Yesterday was a low key travel day, without much exploring. Marty was obsessed with the idea of fishing, and I soon found myself standing outside Dohert's Fishing Tackle Store in Donegal Town, while Marty was inside chatting it up with Mr. Doherty.
It's a wee shop, on the corner of Main Street in Donegal. The owner is a delightful, older gentleman, who was dressed in a suit and tie when he greeted Marty upon entry. And he was generally interested in helping Marty determine just when the peak fishing hour would be.
It seems that Mr. Doherty's opinion is that the best time to fish is when the tide is going out. That was relief to my ears! Because, this meant that I would not have to feel obligated to stand around for hours waiting for Marty to catch a fish. (You've probably realized by now that fishing is not my forte.) But I was certainly happy to help him fulfill his dream.
So, we drove out to Bridie and Martin’s home where I was able to enjoy the day chatting with Bridie. And, of course, there’s always the entertainment from this wee dog.
Marty never did catch a fish but Martin did, which is equally exciting in the eyes of a fisherman. It was a Pollack.
And we learned that there was an "after fishing" stop at the pub, because Martin definitely needed to introduce Marty to another cousin. (I think the entire town might be his cousin.)
So it was nearly six when the men and the fish arrived at the door. Bridie served us a lovely dinner and afterwards, family once again came rolling in, ready for an evening of old fashioned fun.
Tony was ready with his harmonica and guitar, and Marty had carried his ukelele all the way from home just for this moment. The songbook with ballads written by Annie Burke’s husband, daddy to these cousins, was pulled out. And there were multiple copies!
It soon became obvious that Tony, who is a son in law of the author, was quite familiars with these songs as he didn’t even need to reference the book as he sang and played.
It was all great fun, and we learned that the ballads were all written by Jim Burke with each representing a personal experience in the life of this obviously talented man.
One song, in particular, was a real favorite because nearly every neighbor had an active part in the story.
The evening was filled with lots of laughing and pure enjoyment. And one could easily imagine all of the fun this family had growing up with such a clever and talented man to call daddy.
Honestly, when the singing was over, it was really difficult to leave. I’ve mentioned before how it stays light long here so it was kind of surprising to see that we had been enjoying our camaraderie so much that time had somehow slipped to midnight when we headed to the car to drive back to our B&B.
This morning, leaving is a bittersweet feeling for me. We obviously have to move on to our next destination, but part of me just wants to join up with this fun crowd again for the day, and just kick back our heels and enjoy their company one more time.
❤️👏
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