It’s official. Going to Ireland in November.
I was there for my birthday once before. My sisters and I were all there together – Siobhan was in school at UCD, and Jean and I traveled to visit.
The hilarity that ensued that week is difficult to describe. Pretty much the entire vacation has a “Had to be there” clause attached to it.
And the laughter? The laughter was intense.
We spent my birthday traveling to look at the pre-Stone Henge spirals of Newgrange, on a grey rainy day.
Here is my imitation of what it is like to take a tour at Newgrange:
You follow the tour-guide up the narrow inclining-passageway in the tomb. The rocks around you are literally covered in carved spirals.
Random person: So what do the spirals signify?
Tour guide: (Irish brogue) Well, we don’t really know.
You get into the tomb area, where on the Solstice – if it is sunny – the light crawls up the narrow passage, and floods the inner tomb with light. In the tomb, on the sides, there are these large rounded-out stones – like platforms, or tables, or … who the hell knows what.
Random person: What are these large stones for?
Tour guide: Nobody really knows.
Another random person: Do they think that it was a burial site? Or …
Tour guide: Your guess is as good as mine.
It is HILARIOUS. If you ever go to New Grange, I highly suggest you take the tour, because basically the message is: “Nobody knows anything about this place, but isn’t it just feckin’ amazing???”
And it is.
The night of my birthday, my sisters and I went out and saw a play, and then huddled together in a Dublin nightclub, drinking beers, and screaming at each other over the music. Jean had bought a bodhran earlier the day, and we didn’t have time to go back to the dorm and drop it off, so she was forced to bring the bodhran into the club. This mortified her.
“I look like such a tourist. I can’t believe I’m bringing an Irish drum into a nightclub in Dublin. I hope no one asks about it.”
The entire week was one long laugh-fest. And it all ended, gloriously, with “the night the lights went out in Dublin”. One of the funnest and funniest nights I have ever had in my life.
I was there for the millennium as well – and now I’m going back. This November.
Amazingly enough, the words “don’t trust your son to no backwoods southern lawyer” could actually work there as well.
oh you lucky girl. I envy you the great time you’ll have.
gosh, what was that song with the “backwoods southern lawyer” in it? i have the tune in my head but can’t remember the title or singer. something about “bloodstains on his hands” too…
“The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia”
of course! thanks emily.
Emily – very well done. Took me a second to figure out the reference!
Dan – I’ll probably blog during the trip. Because I’m a lunatic. Maybe I’ll have a digital camera by then as well.
It’ll be like I’m sending you all postcards.
On the off chance you happen to pass St. James’s Gate in Dublin, will you kiss it for me?
Most definitely.
Too bad you can’t go a month earlier so you could visit The Curragh for A Day At The Races, Without O’Groucho.
Sheila O’Malley – live from Dublin.
Michael – we wanted to go earlier – but it was amazing the change in price when we pushed it back to November!
Also, I’m in a wedding in October – it all got to be a wee bit complicated!
Some day, though, I will get to the Curragh.
How exciting! Ireland keeps getting pushed down my “things to do” list, but I hope you have a great time!
Thanks, Bill! November is a DAMN long time away, though. Hard to imagine it will ever come.
I’ve never travelled outside the U.S. (except for a day long excursion to Tijuana, I was 16, with my grandmother, mother and brother, so it wasn’t as much fun as it could’ve been), but Ireland is definitely on my list of countries to visit. Everything I’ve seen and read about it looks absolutely incredible. Good for you, Sheila, I’m sure you’ll have an awesome time (hopefully not awesome as in mini-bar bottles and porn, then again, that can be fun too).
i seriously can’t wait. wish we could go to sleep and wake up in november.
I’m jealous.
How I wish…. One of the nice things about just having begun work for an airline is that I can now fly almost free from the Mid West back home to Cork. One of the bad things about just having begun working for them is that I will not accrue enough vacation time for a year. Another of the nice things is that I can fly my parents out here to visit for about $100 – NOW!. I can also take my mid week ‘weekend’ and fly anywhere in the U.S. to visit friends, go see a show, see tha StL Cardinals etc. Have a wonderful trip Shelia. When’s the b’day? Mine’s Nov 8 and I’m waaaaaaaaaaaay older than you!
I’m catching up on your blog, Sheila, and the bizarre thing is that I was in Boston on Thursday night, talking to this colleague who just got engaged to an Irish man. So, the whole Ireland thing came up and I swear to God the story I told is the tour guide just repeating to every question, “Well, we don’t really know.” And, “There’s a lot of theories (teories).” Weird, cuz I haven’t told that story in a long while.