesday I went into town with Mom and Dad. We successfully drove into town and found parking and we got back in time to pick up the girls from school. We walked around Grafton Street and Trinity College so that was fun. We had a light lunch at Beweley’s Café – but really we scoped the ground for our night out.
We actually took the Luas (train) from Mom and Dad’s place in Sandyford into town. The Luas is super slick – I wish that we lived near it. It only took 20 minutes to get into town at 7:00! We had a really nice dinner and il Primo. It’s a funky place off Harcourt Street with really good risotto and chocolate cake. Then it was a quick walk to Whelan’s to see Kinky Friedman and the Jewboys. He is a singer, writer and former candidate for Texas Governor. His slogan was – how hard can it be?
It was a fun concert. We were lucky in that we got seats – in the balcony but seats nonetheless. Most people had to stand. The best line of the night was about John McCain – who “is old enough to hide his own Easter eggs”. I mostly knew Kinky from his profile on 60 Minutes years ago – but his stories were funny and the music was good! It was just dumb luck that I happened to see that he was playing.
Then we took the Luas home with the Manchester United fans, who were celebrating the big win in the Champions League game. They were rowdy but friendly. We were nearly nicked by the ticket police on the train. I had purchased the wrong tickets for us. I bought return tickets to and from the third zone – what we needed was return tickets from zone one to three. Luckily I caught this before we got on the train home. So we got tickets for zone one to two to match our zone three and the ticket police did get on the Luas to check. I haven’t been on the Luas before but I have to think that ticket collectors are rare. They only inspect periodically – and they caught quite a few people without tickets, including a very funny Man Utd supporter who had been sitting with us.
Filed under: Uncategorized
On Tuesday Aine and I went to Dalkey with Grandma and Grandpa. It was fun to drive down the Vico Road (coast road) to see the amazing views and the super fancy houses. We had a nice lunch at a pub called IN. Soup for Aine was only €1.50. No food is ever that cheap here.
After Dalkey we picked up the big girls from school and headed for the park.
Tuesday night Patrick and I met up with our neigbors from home (Therese & Jack) and their friends (Mary & Rusty) for dinner and drinks in town. It was great to see friends from home and hear the news.
Filed under: Doon
On Monday we drove home to Dublin. On the way we stopped in Doon – between Limerick and Tipperary. Grandpa Treacy’s grandpa came from Doon. We tracked down a grave in the cemetery for the Treacys. We walked through the town – there were a couple of pubs, a Treacy Butcher, a few shops and a stoplight.
We stopped for lunch in Thurles. And we arrived very tired in Dublin!
Filed under: Clare
Sunday was our final full day in Lahinch. It was a little rainy and kind of cold – so we pretty much ruled out a day at the beach, which was very OK with us. Patrick took the bus back to Dublin on Saturday to get some work done and the beach would have been tricky without him.
We decide to visit Moher Hill Farm. It’s about 5-7 miles from where we were staying. There were a bunch of animals, most of which the kids could feed. There were ponies, sheep, llamas, goats, rabbits, chickens, roosters, a peacock, and more. Aine was pretty much jumping over the fences to feed the animals. While I can’t believe I got a picture of Kate feeding the animal she dared to feed.
There was also a bouncy house, play area inside and out, and a go kart track. So the kids had a great time playing. We were the only non-nationals at the farm, so while it may not make many of the guidebooks, it’s a fun place for kids.
Sunday night we had a nice dinner at the Atlantic Hotel.
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