Some Irish Activities

On Sunday, May 6 we drove to Farranfore (about 15 minutes, near the Kerry airport) to greet a group of 138 motorcyclists touring the country in support of Down Syndrome Ireland. They had travelled from Dublin to Limerick, then here and on to Cork. They have raised over €200,00! Pictured here is David Clarke, a young man from Dublin who was riding on the bike with the president of DSI. On the bike with him in this shot are 2 of our Kerry kids - Yann and
Katie. (Yann was not thrilled to be on the bike but did quite well!)









Then, this past weekend, we had a really Irish time! On Saturday we were included in the traditional celebration of a First Communion. The honoree is Keelan, the brother of Sophie, my client for whom you were praying through heart surgery 2 months ago! She is doing well, as you'll see in the family picture. This is a large, loving, and joyous family - we were honored to be included. The aunt of Keelan is Carina, who was our first "landlady" , is now our friend, and has been showcased earlier in this blog! Dana went to the church with Carina (I had therapy until 2:00). Then we went to their new house - a gorgeous location and quite a food spread. The food and drink just kept coming! Almost the entire crowd were family and we enjoyed renewing acquaintances and making new ones. An excellent afternoon!

The family at their new home - a beautiful view of Tralee Bay; the entire communion class; the spread and some of the family.





Then, on Sunday, we went to the Kingdom County Fair. (County Kerry is knows as "The Kingdom"). This was very familiar to us - much like the Benton County Fair in many ways, but a few definite Irish touches. They had the usual - vegetables, baked goods, jams and jellies, and all kinds of animals - chickens, ducks, cows, sheep, etc. Some notable events pictured here: Sheaf Tossing - put a pitch fork in a sheaf and see if you can toss it over the bar; the bar (sort of like a pole vaulting bar) is raised higher and higher until there's a winner!



Sheep Dog trials - our favorite, of course - the dog ran a very long way down a hill to get behind the 4 sheep, then followed the shepherds voice commands to herd them up the hill and into the pen - an excellent performance.








Dressage - horses and jumping - very impressive.

Tractors everywhere - the huge silver one is a Lamborghini. The group of tractors are vintage. The guys with the hay are with a vintage thresher, which is also shown in the picture with me -
this is the Canon of the church I attend and his wife - we just happened to run in to them as Dana set up for the picture.