County Offaly

I said my goodbyes to my Norn Irish and American buddies and left Newtownabbey on the 12th. I drove to Co Offaly in the south with my flatmate David Kelly. A few weeks ago I had planned on heading to Dublin and from there to Co Cork and Co Kerry right before I flew home. I realized this wouldn't work very well as I really only had three days and just the traveling would have taken at least eight hours each way. David offered to take me home and show me around for a few days, and I took him up on it.

Co Offaly is very near the center of Ireland, in the midlands or heartland. When Americans go to Ireland, it is generally assumed that they will go to Dublin. Other places such as Cork, Kerry, and the west coast are possibilities, with Belfast and the rest of Northern Ireland being a bit less common. The midlands are not a big tourist hotspot, so I would liken an American going there to someone from southern Europe going to Iowa. It just doesn't happen much. I relish getting off the beaten path for if nothing else than to say I have.

The Kellys own about 150 acres near Tober and run about 170 beef cows and 100 ewes. I helped them feed and clean their sheds for the couple days I was there and did my best to explain the differences between our ways of farming. Being just a dumb cowhand I was genuinely stumped by a few questions, but I did impress them with my equipment expertise. Some years they can make hay but almost all of their feed is in silage, and they found it hard to believe that we could make hay the way we do. The extremes of the Montana climate were stretches of the Irish imagination, as was the idea of not having enough water. I enjoyed being out in the country and around cows and equipment again. David let me drive one of their Masseys and even drive their 'jeep' farm Land Rover on the highway.

David also showed me some of the local sights. On Saturday, we went through the Kilbeggan whiskey distillery. The main sourse of power for the equipment was the River Brosna. The water wheel and all the machinery are still intact. They also have a steam engine, which was used about three days a year when the distillery was still in operation. On Sunday we went to the Clonmacnoise monastery on the River Shannon. Many of the churches, high crosses, and shrines are still intact. Pope John Paul II visited in 1979 and the alter in one corner of the site is the only modern structure. We stopped in Athlone afterwards, one of the larger towns in Offaly. I didn't carry my camera around Athlone but I wish I had because it was one of the most picturesque towns I had seen in Ireland. Music sessions aren't as common in the midlands but David had heard of one in Athlone. It was in Sean's Pub, established circa 600, making it the oldest in Ireland. It was the exact image that one would have in their mind of an Irish pub: a little dark, with holly on the ceiling, sawdust on the crooked floor, and some very fine music coming from one corner; and it wasn't a bit touristy. On my last day in Ireland, David and I went to Tullamore, the county town. Tullamore Dew whiskey was made here. It's a cozy little town, very festively lit and decorated for Christmas. We spent my last evening reminiscing about the last few months and playing pool at the Cat and Bagpipes pub in Tober. Having a few pints in an old man pub is the way such an occasion should be spent. We woke up at 4:30 the next morning and made our way to Dublin.

My time in Ireland would have been very different had it not been for David. Taking a politics class and getting out and about seeing things are good ways to learn, but spending a great deal of time with a truly Irish Irishman was invaluable and may be the most memorable part of my time abroad. David taught me a large portion of what I know about what the Irish are really about. I am in debt to the Kellys of Tober, County Offaly, and hope I can show David my part of the world someday to repay them.