After an outstanding breakfast at The Shemalier, we left for Westport. Our first stop however was at the ? bog plank road. This plank road was unearthed by a farmer excavating the bog for peat to use in heating his home.  When the farmer discovered a portion of the plank road he contacted archeologists at the University of Dublin for their help.  It was determined that this plank road was approximately 2500 years old and was one of many plank roads throughout Europe that was used by the people of that time to cross bogs. The best guess on the use of the roads was that they allowed shorter travel times for armies or traders. While we only stayed for 1 1/2 hours of very interesting facts, we all agreed that this site should be a “must see” on any tour through the area.

Westport was approximartely a 2 1/2 hour car ride from Athlone so it was in the early afternoon that we arrived. Geoffery dropped Karen, Tracy, Shannon, Shawn, Corey, and Michael off at Matt Molloy’s pub. The girls went shopping while Mike and Corey visited the inside of Molloy’s pub to quench their thirst.  Geoffery and I took the luggage to our next B&B, the Boffin Lodge, just 1 1/2 miles northwest of Westport.

Everyone shopped for approximately two hours then we went to Matt Molly’s Pub for some liquid refreshment. More significant than the Guinness however was the fact that Shawn, mom, and I returned to a place that held some of our fondest memories of our first trip to Ireland. The pictures that I will insert into this post at a future date when I find the time will show Shawn, mom, I and the rest of the family sitting in the exact same spots we did when we met Mick LaVelle, a local traditional musician and Irish master story teller, and listened to him perform lilting songs of Irish rebellion and stories of Irish historical characters and battles for over two hours. Sadly, Mick passed away last November. His funeral cortege extended for over two miles and as it passed Matt Molloy’s pub it stopped and waited in reverent silence for two minutes as a tribute to Mick and the tender respect he earned from all of County Mayo. It happened that Matt Molloy was in the pub this evening.  It is rare for him to be in the pub since hie and the Chieftains are on tour around the world for 7-8 months a year.  In fact the Chieftains has performed in Lansing back in May of this year. If you are not familiar with The Chieftains click the following link for a brief introduction: http://mattmolloy.com

When I caught up with Michael and Corey awhile later in Molloy’s pub Michael was standing at the bar with a number of locals discussing who knows what, but entertaining the locals with his American wit and charm and acting like he was no stranger to the pub. In Ireland I believe it to be generally true that once you have known a stranger for 5 minutes, you feel like you have known them for a lifetime. They are extremely friendly and curious and interested in sharing their culture with anyone except perhaps the English and the Tinkerers or Travelers as they are called in political correct circles. Whatever the case, within minutes Michael knew all the locals by their first names and had bought a round for the lads.

After patiently waiting for Matt Molloy to finish talking with some friends at the bar, I approached him and asked him if he would be kind enough to pose with our family which was sitting in the traditional music section of the bar. He graciously agreed and a few minutes later we had our picture.

By then it was time for dinner so we went across the street to a pizzaria. We closed the pizzaria around 10:00 p.m.  Mom and the family suggested we return to Molloy’s pub to listen to some traditional Irish music. Still suffering from jet lag, I told them to go ahead but I was going back to the B&B for some much needed sleep. However they wouldn’t have any of that and a few minutes later I was standing in a very packed “beer garden” section of Malloy’s pub just a few feet away from the band’s stage. The place was packed and there simply was no other place to sit or stand. In about 10 minutes the band returned from break and started to play again. Before they had reached the half-way portion of the song, they suddenly stopped playing and the lead singer announced that Matt Malloy had just entered the room. Everyone turned to look at Matt as he worked his way through the crowd with his two body guards leading the way, when much to my surprise I saw son Michael walking by his side.

Matt and his two body guards, and Michael walked up to me and Michael explained that Matt was there to give me a gift in exchange for the one Michael had given Matt’s son Peter earlier in the evening. (Michael had given Peter Malloy a Blue Shamrock Pub t-shirt in exchange for a Matt Malloy Pub t-shirt). Matt handed me a small gift-wrapped package and shook my hand. Perplexed and surrounded by my family and a pack room I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. Michael said “open it”.  And when I did,  much to my surprise I saw an Irish infinity loop designed two-piece  14 carat white gold/yellow gold wedding ring, an unbelievable surprise gift from my wife. Realizing fully know what Karen was giving me I turned with tears in my eyes to give her a kiss and a tender hug. When our eyes met Karen’s eyes were also wet with a few tears. And after a few seconds of the embrace I turned to thank our children and Corey, and there they stood with their cameras flashing and tears in their eyes as well. You see, a year prior I had lost the wedding ring Karen had given me 49 years prior on our wedding day and I was deeply distressed over losing such a treasured symbol. I seldom took the ring off during that entire time because it was such an important symbol to me.  So words cannot express the deep appreciation and emotion I felt when I realized Karen had replaced my lost ring at a special moment in our lives surrounded by our beautiful family. I don’t remember much else other than Matt Molloy, with tears in his eyes, repeatedly shaking my hand, saying “congratulations” over and over, and alternately hugging me. Then he turned to Karen and repeated his words with hugs as well. Even Matt’s two body guards were shaking our hands and hugging us. It was truely a magical moment that Karen, I, and our family will cherish the rest of our lives. While our children were not present on our wedding day all those years ago, we were blessed to have them share this moment with us.