A YEAR IN MY LIFE ( or 3 ): Mom's Trip of a Life Time

My mom finally made it to the shores of the Emerald Ilse this September! It was only the second time she had seen me in 2 1/2years and we had a great time. Mom was here for 3 weeks and we made the most of it. Our number 1 priority was to go to Donegal up on the northwest coast of Ireland. Mom has (and me) family up there that she had never met and this is where her Great Grandfather was from. We met up with Billy and Francis (mom's second cousins?) and saw the old homestead where they used to live. Billy definitely looks like a Morrow. He and mom could be brother and sister. We had an awesome time driving around the very barren and rugged coast, seeing the old Methodist Church where her Great Grandfather was married, traipsing around an old over grown estate and enjoying our B&B Ard na Bretha. I had my 43rd birthday up there! On our leisurely drive back to Dublin, we stopped in Belleek to tour the Belleek Museum and purchase a few things.

Back in Dublin, we did all the touristy things that i love to show my guests. We went agate hunting in Bray, beach combing on Bull island, lunching at Powers Court Estate and Howth Harbour, spent time in the Vale of Avoca (where Ballykissangel was filmed) and bought throws at the Avoca Hand Weavers Mill. We had dinner one night at Johnny Fox's pub, high up in the Dublin mountains. The Kilmainham Gaol is a must see for anyone visiting Ireland. It shows the history of the famine, the coffin ships to Australia and the 1916 uprising.

Mom had to fend for herself for a few days while i went back to work at the end of her visit. She was very nervous to take a bus into town (i don't think she has ever taken public transport) but on her first day on her own, she was bored! Next thing i know, she is calling me from somewhere in Trinity Collage. We met at a coffee shop around the corner from my work, talked and laughed and headed home. We spent her last day at Phoenix Park and Farmleigh Estate where we had a nice walk and a snack by the lake. I saw her off early the following morning at the airport where i think we both shed a few tears!