Gaelic Football

Today we had another uniquely Irish experience. We finally attended in person, a Gaelic football game. We had decided to go, then Paul Pierse rang and invited us to go with him which was even better. This game was the All-Kerry Club Championship at Austin Stack Stadium here in Tralee. The venue was much like a large high school football game in the US. We have only begun to understand the intricacies of the system - but what we know is that in this championship between South Kerry and the Feale Rangers there were several of the stars of the actual All-Ireland Kerry team, which won the Sam Maguire Cup in September. So, here you will see Paul Galvin (below, for the Feale Rangers) and Declan O'Sullivan (right, for the South Kerry team), stars of the Kerry team. We were also privileged and honored to get to see Maurice Fitzgerald play for the South Kerry team - he is arguably the best player ever, and is mostly retired, but came back to coach and play for them for encouragement. Alas for them - to no avail. The Feale Rangers won - and because we were with Paul, who has trained and played with many of them, they were our
team today!





(Dana wants to apologize for the quality of the pictures - it was cloudy and dark and difficult to get good pictures).

Brenda & Michael's visit/Trip to Spiddal, County Galway

The highlight of October (and, as you know, it needed a highlight!) was the brief visit of Brenda Freed and Michael D'Eath. They were visiting Michael's family in England, and hopped over here for a short stay. Michael's cousin Rob is a potter in Spiddal, County Galway. Dana picked B&M up in Cork on Saturday evening and brought them back to our house for dinner. Then, Sunday morning we drove to the Ratoo Round tower and then Ballybunion for the cliff walk and traditional Virgin Rock picture - above. Then we had to get Brenda and Michael with Bill (below)- they are not fans of Bush to put it mildly!!! A special treat - our friends Paul, Claudette, Killian, and Dale found me (MFE) resting on a bench by the ocean while the others walked. They sat down for a visit, then Killian got his banjo and gave us an impromptu concert on the beach. He has been winning banjo awards all over Ireland, even though he's just been playing 3 years! (These 2 pics are by Brenda)




After this bit of fun, we set off for Tarbert to catch the ferry. Had a good crossing, fairly decent weather for some sight seeing, and then had lunch at a scenic spot on the Clare side. We then drove on to Galway and along the coast to Spiddal. Rob's business is Sliding Rock Pottery, in the Spiddal Craft Center. It is a real treat - if you get to Co. Galway, be sure and put it on youritinerary! Rob and Maureen made us a wonderful feast for dinner, which we shared with 2 of their 3 kids - Paul and Ciara; Jessica arrived later, after dinner. Rob and Michael had not seen each other in many years, so enjoyed catching up a bit. Then, we went to Hughes, a quite well known pub for "sessions" - the informal gathering of Irish musicians. We listened to a great group - they invited B&M to play a couple of tunes, though discouraged them from joining in with them, since they didn't really know the Irish/Gaelic songs!

Left mfe, Rob, Ciara
Right - Paul, Maureen








Monday we drove back to Tralee and toured Fenit (with the statue of St. Brendan) and the rose garden in Tralee. Then, on Tuesday they took the bus back to Cork, flew to London, then home to Austin on Wednesday.We loved having them and really enjoyed the break - great timing!