In County Maigh Eo

We were the grateful recipients of an invitation to dinner at Padraic and Marion’s house on Wednesday evening. We arrived at 7:00 and bid our adieu at 1:00. It was a lovely night of excellent food and engaging conversation. Their house is located just outside Westport and is situated on King’s Hill, with a beautiful overlook of Clew Bay and Croagh Patrick (the Reek). Along with the view, Marion’s pretty garden boasts the biggest roses Candee and I have ever seen. Padraic was our chef. We started dinner with a plate of prawns, melon, and greens. Dinner was fresh poached salmon, homemade Waldorf and potato salads, and garnished hardboiled eggs. Delicious all! I particularly loved the fresh made potato salad - it was made of “new potatoes” - the first of the season. The taste and texture is quite special. Strawberries and cream, and coffee, completed this elegant repast. We enjoyed seeing some of Padriac’s pictures; like me, he’s a photo enthusiast and has traveled widely. Their most recent trip was to Australia to visit their son who relocated to Perth last year. Marion’s paintings are really quite special, even though this is a recently acquired hobby. Great golfer, great painter, great gardener. As you might imagine, four great minds, with a bit of international perspective, and we solved most of the world’s problems. Although we all have plans through Sunday, we plan to get together on Monday and Tuesday for more golf and a possible daytrip to the Museum of Country Life in Turlough Village near Castlebar.


Thursday found Candee and I setting off for north Mayo to visit some areas of interest to us. We drove to Foxford, a small town in the central area of the county and the site of the world famous Foxford Woollen Mills. Foxford Mills was founded in 1892 through the efforts of Sister Agnes Morrrogh Bernard , a member of the Sisters of Charity. When she arrived, Foxford was a town wallowing in terrible poverty due to another failure of the potato crop. Certainly not as severe as the Great Famine of 1846, ‘47, and ‘48, but serious enough to drive the men of the town to seek work in England and Scotland. Sister had been spared the effects of the Great Famine due to her father’s relative wealth, but had witnessed many terrible things during that time. She claimed as her life work the support of the poor and suffering, and found the Sisters of Charity order a good vehicle for her life’s work. She was able to secure loans, commandeer buildings, and command the assistance of an expert in weaving, a Protestant and a Freemason - a man certainly not predisposed to help a papist such as the good nun. Despite many early trials and tribulations, the mill became a phenomenal success and alleviated the inhumane conditions of the town. We purchased a few small woven items as momentos. From Foxford, we journeyed to Ceide Fields by the northern coast of Mayo. Those are the pictures you see. Once again, we drove out under thick and ominous clouds, but found beautiful conditions upon our arrival. Ceide Fields is the oldest enclosed landscape in Europe. The earliest inhabitants farmed and raised domestic animals and constructed numerous stone fences. This all happened over 5000 years ago and pre-dates Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids. One can see how the tilled lands and living quarters were laid out over 50 centuries ago. The site is perfectly preserved, having long ago been covered by the bogs. Oh, and yes. Ma, we’re saving the delicious apple tart with fresh cream and raspberry drizzle for you. We know how much you like it!