Recent Doings

It's been a fairly quiet couple of months in my home town and in my life.

I've reconnected with my spiritual director and have met with him in each of the past two months and will meet with him again next week. I'm hoping to go on retreat at the monastery next month.

With summer's arrival, I've already helped run the sailboat races on a couple of Saturdays and a couple of Thursday evenings. I also got to be on a sailboat for a race last Saturday, thanks to a friend who joined the yacht club this year, with me as his second sponsor. He has a regular crew of about a half dozen who did the real work, but I got to help in a couple of non-strenuous ways. The wind was light, and it was a pleasant way to spend a day. One of the people on the boat was a guy who was a race committee boat driver as a teenager about 36 years ago. Back then he was pretty good looking. It was interesting learning about what he had done since then (including being a crew member on America's Cup competitors).

My car was hit by a bus on June 26. I was on the side of the street, getting ready to enter traffic from the parking spot. The street was congested, and the bus swerved to the right and hit my left rear bumper and fender. Fortunately nobody was hurt, but I'm sure the fender will have to be replaced. I hope the bumper can be saved because I've got a couple of stickers on it, and they wouldn't be easy to replace. My collision insurance has a $300 deductible. I hope the appraiser will value the repairs high enough to cover the rest of the cost.

My cousin will be visiting the area from Iowa for about three weeks. Some of the time he'll be at a family vacation place in New Hampshire. When in town he'll stay at my aunt's. We'll probably get together two or three times — maybe take in a baseball game of a summer college student league, maybe go to dinner at the yacht club.

As usual, I went to see the town's Memorial Day parade. There are ceremonies at a park and in the town's major cemetery. I'm glad we have that tradition.

Germany/Ireland — Addenda

Book.  In the Frankfurt airport on my way to Ireland, I wanted to get something to read on the plane and in restaurants in Ireland. I found a book called Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom, who wrote Tuesdays with Morrie and a couple of other pretty good books. Of course the title grabbed my attention, and I bought it. It's the parallel stories of his writing the eulogy for his childhood rabbi (at the rabbi's invitation) and his dealings with a reformed drug dealer/addict who was pastor of a small Christian church in Detroit. It was interesting and easy to read. I guess Albom believes that there is a God who leads people to do good things (which I also believe), and that exactly how you express your belief doesn't matter as long as you have a little faith (which I don't quite agree with). By the time I got home, I had finished the book. It has a lot of interesting stories about the rabbi and the pastor and things they did and things that happened to them.

British Couple. Thursday morning at breakfast I exchanged pleasantries with a British couple. If memory serves, they were from Brighton, and some of her family had come from Monaghan. They asked if I knew of any good restaurant for dinner. I mentioned that the best I had been to so far was Andy's, where I had had dinner the previous evening (and it really was quite good). It turns out they were the couple seated near me whom I had heard complaining about slow service. So I mentioned the Westenra Arms. I think they had been there also and found it unsatisfactory. The only other place I had gone for dinner was The Squealing Pig, which was mentioned on the Monaghan website. The dining room was upstairs, the pub downstairs. The food was tasty enough, but definitely not gourmet. I was satisfied with it. So when the man asked how it was I said something like "adequate" to which he replied that when Americans say it's adequate that means it's dreadful. They seemed like nice enough people, but it's too bad that they couldn't be satisfied in places I found quite good. I think in general, when people travel "on holiday" they should be willing to accept that things won't always be like home nor "five star." And to expect anything better than the Westenra Arms or Andy's (neither of which had anything wrong with it IMO) in an off-the-beaten-track place like Monaghan is really unreasonable. I was pleasantly surprised to find anything two places that good. And Thursday evening I had a very good dinner at Master Deery's before meeting someone in the pub who was an expert on local genealogy.

Maybe delays in service seem worse when you're with someone. You have to keep a conversation going while you wait for your food, and you notice the time passing. But when you're alone and have a good book to read, you can get absorbed in it, and occasionally get distracted by the nearby family with active children or the young couple who are clearly on a date, so the time passes quickly.

Battle of the Boyne. After returning to Monaghan from Dublin on Thursday, I was walking from the bus station to the hotel. Beside the street was a small park next to a small lake. A half dozen small children were playing, along with a boy who may have been 14 years of age. Next to the park was a tourist information board with the usual maps of town and surroundings. I was looking to see if it showed the location of the Battle of the Boyne, in which William of Orange defeated James II of England, effectively securing the British throne for the Protestants. (The anniversary, July 12, is celebrated annually by the Orangemen of Northern Ireland.) As I studied the map a boy, no older than 10, asked if he could help. I said what I was looking for, and he called to the older boy. I apologized for the bother and told what I was looking for. He didn't recognize the name of the Battle of the Boyne. I explained a bit, thinking that might help. It rang no bell. I might as well have been talking about some obscure skirmish in the U.S Civil War. It meant nothing to him.

Reflecting on this, I saw it as a hopeful sign. This pivotal Protestant-Catholic battle is no longer something that is part of the everyday culture in a part of Ireland about an hour's drive from the scene and just across the border from Northern Ireland. Perhaps past hostility is finally receding into the past.

Broken Mirror. After the left side mirror got broken in Tipperary, backing up became a problem. The narrow field of vision through the rear window meant that I had no way of seeing anything behind the vehicle to the left side. At the hotel in Limerick, I had no choice but to go head-on into a parking space. Fortunately, there were no problems getting out at midmorning. But subsequently, I took care to park only in spots I'd be able to get out of by driving forward. For example, in parking lots with double rows, I'd be sure to drive through so that I was headed out of a spot.

Belonging. (I had to keep the alliteration going.) As I wrote this post I also looked through some of the earlier posts and I noticed in one of the pictures from Rothenburg you can see someone taking a picture of the Junge Schar. And it reminded me of something I realized from the first time I sat at the table with the Junge Schar. That is, thanks to their welcome, my experience went beyond what the vast majority of tourists have. They see things as outsiders, but I increasingly became a part of what the tourists were looking at. My friendship with Stefan and the others enabled me to experience things in a way that was truly special, and truly a privilege, and truly a highlight of my life. And I'm really grateful to everybody who welcomed me into the Rothenburg "scene."

But I also believe that it is possible for people who are willing to go beyond the safety of the tour group, the hotel, and such to have special interactions with people they can meet as they travel. All it takes is a willingness to talk to "the locals," a willingness to meet them and perhaps even be drawn into what they are doing. Perhaps it is unlikely to go as far as I was able to with the Junge Schar, but  good times can be shared and acquaintances and lasting friendships can be formed. Perhaps this is even a lesson that can be applied nearer to home.

Germany/Ireland — Sept. 13, 2010

It was time to go home. I had chosen flight times that would mean I wouldn't have to get up extremely early or get home extremely late. Since I had booked my trip as a package with Lufthansa, I had to go from Dublin to Frankfurt, and from Frankfurt to Boston.

But first there was the matter of returning the vehicle at the airport. After each accident, I filled out the form they had provided, and took pictures of the damage. I had also gone to the police station in Monaghan after the first accident and made a report there, but since there was no injury or damage to other property, they basically didn't care. The mirror of  the second vehicle was hanging on by a couple of wires, and as I reached highway speed, it started banging around. Fortunately, after a very short time it fell off, so I didn't have it making noise and possibly causing damage all the way to Dublin. At the rental return place the man took my damage reports very calmly and charged me the replacement cost for the mirror. It was either €46 or 64 — not bad and not more than I had expected.

In the line at the check-in for the flight, I met a nice couple from the Netherlands, originally from Austria, who knew people who knew people I knew. They had visited my home town on occasion.

The flights were uneventful, and I was met at the airport by my brother, which made the final bit of the trip a bit easier that if I had needed a taxi service.

There are a couple of things I forgot to mention when telling about the day they happened, such as the second book I bought, the English couple at breakfast one morning, and dealing with parking lots in the SUV, so there is still a wrap up post to come.

But for now I'll just mention that it was a good trip. It would have been better without having to drive on the left and without the accidents (but thank goodness no injuries), but I'm glad I went. I've been thinking about some bloggers who have recently had a university semester abroad, and I think it has been their first time going to Europe. As I think back to my first few trips outside the U.S., there was a freshness, a feeling of discovery, of adventure, which gradually diminished as I made more visits. Going to Israel renewed the feeling, and to a lesser extent going to Bosnia-Herzegovina. And of course this time, Ireland was all new to me. But all the trips have been examples of the sort of enjoyment a single guy can have in life. Being single, whether at home or away, does not have to mean loneliness, a dull existence, or a lack of meaningful human contact.

Germany/Ireland — Sept. 10, 2010

On Friday the 10th, as planned, I drove to Limerick, where I had a hotel room reserved for the night. The motorways are like American interstate highways or German Autobahns, with anything from two to four lanes in each direction. I wrote a fairly lengthy note that evening. Here it is, with some pictures interspersed. As always you can enlarge the pictures by clicking once or twice.

There was little difficulty leaving Monaghan and going to Dublin. It went more quickly than I had expected. Eventually I arrived via the M-50 at the motorway for (Cork and) Limerick. Again, I made good time,* although driving on the left was nerve-wracking even on the four-lane divided highway.


*Actually traffic was congested for a bit early on [until the motorway for the southeast branched off, I think].


At the point where the motorway for Cork branches off the one for Limerick, it was not far from Cashel, so I decided to visit the Rock [of Cashel. I drove into the town and parked in a lot in the center of town and walkde to the hill]. There are fine views of the countryside all around, and a good guide named Frank explained the buildings very well. I spent a very enjoyable couple of hours in Cashel.

A couple of views looking up from the streets of the town. As you can see, there is preservation work in progress.

Here's the 13th century cathedral. The round tower dates to about 1200.

Views of the countryside from the Rock. The second one includes the ruins of a Cistercian abbey destroyed by Cromwell's men. When I double clicked I noticed the sheep in a couple of fields and the cows in another.

Cashel, from the hillside, including the former Dominican monastery.

Then it was on to Limerick via Tipperary. [I had noticed on one of the tourist information signs that the (secondary) road through Tipperary was more direct than retracing my route to the fork in the motorway and then taking the motorway to Limerick.] There was considerable congestion in Tipperary — streets narrowed with parked cars on both sides and heavy traffic in both directions, moving quite slowly. As I kept out of the path of a large … truck [with inches to spare] I heard a bang and looked over and saw that the left side mirror had been swung back and the glass was cracked and hanging loose. I reproached myself for being so foolish as to think I could drive in Ireland.


It was not easy to find my way through Limerick City, but I didn't get lost. Once on the north side of the city it took a couple of loops through the neighborhood to find, first Ennis St., and then the hotel. Settled in the pleasant hotel I continued to think of the trip to Ireland as a disaster — a day in the countryside around Monaghan, possibly south to Slane and Tara, lost because of the first accident and Donagh Graveyard still unseen. But after dinner in the bar (one bartender looked remarkably like M… D… [a guy I once had a crush on] I felt slightly better — and even more so after a late evening pint.

Germany/Ireland — Sept. 07, 2010

After a full breakfast of eggs, sausage, pudding, bacon, toast, and tea (with orange juice to begin), I strolled around for a bit. I checked out the church which people had been leaving as I drove past the previous evening. It was Catholic, and had a Mass scheduled at 10:00.  At about 9:50 I got to the Tourist Information Centre, where the lady had maps of the town, bus schedules (I planned to take the bus to Dublin one day during my visit) and various leaflets. When I told her that my great-great-grandmother — who had emigrated from County Monaghan to Prince Edward Island with her husband, James White, in the early 1840's — was born a McKenna, she said I must meet Willie McKenna, who is a fount of information about the County, the McKennas, and the PEI connection.

I got back to the church at about 10:10 and was surprised to find that there was standing room only (with seats for at least 400). This is in a town with a population a little over 6,000 (my parish has about as many Catholics, and we get one tenth as many for weekday Mass — and that's not bad for our area).

After Mass, I went to move the car from the lot which is free overnight but costs one Euro per hour during the day, to one where the parking is free (a little bit past an area of long term parking for €2 per day. At the entrance to the free lot, after some speed bumps, the way narrowed to a single lane, and there were steel posts on each side. I was noticing the buildings on the far side of the lot when there was a loud noise and the car stopped suddenly. I had hit the post on the left, smashing in the fender and breaking the housing for the headlight. The piece inside the tire well was in contact with the tire, and the front bumper was loose. I drove the car back to the €2 long-term parking area, and went back to the B+B, where the owner was very helpful about lending me her phone to call the rental company to report the accident, and her husband later led me to a repair shop. The owner there informed the rental company that the car was not driveable, and I was promised a replacement by 10:00 the next morning. Thank goodness I had decided to take full collision insurance.

I had thought I'd spend the day driving to spots of interest in the counties to the south of Monaghan, such as Slane, the Hill of Tara, Trim Castle, Mellifont Abbey, the Boyne, etc., as time permitted, with probably a second day on Thursday. But after the accident, I had to spend the afternoon handy to the telephone so as to be available to the rental company.

Late in the afternoon, I met a couple who were staying at the B+B. They were originally from PEI and also had Monaghan ancestors but now live in western Canada, and they were planning to meet Willie McKenna that evening in a pub. We went by ourselves to the pub at about 5:30 and got acquainted. Then at 10:00 we returned and met Willie McKenna. He was planning to take them to the area our ancestors had lived in, called Donagh, the following morning. They invited me to join them, and I said I would. We'd leave about 10:30.

Frommer's guide to Ireland does not mention County Monaghan as having anything worth seeing (except for a reference to Castle Leslie in the part on Northern Ireland!), but Monaghan Town is pleasant enough and has its points of interest. More about that tomorrow.