GLEANNDALOCH

Auntie Mary called into the house to take me to GleannDaLoch. Helen had a pile of ironing to do and Timmy was busy painting the kitchen and Brad wasn't interested but Gemma agreed to come for a day out with the "girls".
It was lovely. The sun was shining as we made our way into Wicklow. When we got to GleannDaLoch there was plenty of parking and not too many people. Even though I have been there many times before I have never gone on the guided tour. We decided we would shell out the 4 euros to enter the visitor centre and see the "audio-visual presentation". It was surprisingly good and informative. When it was over we hung around reading the interpretive panels for about ten minutes before the tour began.
The tour took about 30 minutes then we went walking by ourselves to the upper lake. Mary told the story of the first time she was ever brought to GleannDaLoch at the age of three. Apparently Grannie Gill was convalescing in the area and the whole family met together at GleannDaLoch one Sunday. Mary remembers Grannie Gill walking towards her. I have no distinct memories of Grannie Gill (and few memories of Granda Gill) so it is always a treat for me to hear these stories about my family before I was even born. Mary also told a story she remembered of Auntie Brigín - not the familiar Aunt Brigín, my father's sister, but a great aunt who was probably my grandfather's sister. Brigín was a schoolteacher and a stern one at that. Mary remembers the itinerant library coming to the house. For a penny you could buy a book, read it, then turn it in for another the following week. Mary was about ten at the time. She remembers Aunt Brigín having a fit over the reading material - detective stories, cheap thrillers, murder mysteries - that she considered very unsuitable for a young lady.
After a good long walk around the lakes we headed back to Laragh for tea and scones before the rain came down.