Éirinn go Brách

Over the holidays, J. and I visited his sister and her family in the west of Ireland.

at the Detroit airport

Guinness at a local pub

Throwing rocks with grandma 

The last remaining yew

A short walk down the lane from their house is Aughnanure Castle. This 16th-century tower house, or a fortified residence, was owned by the wealthy, land-owning O'Fflahertie (O'Flaherty) family. More than 200 such tower houses exist just in County Galway. The name Aughnanure comes from the Gaelic Achadh na nlubhar, which means the field of the yews. One representative of the yew trees still remains on the grounds.



The castle was closed for the winter, so we couldn't go inside, but we could gaze in awe from the outside and peek through the cool arrow loops (a narrow vertical slit cut into a wall through which one could fire arrows from inside). I'm not sure if this is a true arrow loop, but it provided a funky view inside.

/

Christmas dinner was an extravagant affair, but the crowning achievement was this little nugget: beef Wellington. Isn't it beautiful?

It's beef, it's pastry...no, it's beef Wellington

The holiday table, complete with Christmas crackers

Wellington, post-feasting

Helping unwrap the presents he'd made me

We all made gifts for a chosen person, spending less than $10. Our creativity yielded: a cookbook consisting of family recipes and photos, cold-busting eucalyptus shower disks, spice blends, personalized stories, a shirt tracing someone's genealogy, a dragon/dinosaur tail, and much more.

Clearly a burgeoning artist

What is it?

It's a dinosaur/dragon tail!

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle!

Most of these photos of Mr. D. are a wee bit blurry, so I apologize for that, but he was in motion. He tired out after a bit and went to sleep. The poor little man was very sick.

The fam. with their new bomber hats

On Lough Coirib

Love the turquoise boat

Look at his cute little bellay!

Marmalade, the dear three-legged cat

In Oughterard, a nearby town

Mmm...scones and jam

The diving platform from The Guard in Salthill, on the edge of Galway

Warming up at a café in Salthill

Sea trout

For an early New Year's Eve, we had a lovely dinner at Hotel Twelve in Barna. Above is my organic Connemara sea trout with white beans, chorizo, and chard in a mussel and wine broth. It was divine, and the setting is marvelous. You can sit at the curved bar, or settle into the comfy couches near the fireplace.

Outside of St. Nicholas' Church in Galway

One of the main shopping districts in Galway

Power salad at Ard Bia

Old city wall in Galway

Fixins for NYE salad

Decadent pumpkin monkey bread

A little homemade French friend

The famous bridge from The Quiet Man

Hiking in Connemara

Lough Coirib

Lough (like the Scottish loch, but throatier, if that can be imagined) Coirib is right down the lane from their house. It's the largest lake in the Republic of Ireland, and second on the entire island only to Lough Neagh.

Biting Uncle Mushroom's leg 

Sketty!

At Philly's airport on the way back

\