Don't Worry Be Happy

Here’s a bit of info about the clips/groups in this video: The first clip is a trio from a party I crashed. We were having dinner at a hotel near the castle we stayed in when I heard the music and went to investigate. I asked the party organizer if I could listen in and she said it was ok.  Her grandson is on the right playing guitar but he also sings. The group is called Mad 4 Trad and I was really impressed with the whistle player. I would guess they’re all teenagers.  The second clip is a duo we listened to in Clifden.  Following that is the well known flute player (and flute maker) Marcus Hernon with his son on accordion. The man on the cajon drum was from Boston and just sitting in. This is my favourite clip! The 4th clip is Conall Flaherty - also in Clifden and playing flute, low d whistle, and regular whistle. Great skill.  The last group is a session (less formal) in Ennis. 

......well you don’t even have to wait 5 mins. We decided to golf in Ennis at an average course (no amazing coastal scenery); the weather was a bit windy and it looked like it might rain. To be fair it’s looked like that most days on the coast, with very little actual rain, and the chance of rain was only 20% so it seemed promising   About hole 3 it started to drizzle with a few major gusts, but it stopped shortly after so we carried on. About the 6th it started up again and didn’t looked good and since we were near the clubhouse we made the decision to pack it in. We got to our car, opened the trunk to start packing up and not only did the sun come out but within a matter of seconds there was only blue sky so we headed out again to finish.  The next morning with a 10% chance of rain predicted we thought we might visit the Aran Islands. Before we even checked out of the hotel the rain had started and again we hesitated. When we got to the ferry terminal in Doolin the wind...

...but that didn’t stop us from trying. Here are a few of our favourites (so far): Patsy Dan's is in Dunfanaghy, Donegal, and filled with locals on Fridays and Saturdays. The session the night we were there had about 8 musicians with more arriving as we left.  In Crolly, Donegal, we stayed at Teach Tessies (Teac means house in Irish). Our Airbnb host Catherine also ran the pub downstairs which sat about 10 people. The locals were watching an important Gaelic Football match when we came in. Donegal won.  Across from Tessies was Leo’s Tavern - it’s famous for its music and it didn’t disappoint. Leo died 3 years ago so now his son runs the place. Leo was Enya's dad (she was born here) and the walls are covered in her gold records. We had a delicious serving of mussels at Leo’s.  In Donegal town we spent an evening at McCafferty's. The duo singing had powerful, raw voices and filled the room with sound. The bartender joined in ...

Ireland is full of castles, many serve as accommodation for tourists. I thought it would be fun to stay in one so I found one called Ross Castle near where I thought we were going. It turned out to be in an entirely different location but after checking it out I decided to book it anyway.  In 1533 construction began and the tower was completed a few years later. We spent the night in the tower.  The tower has a room on each of  the 3 floors and we stayed in the lower room, although there is a tricky set of stairs even to reach our room.  The stairs narrow significantly as you reach the top and if you rent that room I’d advise you only take what you need for the night! Halfway between the 2nd and 3rd floors is the 9 3/4 Harry Potter room. It has a very low ceiling and is for kids. If you’ve read the books (I haven’t) you’ll understand this better.  The room at the top is spectacular.  Of course our room was nothing to sneeze at. To get there you first went t...

Here’s a bit of a taste of what we’ve heard so far. 

Ireland has some great famous courses - beautifully maintained, pristine condition, pothole bunkers, lavish clubhouses. Ballybunion, Ballyliffen, Portrush, Lahinch etc.  Yeah we’re not playing at any of those. We prefer to spend the €200+ those ones charge for a round on something like Guinness! Apparently we prefer the quirky, barely playable ones for €30-60. With more interesting challenges than mere bunkers or water holes.  Our first one was Cruit (pronounced Crutch) Island. Follow a very narrow road for about 4 kms then make sure you honk to warn the golfers you’re coming since the road runs right through a couple of holes.  Since there’s not much differentiation between the rough and the fairway, it’s almost impossible to know where to aim your ball and there are only two holes where you can see where the green is from the tee box (par 3s). Mostly it’s a guessing game.  One hole has a gaping drop off to the ocean in front of the tee.    But some of the...

Even though we’ve barely been here a week I feel that if our holiday were to end today I would be satisfied. We’ve done and seen so much already that it’s hard to put into words. Maybe some pictures will help! Bonnie plays in a Gamelan orchestra (Indonesian instruments) and she took me to see the instruments which I really enjoyed as I’ve always had an interest in them. I even took a lesson while in Bali. They are metal xylophone-like instruments with large gongs and bells. Apparently there are several of these groups in Ireland.  After leaving Belfast and a stay in Malin Head we drove to Donegal to stay at Mary's sister and her husband's place (Hillary and James). Actually their holiday home. Many people from NI come here for the holidays.  View from the top of Hillary’s spectacular garden.  On the way over we ventured off the main roads and stopped at some very scenic headlands.  We arrived in Dunfanaghy and stopped in town at the pub where we saw a notice for live...