Three Lovely Ladies from USA
It was July 2017 and I met Three Lovely Ladies & their respective husbands at Dublin airport.
We were to be together for the following 10 days sightseeing around Ireland. The itinerary was full and busy but the entire tour was just a joy. The tree couples were brilliant, amazing wonderful people, These three ladies had grown up together, gone to school together, graduated together, and their lives had been entwined as they each married, raised their families and holidayed together. These lovely ladies reminded me of the movie “MaMa Mia ! “
I felt honoured and privileged to be part of their visit to Ireland. There were so many high lights on this trip, but I’m going to recall just two.
On day 4 of the tour we checked out of Benners hotel in Dingle and made our way to Killarney. A beautiful summer’s day and our intention were to go on a trip on the jaunting cars and then go to Rosse Castle. Arriving in Killarney I drove into the Malton Hotel. The group decided they would go off down the town, have a coffee and that we would meet at an appointed time for the jaunting trip to Rosse castle !
As Ty got out of the Vehicle he looked for his wallet and no sign. He was adamant that he had, had it on the way up! We all searched the vehicle and took out the suit cases and searched them! I kept repeating “ it’s not lost just that we can’t lay our hands on it, it has to be here somewhere “ I know my positivity was infuriating them so I suggested they would join the others , who had left 5 mins earlier and that I’d continue to search the vehicle. And so I did but to no avail. We had agreed that I would text them when I’d find it!!!!
Feeling very bad I took out my phone& started wording a difficult message (relaying that I had not found the wallet) when a text crossed my phone. Saying “ Hi Patricia, Ty just found his wallet “ O Thank you God I said out loud , I was happier than they were I’m sure . !!
Later we met up and Ty told me that while we were travelling up from Dingle to Killarney he had been looking at his wallet and put it into his wife’s handbag but of course it was n’t there … he had accidentally put it into one of the others ladies bag, which was by the seat on the floor … and of course when she went to pay for the coffee at the cafe she found Toms wallet in her bag . Simple to happen but wasn’t I delighted it hadn’t been my bag he’d put it into….. (Lesson learned, never leave my handbag down by the seat in the vehicle )
Great relief as we set off on our way.
Now it was part of their Itinerary to visit the ancestral home of Jane, the main organiser of the trip.
This took us to Loughmore Castle in Co Tipperary, A great big, very old building which is now a ruin. It was a magnificent day, soaring temp of 17deg, very unusual in Ireland! This was to be my last day with the group and we were travelling from Cork to Dublin with a stop in Loughmore. During the trip I have told them much about Paddy, and they enjoyed hearing all about his work also. Now as it happened Paddy was off this day and I asked them if they wouldn’t mind that he’d join us along the way.
They were more than happy and we met at The Firgrove hotel for lunch… and a super lunch it was too. They insisted Paddy would sit up front and talk to them along the way. The atmosphere in the vehicle was highly charged, just magical, here were the three best of friends with their husbands sharing a “homecoming” for Jane. We arrived at the village went into the coffee shop and Paddy ordered cakes and tea…. The young lady there was shy but once she realised that this was a very important stop on their vacation she volunteered a lot of information… “Local Knowledge “We sat in the shade of a tree in glorious sunshine looking across the fields at this enormous building. This imposing building looked splendid in the evening sun!
Tea was finished, we went out into the field, through the farmyard and walked in around the building. Our minds, searching for a way to re-in act the lives that were once lived here, and appreciate the history of this place. The neighbours pony pushed his head through the hedge to bid us good day! The cows in the near by field just continued to chew and young lovers crossed the field in front of us! This was a magical evening, everything was perfect, the company, the place, the history, the sunshine and the memories being made!
Three hours later after a visit to the local graveyard and then to the local pub to “wet the whistle” ( as it were )we set off for Dublin. That night in Parnell Sq in Dublin we bade each other Goodbye and we parted company a whole lot enriched by each other.