V.I.P. in Castlebar

We took the train from Dublin to Castlebar on Saturday morning. Its about a 4 hour train ride across the country and it is a gorgeous ride! We saw tons of sheep, and cute little country homes, and lots of green grass, and for a little while, blue skies :) My two roommates and I stayed at the same B&B that Dad stayed at when he was in Castlebar, the Carragh House. It was so cute, and so cozy, and definitely worth every single euro! After a nice long nap, and nice long hot showers, Michelle, Raquelita, and I went to explore! Dad has sent me a list of the pubs and the people we needed to see so off we went. We started our night at Byrne's Pub, and met the infamous Mick Byrne. We was so excited to meet me, and instantly started pouring us beers. Before we were even half done with one beer a new one would be poured and brought to us. Needless to say I'm pretty sure I'm still full from all those beers. We watched a rugby match and met lots of Irish men! After Byrne's we went over to Cox's for dinner, where we had chowder and chicken sandwiches. Then we were off to McHale's where Dad said they pour the best pint of Guinness in all of Ireland. There I was suppose to meet Dom Malloy. When we went in it was around 8:30 and I asked the bartender if Dom was there, and she said yes and pointed him out to me, and off I went. I introduced myself and man oh man I have never seen so many Irish men more excited to see me! I met Dom Malloy, and Paul Doyle, and the Headmaster, and The Grimmer.
And then the drinks started coming. Guinness' and cokes for all! The best part is that Dom Malloy, Paul Doyle, and The Grimmer are Dad, Uncle Jim and Peter Ford in Irish form. Its just so fun to watch them all interact! After many drinks, and many comments about how much I look like dad, and many laughs, we decided to call it a night.
The next morning, Dom Malloy picked us up in his Mercedes Benz and chauffeured us to Westport, the next town over from Castlebar. We went to Croagh Patrick, the mountain where St. Patrick first arrived in Ireland and drove out all the snakes. Its really cool because on the top of the mountain there is a small white church and once a year at the end of July about 25,000 people make a pilgrimage to the top of Croagh Patrick for mass given by the Bishop. We didn't climb it- I forgot to pack my hiking shoes and my walking stick, but its definitely on my list of things to do before I die. We climbed up a little of the ways to see the view of Clew Bay, where there is an island for every single day of the year. The view was AMAZING. Ireland is BEAUTIFUL! After we went to The Westport House, which is this estate from the 19th century that is now preserved and still has all its original furniture. It was really cool to see the inside. We even go to go into the dungeons! Weird and definitely creepy, but cool! We had Chinese food for lunch with Dom back in Castlebar, and then went back to the B&B to rest up for another evening at Byrne's. When we went back to Byrne's we hadn't even taken our jackets off and our beers were poured and waiting for us on the counter. Talk about V.I.P! I got to see the dummy page that dad made for Mick pretending that we won the masters. We met these guys in the pub and I told them about the page, and they didn't believe me for one second that it was my dad who had made it. But Mick verified and then my cool points rose through the roof. We took lots of pictures, and Mick even let us come behind the bar! After a few beers, and a few Guinness' we headed over to this Indian restaurant (Mick's favorite). Mick insisted that he take us for dinner. It was my first time having Indian food, and surprisingly, it was rather good! Of course we all ate way to much, and when Mick wanted us to come back to the pub for more drinks I really had to draw the line. Of course he played the "your a Higgins' and your Irish, drink up" Low blow Mick. Low blow!
We finally dragged ourselves home, and packed up our stuff for our early train back to Dublin Monday morning. Oh, I can't believe I forgot to mention...while we were in Castlebar...IT SNOWED!!!!! man oh man I thought I had fully escaped the winter, but nope! It found me. It found me in my "homeland"!