4th April, 2002
Well, I never knew so many people went to
Waterville during long weekends. Like Daniel O'Connell, who was
born only a couple of miles away, if I threw a stone in the air
last Saturday in Waterville it would have hit a Douglas person on
the head.
The O'Hanlon family left for Kerry on Saturday morning. Mother,
father, children, grand-children. A four car convoy! We stopped
for lunch in Kenmare - my son, who does a lot of travelling,
always asks a local to recommend a good restaurant, and somebody
suggested "Mickey Neds". It was very good, clean, and
the staff were always available to help. The restaurant has two
floors, but downstairs was pretty full, so we went upstairs, with
a two year old child. We asked for a baby chair but were told
that the restaurant only had one, and that was in use downstairs.
Not good enough for a very busy restaurant with two floors. Try
minding a two year old on a first floor next to the stairs ...
not easy!
The grandchildren had their buckets and shovels, we had our
picnic baskets - we did not make allowances for the Irish
weather, and the two beautiful days before we left Cork (Thursday
and Friday) were replaced with wind and rain. But we made the
best of it, in between showers the children went looking for
crabs on the beach, but the crabs must have known we were coming,
they were nowhere to be seen. We stayed in the Smugglers Inn, and
that night most of Douglas turned up to eat in the dining room.
I'm told a lot of Douglas people have holiday homes here. A good
meal, a bottle of wine, a few Irish coffees, and it was off to
bed.
The next morning, being Easter Sunday, we went to mass in the
local church. It's very community orientated, with the priest
reading about job vacancies, FAS schemes, disco's, plays, sports
training hours, etc... from the altar. When it was over we called
to the shop over the road for a few Sunday newspapers, but no
broadsheet Sunday papers. So into the car, into the town, and
into the local Centra, again no broadsheets. Like the other shop,
"only Sunday World's" and "News of the World".
We tried the other mini-market next door, but again, only
tabloids. This was only 11.45 on Sunday morning and not an
Independent, Times or Tribune to be bought in Waterville. Did the
shopkeepers get a supply of broadsheet Sunday newspapers? Did
they sell them all in half an hour? We'll know better the next
time - set the alarm clock for eight on Sunday morning and wait
for the shop to open.
On Sunday a couple of our group went golfing across the road in
the golf club. The girls went to the craft shops, another couple
went walking to knock off the calories from the night before, and
the rest of us went on to the beach - but still no crabs!! It was
time to retire to the bar, and there we stayed. We all met later
on for our final meal in the dining room, and at about 10.45pm
half the party went to bed, while a couple ordered a few drinks
and went to the bar, and that was when the sing-song began.
Owners Harry and Lucille Hunt, friends and family, and our gang,
sang their hearts out, and those Irish coffees were getting nicer
by the minute, and it being our last night - what better way to
end it with a song.
The next morning after breakfast, we packed our bags and agreed
we'd get somebody to take a photo of us all standing out our
backs to the ocean. Luckily, local golf pro Brian Higgins of
Waterville Golf Club was passing and he took some pictures,
although two of our grand-children were sulking, one was crying,
because they didn't want to go home. The sun was out and it was a
beautiful day, but Cork and work were calling.
My wife and I took the scenic route home, Kenmare, up the
mountain into Glengarriff. We had lunch in a local hotel, well,
not really lunch, we only wanted soup and a pot of tea. The
mushroom soup was a bit watery, and only one small piece of bread
with one square of butter. When we walked into the hotel a middle
aged man inside the bar counter looked at us with an expression n
his face of, "What do you want?" Glengarriff, get a
face lift or a makeover, or you'll be left behind, and a smile
doesn't cost anything. As a matter of fact, take a trip down to
the Smugglers Inn in Waterville, Co. Kerry, and see how the
professionals do it. Michael, you should be working for Bord
Failte!!
Bye for now,
Michael O'Hanlon.
