I had heard so much about the West Cork area of Allihies that its was time to head out there and see what it was all about. 185 miles from Kilkenny and was the trip worth it..you bet and the weather better than the Med with clear blue skies. Above is a photograph of Bantry Bay where an Irish naval ship was moored. Purchased a few CD's on Bantry and one by Frank Patterson. As we were driving along Frank was singing the well known song "A song for Ireland" also made popular by many Irish singers in particular by Mary Black. The thought struck me would'nt that make a beautiful National Anthem instead of the war mongering one we have at the moment... The Soldier's Song. Anyone ideas on that click here? Photograph beside that is of Glengarriff and even though the sky had some clouds at that time...we sat outside drinking coffee in the warm sunshine minutes later. But after 35 miles we arrived in Castletownbere....a beautiful fishing town. The law does not exist here and the most popular man in town is the postman. He can park anywhere and is really a "well in" type of person. Walking along I saw this pub called MacCarty's and recognised the front of it from a most popular book which I know it a scream to read called "MacCarty's Bar". Called in for a drink and the landlady in charge at the time told me all about the town and how the book came to be written and that there is a new one out in hardback. A photograph of her appears below. Another person I met who was a treat to meet again was the local muinteor...teacher to you who do not understand the native tongue..Margaret Harrington. A pleasure to have a chat with her and relive some of the happier moments from years past. Margaret teaches Irish in the local Secondary School.

After many stops we arrived in this village called Allihies. You see photograph below which I have entitled the "Back of Beyond" It was just a beautiful spot. The Bull Rock is the island on the right out to sea. Move to see how the rest of the week-end went

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