It was hard to leave our first hosts in Meath but on Friday we headed to Tipperary for the queen of the castle festival. When we arrived at the hotel in Cahir we met the vice president Paddy who was given the responsibility of chauffeuring us for the weekend. The Friday night was spent with a very crazy pub crawl meeting the queens and other Macra members followed by a trad session at the Shamrock Lounge. Saturday morning we visited the Mitchelstown caves venturing 1Km in and 200m down reaching an open area with steps carved out leading to a platform in which they sometimes use as a concert venue. On the way back to Cahir we took a detour through the town Ronald Reagan’s family was from and while there wasn’t anything special there Paddy thought there were some “great views”, I teased that yes, the hedges were quite scenic as that was all that was visible as they’re ran along either side of the road as far as the eye could see. Saturday was a good day though, we went on a heritage walk, learning about the town and some of the things that were made famous like the 2 Johnnies who are from the town and the shamrock lounge is often referenced in their podcast, also Excalibur was filmed at Cahir castle. After the tour Louise and I stayed in town to visit the castle where we were joined by other Macra members that were on the earlier tour and after, a few more from their club met up with us for dinner. The night ended with the queens interviews and more socialising with different clubs. That day was one of my favourites as we met so many great people who really helped make that weekend enjoyable. Sunday was our final day, we started it off with dance lessons learning to line dance and jive. While it was a great experience and I’m grateful I did it, I will not be jiving anytime soon. We did miss the karaoke portion of the weekend which was disappointing especially when we saw the videos afterwards but we all had fun getting ready for the banquet and seeing our outfits come together after our panicked shopping trip. The banquet and dance that night was bittersweet. Our time in Cahir was full of excitement, being fully immersed in this Macra event with the different clubs but also knowing it was about to end.
Monday was the dreaded day, Louise was leaving us. A few days prior we were informed that we’d be heading to the tillihealy show where Martina and I would be meeting our new host club Whicklow, and Louise would be heading to Limerick. Our first impression of Wicklow had us slightly frightened but we were so wrong. On the way to transfer our luggage from one car to the next a couple of members came to help and they were killing me. They stayed with us for the rest of the evening and I can’t even begin to explain how funny they were. Their sense of humour and sarcasm matched mine and I was glad we were only with them for a couple days or I think I may have actually died of laughter.
We ended up staying in a hostel in Glendalough because no one in the club had room for us but Shauna was amazing for making sure we were comfortable and if not they’d find space for us. She also was the one driving us around. The first day we were supposed to pick between going to Avoca mill or Beyond the trees. Martina enjoys being at the highest point possible at any time so she wanted to do the trees but as someone who likes to craft I was interested in the mill, though I also enjoy a good view so we were going to do the trees but Shauna decided we’d make both work. The mill was our first stop, it’s where they weave blankets and scarves and was originally run by 3 sisters who made quite the name for with their innovative designs and use of colours made from plants. The tour included a live demonstration of how the fabrics were originally weaved using an old hand weaving machine. I guess my face gave away how interesting I found it because the weaver sent me home with a piece he made, which is a very rare thing. The next thing we did was Beyond the trees. This was a boardwalk that took you up through the tree to a point where it was just a ramp running up in a hexagonal pattern until you could see above everything. The top level had arrows pointing to different counties and landmarks so you knew what you were looking at. It had a slide you could take down and is also sometimes used as a concert venue. That night we headed to Wexford for their club’s pool night. Our final adventure was spent exploring Glendalough’s trails and waterfalls before Shauna picked us up and took us through the mountains on the way to Avoca Gardens which Shauna actually manages. It was very serene and they had some really cool looking trees and plants. After a long night prior it was nice to relax before meeting up with Josephine for the next leg of our trip.
Kilkenny, our next stop. Our hosts the O’Neill are part of Callan Macra which is actually the club that this year’s incoming delegate Colin is from. The first night though was spent with Kilkenny city and north Kilkenny playing volleyball. The ball was very misshapen but Martina and I still crushed it winning both games. Afterwards we took to the parking lot for some good chat with the two clubs. Thursday morning Josephine took us to a dairy farm and then to Nicholas Moses Pottery and mill cafe where the pottery is quite popular as we started to recognize it everywhere. Martina and I then toured Kilkenny castle, a round tower and viewed some art as the arts festival was starting up for the weekend and later that night we went bowling with Callen. Friday Martina and I split up as Kilkenny was doing a hike challenge for mental health and while I’m not opposed to hiking it was a little intense for my fitness level. I ended up cutting grass and milking cows with Fabian, who I met at volleyball and actually hosted an oxford member in the past.
