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Dia dhuit from Corofin, Ireland, “the gateway to the Burren.” When last I wrote, I was ending my two-week quarantine and heading to Ennis, the County Clare seat and a thriving small city of around 30,000. The center of Ennis is a delightful place, narrow streets streaming seemingly pell-mell from the center square where stands an imposing monument to the great 19th century Irish political leader Daniel O’Connell, The Liberator. He also has a street named after him, as does Charles Stewart Parnell, revered for advocating Home Rule for Ireland. Of the many truths about Ireland that I am absorbing on almost an hourly basis, … Continue Reading

              Tom Neilan is a spry 88 years old, with truly a twinkle in his eyes and a ready smile on a craggy farmer’s face. Wearing a worn workshirt and a cap soft with age, he seems to me as much a part of the land he owns and works as the sheep and cattle there. His farm, some 100 acres in all, surrounds the thatched-roof cottage where I have been living in quarantine since arriving in Ireland June 22. I first met Tom on the one-lane road down the way, driving his ancient, rumbling tractor that I could easily have out-walked. I soon learned … Continue Reading

Mine is the story of an everyday life that is about to take a turn toward the extraordinary. Within days, I will board an airplane from the U.S. bound for Ireland, a place I will soon call home. I know few people there. I haven’t traveled frequently to the “ould sod” like so many who know its nooks and crannies. I don’t have a lot of money and never have. I am long divorced, recently retired, fortunate to be strong, healthy and wiser than ever before. I think I know myself, and yet I know the person who has lived an everyday life. What joys … Continue Reading