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Volume 1, Issue 2
Soft Days in Ireland:
Four bicycles and a wedding - Chapter 2
by Fred Meridith
The wedding was grand and the reception at the Murphy home was filled with good food and plenty to drink. There were family and friends who also played traditional Irish music including most of a notable band, La Lugh: Gerry and Eithne O'Connor, Siobhan (ShuhVAUGHN) Kennedy, and Jens. Galway musicians Sean and Irene Moloney were there as well. The bride and groom sat in for a considerable time still in their wedding clothes, and Jim Davis was never far from one of his full sets of harmonicas. The nuptials completed, we started our tour of Ireland on bicycles.
August 3. Blackrock to Cork.
It was a soggy Monday morning to be riding to the train station, but after assuring the senior Murphys that we would be fine, we set out for Dundalk in the rain.
The train to Dublin had a special car for cyclists (marked by a bicycle emblem next to the door). It was a little older, but still very nice. I like the idea of tables between facing seats.
In Dublin we rolled out of one train station, biked across town, and caught another train to Cork. Everything we would need over the next two weeks was on our bicycles in four panniers (saddle bags) two each, front and rear - about 60 pounds of gear for each of us on our modified mountain bikes set up for touring.
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Volume 1, Issue 2
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www.irishshop.com
Searching for things Celtic without leaving the comforts of home can be easy on the internet. Beat the mall crowds and order on-line. There are not as many sites available for Irish gifts as I would have hoped, but if you are intent on getting a gift on-line this is one of the better sites. It is filled with all the basic gifts, crafts, books, art, collectibles, clothing, and pub paraphanalia. The quick-loading home page clearly outlines categories for gift ideas, ordering, and pricing. Depending on your selection, each department sends pricing and photographs of each item. A double click on the photo gives you a large image for closer viewing.
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Hornpipe Magazine
Irish Dance, Music, Film, and Culture
Guaranteed to make you more Irish!
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Volume 1, Issue 1
Four bicycles and a wedding
Story and photos by Fred Meredith
"We're going to Ireland," my wife announced as she poked her head into my study.
"And I'm off line now," she added.
Though blessed with our own separate work areas and computers at home, Nancy and I still share a common telephone line for our Internet access. She was letting me know I could check my email now. By the same token, since she had just checked her mail, I was not totally surprised to be hearing some "news" — only startled by the nature of it.
"Thanks," I said, "and why are we going to Ireland?"
"Emily and Mark are getting married," she said, as if that explained everything.
"Emily is Emily Davis, Nancy's daughter, and Mark is Mark Murphy, Emily's significant other.
"But they live in Australia. Why would they go all the way to Ireland to get married?"
"They're moving back to Ireland," she said. "They're going to get married in Mark's hometown — Blackrock, in County Louth. Emily is starting to make plans, and we will all go for the wedding [noticeable pause], if you want to."
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