There’s always time for a nice cup of tea. Sure, didn’t the Lord himself pause for a nice cup of tea before giving himself up for the world. – Mrs Doyle (Father Ted)

Before I went to bed last night, I couldn’t remember if I’d locked the car or not, so I had to face those steps down to lock it.. and then back up again, with every step reminding me I am too old and not fit enough to do massive uphill walks. Anyway, sleep came quick enough and we both slept like logs. Surprisingly, we both woke up this morning feeling okay which considering the huge work out we did on the Aran Islands yesterday, shocked us both. When we were getting ready for bed, we both moaned and groaned with every move. We were so sore after taking that huge walk up to Dun Aengus on Inis Mor. But no signs of those aches and pains today, we are and ready to face the world.

Lugging our cases down the stairs didn’t even make us whinge and we were on the road before you could say ‘we can do it’. The host of the guest house had told us not to leave before 9 due to the heavy traffic and we should have listened. It was really busy, but not to mind. We finally got out of Galway and were on our way to find Father Ted’s house.

If you’ve never seen Father Ted, it was a British sitcom which follows the misadventures of three priests who have been banished to Craggy Island, a remoted location off the coast of Ireland. The three priest live a crazy life together in the house along with their housekeeper Mrs Doyle, whose main purpose in life seems to be trying to serve them tea. A lot of the scenery was filmed on Inis Oirr which is another of the Aran Islands but the house is actually near Corofin on the mainland.

Cecile wanted to see it, so we planned our trip to Limerick to include a quick visit there on our way. When we finally got out of Galway, we followed the route that the dreaded Maps sent us on. It was all good until we started to hit roads that had you close your eyes and pray you don’t meet a car coming the other way. Though the cars weren’t the biggest issue. It’s usually tractors that we’ve met on these sorts of trips. Holy guacamole Batman, they are such narrow roads with stone walls or huge overgrown hedges that form a canopy which looks like it’s only kept trimmed by the sides of cars. But we surged on and found the house which was the fictional home of Father Ted and his cronies.

After a few photos there, we headed to Limerick to meet one of my Irish cousins. Mary is the granddaughter of my grandmother’s sister. I’m not sure how many times removed that was, but it didn’t matter. It was so lovely meeting her and her husband. We didn’t expect to be fed, but she put a lovely lunch on for us and we had a great time getting to know each other. Last time I went to Limerick I didn’t know about her and knew none of the family there, so I was very excited to meet her this time.

It turns out, she is also an artist who went back to study art later on in life, just as I did. And she is one talented lady. My gaze was immediately drawn to the beautifully painted fairytale mural on the back fence which she had painted. As we kept talking, she also showed me some work she had done which was deeply personal. I have posted just one of these as the other two are of her family and they are personal to her. She explained that some slates had been blown off the original family home and the roof had to be replaced so she kept a few of the slates which are in excess of 100 years old. On the few she kept, she painted with scenes which could be seen from the house. They also included family members. Seriously, these slates are just so emotional and meaningful. I absolutely loved them. And meeting her will stay with me for life.

After we said goodbye to her, we headed to Dublin, trying to find where we could stay. We haven’t booked everywhere in advance but usually just the day of travel. We found a place near the airport as we say farewell to Ireland tomorrow and head to France. We have the day free before we fly out in the evening, so will do a few things in Dublin before we go. But for now, it’s late and we need to be up early again so I will say goodnight and I will write again when I am in France.

Happy connecting… Livvy xxx