Ennis Day Two

Ireland - day two!

Kim and I didn't rise until nearly 8 o'clock, making up for our previous sleepless night on the airplane.  We awoke refreshed, and a bit hungry.  Time to look for some breakfast!

Rainy morning

We decided to skip the hotel's breakfast in favor of a local spot.  One of the advertising maps I'd picked up the previous day featured a scone place that had high ratings.  Tea and scones - I was in!  So off we went to try and find it.

Cute music shop

Yesterday's beautiful, sunny skies had dissolved into more traditional Ireland weather - cloudy, cool, and rainy.  But we're from Oregon, and after the unusual wet spring we've had, this didn't faze us a bit.  

On the way to the scone place, I got distracted by the local music shop and had to drop in and have a look-see.  They were playing some great Irish music on the sound system, so I inquired from the clerk the performer's name.  Turned out they were from Boston!  I'd really wanted to buy some traditional music featuring a local group from Ireland.....not the US.  (Needless to say I didn't purchase the CD.)

I just love the colorful doors!

The scone café was a good find.  It was busy with mostly local folks, always a good sign.  I had the traditional scone with jam and butter (and tea of course!) while Kim ordered bacon and eggs, with an Irish coffee.  The food was great, and we enjoyed watching the locals interacting.

Look - a phone booth!

After enjoying our breakfast it was time for some exploration.  From the scone café Kim and I followed the street across a bridge.  We passed a post office and a row of tidy, brick buildings (complete with colorful doors) that appeared to house businesses.  Then Kim pointed out, of all things, a phone booth!  I thought those things had gone the way of the dinosaur, as we never see them anymore back home.  But here one was, in living color.  We just had to snap a couple of photos - or no one would probably believe us.

Door to the church

The street continued on past a natural area and ended up at another old church.  This one was called St. Columba's Church and it appeared the place didn't get used for worship much anymore.  It had a pretty door, though.

St. Columba's Church

The street took a bend, so of course we kept following it.  It took us by the local public library.  There was a series of unusual wood sculptures on the library's lawn.  There were a couple of figures with half the body chopped off, then a trunk of a body, and then two heads.  Kind of weird......wish I knew the story behind this.  It didn't show up on the "Sculpture Trail" featured on our walking map, so I have no idea.

Sculptures in front of the public library

Ah, but we passed by another row of lovely brick buildings with yet more colorful doors!  (I took a lot of door photos on this trip.)  The reason for the brightly colored doors dates back to the 1800s when Ireland was under English rule.  The reigning queen died and everyone in the monarchy was ordered to paint their doors black in mourning.  The Irish rebelled, instead painting their doors with the most cheerful colors they could find.  

Another door!

The Ennis town map we'd picked up from our hotel highlighted three walking routes for visitors.  After our quick spin around the neighborhood adjacent to our breakfast place, Kim and I chose to follow the "River Walk Trail" and see where it took us.

Lovely pedestrian bridge

We discovered a lovely walkway paralleling the River Fergus.  The river was lined by tall stone walls on both sides, so there was no water access.  In some places, buildings had been constructed right at the river's edge.

Buildings on the edge of River Fergus

The rain stopped for a bit, and we enjoyed a leisurely stroll along the river.  A few cherry trees were blooming and the pink blossoms were a welcome accompaniment to all the new green leaves.

Scenes from the Riverwalk Trail

The River Walk led us to another park with a huge mill wheel.  The wheel itself was encased in a steel cage (I assume to keep people from doing unsafe things.)  

Cute impromptu artwork

We crossed a busy street and sauntered past a monument commemorating County Clare's win in the 1995 All-Ireland hurling final.  Hurling is best described as a mix of hockey, soccer, and Gaelic football.  It's the national sport of Ireland and people here follow their favorite teams closely.

Statue commemorating 1995 hurling win

We'd been lucky and had enjoyed a rain-free walk up to this point.  However, just when Kim and I were the furthest distance from the downtown core, the rain started up again.  We decided to retrace our steps back to the business district.  Due to all the "liquid sunshine" our trek back was much quicker.  We walked around the downtown streets in search of someplace to warm up and dry off.  Finally, Kim spotted a coffee shop and we gratefully ducked inside.

Warming up after our rainy walk

Hot lattes for the win!

Street musicians

After our much-needed coffee warm-up, Kim and I headed back into the streets of Ennis.  Not far away, we spotted a group of street musicians huddled under an archway, so we stopped and listened for a song or two.

Old buildings along the River Fergus

Having traveled most of the "River Walk Trail" it was time to explore another part of Ennis.  Consulting our map, we discovered a "Historical Trail" that led visitors around another portion of the town.  Having no plans, Kim and I decided to check it out.

Cute cottage

We started out following the River Fergus again, although this time in a different direction.  A series of picturesque stone buildings perched along the opposite side.  Then we crossed another busy street and walked by the courthouse.  Past the courthouse was a huge park, full of lovely green lawns, several trees, and a children's play structure.  Our map identified this as the "Tim Smythe Memorial Park." Covering several city blocks, I was happy to see a pleasant path stretched through three sides of it, avoiding the adjacent roadway's narrow sidewalk.

We came upon the bottle recycling place

Of course, the minute Kim and I reached the park it began to rain again.  So I packed the camera away, and the only photos I got were with my phone.  Beyond the park, we walked on city streets past an impressive city council building, dinky roundabout, and crossed over the River Fergus yet again.  After taking a wrong turn, we retraced our steps back to the correct street, past an interesting glass recycling facility.  The bottle drops were sorted by color, and cheery mosaics indicated the appropriate slot for each.

It was very well done!

We walked by the hurling stadium, then past more colorful businesses.  

Random street scene

One laundromat had the funniest sign (see below.)  The Irish have a delightful sense of humor - something I love!

The Irish have a delightful sense of humor!

We ended up at the stately, stone building of the Franciscan Friary of Ennis.  A lovely church made of variegated gray rock I especially liked its bright, purplish doors.

The Franciscan Friary

A life-size statue of St. Francis of Assisi anchored one side of the courtyard. 

St. Francis of Assisi statue 

Beautiful stone buildings

Protruding from one of the courtyard walls was a spigot that dispensed holy water.  The instructions directed one to push in the tap head to receive a squirt of holy water.  Having been raised in the Catholic faith, I couldn't resist giving it a try.  I pushed the tap inward and water streamed from the spigot.  Problem was, the spigot wasn't shutting off.  Holy water kept spilling onto the courtyard pavement, forming a tiny channel that was beginning to run towards the church.  Uh-oh!  The Catholic in me winced at the loss of so much holy water.  Kim teased "Now you've done it, you broke the thing!"  I joked that if I did I hope I didn't go to hell!  (Thankfully the spigot eventually shut off on its own.)

Outside holy water spigot

By now it was 3 o'clock, the rain was starting up again, and Kim and I were both hungry.  Walking by Brogans, a highly recommended restaurant we considered visiting last night, I discovered it wasn't very busy.  Seizing the opportunity, we ducked inside.  It was a great find!  I had a delicious bowl of seafood chowder and Kim enjoyed a huge, but tasty order of fish and chips.  Accompanied by hot Irish coffees to wash everything down of course! 

Seafood chowder for a rainy day

One of the things Ennis is known for it its traditional Irish music scene.  Ennis is considered the heartland of traditional Irish folk music.  Every night there's a group playing "trad" music in at least one of the local pubs.  Last night, I really wanted to experience some of this music, but we were too jet-lagged to stay up late enough (in most pubs, the music usually doesn't start until after 9 pm.)  But not tonight!  We chatted with a friendly lady from New York who was staying in the same hotel.  This woman came to Ennis every year just for the Irish music.  Her enthusiasm was infectious.  Kim and I knew we couldn't miss out.  Tired or not, tonight we were bound and determined to find a pub with a band! 

I loved the decor over this alley

It took a couple of tries.  The first pub we walked into the bartender said the band had already played earlier that afternoon.  But the guy recommended another pub that he guaranteed would have music, although not starting until after 9 pm.  So up the street we went!  Although we arrived an hour early, Kim and I decided to each order a half pint of Guinness and find a place to sit.  

We sat down next to a younger couple.  Having heard that Irish people in pubs were very friendly, I introduced myself.  The man and the woman, Conor and Simone, (later we'd find they had just gotten engaged) were Ennis locals.  In no time we were having a lovely conversation with our new Irish friends.

Traditional Irish music group

We learned a lot from Conor.  He'd grown up in Ennis, where he currently lived and worked.  Conor said Irish people loved many American TV shows (his personal favorite was Judge Judy) and they also were fond of Coors beer.  (In the pubs we'd visited so far I'd noticed amongst the Guinness, Murphy's, and Smithwick beer taps there was always at least one for Coors.)

After a bit, the band members began arriving.  After discovering the place we were seated was reserved for the band, Kim, Conor, Simone and I slid over to an adjacent table.  We now had front row seats to the music!  Conor got up and offered to buy Kim and I another round of Guinness.  Kim protested, saying we should be buying them a round. But Conor insisted, so off to the bar he went, returning very shortly with two full glasses of our new favorite beer.

The band began to play, and they were fantastic!  The music was cheerful and lively.  One man played a guitar, one a flute, one a round Irish drum, and another an instrument resembling a small accordion, called a concertina.  A woman playing a fiddle would occasionally join in.  The musicians played all their pieces from memory.  Although to me many of the melodies sounded the same, I was told that the reels were all different.  (Being a first-timer, I had lots to learn!)  But don't get me wrong - the band was amazing and I enjoyed their music immensely.  The group would jam for about 5 minutes, take a quick beer break, and then quickly launch into another song.

The bar began to fill up quickly.  Pretty soon it was standing room only.  Kim and I noticed even though it was nearing 10 pm, many of the people were our age and older.  I happened to have an open seat next to me, and a woman walked up and asked if she could sit there.  Of course I didn't mind - it was an opportunity to meet another person!  This woman was originally from Canada but loved "trad" so much, she'd taken a 6 month sabbatical from her job to live in Ennis and study traditional Irish music.  She was a wealth of information on the subject and knew all the local musicians.  She mentioned that the band's flute player was the best in town.

Enjoying a wonderful night at the pub

The night wore on, Kim and I enjoying the lively music and great company.  Conor kept buying us more Guinness, insisting that since we were the "guests" we didn't have to reciprocate.  By the end of the night, I think he bought us 3 or 4 rounds (I really don't remember!)  We had a fantastic time, chatting with our new Irish friends, enjoying the music, and drinking way too much Guinness.  The friendliness and generosity of these locals blew us away - if we ever meet visitors in our hometown we'll be sure and pay it forward. 

But finally, way after 11 pm, the beer and late hour took it's toll on Kim and I.  Saying fond goodbyes, we stumbled out of the pub and navigated our way down empty streets back to our hotel (good thing for the church steeple, we used it as a landmark!)

Tomorrow we'd finally meet up with our group for the first day of our Ireland tour.  And I couldn't wait.  

To be continued.........