ultra gaelic

The region Connemara begins just north of the Burren, on the other side of Galway Bay. But when we told our Ballyvaughan hosts that we were heading to Maam Cross, they talked about it as if it were one of the last frontiers on mother earth. Our original plan had been to lodge with a certain Philomena, whose B&B in the Maam Valley came highly recommended – but when Chevy called in April, Philomena informed him that a return to university had forced her to suspend business until the cessation of the exam period. The nearby B&B that she, in turn, recommended was just down the road from the famous (in these parts, at least) Keane’s Bar. The proprietors at Leckavrea Lodge, however, were not home (day trip to Ballyvaughan?) when we called in around midday, so we continued north to the mouth of Killary Harbour, from where we began our afternoon walk.

Read the rest of this entry »

Apparently I neglected to include the best Irish (and British) term out there: a “(vegetable) box scheme”, which is what we call a CSA share or a farm share. As Wikipedia explains, “A box scheme usually works by subscription. A customer signs up to a weekly or fortnightly delivery of fresh vegetables and/or fruit.” How quaint (the language, not the concept).

return ticket

round-trip ticket

“He was meant to call today.”

He was supposed to stop by today.” (without the supernatural overtones of “to be meant” in American English.)

touch wood

knock on wood

table quiz

trivia night

How long are you?

How tall are you?

flipper

spatula

shovel

See “flipper”

“Safe home!”

“Have a safe trip home!” or “Drive safely!”

your man

our friend / that guy / what’s-his-name

Welcome back and you are very welcome to this post on the Burren. 

Lying just south of Galway Bay, the Burren is a severe mountainous limestone region in County Clare. We travelled by rental car from Galway to our Burren base of Ballyvaughan. Seemingly  overestimating the remoteness of the region (don’t think we were in the car for longer than about 45 minutes), or perhaps just eager to do something useful as compensation for his inability to drive a car on the left-hand side of the road, Kevin insisted on making a stop along the way to load up on goodies for the walks we had planned. We passed at least two more such markets on our way to our B&B and discovered another about thirty feet from our accommodation. Ballyvaughan Lodge had come enthusiastically recommended to us by Hawk’s colleague, but the couple running the place had never heard of her and, in fact, were unsure whether the Irish name Kevin blurted out belonged to a man or a woman. They seemed a bit put out by our late arrival, or at least the woman did, as she sat gloomily in front of her telly. The man appeared intent on making up for her moodiness via the convivial welcoming technique of using Kevin’s name as many times as possible in the first five minutes (though he seemed equally determined to ignore me): “Welcome Kevin, now look here Kevin, this is the door you’ll be using Kevin, your room is right this way Kevin, will you take Kevin in your Kevin in the morning Kevin?” 
Read the rest of this entry »

Good day and you’re very welcome to this post on Galway. We spent two nights here. 

Kevin seems to rate Galway fairly highly, but I’m not so sure. Perhaps my disinclination stems from the dubious quality of the hotel we stayed in. The first night was an unmitigated shocker as the drunks streaming back to the adjacent apartment block kept me awake until dusk. Hawkworthy, in his far more comfortable bed away from the window, slept just fine. 
Read the rest of this entry »

Good day and you’re very welcome to this guest blog. Kevin informs me that he has painstakingly built up a very substantial readership to his blog over the last six months, and to that end I’d like to welcome both of you back to these pages.
Read the rest of this entry »

Click on the small image below to see a larger version of this list of food options from a train in Ireland. Identify all usages not found in American English. For bonus points, identify those that are unique to Irish English (not also found in British English).

Back in Michigan and back on the job. Almost like I never left … except that there’s still large piles of email and paper to go through.

I’m pleased to announce that my friend Simon, who visited me in Ireland for the first two weeks of May, will be a guest blogger, telling you all about what great fun we had during his visit. Keep an eye out for those posts soon.

I also started (but never finished) writing a few posts while in Ireland that I might manage to finish and post, even at the risk of having an even greater delay in reporting news than I generally had over the past few months. Bear with me, folks.

In the meantime, now that I have access to a scanner, I can share with you something I picked up in Ireland. Another posting coming shortly …

Well … I’m quite behind on things. I have a few weeks of photos to put online: a few from around Dublin, lots from the west of Ireland, and a few more from Northern Ireland. Stay tuned!

I was supposed to fly back to the US at the end of the month, but then a volcano erupted and flight attendants and public transit workers threatened to strike in Britain. With all the uncertainty, my parents called off a planned visit, and I decided it would be better to reschedule my return trip to give myself a little extra time in case of delays. So I came back two days ago, getting out of Dublin an hour or two before the next airport closure and then out of Heathrow a few hours before they closed. I’m catching up on lots of things and will be in touch with friends in Maryland as I find time for things.

I’ve slipped in a few more photos of Galway and Dublin (and Dún Laoghaire), including a few attempts at doors.