Category / Visiting Ireland

by shannonchance

Cooling our Heels at a Round Tower House

Dave and Shannon at Coolhill Castle. Photo by Seán O’Brien.

Gaining entree into a castle that’s closed to the public is a thrilling event.  During our stay in Kilkenny, Dave and I visited the Office of Public Works (OPW) and borrowed the keys to Clare and Burnchurch Castles.

Imelda, Shannon, and Seán talk with Lima about conservation work underway at the castle. Photo by Dave Chance Photography.

Since we seemed so interested, the OPW staff invited us to visit Coolhill Castle as well, which is currently under renovation. The highlight of our visit to this particular Castle was meeting a couple of photography enthusiasts (Seán O’Brien and his neighbor, Imelda Maguire) where we left our cars to head across a field to the castle.

Since Dave and I had an appointment to go into the castle, we invited Seán and his Imelda to join us.

Inside the castle, we all had a fun time visiting with Liam and his colleagues from the OPW who were doing conservation work there.

The photos I am posting from our visit to Coolhill Castle were taken by Dave Chance and Seán.  You can see some of Seán’s work, Imelda’s work, and of course Dave’s work online.

Imelda, Liam, Shannon, and Dave enjoying views of the landscape around Coolhill Castle. Photo by Seán O’Brien.

by shannonchance

Train-ing for Westport

Headed west and enjoying all the train has to offer.  (This photo also marks my discovery of the panorama feature on my iPhone.)

Arriving at Heuston Station this morning. I arrived by tram. Others by foot, bike, car, and bus. Dublin is full of double deckers!

Few Americans have ever ridden a train.  That’s so unfortunate.  But it’s because, by the time we pay the costs to purchase, maintain, and insure an automobile (and pay taxes to build and repair roads), there’s not much left for train tickets.

And in the States, one must have an auto to get by. That’s true in almost every place.  Except New York City (although my sister feels the need to have one even there).

That’s a shame because train travel is amazing!  So comfortable and convenient….

I awoke early this morning to catch my 7:30 AM train to Westport.  I’m making the trek, as so many people from all around Ireland do, to see the holistic (and mercury-free) dentist there.  She scheduled me so that I can take the train from Dublin and back in the same day.  So, I’m traveling coast-to-coast again — headed back to County Mayo for the day. Hoping to find a comprehensive solution to my dental problem.

In the meantime, I’m enjoying beautiful views, reading, and the use of free wi-fi, on-board restrooms, and snack cart service offered by Irish Rail. You can’t get any of these from a car!  Yes, you can see there’s a view from the car, but you have to watch the road….

It’s so simple: I retrieved my pre-booked ticket from the machine…

…then waited for the board to show what platform to go to…

..and then found my reserved seat, to enjoy the ride.  And what a ride! Watching history fly past… I’m so in awe of the majesty of this land.

by shannonchance

Traveling Bunny

Bunny at dinner in Dublin.

Do you have something unique you do to remember your travel experiences?  A bit of home you bring along to help you remember who you are?  Some way you “frame” what you’re seeing that helps you understand and interpret what’s going on around you?

My unique take involves capturing photos of “urban reflections.”  I enjoy having this storehouse of images to look back on.  In future years, I’ll be able to reminisce about the places I’ve been and fun I’ve had.

And, I’ll be able to see how things have changed over time in the cities I have loved!

My current house guests, Mary and Tim, have their own way of framing their travels.  They bring thier “Bunny” with them everywhere they go.

Since they are accomplished travelers, they have pictures of Bunny in famous sites all around the world!

Here, Bunny nibbled a plump Irish carrot — while we dined on quiche and steamed veggies!

by shannonchance

Hijacked by the Kitchen

Shopping for kitchen supplies on Henry Street.

I had to ease myself back into reality a little today.  Tomorrow will bring the first day of classes at Dublin Institute of Technology!  I’ll be resuming work on my research project: meeting with my collaborators at DIT, settling into an office, and hopefully securing a library card and putting it to good use.

I did some work today to gear up.  Although I didn’t complete as much as I’d intended, I did get moving in the right direction.

I also forced myself to start using the kitchen in my apartment… which means that I discovered all kinds of things I’ll need in order to accomplish any degree of cooking here.

Up until now, Dave and I have been living like we’re on holiday (and eating out for every meal!?!!).  We hadn’t really gotten to see tourist sights when we were here in March 2011 and March 2012 because I was busy laying groundwork for the upcoming project.  We’ve tried to make up for that oversight by spending quality time together before our fall schedules consume us.  Dave and I throughly enjoyed exploring Dublin and “beyond the Pale” (the Pale being Dublin).  I’ll soon post more about what we’ve seen.

Over the past three weeks, Dave and I also put a lot of effort into creating our home away from home.  Nevertheless, today’s foray into the kitchen revealed the need for yet another shopping trip.  And fortunately, great shopping is just a few blocks away!

Throngs of people shopping on Henry Street today.

I must note, though, that great restaurants (like Mulligan’s Grocer and Seven Social and Cinnamon Cafe) are just as close.  Will power is going to be a critical aspect of eating at home.  In any case, I was very hungry today since I also took my first yoga class in Dublin.  I’d registered online last night with The Elbowroom (which is also just three blocks away) and ventured there for class this morning.

After class, I wrapped up some final editing for a journal article that’s “in press” and I sent everything off to the editors.  Then I headed out for kitchen supplies.  In this blog, I’ve posted images I took after I was loaded down with purchases — which was exactly when it dawned on me that you’d probably never imagined shopping like this.  Shopping here is so very different than shopping at home (with a car and with a sea of asphalt and plastic shopping bags).  Here, I have to carry everything back to the apartment… on my own back.

You’ll notice (in the top photo) that I’m covered with straps.  They’re from the Envirosax bags I tote along with me everywhere I go.  In Europe, you bring your own bags to the store with you.  Many department stores here are happy to supply bags, but grocers and discounters (like IKEA and Argos) charge extra for bags.

Moving on to evening hours:  since I don’t have a TV (by choice) and (sadly) couldn’t watch Downtown Abbey, I opted for a play at the Dublin Fringe Festival.  It was a superb two-woman play called “Payback!” at Bewley’s Cafe Theatre on Grafton Street.  Tickets are just 10 Euro each — a real bargain!

I couldn’t take photos of this play, so I’ll explain the image (I posted previously) from a Fringe Festival play I saw with my sister Heather.  That play allowed photography because it was an outdoor production billed as “boutique street theater.”

Play I saw with my sis at the Dublin Fringe Festival.

It was a very high quality production, lots of fun, and absolutely free!  I enjoyed it immensely even though I didn’t know most of the theatrical references (including A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Alice in Wonderland… I’m quite rusty with regard to both).

Thanks to my sis for helping me realize that Dublin theater is phenomenal, not to be missed, and not all that intimidating.  Now I’m gaining skill at selecting and booking tickets.  I’ve already purchased a ticket for a play in the upcoming Dublin Theater Festival — which is completely different from the Fringe festival that is currently underway.

by shannonchance

It’s All About the Light

Dublin was awash in sunshine today!

We awoke this morning for breakfast with two of our house guests–Amanda Bernhard and Jonathan Kennedy–who are in Galway for the year studying Irish.  They have a very interesting blog going and they manage to post it in Irish and English.  I invited them to stay an extra night after the Fulbright Orientation, so we could go to the Cobblestone Pub that’s just down the street.  It’s known far and wide as the best place in Dublin to hear traditional music.  Amanda and Jon each play instruments and they joined in with the other musicians playing at the pub last night.  I’m hoping Dave will provide images of Amanda with her fiddle and Jon with his pipes, so I can post them for you.

We are absolutely loving city life.  Everything is right here… no need for a car day-to-day.

Following breakfast (which included a tasty bowl of porridge with rhubarb at the Cinnamon Cafe), I visited a photo exhibit while Dave enjoyed the weekly outdoor market and the wine festival in Meeting House Square.  Then we both headed over to the Oxfam Home store (which sells used furniture) and the Dublin Food CoOp.  Yelp has proven quite helpful in locating local favorites such as these, which came highly recommended by Peter and Mark at Kildare Street Hotel.

As we ran our errands, we also stubbled across one beautiful place after another.  I’ve attached a snapshot of the park beside St. Patrick’s Cathedral that we strolled through.

After a quick bowl of soup for lunch, I dashed off to see a play with my sister, Heather Massie, who is visiting for the Dublin Fringe Festival.  The play “Guerrilla Days in Ireland” was performed at the beautiful Olympia Theater.  It was a nice complement to the play we’d each seen last week called “The Plough and the Stars.”  Both relay twentieth century Irish history.

Amazingly, Heather has seen ten shows in the week she’s been here–in addition to taking a bus trip to Kerry, meeting us in Galway and Connemara for three days, and coming along on one day of Fulbright orientation with me (to see the Hill of Tara and Trim Castle).  Today she visited the Goal (former jail), art museum and its gardens, the Queen of Tarts….

In other words, it’s been quite a busy week.  I’ve just reported about the tip of the iceberg!  I’ll have to tell you about our other adventures in future days.  I do enjoy the comments you post and emails you send….

by shannonchance

Drummer Girl

I know the suspense was probably killing you… so here’s Glen’s photo of the drummer girl from Achill Island.  This is an amazing image, isn’t it?

Below it, a black and white Glen took before we arrived.  Enjoy!

by shannonchance

Leader of the Band

One of Glen McClure’s beautiful images from last St. Patrick’s Day’s Achill Island parade.

Our mission today: to find someone who knew the drummer girl Glen had photographed in Achill Island last March.  There’s a large print of the girl hanging in the Portsmouth Art and Cultural Center (formerly the Courthouse Gallery) right now.

Despite the rain that rolled in just after breakfast and stayed all day, we headed to the island of the west coast in our little rental car.  Dave did a respectable job of remembering to drive to the left.  One must always be patient driving in Ireland, though, as sheep maintain the right-of-way.

Arriving on Achill, we stopped at the Western Light Art Gallery and asked Sean Cannon and his wife for advice.  They knew exactly who the girl was.  We left the photo of her there, for Mr. and Mrs. Cannon to give her.  The couple had provided directions to a pub the whole marching band (pictured above) frequents.  It is famous for being the western-most pub in Ireland.

We headed there, stopping along the way for a photo or two.  Upon arriving at Gielty’s Bar and Restaurant, a friendly fellow greeted us immediately.  And he was, of course, exactly the person we were looking to find… Michael Gielty.

Michael and his niece were happy to see the images.  They actually had a framed drawing on the wall, made in 1985, that depicted almost the very same scene that Glen captured in 2012.

We celebrated our find with two man-sized Smithwicks and a lady Guinness.

by shannonchance

Coast to Coast in Under 3 Hours

A zippy three-hour drive from coast to coast landed us in Westport, Ireland, to met our photographer friend.  The many stoney building faces make Westport a beaux of a city.  The businesses here have a decidedly international flair.  Before meeting Glen, Dave and I lunched at a highly acclaimed restaurant downtown named “sol rio.”

Glen stays a few miles outside town, at the Seapoint House, when he’s in this area.  His work is hanging in rooms all over this B&B.  That (and the fact that he’s here) makes it feel like home to us.  Dave and I have one of Glen’s photos from this very county (County Mayo) hanging in our dining room in Portsmouth.

When we arrived today, Glen was out somewhere with his camera so we wandered a bit. It was overcast across Ireland most of the day, but the colors of the moss here are always so vibrant as you can see below.

Glen’s enthusiasm for this place is contagious.  For dinner, he took us out to one of his favorite pubs, Sheebeen.  In the photos below, you see how animated he and Dave were–until the food arrived!

At this pub, once again, I found delicious vegetarian choices on the menu.  Although I’m not vegetarian, I am trying to cut back on eating meat… we’ve had luck ordering one vegetarian and one fish or meat entree and splitting.  (Incidentally, Torinos Italian Restaurant in Westport also has delicious food and vegetarian options.)

See my half-sized “lady Guinness” in the foreground above?  It’s as much alcohol as I can handle (I’m actually quite the teetotaler).  In any case, I’ve no idea what to make of the sandwich board we saw while walking downtown before dinner… it must be a joke?

I’m really not sure what to make of this sign.

by shannonchance

Novelty Express

I awoke this morning to an excited phone call from Dave. He’s accustomed to going out at dawn to photograph in the morning light. Today, he was out with the tall ships and he summoned me to come see them sail. The ships closest to the city were moving out. The city had opened the Calatrava-designed bridge to allow the ships thru passage. (Calatrava is an architect and bridge-designer whose work Dave and I greatly admire.)

“Take a picture every time you see something that surprises you,” the International Four-H Youth Exchange had instructed me when I was an IFYE to Switzerland in 1994, “because after a few days that thing won’t seem unusual to you and you’ll forget to take a picture.” I recalled that advice today after the Facebook image of my “mini” Irish breakfast raised eyebrows among my friends back home.

After eating dozens of these meals over the years, I’d nearly forgotten that beans on the side seem unusual to the American palette. But our cat-sitter, Morgan, posted a query about our choice of side items. She’s the person who asked me to bring back some Lucky Charms (her favorite boxed cereal product). I guess she’ll be surprised when the luck I bring her comes in a can!

After breakfast, Dave headed back to work editing photos. He’s at in non-stop these days, to meet deadlines back home. I did a bit of shopping on my own (again) in preparation to move into the new apartment. Today, I went shopping on Grafton Street. I’ve posted reflections from the area. The one (to the left) reminds me of the importance of landmarks in creating a beautiful townscape (an idea of Gordan Cullan’s) and of using landmarks to help people orient themselves in the city (as explained by Kevin Lynch). See how effective the church is in providing a visual cue to your location? And how the curved streets provide a sense of mystery (as recommended by Camillo Sitte)?

The reflection on BT2 I captured today (shown to the right below) was completely different from the one I posted yesterday (to the left).

After that, I was off to a tour of the Freemason Hall just up the street from our hotel. The tour was offered as part of National Heritage Week. I learned so much from the guide! I’ve posted some photos of the building–which serves as the headquarters for all of the island’s Freemasons–in honor of my Hampton University office-mate, David Perronet.

On the way back to our hotel, I noticed a sign for the “Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.” Now, that’s a title and combination you wouldn’t see in the States! It’s shown below, to the left. The photo to the right is a memorial to the Celtic Tiger. More on those topics later. (Please remind me if I forget!)

For now, I’ll get this posted and try to pry Dave from that computer so we can enjoy the last few moments of sunlight today.

by shannonchance

Snapshots from a Saturday in Dublin

Reflections of old City Hall in shop windows along Dame Street (© Shannon Chance, August 2012).

Tall Ships along the River Liffey in Dublin (© Shannon Chance, August 2012).

Visiting artist Aga Szot at her exhibition “Punctuation.” One of Aga’s original paintings hangs in our home in Portsmouth.

BT2 storefront reflection (© Shannon Chance, August 2012).