Today's goal is to go to Mass in Dungarvan and then explore the coastal area to the east. But first, breakfast. I, Tom, had an omelet with mushrooms and smoked salmon. Joe, our host, said that the salmon started as a typo but people liked it so they kept it on the menu -- good choice.
Poached eggs on toast.
We enjoyed talking with this young Irish couple at breakfast. They are Mark and Blathnaid (the a has a fada over it). They are both from the Irish midlands living and working in Dublin. They were very warm and friendly and free with travel advice. Mark kept asking about travel in the US. But they spend many weekends a year traveling to different places in Ireland. They love Ireland very much and we are learning to love it, too.
As we walk to one church, we find yet another......both within two blocks of one another!
And somewhere in between, this plaque commemorated "The Iron Man" of Ireland!
Two months on the road and we finally attend Mass....couldn't bring myself to take pictures. We were late and sat in the choir loft....a very happy place to be....the choir, 30ish members, sang with heart and soul!!! And the sermon was short and succinct....don't give up, don't ever give up!! The friary church dates back to the 1300's.
We are on our way to take the coastal route east from Dungarvan. This owner is quite precise about his hedge....perfect!
The water, more precisely, the Irish Sea, is always on our right hand side....the Irish Sea, the Celtic Sea....
Our first small town was Stradbally which has their own version of "Rainbow Row".
(Can hear some saying "this isn't pastel/rainbow")
This sundial table told the story of the "copper rush", the "fool's gold". We weren't quite sure what it was talking about....
Out coffee/beer/pit stop....met a local gentleman who raised four sons "without a housekeeper" (assume that meant without a wife as well). All 4 sons played on an "All Region Football" championship team from Stradbally. He was sooooo proud. One of his sons came in to drink a beer with him while we were there! Drats! no picture!
As we left Stradbally, headed east, the landscape/views became better.....and better....and better.
AHA!! Now we learn more about the "Copper Coast".
Leaving the "hub" of the copper mining, just plain desolate and lovely.
When we started on this coastal drive, we had never known about the Copper Coast.
By this point, it has been a long time since breakfast. We have drifted inland....hungry.....totally remote.....miles from any town or semblance of humanity....out of the clear blue, really, truly, came this sign....IS IT OPEN???? It IS a Sunday!!! It was like an oasis in a desert.
When the new owners purchased this facility a few years ago, a friend did this mosaic fireplace for them! For a moment, T and I thought this might be the "pearly gates"!
How did we get so lucky in the middle of nowhere?????
Across the street.....
We are back in familiar territory....just down the road, so to speak, from our nest. Not the best of beaches and not the best of hotels....we are ready to move on...
