AR A GABHÁIL GO BAILE ÁTHA CLIATH DOMH

Me and Anna at the closing of Summer School.
Anna is the first Russian I've met who could speak Irish - and she speaks it very well.
Maith thú, Anna!


House where Charles Gavin Duffy was born in Monaghan Town.


The Three Big Ones: St. Bridget, St. Patrick, St. ColmCille



The Bishop's seat (Diocese of Clogher)

I got a ride to Dublin from JohnBarry. Before we left Donegal we danced and sang at the closing of Scoil Shamhraidh for another year. I must say that this was one of the most enjoyable Summer Schools I've attended. There was a good crowd in the house - a mixture of Belfast people and Derry people with a couple of Dublin people thrown in for good measure. Nearly everyone had good Irish and was willing to use it in the house. I also enjoyed the sean-nós class with Lillis immensely.
The rain had eased a little (though not the howling winds) as we took off for Dublin. We aimed to go towards Sligo then across through Enniskillen, Cavan, Navan into Dublin. However, somewhere outside Donegal Town we took a wrong turn off the roudabout and found ourselves on the way to Lifford. We decided to continue on that way to Strabane and Omagh and then through Monaghan Town down the N2 to Dublin. It was a nice diversion. We stopped in Monaghan for lunch and to check out the cathedral.
The foundation stone of the cathedral was laid in 1861. It is a neo-Gothic building with very little adornment (why are Irish Catholic churches generally pretty ugly?) except for some beautiful stained-glass windows but as usual there was absolutely no information about them.