At long last, the blog has been disinfected and virus free. Welcome back.
We took off again this summer, this time to northern Europe. We started with Ireland. It became clear why it is called the Emerald Island. Beautiful green fields
were everywhere. And probably the most beautiful flowers we’ve seen anywhere. Of course, as one of the locals said, “If it rains every day, you can have green fields and beautiful flowers.” We did see a lot of rain – gentle rain – but a fine rain during some part of almost every day.
Of course we visited Callan, Ireland. Found some Callan graves in an old, old cemetery, (fortunately none was mine). We stayed in a lovely bed and breakfast and enjoyed walking the streets of Callan.
We were in Ireland, so we had to visit the Blarney Castle, which almost demands that one kiss the Blarney Stone. The stone was set into a tower of the castle a few years back – in 1446. The legend is that if you kiss the Blarney Stone, you will receive the gift of eloquence, or nowadays, the gift of gab.
The word blarney is often used to indicate a person is a flatterer, and not necessarily sincere. But Irishman John O’Conner Power said, “Blarney is something more than mere flattery. It is flattery sweetened by humor and flavored by wit.” That’s the essence of the Irish.
Kissing the Blarney Stone is not an easy thing to do. As my back
was not in great shape that day (and some said I did not need to get any more gift of gab), I did not kiss the Blarney Stone. It is not a simple task. You must lie on your back, hanging out over the edge of the castle about four stories above the ground. (There are some bars to insure that you won’t fall to the ground.)
Still, we couldn’t visit the castle without one of us kissing the Blarney Stone. So, Earlene did. I’m sure I’ll never hear the end of that.
We visited the graves of St. Patrick and W.B. Yeats. St. Patrick is credited with driving the snakes out of Ireland, and there seems to be no snakes there to this day. Yeats is not the most famous Irish author, but in the top few and a writer should not go to Ireland and fail to visit Yeats. We also had lunch with the son of famous Irish playwright/author John B. Keane. And naturally, one of my generation would visit the area where The Quiet Man was filmed.
Other 
memories include lots of sheep, many fascinating small towns, beautiful countryside, hundreds of churches and cathedrals older than the U.S., and so much more. It was a great visit.
Ireland was only the start of our adventure, but I won’t bore you with more – today.
Anybody want to add their fond memories of the Emerald Island? Just leave a comment. And if you’d like to hear less, or more, about our northern Europe adventure, leave a comment “More” or “Less.”
What a beautiful adventure most of us would never get to experience if you didn’t share your wonderful vacations. Please give us more!
Thanks for the nice comment, Elaine. I will write a bit on Scotland in two weeks – Oct. 23. I hope you’ll stop by then.
This is great, Jim. Photos plus brief (maybe too brief) comments on each, and about your adventures in Ireland. I’ve never been there, but maybe one day. My grandfather was born and raised in Ireland and many relatives have visited over the years. I look forward to hearing more about your travels this summer.
Make plans and go! It’s a beautiful place and the Irish are very nice people. I hope you get to go and see where your grandfather was raised. Thanks for stopping by, Eileen.
So that’s where Washington State stole the name Emerald City. The competition to come up with a name for the state (hmm), I thought the winning name had to do with the Wizard of Oz (silly me, no wonder I did not win with ‘green garden’ (hahaha). Thanks for the clarification.
Well, Augie, it makes sense. It seems to rain an awful lot in Ireland – AND in Washington state. Actually, I think Green Garden is a better choice. Sorry you didn’t win. Thanks for stopping by.
More please! The only thing on my bucket list is a trip to the family castle in Scotland. You almost persuade me to add a side trip to Ireland! After all, there are McQuity’ s in my family tree as well!
Yes, I’d include Ireland. But, we visited Scotland as well, and I must say, it was spectacular. Do make time to spend visit Scotland. You’ll love it. Thanks for stopping by. And I will post on Scotland in a few weeks. (I’ve already committed the next few posts to other writers.)
Good to see you back on the blog trail, Jim. Sounds like you had a fine time. Enjoyed the photos and the virtual visit.
It’s good to be back. And thanks for stopping by. We did have a great time. I’ll write more about it next month.
It looks just lovely and sounds like you both had a fine time. Too bad about your not being able to kiss the Blarney Stone. A writer can always use more “blarney”.
There are those (and I’m not naming names) who say I have enough blarney. But it was a bad back day, and as you can see, it isn’t an easy thing to do. Thanks for visiting, Lesley.
Thanks for the virtual tour and fine photos, Jim. My paternal roots are in Wales, where I’ve traveled and enjoyed. My maternal roots are Irish. I haven’t been to Ireland, but maybe if I’m lucky… AS they say, “If you’re lucky enough to be Irish, you’re lucky enough.”
That’s a great saying – and I have to agree with it. But don’t slight your mother’s side. Ireland is beautiful. We didn’t get to Wales, but we did visit Scotland. Magnificent. I’ll write about Scotland next month. Thanks for stopping by – and for that great quote.
Since I live in the desert, it’s difficult to remember what real green looks like. I’m glad you had such a great time, and thanks for sharing. More. 🙂
I like the desert. But, it was refreshing to see such vibrant colors everywhere. Thanks for stopping by, Marja
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing the experience!
Thanks for stopping by, Nancy. It was a great experience for us.
We had flown all night across the pond in a C-130 aircraft enroute to Mildenhall, England. I watched from the flight deck as the sun came up over Ireland and to this day that sight remains one of my “Top Ten” flight memories. That heaven could be any more beautiful is hard to imagine! And you’ve intrigued me to do some research into a man named James Callahan, for whom Callahan County, Texas is named. I know about his Texas history connection, and am wondering if his name is a version of Callen and that you two share Irish roots?
Wow! That sounds great, Nancy. We didn’t get that, of course. We arrived at night and it was overcast. But we did revel in the beauty of Ireland.
It wouldn’t surprise me to find our family name in the distance past was Callahan – and maybe the “han” just got shortened to just “n.” I do have a coat of arms that my father researched probably before I was born, and it shows simply “Callan.”
Always good to have you visit, Nancy. You always have something interesting to add.