So, after a breakfast of cereal and tea - which is a joy after too many sausages, rashers and white puddings - I leave the Yeomans feeling really good about the day ahead. The Yeomans were great company, and it was really novel to start the day at the top of a hill. I headed towards the ferry port at Tarbert and caught my first glimpse of County Clare, my mother's home.
I made the ferry and for the first time on this trip I actaully asked for something for free, ier passage accross the Shannon. The fare collector was the most miserable human being I have ever met in my life. Sadly, I'll maybe meet him agian, but that's another story...
Of course the grumpy old scrote said no. Well, as they say here, he's a bollix.
I rode off the ferry into Clare and turned right. The water's going to be on my right for a couple of days as I need to see the Focus people in Limerick as well as see my Mum's brother Sean, my aunt Nora, my Cousin Tracey, her kids, etc, etc. A big sorry to Travelodge for messing you around. I really do appreciate all you guys are doing for me on this trip.
Anyway. Clare. Up, down, up, down. Never ending undulations, and really different to Kerry. Kerry's roads around the coast are very busy, where Clare seems a little less damaged by tourism. I managed to find Sean & Nora's place after being chased by dogs AGAIN and was more than happy to stick the bike in their study and wolf the enourmous steak I was offered.
Sean and Nora took me in their car to Corofin where my mother was born. It's hard to imagine a family of 10 living in such a small cottage. The view of the Burren from the lane across the way must have been some compensation for the lack of space. Next, we visited my grandfather and grandmother John and Maisie McNamara's grave. It was the first time I've ever visited a relative's grave. Dunno how to articulate the feeling, but I'm glad that the grave wasn't adorned with ceramic squirrels and other tut like so many were.
After a drive to the Burren, which really is the most bizarre landscape I've ever seen... A kind of limestone cross between the Nevada desert, the pyramids and Ayre's Rock littered with Neolithic sites I visited Patrick Power's pub in Clarecastle for some beers... Ireland is truly full of characters...
Slept like a log this mnorning!
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