Marina Del Athlone

Marina Del Athlone  

Tuesday March 31, 2015

I woke this morning late and dozed because I could. Kees cooked a wonderful breakfast and we set off to Athlone at around 11 am but not before a visit to Strawberry Fields. Kees, being a Beatle aficionado, has built a tree house for his grandkids in his back garden and named it to honour that great Beatle composition. Of course it would not be complete with the obligatory rope ladder. How exciting that has to be for kids! The 100 year anniversary of the Easter Rebellion of 1916 will take place next year and I have no doubt that it will be celebrated in many different ways here in Ireland and probably all over the world. With such thoughts in mind we stopped at a monument close to Boyle dedicated to those men from the local who were killed fighting for Ireland’s freedom. 

 The name Scosainh O’Maolmhuaidh  caught my eye since O’Maolmhuaidhe is Molloy in Irish. Another stone shows the name as Joseph Molloy from Knockvicar. These men were members of the Old IRA which is different from today’s IRA.

We arrived at Hodson Bay at around 1:30; Eileen is bringing a group from Holland in October and needed to check out a couple of things in advance. The Hodson Bay Hotel is situated on the banks of the River Shannon. 

The view of Lough Ree from the Hotel is spectacular and evoked many great memories of times spent with Frances and the children on our boat on the Shannon.

 The oldest pub in Ireland is in Athlone;

 Sean’s Bar is a classic example of an old Irish pub with its dark lighting, open fire and an old well-worn piano in the corner. The eclectic collection of artifacts, tributes and memorabilia added to the warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Timmy, the barman was attentive and professional without being intrusive and yet shared the repartee. A great experience and one I hope I can repeat with Frances one day. Needless to say the Guinness was superb and the soup and brown bread from the restaurant next door complemented the libation!

We broke our homeward trip to visit Rathcroghan a visitor’s center displaying Artifacts and clothing of early Irish inhabitants.

 The highlight for me was a video of a storyteller relating the tales of Táin Bò Couilnge, The Cattle Raid of Cooley.

I felt like the high king of Ireland sitting on the very impressive throne.

Eileen of course would be a queen and took her rightful place on the throne as well.

I posed with a couple of the models and was accosted by the woman … a most pleasant experience.

We rounded off the day with a game of ‘Lift’with Frank and Cora at Eileen and Kees’s house. It was an evening of laughter, exchange of family news and, dare I say, love permeated the room.  I nearly won only to be ‘pipped’ at the post by Eileen … again! I should mention the age old pastime of ‘slagging’ was alive and well during the game and they wouldn’t slag if they didn’t like me …I think!