It's a Bar!!

It seems I didn't scare off Ronan from our company.  After the incident with the Cosmo's, he thought he was prepared for anything.  Boy was he ever wrong!!

Ronan had picked us up from his mother's house the next day.  He took us to our first gaelic football game.  It's hard to describe but I fell in love with the sport.  It is a mixture of football, rugby, soccer, and at times basketball.  There is no pause unless the ball goes out of bounds or there is a ridiculous penalty.  With this blend of sports, how can the referee tell?

The match was between two very intense rivals.  One of them being a favorite to Ronan.  We stood on the sidelines next to a very colorful commentator.

This is when Ronan's nightmare began.  I had never seen gaelic football and I was trying to get the hang of it on my own.  I really did.  The scoring was bizarre.  So the questions started coming out.  I asked about the positions.  I asked about the differences in the scoring.  Which team he liked?    You name it.  It got asked.  I was your typical annoying little girl.  

Thank goodness for halftime.  During this break, a younger verision of the game came out to play their own match.  There were four teams and each game used half the field.  One match was played directly in from of me.   

This is were I was able to ask more questions or confirm what I have learned.  Ronan has the patience of a saint.  He just stayed there and answered all my questions. 

By the time the second half started, I knew most of the basics.  Ronan was able to enjoy the game and Bill in the background just smiled.  Bill has been at the end of my interrogations and he thought it was nice someone else got the same treatment.

When the game was over,  it ended in a tie.  We headed to a pub named Cheers.  The same name like the one in Boston and the tv show.  We drank a few.  Bill tried Bulmers.  He said it taste a little like apple juice.  It would be a nice summer beer.  I tasted it and let me tell you it tasted like beer to me.  Bleh.

After a nice conversation, we went to another pub.  It is called PJ Byrne's.  It is on the main street of Claremorris.  It blends with the other stores.  What makes this pub different, is that there is a grocery store in the front and you make your way to the back and there is the pub.

If you can see on the table next to that good looking man, this is my cranberry juice.  Sometimes when I asked for vodka and cranberry, I would get them separately.  I would get a glass of ice with vodka and a container of juice.  I like it this way.  I feel like I am an amateur bartender. 

I enjoyed the atmosphere of this pub. This was a nicely decorated bar.

A picture taken on the street of Claremorris.

John Wayne and ?

I laughed when I saw this.  How fitting that within days of me taking this picture, he would be shot dead by US Security Forces.

At the end of our visit with Ronan,  we became friends.  I will always remember him fondly when I look back at our trip to Ireland.

Thanks for the bar hopping and everything you had to endure being my tour guide!!

Interrogating Abbie