Funny faces and Croagh Patrick

We had parked the van outside the house so said a quick goodbye to #2 daughter and boys and her in-laws and drove down what seemed a long 5.5 hours to Westport. The plan was to drive another half hour to meet #3 daughter and family at the beach, but the road was so narrow Mr C decided it wasn’t for us or the van. He turned round, bumping the van into a wall. The wall was fine, but not the van. The rain started so the family decided we’d all meet at the house back beyond Westport.

The house, owned by son-in-laws aunt, is spacious and in a lovely quiet location. Ella and Nathaniel were so excited to see us. After a cup of coffee we took them out with balance bike and scooter to explore. We picked blackberries for our pudding and found a pretty stream they will play in another day. It’s so disappointing that we can’t stay longer.

The house looks to Croagh Patrick, which is behind the children in the blip. It is over 700 metres high and was sacred 5000 years ago. In around 441 I think St Patrick fasted on it for 40 days so now it is a place of pilgrimage for Roman Catholics and has statues, cafes, shops selling religious stuff etc. We’d hoped to climb in but as we only have tomorrow we’ll just wander a bit of it with the children.