Back in Ireland

I arrived home on Saturday not a drop of rain to be seen. It has now been 5 days and it has not rained once. I was really glad to arrive home after the two month absence.

September 24, 2008 we celebrated 25 years of marriage.... Who knew 25 years ago that we would be living in another country. It's a fantastic way to spend your 25th anniversary. We enjoyed the day by going to Adare, known as the "Prettiest Village in Ireland". It really was darling and filled with interesting history and sights to see. The village as it is named today arose with the arrival of the Anglo Normans in 1129. The area was settled by the Earls of Desmond on what was originally a "Rath" or round fort. The fort was known as Rath Dara or the Fort of the Oak. The castle was destroyed by order of Oliver Cromwell in 1675. Eventually the property came in to the hands of the Earls of Dunraven and they set about restoring many of the ruins and remodeling the village to look like a nice "English Village". That's why the thatched cottages appear as they do. The Earls of Dunraven owned all of the property in the area and in the 1800's built a magnificent Manor House, today the manor is owned by an american couple and is a 5 star hotel and golf course, sitting on 840 acres of property. It was all fantastic to see and we have decided a stay in the manor is in order and so, have our reservations for Valentine's weekend already. We spent the entire day walking around the village, castle and manor, it was another glorious rain free fall day.

Then it was off home to take a nap before going to dinner at Dromoland Castle. Dromoland is located in our own village of Newmarket. Its a get all gussied up kinda place and was wonderful. The food was fantastic and we met two other couples from San Francisco, one of which was touring Ireland for their 25th anniversary. We also met a lovely couple from England that was on their honeymoon. We decided it is another place worthy of a stay but we have not decided when that will be.

The weather is still lovely again today not a drop of rain in sight..... Its peaceful and quiet and sunny and beautiful. Just another day in paradise.

Enjoy the photos.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12938045@N02/