Well, wasn’t I the busy little dog over the St Patrick’s weekend. I hardly had time to draw breath. But before I tell you all about it, I have some exciting news to share.
A few months ago, I noticed that Stena Line had a competition for the best pawliday snaps and I barked at the pawrents to submit one of my many holiday photos. Eventually, we decided on a lovely picture of me gazing out at London Bridge on the banks of the Thames.
Well, imagine the excitement when an email arrived telling us we’d won a return ferry trip to the UK, including access to the exclusive pet lounge on the boat. I could hardly contain my excitement and I hear a trip to Scotland in August is on the cards. Back to my roots! I must practice my Scottish accent before I go.
Back to St Patrick and my weekend started early with a photo shoot at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park for the front page. I met my lovely friend Michael Grogan but I hardly recognised him as he was dressed up as a Leprechaun for the occasion. I tried my best to find his crock of gold but he had it well hidden. I had to make do with a few treats and a dogguccino while the hoomans enjoyed Bunratty’s famous apple tart. Not a sniff of it did I get though.
On Friday it was off to Limerick in the car, after finishing work at mid-day. I felt I knew where we were going and it was no surprise to find myself in The Buttery, and who was there to meet me only my co-author Bev and her husband Paul. I was so excited to see her and to share my news about Scotland. She told me loads of places to see and I’ll be sure to hound the pawrents to take me to all the sights when we make the trip.
Saturday morning dawned wet and dreary but at least I made another new friend. Pawssentails is a new dog accessory company based in Ennis and Sarah, the owner, met us to deliver one of her lovely St Patrick’s Day bows, which went beautifully with my green collar. I wore the bow proudly for the rest of the weekend and you’ll find Sarah on
Instagram and Etsy. It’s impawtant to support local businesses.
St Patrick’s Day itself fell on Sunday and we took advantage of a break in the weather in the middle of the day to visit a place even the hoomans had never been. Thoor Ballylee is just outside Gort and it was the home of WB Yeats, the famous poet and author. The tower has been restored and it’s a lovely, peaceful place to visit and I’m sure we’ll be back for a picnic in the summer.
We went on to Coole Park, where we had a sandwich in the outdoors before a nice walkies through the woods.
We returned home to watch The Quiet Man and you can’t get much more Irish than that, although John Wayne was anything but quiet during the film. I thoroughly enjoyed it though, especially the long fight scene towards the end. A fitting way to finish St Patrick’s Day in style.
Of course, there was still Bank Holiday Monday to go and lo and behold it was back to The Buttery for brunch. When we emerged, the bands had already started and the streets were closed off. We had great difficulty just getting across the street to get back to the car but eventually we figured it out and headed for home.
One more surprise remained as we went back to Bunratty. This time, I met Michael, who’s usually the Seanchaí, but instead he was dressed up as the Schoolteacher. He looked very stern so I was glad that I had done my homework.
As I was talking to Michael and Carmel, a lovely young girl came up to say hello and she knew my name. It took me a minute, but then I remembered having my picture taken with a younger Keelin Coleman at the St Stephen’s Day Turkey Trot way back in 2018, when I was just a young pup. It was so lovely to meet her again and we had a great chat. How small the world is.
I hope your St Patrick’s weekend was as enjoyable as mine. Roll on Easter for more adventures.
Motoring editor - The Clare Champion
Former Chairman and voting member of Irish Motoring Writers' Association