Skip to main content

Go n-éirí an bothar leat!!

I have just returned from one of my best visits to Ireland since I left it four years ago.
It was an action packed weekend, and I got to see so many people!

It was literally one of those all 'GO GO GO' weekends. I travelled to Glasgow, then flew to Dublin. From Dublin airport I had a horrendously overpriced taxi (34 euro!) to Heuston Station as the airport bus wouldn't get me to by train on time. Literally made the train by the skin of my teeth and nearly 24 hours after I left Aberdeen I arrived in Cork. 

At a family wedding in June, my cousins and I decided that we should try and meet up more regularly and that led to the plan of meeting last weekend. In hindsight we forgot to include those who weren't at the wedding but the learnings have been taken for next time! It was so great to see my family. We are such a close bunch despite not seeing each other that much. As a collective, I have never encountered such wit and banter. Literally, the majority of the night was just spent in laughter.

I asked the photographer in the pub to take a photo of all the cousins together. There were a few grumblings... I would even go as far as threats as what would happen if I ever arrived with a photographer again,... but we took what is one of my favourite photos! Also, don't my cousins have amazing cheekbones!



Then on Sunday, I spent the day with my grandmother.
My grandmother is a treasure. She is one of the most pleasant people in the world. 
Nothing shocks her, she takes the world in her stride.
I think if I could have half her strength I would be pretty set up for life.
We had a really good catch up, and I got to see all my wee cousins.
Though they aren't so wee anymore!!
The difficult thing about living away is when I first see the kiddos after a while away, and they treat me like a stranger. I guess I am a stranger to the younger ones, but it is always a bit sad. It is also quite difficult to see how much they are growing. It just highlights how long I've been away!! 
But the children are beautiful, and so well mannered. I heard all about school, hurling and charades. What more could you want on a Sunday.

Yesterday, I got to meet my lovely cousin Caoimhe and her mum and dad. It was so nice to have a catch up with them, even if it was in passing in the airport. 


As always, the time went too quickly and I was unable to meet all those that I would have loved to meet. I don't know when I will make it over to the West again, I reckon I will not stir out of Aberdeenshire until Hogmanay. I have a holiday to America to save for!!! 

Thank you everyone for such a great weekend, and I can't wait until we do it again!

Comments

  1. BreigeNovember 3, 2015 at 8:29 PM

    That cousins photo is amazing! It's always nice to have pictures like that. My aunt had a baby last year and for the 1st birthday all the first cousins were together for the first time (the 2nd youngest just turned 21! So we never thought we'd have more first cousins on that side), so it was nice to get a picture!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thankfuls 31/05/2019

Not many people are aware of it, but I had a bit of a health scare last week. I went for a regular 15 minute check up with my GP and spent the following 5 days in hospital going through every test imaginable to man. I am still in the middle of tests but the prognosis is so far positive and I have been allowed home for rest which is fabulous, but good god did I get a fright. And if I am honest I'm not sure Stuart is quite right after it all either!


I have been joking how I would love a good old MOT (NCT for the Irish amongst us), for a while now. They say mocking is catching, and I have fairly gone through the MOT process this last week. Oh boy has it been a fast week! In that time I have had more blood taken than was shed in the Game of Thrones. My hand is so bruised it looks like I have my first tan! I have seen my pancreas, liver, kidneys and an ovary (very cool scan if I say so myself!), I have had my pee collected in little buckets/bottles for 24hrs, and I have pretty much eith…
Post a Comment
Read more

Missing Marguerite. 14 years later.

On this day, 14 years ago, the world lost a little bit of its magic, when at 11pm, my little sister took her final breath and life changed as we all knew it. She was only 17 years old. 17 years and 19 days to be exact. As I sat here today reading all the lovely messages written about her, my heart soared with pride in the fact that in her short time with us, she managed to have such a big impact on so many people. Marguerite Mary O'Dwyer, an ambassador for mischief, mockery and for having a marvellous time. I miss her so much.

It is funny how every year there is something different that I focus on for the anniversary. I never choose my train of thought, I think the year since the last anniversary chooses it for me. Last night, I got fairly plastered on wine and when my other half went to his bed, I sat and sang along to every sad song I could think of. I had a wee chat with Mags before I went to bed and woke up this morning well rested and ready to seize the day. 
I got quite sad a…
Post a Comment
Read more

Thankfuls 24/04/2019

It has been a long, long time since I have written a blog post.
I don't know why, it has taken me so long, nor shall I apologise for it.
I could give you a thousand excuses and reasons, but I guess the main reason is that I didn't feel like I had an awful lot to say!

That is not true, I always have a lot to say. The topics that have been on my mind however are quite emotive (mostly Brexit related, and let's be honest we have read and heard more than enough about that shite), and it is very difficult to write something when you yourself don't even understand how you feel about it.

For me it is mostly disappointment, and nobody wants to read a whole blog piece about me feeling disappointed. So tonight, I am writing a much more positive one. I am writing some thankfuls.
I have spent the last few months reading and writing. I have spent some time with my family back in Ireland, and spent some wonderful time with Stuart, his family and my friends here in Aberdeen. I was ref…
Post a Comment
Read more