{"id":9379,"date":"2021-06-11T11:23:29","date_gmt":"2021-06-11T15:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=9379"},"modified":"2021-09-09T07:13:25","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T11:13:25","slug":"episode-163-we-took-the-kids-to-ireland-just-before-they-left-the-nest-glad-we-did-around-1980","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=9379","title":{"rendered":"episode 163 WE TOOK THE KIDS TO IRELAND…JUST BEFORE THEY LEFT THE NEST…GLAD WE DID (around 1980)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EPISODE 163   WE TOOK THE KIDS TO IRELAND\u2026 JUST BEFORE THEY LEFT THE NEST\u2026GLAD WE DID<\/div>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
June 2021<\/div>\n

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CHILDREN have a tendency to grow older\u2026to grow up.  When they hit those late<\/div>\n
teen age years they often leave the nest no matter how comfortable that nest has<\/div>\n
become.  Marjorie and I knew that.  Most parents know that.  We knew it would happen<\/div>\n
soon so we tried to capture them for this fling to Southern Ireland where I once<\/div>\n
worked as you may remember in earlier episodes.<\/div>\n

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We landed in Shannon on the Irish west coast\u2026rented a car\u2026and then<\/div>\n
I said \u201cLet\u2019s find a pub and get a pint of Guinness right away.\u201d<\/div>\n

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I still remember Marjorie\u2019s response because it was so out of character.<\/div>\n
\u201cWell Alan, I hope visiting pubs is not the main part of our trip with the boys?\u201d<\/div>\n

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At which point I looked at the boys and they looked at me.  We grinned<\/div>\n
and soon found a pub.  <\/div>\n

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WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO READ A STORY ABOUT OUR TRIP?<\/div>\n

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Good point.   Why would you want to read a story about our trip? Plan your own trip.  Perhaps you  have plans<\/div>\n
to travel there when this Covid 19 scourge ends.   One of my ex-students Jeannette Chau, whose<\/div>\n
husband, Michael, is Irish, asked \u201cDo you think Ireland is still like the Ireland you found<\/div>\n
back in 1960\u2026then again in 1965\u2026then again in 1980\u2026then again and again.\u201d<\/div>\n
Yes,  I really think Ireland keeps its charm.   The violent past is present but it<\/div>\n
sure is not a downer for tourists unless you are looking for a fight.  I think we have<\/div>\n
been to Ireland seven times.  Each time memorable.  Pleasant.  Boisterous.<\/div>\n
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Kids like calves grow into adults.  We tried to catch our kids when they were<\/div>\n
on the cusp of adulthood.<\/div>\n

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I wanted to share my Irish adventures crawling through the 100 year old Knockmahon<\/div>\n
mine\u2026with the boys.   More than a tourist venture\u2026an Adventure.<\/div>\n

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There were several ancient adits to the mine open on the cliff face along<\/div>\n
the south coast near Bunmahon, County Waterford.   The local people knew about them but few others<\/div>\n
did.   crawling on our stomachs and walking bent over was not something Marjorie<\/div>\n
wanted to do again.  She had been here with my Brother Eric and I way back in 1965<\/div>\n
when the boys were just a gleam in our eyes.   Marjorie did not think of the crawling<\/div>\n
as an adventure.   I think she thought it was just a bit foolish\u2026and dangerous.<\/div>\n
Which was true.<\/div>\n

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Today, in 2021, the old mine is celebrated and the area is described in tourist<\/div>\n
brochures as the Copper Coast.  Tours can even be arranged.  Not quite the same<\/div>\n
as our explorations.<\/div>\n
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In 1960, Dr. Paterson entrusted me as a Field Man for Hunting Technical and Exploration Services…doing a geophysical survey for<\/div>\n
Dennison Mines of Canada in Ireland just to see if it was possible to re open the old Knockmahon<\/div>\n
mine.  He trusted me.  I never violated that trust.  There is something special about trust.<\/div>\n

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HURLING MATCH\u2026ON THE BEACH IN WESTERN IRELAND<\/div>\n

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Ireland is a tourist heaven.   Easy to meet people and often replete with simple joys such<\/div>\n
as when the boys joined a hurling match on an Irish beach.   The young Irish lad<\/div>\n
was so enthusiastic describing hurling to big boys like Kevin and Andrew.  He was<\/div>\n
very cute.<\/div>\n

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Old stone houses without roofs are plentiful.  Their history is often disturbing.<\/div>\n

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We stopped for dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy in Bunmahon.   In 1960 we rented<\/div>\n
part of their rambling house as living quarters for our team.   Mrs. Kennedy became<\/div>\n
a house mother.   A previous mining team had not been as gracious as we were she said.<\/div>\n

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While waiting for my equipment to arrive in 1960 a strange thing happened.   Kevin Behan and his family<\/div>\n
looked after me. No relation to Brendon Behan. Their kids were great.  There warmth endures to this day.   Our son Kevin does not even know that this<\/div>\n
is his namesake.  <\/div>\n
The Dublin days are described in earlier episodes.<\/div>\n

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Mrs. Behan, suggested I go to see THE QUIET MAN with John Wayne and Maureen O\u2019Hara which played continuously in a Dublin theatre.<\/div>\n
After seeing the film I thought that Ireland could not possibly be like the move.   I was wrong.  My Irish experience was exactly like the movie<\/div>\n
I recommend you find a copy \u2026 you will enjoy it even if for the second or third time.<\/div>\n
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Once upon a time a man\u2026a kind of monk\u2026lived here in the little domed structures many of which are common on<\/div>\n
the Dingle and other west coast places.<\/div>\n

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Here is the Kenneay family as found in 1960.  Gerald, the little boy, was handicapped as you can see.  He was a never ending<\/div>\n
joy.  Followed me around a lot.  The whole family was wonderful.   Mrs. Kennedy kept me informed about proper behaviour and<\/div>\n
insisted I go to mass on Sundays even though she knew I was Presbyterian.  She was correct.  Being at mass made me belong<\/div>\n
to the community.  Our employees delighted in throwing Holy Water my way as I exited the church.   <\/div>\n

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This is just a snippet of our visit to Ireland around 1980.   It should be enough to make you wish you were with us.   Just finding the pictures has<\/div>\n
transported me back in time.<\/div>\n

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I said at the beginning of this story that Marjorie and I knew our days with the boys were numbered.  They would soon <\/div>\n
carve out their own lives.  But they would not ever forget us.<\/div>\n

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Sure enough, a year or so after this Irish trip both boys left.  It was Oct. 7\u2026damn close to Marjorie and my birthdays (9 and 16) that<\/div>\n
the boys left.  Kevin headed for a job as an English teacher in Slovakia just as Czechoslovakia broke apart and the Berlin Wall was collapsing along with the Soviet Union.<\/div>\n
Andrew and his friend Keith took off the opposite direction heading for Pacific Islands and then on to New Zealand and Australia\u2026travelling<\/div>\n
west with a variety of cars destined for scrap yards.  They stopped in Los Angeles to visit Victor Poppa (Last Flight of HX 313 episodes).<\/div>\n
Victor carved wooden side windows for the car wreck they had at the time.<\/div>\n

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Guess what?<\/div>\n

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Both boys returned.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
June 2021<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE 163   WE TOOK THE KIDS TO IRELAND\u2026 JUST BEFORE THEY LEFT THE NEST\u2026GLAD WE DID alan skeoch June 2021 CHILDREN have a tendency to grow older\u2026to grow up.  When they hit those late teen age years they often leave the nest no matter how comfortable that nest has become.  Marjorie and I knew […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9379\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}