Chuffed and Humbled

"In two extraordinarily ordinary lives, this is something pretty cool we've been able to pull off..."

This would be my most common response to people who remark on the fact that Candee and I have been able to visit Ireland twelve out of the last thirteen summers - for a stay of three weeks for the first eight visits and eight/nine weeks for the last four.

Well, it's gotten a whole lot cooler.

We have purchased an apartment in Westport town.

The Kiln apartments (pictures by the master, Pawel Sadowski)

It's taken some readjustment in savings, and more than a dash of bravery (on my part), but we closed on the purchase today.  The apartment is in the center of town, just off the Octagon and in close walking distance of all our favorite haunts.  If you orient yourself with the pedestal statue of St. Patrick in the following picture, you'll get a sense of where The Kiln sits.

You can see the statue of St. Patrick standing on the pedestal in the far left of this photo.
Head down the alleyway, and you'll find The Kiln.  The orange building at
the end of the row is the An File (The Poet) Pub.

Peek down the alley and you'll see The Kiln.  Nestled back a little off James St.

The apartment is spacious for an in-town flat - 900 square feet, two bedrooms, one bathroom, with an expansive living room and a large kitchen.  It's quite bright, with large windows in each room.  We'd put a fresh coat of paint on the walls, and probably cover the floors with wood, but otherwise it's ready to go.  The walls will be graced with an original Sadowski, an original Jimmy Lawlor (acrylic), and an original Honor Gallagher (watercolor) - accomplished local artists all, guess you'll have to visit to see them...

Kitchen

Bedroom.  Well, that wallpaper's going...

Living room, left

Living room, center

Living room, right

Although it's now ours, we would not plan to use it for a year or two.  We have a long-term tenant, paying a fair annual rent, and it seems silly to move her out when we will still only be in country for two months or so each year.  So, back to Carole and Colette and the wonderful cottage on Barleyhill for summer 2020.

Looking across The Octagon from Ocee's Cafe.  You can see An File across the square on the right.
Remember to click on the pictures for a screen-filling version.

Sitting at Ocee's

If you kept up with the blog this year, you read the following "pre-announcement:"

".....We've actually followed through on our threat of many years' time and gone out to look at properties that we might have a chance of securing to allow for a more extended visit here in the not-so-distant future.  We love the cottage that we've rented these last four years (and especially our gracious landladies), but extending our visit from our 8/9 week stay to a longer stay of 4 months or so would probably be financially challenging in a rental property.  We have looked at four apartments in the town center - 2 - 2/1's and 2 - 1/1's that would most likely be within the budget, and have actually put in bids on two.  We shall see.  We believe that any of these properties would yield a modest but significant Airbnb income when we're not here, which, of course, would help the financial equation. Westport is a coveted stay-cation spot for folks in Ireland, as I've written many times before - each weekend has something going on to draw people to the town.  And an in-town property allows people to pub-crawl, enjoy the music, and walk home - avoiding the worry of the very strict "drink-driving" laws in effect.  We have local friends who would manage the key and arrange for the unit to be cleaned after each use.  It looks workable.  I am timid; Candee is brave about such things.  Thank goodness her optimism will offset my natural pessimism about novel and worrisome situations...  An actual quote from my sometime spirit animal - Eeyore -  “Sure is a cheerful color. Guess I’ll have to get used to it...."

Two additional things got me through my apprehensiveness and helped me catch up with Candee's dauntless confidence  - the support and enthusiasm of our son-in-law Craig towards the idea and his assessment of the financial feasibility of purchasing the apartment.  Since he manages several hundred million dollars of other people's money as an independent wealth manager affiliated with Raymond James, I'm thinking he most likely wouldn't be giving us any bad or foolhardy advice.  Oh yeah, and the enthusiasm piece?  Craig would fit well in Ireland with his typical sense of understatement and unflappable cool.  Case in point - one might walk by Fr. Charlie's roses and effusively compliment him for the world class number, variety and size of his flowers - only to get a "not too bad" in response.  Akin to Craig's general response in pulling in a substantial new client.  In contrast, Craig's ringing endorsement of the idea blew us away  For someone most often described as laconic or reticent, Craig might've exceeded my excitement when I got that hole-in-one at WGC this year.  Sure made a big impression on both of us.  And of course, Eryn has always fervently wished for us to fulfill this dream.

The other thing was the smirk on one Darren Madden's face when I casually mentioned we'd be looking for a property this year.  A knowing look that practically screamed, "Uh huh.  Sure buddy.  I've heard this one before..."  And why not.  I've probably said this for at least the last seven years when we've been there.  So take that Darren!  :)  BTW, thanks also to Darren for lending his construction expertise in doing a thorough top-to-bottom inspection of the property.  And thanks to Maria for touring the place with us and sharing her astute observations of the good value of the property.

Back entrance to The Kiln

And as always, thanks to and for the Duffys who made these wandering Yanks feel so welcome.

We couldn't be more pleased or feel more blessed that this good fortune has come our way.

Sunset.  Time to head to Matt Molloy's to catch some Garvey Brothers.  Hope
Eddie's sitting in...