amelia

At the dinner table last night, this topic came up. I have a 13-yr-old who is trying out SAT words on us at all time who said, "Of all the countries we've visited, I found that my memories of Ireland were the most whimsical."

Hmmph. Well, my husband and I thought about it, and well, yes, she was right. However, none of us in the family circle agree on the most whimsical moment...

Mine: When by following the hint on this website, we found in the middle of the night authentic trad music at a "tourist pub" that was filled with locals while the supposed "authentic pub" was filled with tourists. They all looked at us as though, "How did you find us?"

Oldest: While parking her bike on her very first biking day in Europe, a sweet old man (no, this is not a groper!) said, "And how would you be visiting this shed in the afternoon?" She explained. "And you've never been before and you decide to see this land on those two wheels." She nodded. "Welcome to Ireland, my dear." And he kissed her on the cheek and left.

The little one: One of the members of our group always was flirting and egging on the waitresses. Most in Ireland had terrific comebacks. One day, however, his wife asked for another glass of wine. The waitress quipped, "Ah, you needn't me for that job. Himself there is surely capable of turning your water into it."

My husband: At the airport to return home, we were sunburnt. The check-in agent looked at us and said, "Have you looked at the color of your skin lately? And you intend to tell the folk at home you've been in Ireland?" Adopting a Ricky Ricardo accent with an Irish lilt, he said, "You have some 'splaynin' to do."

OK, what are yours?

P_M

I have so many favorite moments in Ireland I couldn't possibly name them all. The first ones that come to mind were the feelings I had while visiting the Rope Bridge and the Giant's Causeway in NI, and also the Cliffs of Moher in the Republic. But my favorite memory of Ireland was simply how all of the people there were so nice, friendly, helpful, and very interested to know how we were enjoying our time there. That is what will bring me back to Ireland some day.

allisonm

My husband loves to tell this story: We had gone to the Bushmills Distillery and did some shopping in the store, but didn't do the tour. After we had spent too much money, we went into the restaurant area and decided to have a taste. We stood at the bar, debating and asking questions. We decided on
our choices, and my husband pulled out the wallet. The woman behind the bar opened her eyes wide, and said "Didn't you go on the tour?" We shook our heads, and she said very quietly, "Put your money away," and poured us two shots. She handed them to us and beamed, "And wasn't it a grand tour!"

tropo

Our favourite experience, was the night my wife & I visited "Vaughans Pub" at a little Irish village called, Kilfenora, close to The Burren. Only locals in the pub, and no other tourists other than ourselves. The locals were friendly, and loved a chat, the pub was so atmospheric, bare floorboards, lighting consisted of kerosene type lights around the walls, someones dog had been out in the rain, and "it" hogged the fireplace. Impromptu irish music later in the evening, two irish ladies in the corner aguing about some guy they didn't like (a few irish swear words), the meals were real "home cooked" meals by a lady, who would remind you of your mother, and she would come out of the kitchen, to talk about what she was cooking.
We sat there drinking our beers, smiled at each other, and said,"Yes, this is a real Irish country pub". We will remember this little village pub for many years to come.

mealdridge

In May of 2003 my husband and were in the American Bar in Kilronan, Inishmor, one of the Aran Islands. We sat next to a local guy and in chatting got into a conversation about the good seafood available in Ireland. He began telling us of his adventure with a lobster. A friend gave him a large lobster. On the way home with it he stopped at the pub. While he drank his pint the lobster crawled out of the bag onto the bar causing an argument with the barman. The story continued at great length including a stop at another pub, maybe more. Because of the guy's heavy accent made worse by intoxication (his, not mine!) I had difficulty following all he was saying but there was a part in there about the lobster getting out of the bag again on the road and our storyteller crawling down the road with the lobster! After he got home he decided he wasn't going to cook the lobster because he remembered he didn't really like it! So he took the lobster down to the sea. At this point I interrupted and said, "And you threw him back in!" He quickly responded, "No, No! We had become mates...I placed him carefully!" I love the Irish wit!

amelia

You were in the barn part of Vaughn's, Tropo, weren't you? We ate lunch in one part of Vaughn's; returned later for the Ceili in the barn and experienced a wonderful evening of set dancing. It was totally unreal.

Back to whimsical moment: a member of our party with an Italian last name told us that from the time she was little, she wanted to be Irish. She watched all Irish movies, etc. Even though it's hard for a stranger to participate in the set dancing, she was whisked onto the floor early in the evening by a handsome Irishman and looked as though she'd been dancing there all her life.

njc

Hard to choose one memory. Stops for sheep on the roadway, the Cliffs of Moher or maybe the pub where the proprietor made the shape of a shamrock in the foam of the Guinness. I'd visit Ireland again in a heartbeat.

SiobhanP

It's weird for me to hear all the stories above beacuse my everyday life is here and some of the stories are just normal i.e Irish interpretation of the lobster guy...pissed lunatic ignore him. It's funny how we see things differently when we live far from them.

I am probably the same about Paris or Italy though. Nice rose coloured glasses when I am there .

amelia

The friendliness and witty humor of your countrymen, though, are so startling to those of us visiting from the outside, Siobhan, especially to those of us who also enjoy Rome or Paris, etc.

Marlie

TTT
We are going to Ireland in May and would love to hear more of these. Would anyone else like to share their favorite moment? I will share ours when we return as I'm sure we will have one.

rickmav

Like others, there are many memories of Ireland that sustain us until we can visit again. I'll share two.

We were in Co. Mayo following the "O'Donnell" ancestral trail (my husband's family). We'd talked to the local priest, been recommended to the postmistress who told us to look for a particular family in Cleggan, a few minutes away but tucked within very narrow roads. We got lost and a lovely woman stopped to help and said if we followed her she'd take us to the right house. She pointed to the house and then drove on.

We were trying to decide if we should go up the drive and knock on the door when the lady of the house came down with her dog to find out what we were after. After chatting and realizing we were after another branch of the family - across the valley - she stopped for a minute and leaned in the driver's window. "Will ye be millionares?" she asked. My husband and I both smiled and shook our heads no. "'Cause if ye be millionaires, I'll be claimin' ye for meself."

Later that same day, across the valley, we were lost again and in the distance saw someone working in a field of peat. My husband trudged over and found this woman - in her mid 80s - 'turning' the peat. Her name was Winnie O'Donnell and she had been married to a cousin of my husband's grandfather. She invited us in to her house, fed us tea and cake, and phoned the current resident of the grandfather's house to let us have a peek.

Ah, Ireland.