OK I know I already did a post today but I came across this DEAL and wanted to share it with others!!
A romantic cottage for two for in Ireland can be €320 a week, or a castle that sleeps 14 for €5,000 - why not rent the castle!! (that is 6975.95 in USD or divide among 14 friends less then $500) - what a party that would be!
THERE IS no place like home when the sun shines: but sun or rain, Luckily, values has never been better.
"Customers are haggling over prices wildly and driving a hard bargain.” The result is that there is a glut of decent properties at never-before-seen value and quality in terms of what’s on offer in Ireland.
“A lot of our owners have reduced their prices this year by a minimum of 10 per cent with many offering deals of up to 50 per cent off,” says Suzanne Quinn of Holidayhomesdirect.ie.
At Selfcatering.ie the average year-on-year reduction is markedly higher – between 20 and 30 per cent less than last year’s prices, says CEO Mary Power.
The best value is in parts of the country that don’t get a lot of tourism. The hotspots are, say holiday homeowners, holding their own.
Even so, places like the white collar playground of Roundstone in Connemara 4 have been adversely affected by the downturn. Previously, trying to find accommodation in this beautiful place was like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. This year there are still cottages offering luxey extras like wi-fi and satellite TV available from connemaracottages.net. (I love Roundstone - got my first Bodhran there and was crowned Sheil-Na-gig"!! - long story *giggle*)
I was looking back at some pictures I have taken in the past, and there is always one the draws me back to it time and time again.
Is it beautiful, NO. Is it bursting with color, NO. Is it one that every one will love as soon as they see it, NO. I just call it "grand-ma's window."
It is actually my GG-grandma's window. There were but three small windows in the old stone house in Ireland.
Yet, at the tender age of 12/13, I can not help but wonder how often my g-grandma would have gazed from this very window as a young girl, with dreams of young suitors, and far away ventures!! She left her small townland of Knockballenary in the County of Tipperary, Ireland to come to America when she was only 14/15.
After g-grandma left for America, (where the streets were said to be lined with gold) along with her two older sisters, and two older brothers I wonder how many times my gg-grandma looked out this very same window and wept for her children, never to see them again.
So you may think this is just a dark old, unclear, "so what" photo....but to me it is Grand-ma's Window, and I was lucky to have looked through this same pane of glass as they did many, many years ago.
You can click on the photo to enlarge, I actually took this though the window in front of the house, looking out to the back window.
This is a picture of my g-grandmother(seated) along with her sister Johana taken in Portsmouth 1894.
Since I just did a mini tribute to my mom I thought it was fit do do a little piece about "Mothering Sunday."
In Ireland, Mothers Day is not celebrated on same day as in US. Mothers Day celebrations in Ireland takes place on the fourth Sunday in the Christian fasting month of Lent.
This corresponds to the day on which Mothers Day or Mothering Sunday is celebrated in UK, a close neighbor of Ireland. While in the US Mothers Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in the month of May. But just as in scores of other countries, people in Ireland honor their mothers on the occasion of Mothers Day for all their love and affection.
History of Mother's Day in Ireland The history of celebrating Mothering Sunday or Mothers Day in Ireland can be traced to the medieval practice where children from poor families were send to work as domestic servants and apprentices to work with the rich. Once in the year in the middle of the Lent these children were given a day off to visit their 'Mother Church' and worship Virgin Mary. After visiting the Mother Church or Cathedral of their home town these children visited their mothers and presented them with flowers they picked along the way. Girls bake special Mothering Cake on the day. Mothering Sunday was also known as Refreshment Sunday, because the fasting rules for Lent were relaxed on tha day. A food item especially associated with the day is Simnel Cake: a rich fruit cake with almond paste on top and in the middle.
For strict adherers to the Lenten fast, the cake had to keep until Easter Day, which is when it is now more commonly found on our tea tables. Pattern of living changed after the Industrial Revolution and Mothering Sunday celebration almost lapsed. The custom was revived after World War II. Americans too helped to bring back the charm of the festival in Eurpoean countries as their tradition and way of celebrating Mothers Day spread far and wide.
Remember: Mothers Hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever!
Simil Cake Recipe: Ingredients 4oz butter or margarine 4oz soft brown sugar 3 eggs, beaten 5oz plain flour pinch of salt ½ tsp ground mixed spice (optional) 12oz mixed raisins, currants and sultanas 2oz chopped mixed peel 1/2 lemon, grated rind only 1-2 tbsp apricot jam 1 egg, beaten for glazing For the almond paste: (Marzipan) 4oz caster sugar 4oz ground almonds 1 egg, beaten ½ tsp almond essence
Method 1. To make the almond paste: place the sugar and ground almonds in a bowl. Add enough beaten egg to give a fairly soft consistency. Add the almond essence and knead for a minute until the paste is smooth and pliable. Roll out a third of the almond paste to make a circle 18cm/7in in diameter and reserve the remainder for topping of the cake. 2. Preheat oven to 140C/275F/ Gas 1. To make the cake:cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs until well incorporated and then sift in the flour, salt and spice (if using) a little at a time. Finally, add the dried fruit, peel and grated lemon rind and mix into the mixture well. 3. Put half the mixture in a greased and lined 18cm/7in cake tin. Smooth the top and cover with the circle of almond paste. Add the rest of the cake mixture and smooth the top leaving a slight dip in the centre to allow for the cake to rise. Bake in the preheated oven for 1½ hours. Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool. 4. When you are ready to decorate the cake, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 3. Brush the top of the cooled cake with the apricot jam. Divide the remainder of the almond paste into two; roll out a circle to cover the top of the cake with one half and form 11 small balls with the other half. 5. Place the circle of paste on the jam and set the balls round the edge. Brush all the top with a little beaten egg. 6. Return the cake to the preheated oven for about 10 minutes or long enough for the almond paste to brown.
Although many think the shamrock is the symbol of Ireland this is not true, the official symbol is the Irish or Celtic Harp. BUT after all, the shamrock is without a doubt the most universally recognized symbol of Ireland.
It has such power to define Ireland in the minds of people that it is used in the official logos of many major Irish organizations, like Fáilte Ireland, the Irish Tourist Board, for example.
The shamrock is the symbol of Trinity is in Ireland and within Irish culture. This is due to the most famous shamrock legend, starring St. Patrick. The story basically says that he used the shamrock to help the pagan Druid High Priests and their followers comprehend the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - All in One Almighty God. The shamrock legend also includes the story that St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland forever. The legend goes on to say that St. Patrick filled the Emerald Isle with lush shamrock fields to keep the snakes from ever returning. In fact, people say that shamrocks would grow wherever St. Patrick had preached.
An old Irish blessing says, There's a dear little plant that grows in our isle, 'Twas Saint Patrick himself, sure, that set it; And the sun of his labor with pleasure did smile, And with dew from his eye often wet it. It grows through the bog, through the brake, through the mireland And they call it the dear little Shamrock of Ireland
How did the shamrock become such a powerful and universal symbol of Ireland? Well, for starters, during the days of Queen Victoria, the shamrock became a symbol of rebellion against the oppression of the Crown, when the Queen made it a capital crime to wear the shamrock on military uniforms, punishable by death. It was during this time that displaying the shamrock proudly on one's clothing became known as the "Wearing of the Green".
Throughout the 19th century, the shamrock was used as a decorative symbol on everything Irish from churches and other public buildings, to clothing and household furniture. It wasn't long before anything connected with Ireland at all displayed shamrocks in some way. So the shamrock legend had taken on new meaning to Irish people. It went beyond being a spiritual symbol and became a source of empowerment and national pride. Today the shamrock remains a quintessential icon associated with all things Irish. With its rich mythology and political history, it promises to remain an enduring and beloved symbol of the green rolling hills of Ireland.
January 1, 1892, Annie Moore stepped off a ship at Ellis Island and into the history books. Early that cold winter morning she’d stood among several hundred immigrants aboard a ferry docked at Ellis Island. When the gangplank was lowered, she was the first to head down it. To her surprise she was greeted by a host of city, state, and federal officials who presented her with a certificate and a ten-dollar gold piece. All this occurred not because Annie Moore was the first off the ferry that day, but because she was the first immigrant to set foot on Ellis Island, the brand new federal immigration processing center.
Annie Moore arrived from County Cork, Ireland, aboard the steamship Nevada on January 1, 1892, this date was also her fifteenth birthday. Can you imagine, a new country, alone with your two brothers and only 15! Annie was accompanied by her brothers Phillip and Anthony.
Here is the ships manifest for Annie.
Annie Moore’s story was typical of many Irish immigrants. She was born in 1877 in Cork, the second child and only daughter of Matthew and Mary Moore. Seeking a brighter future for their family, her parents had decided to immigrate to America in 1888 and were living at 32 Monroe Street in NYC. Like many immigrants they didn’t know what to expect in America (or, quite likely, if they’d want to stay), so they left Annie and her two younger brothers in the care of an aunt. After years of hard work establishing themselves, they sent for their children. The three boarded the ship Nevada in Queenstown (Cobh) and spent 12 days at sea before arriving in New York harbor.
Annie married German immigrant Joseph Augustus Schayer, an employee at Manhattan's Fulton Fish Market, with whom she had at least eleven children. She died of heart failure in 1923 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Queens, N.Y. Her previously unmarked grave was identified in September 2006. On October 11, 2008, a dedication ceremony was held at Calvary which celebrated the unveiling of a marker for her grave, a Celtic Cross made of Irish Blue Limestone.
Moore is honored by bronze statues at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum and in Cobh, the Irish seaport town from which she sailed. If you ever get to Ireland make sure to see the museum in Cobh, it is very moving. It was also the last port of call for the Titanic, before her last voyage.
This is an image from Cobh.
Here are a Lyrics to one of my favorite songs! Written about Annie, I have enclosed both the lyrics and clip from YouTube. Enjoy!
Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears Author: Brendan Graham On the first day of January Eighteen Ninety-two They Opened Ellis Island And they let the people through. And the first to cross the threshold Of the Isle of hope and tears Was Annie Moore from Ireland Who was all of fifteen years.
CHORUS Isle of hope, Isle of tears, Isle of freedom, Isle of fears, But it's not the Isle I left behind... That Isle of hunger, Isle of pain, Isle you'll never see again But the Isle of home Is always on your mind.
In her little bag she carried All her past and history And her dreams for the future In the land of liberty. And courage is the passport When your old world disappears ’Cause there's no future in the past When you're fifteen years.
CHORUS When they closed down Ellis Island In Nineteen Forty-three Seventeen million people Had come there for sanctuary. And in springtime when I came here And stepped onto its piers, I thought of how it must have been When you're only fifteen years.
Tonight I am off to the Eileen Ivers concert! She is a fantastic fiddle player, and has been called the "Jimmy Henrix" of fiddle players. Amazing! She got her real break with Riverdance and has been touring now for several years. I have seen her perfomr about six times and never grown tired of her shows. She opened her new tour this month called Beyond The Bog Road, and I can't wait to see it! Here is a little clip from youtube on the show, the opening poem was written by her father-in-law and in fact it is him reading it. Hope you enjoy this little piece.
