Offaly, Tipperary, Clare, Limerick, River Shannon

Started the day in Carlow, in our lovely, bonkers hotel. Left after breakfast and headed up to County Offaly to stop at the Barack Obama Plaza service station at Moneygall. It Seems that the Kearney family on Barack's mother's side came from Moneygall before emigrating to NY in 185O, after the famine. Barack and Michelle Obama visited Moneygall in 2011, when he was still the US president.  Sounds like quite some day! https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/23/obama-visit-jubilation-moneygall?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Then we drove on to charming Killaloe, in Tipperary, on the banks of the Shannon, opposite Ballina in Co. Clare, joined by a bridge with a spanof 14 arches. We set off on a cruise up the Shannon, to where it broadens out into Lough Derg. Lough Derg is in fact completely surrounded by the Shannon, and is named Derg, or Dearg, because in autumn it used to be filled with fallen red leaves. 'Dearg' means 'red' in Irish.  (There is also another Lough Derg in Co. Galway, the pilgrimage place that Seamus Heaney wrote about in his poem Station Island, but we were not there). 

The cruise was about an hour long ,beautifully slow and peaceful. I shot some short videos, because music was playing in the background,  and chatted to some women from Bristol via Dublin. I must have nodded off in the sun for a minute, because I don't remember the boat turning around. All too soon we were back at the 14-arch bridge where we started. 

Back on the coach, and off to the town of Adare, which reminded me of one of those pretty Cotswold villages such as Bibury,  packed with coaches and Japanese tourists. There were thatched cottages, in the English rather than the Irish tradition, and heavy lorries thundering through the main street. I did not see any Japanese tourists, but it was overwhelmingly full of trickles such as myself. I found a Vietnamese noodle salad and some Tayto crisps (Irish) and had lunch. Explored the park (beautiful and relatively peaceful). Found the church,  a convent school and a cemetery. From there I could see, across a parched field of black cows, the Augustinian Abbey I was looking for, but I reckoned it was too far to walk in the oppressive heat. Went back to the church and lit a candle for D, who is in hospital but sponsoring my holiday. Took a photo of the candle. Also took many photos today of food, because D is obsessed with food and even asks me questions if I forget to mention food in any particular setting 

Bought a book in the Adare heritage centre about a priest in training who gave up his vocation. They will be an interesting read. Maybe not one for D! Then   back to the coach. The clouds burst as  we drove to our hotel, which is not nearly as gorgeous as last night's place. The dinner was good, though.  My room has a small private terrace outside it, with no garden furniture nor anything on it. Beside that is a tarmacked path that is a public footpath, and on the other side of the path there's a hedge with a timberyard beyond it. I can just see the piles of timber poking above the hedge. However, it is all perfectly adequate, and I walk about 1000 steps each time I go to Reception or the restaurant! 

More boats and a train ride tomorrow. I must try to remember which of our fellow travellers are sympathetic to my opinions, and which ones will tell me that people ought to pull themselves together and get on with it, like their grandfather did...

Today's highlight was definitely the cruise on the Shannon. The sense of tranquility and wide open spaces will remain with me throughout this trip.