Day 13 & 14: Castlebar, Mayo

You may have noticed that I skip a day. Although I think I'm the only one reading this so I noticed. Yesterday was a travel day. It was a tediously long ride to get to castle bar. What should have taken me 3 and a half hours took me almost 7 hours because of traffic. Unfortunately I didn't get to stop on the way and they were many things to see.

But I am now in Castlebar. This is the homeland of the Ruane's. It's really a pretty little town but liked  Cahersiveen there is little going on. I will say this there's a lot of new restaurants and they tried to beautify the place quite a bit which is not the case in Cahersiveen. There seems to be a lot of people here talking to themselves and it is exactly what they think of me as I talk into my phone.

I remember being here back in 1973, and it was a dreary place back then. It looked like like everything was covered in coal dust. I never really thought of it is a prosperous or vibrant place. I saw it more as it dead end and a place of sadness.

Like Cahersiveen, it seems to be a place where people grow up and then leave and come back to visit on the holidays.
Today's cold and its been raining heavily and the skies are gray. I have a very heavy wool sweater on but I still can feel the chill. It's about 53 degrees and its beginning of August. Summer is relative to wherever you are.

As I sit here I try to imagine John Ruane walking down the street as a young boy. I walked by the Castlebar Barracks where I know he lived when he was 15. He was a drummer in the Connaught Rangers which was a branch of the British Army. He was in the same regiment as his uncle William Ruane. The Barracks are not open to the public but I'm not sure if they are still in use. There was a gate that is locked and the windows are open so I would says people must be living there. Its also on the same site that the Castle Barry was built in the 1200's. There is nothing left at the castle but they believe the bricks on the castle where used to build the wall around the barracks. They are quite impressive .

I'm going to spend the day with Josie Ruane today. She has invited me to her house for dinner . I'm looking forward to it . We spent the afternoon looking at the family tree, comparing pictures and talking about family in general . It was really funny. As it was cold Josie lit a fire . It felt so good .

I enjoyed my day with Josie. Even though we really haven't known each other very long I felt like we have known each other forever. The time we spent together was easy and not strained at all . I'm sure I will see her again before I leave . 

Someone needs to tell the weather that is summer period it feels like the Fall.

I am in for the night.

A Ruane Owned Establishment

Ann and Josie Ruane