Memories of Dingle

Pub Session by Bob O' Cathail
Originally uploaded by sfarewell.

Katie and I went to our favorite caffiene joint, the Mandolin Cafe, yesterday afternoon for a beverage. To our surprise, they had just hung a new art exhibit by Irish artist, Bob O' Cathail. Bob is from Ventry, Ireland on the west coast, just 7 miles from Dingle. Dingle is one of our favorite places on the planet. In fact the picture above is of his memories of O'Flaherty's pub in Dingle. We were in Flaherty's Pub just about a year ago. We hit all of the pubs in Dingle (surprise) to listen to the traditional music and sip a wee pint or two. Flaherty's was packed the night that we went in. I ordered a Guiness (another surprise) and Katie an Irish coffee as the musicians began to play a little Rod McKeun ditty. Rod's Canadian, not Irish, but it was close enough for us. We enjoyed the music, beverages and settled in for an evening of people watching. We never did quite decide whether our server was 13 or 14 years old. But I guess he must have been part of the Flaherty family, learning the family business.

Back to Tacoma. So Bob the artist from Ireland was having an opening last night at the Mandolin, complete with traditional Irish music played by local musicians. Of course we had to come back. We met Bob and his wife and chatted about Dingle. We listened to some great music, sat with some friends and I even had a Guiness (no Irish coffee for Katie, sad). We had a fabulous evening. I must admit, some of my favorite experiences on this great big planet, are the ones that remind me that it really is a small world.