Just back from Ireland

Well me and PJ are back from our short break in Ireland, I was going to say sunny Ireland but the weather was not that good.
Really enjoyed the break and toured about starting at a place called Cahir close to PJ's friend who decided to move out there about 2 years ago. First night we stayed in the local jail - yes it was an old jail that has been converted into a B&B and at £20.00 per night including a full breakfast it was a great place to stay even though the yank in the next room snored all through the night I thought it was just a tape recording as it never stopped. When we booked in the owner showed us to our room and as it looked like a castle from the outside I enquired about the history and she said it was the old jail house in the 19th century through to 1919 when her family bought it to live there then it was converted in 1978 to B&B by the present family. We said we didn't mind staying in a jail for the night as we were used to it she looked us up and down after that remark!
So we hit the small town and had a great steak in a bar that we stayed in all night - well until 11.30pm as we were a bit knackerd from the flight and the drive to Cahir which is close to Tipperary. Guiness was good and the beer was fresher than back home. Guiness was 3.40€ so was a bit more expensive than Coxa club but had a differnet taste than what they serve here in England.
Next morning we said our goodbyes to the jail keeper and PJ's mate and we headed towards Killkenny taking in some small towns and seeing some old castles on the way. At Killkenny which is a large town we thought about staying but as we had planned not to stay in large towns perferring to stay in small villages where the craig would be good in the boozers we decided to move on after another guiness. Just before we moved on we saw that the IRA are still a threat even though they are supposed to be handing over their arms. A securicor van was doing the rounds collecting money at the banks in Killkenny and had two police cars and three armed military vehicles also keeping guard. Armed soldiers were all over the street outside the bank, the landlady informed us that it has been a regular thing since 1980 and is to stop the IRA from robbing the van while picking up the money. She also said she warns yank tourists not to take pictures while this is going on as the soldiers are armed with live ammo and don't take too kindly to being interupted while on the look-out. When we left the pub we walked through the soldiers and as I stated to PJ there was one mean looking soldier amongst them eyes close together with his eyebrows touching- never trust this type of person 666 comes to mind. This sight was to be repeated several times in different towns and villages that we passed through.
So we set off again and headed for Waterford, Wexford and finally staying in a small town called Enniscorthy for the night this time not in a jail but a good local B&B near to a village green with plenty of pubs close by. After another good meal we hit one pub on the corner and stayed there until 1:00am. It was good craig with the local lads and even had a couple from Consett walk in for a drink, unfortunately he and his missus were Mags and decided to come back in later in the evening just to inform me of our misserable score against Cheltenham. I already knew as I had phoned CliveD earlier. The Mag couple were also touring and staying at the same B&B so they also stayed until the earlier hours. One Irish guy even insisted that I was not going bald and had a skin problem in my head that could be cured by a cream from the doctors. After agreeing that I would seek medical help as soon as I was back home the guy then started on his party tricks some good some not so good but all a good laugh. As time went on and the guiness was tasting better by the pint we did not realise that it was getting on abit and when we asked for another round at 1:00am the landlady said she would have liked to but as she had just been up in court for stoppy backs she had to call it a day. Aparantly she was knicked for having four drinkers still in the pub at 10:00am last bank holiday!
Next morning we travelled up towards Dublin but kept out of the city as we had not planned to visit Dublin, this will be done some other visit with or without the wives. We checked out two places just north of Dublin that had been recommended by two bishops that had been drinking in the pub with us until the early hours. One place called Howth was like Whitby the other Malhide was like millionaires paradise. We decided to skip these two places for a place called Swords that was only 10 minutes drive to the airport. We checked into a good B&B paying the usual £20 per night. The place had some good pubs we chose the Fighting Cock for our night out - a good choice as the bar was very lively plenty of talent to view and dream about plus Donny were beating Man City on several plasma screens on the walls. We stayed in here until midnight and then passed the local nite-club on our way to bed as we needed to be up at 6:30 am for our early morning flight back to Durham Tees Valley Airport.
To summarise the few days break - great countryside, great people, great beer, great food, weather okay, SAFC won, no trouble, great B&B's and great company. Would recommened it to anyone.

Jim Gilling
FTM