A Series of One-Night Stands

Some photos here of gorgeous Sligo (top), Clare (middle), and Galway (bottom)--in the reverse order we took them... I realize that the title of the post with the photo of PK and kids is a little, er, strange...

We've had 5 nights in a row at different sleeping establishments in Ireland and, as an English teacher, I know this has the makings of a good compare/contrast essay. Certainly the 5 places offered us vastly different experiences (some with toilet seats, some without). We began in Wexford staying at a resort-y place on the Slaney river--nice but a little unfriendly and crummy food. The following night, as loyal readers will recall, we stayed with the O'Brien chieftain who has recently built a neo-castle on a hill in Newmarket-on-Fergus complete with nouveau gargoyles, a turret, crenellated tower, and long, swooping driveway. His family line broke from the that of the lord who apparently owns Dromoland Castle (about 4 miles away). Our host's family opted to remain Catholic and lose everything while the other side turned Protestant and retained the lands (and hence own a real castle). The third night was spent in Galway's The Skeffington Arms, a back-packer inn stop-over without toilet seat. Despite its disabled throne, the Skeff had its charms--a lovely Victorian breakfast room and a super sweet concierge who appeared to be the only worker in the whole building. Moving onward to Sligo, we stayed at An Cruisin Lan (Gaelic for "The Full Jug"), an old guesthouse (SRO type) with a statue of the Virgin Mary in a Boston Red Sox hat at the desk. It was clean, and our host, Liam McGettigan, was terribly efficient, but hmmmmm. This was a creaky old place. Finally, in Belfast, we're staying at The Cullendon, a retro-fitted Church of Ireland bishop's palace--very swank and gorgeous with a fancy pool and all the mod-cons. While a good compare-contrast essay would go into proper detail and find an argument that somehow makes these disparate one-nighters cohere, as the teacher, I don't have to do that. But I will say that the Catholic - Protestant issues factored in 3 of the 5 spots. Having travelled from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland now, the division marked only by a change in the flags you see flying (and a change in currency), I wonder at the willfulness that keeps the sides apart. (PK notes that last time he crossed that particular border [late '70s\ it was marked by tanks, machine gun nests, concrete blocks and tommies. That was, obviously, even more incomprehensible). That said, we have been careful not to be ugly Americans (+ an Aussie) in the Republic, but when we arrived in Belfast, we felt it was alright to walk in like we owned the place and be loud and tacky. Off to Scotland tomorrow for 4 nights on Loch Ness. Will we try haggis? Will we see Nessie? Will we discover what Scotsmen wear under their kilts? Stay tuned...