Ireland trip, Day 9

When we woke up this morning Galway was socked in with fog. We were a bit worried the day would be lousy, weather wise, but we were pleasantly surprised with sun all day!

We started the day with a stop at a local farm where we learned about Irish sheep farming and that the wool they have here is worthless. It costs 2.5 Euro to have a sheep sheared and one sheep produces about 2 Kilos of wool. Wool sells for .80 cents a kilo, so you can see how it's a waste. Even if you shear the sheep yourself your time will make you better money elsewhere rather than collecting the wool and bringing it to market to be sold. The farmers do it anyway because it has to go somewhere. They estimate that soon the wool will go out with the recycling and they will have to pay to have it taken away. How sad.

We got to see a real border collie in action. He brought in the sheep and penned them with out any commands at all and never barked once. The dog uses only eye contact and instinct to control the sheep. It was very cool to watch and the dog was soooo happy to do it. I wish I had been on the ball enough to video it.

At the end the farmers wife took us in for fresh scones right from the oven. What a treat!

The rest of the afternoon was spent on the drive to Dunboyne from Galway. It was all on the motorway (like a freeway) and was very uneventful. We arrived at our last hotel, The Dunboyne Castle Hotel and checked in.

After supper we had a had story-telling time by a real Irish Shanachie in the drwaing room of the old Georgian part of the hotel. It was very nice and the stories were wonderful.

Then we went down to the old cellar and had some musicians play for just our group. They finished up at about 10:15, but we hadn't had enough yet. We went into the town of Dunboyne and lucked out in a little pub where local musicians have been meeting for jam sessions every Thursday night since 1987. One of the musicians told Peggy they've only missed one night and that was because the river flooded and the pub had a foot of water inside.

None of the musicians there makes any money playing music. They all have regular jobs or are retired and do it just for the love of music. They were very good and this was probably the best night of music yet. We stayed until well after midnight until the musicians started packing up.

Foggy morning view from our hotel window.

The original thatched cottage at the farm we visited.

Our friend, Dana, feeding a lamb while the farmer looks on.

The Shanachie sharing some of his stories with us.

Some of the musicians at the pub in Dunboyne. There were 15 there this night and they told us sometimes there are as many as 24 depending on who can show up.

This fun old man had three different very high-end Honer harmonicas and was a hoot to listen to. He also had a 4-note harmonica that was only about 1 inch long.
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