Heading North to Roscommon Co.

 We have had such a wonderful visit with James and family that we were sorry to leave. They live in such a beautiful part of the world! This is a photo of our last night in their cozy schoolhouse. And, Robert and daughter, Arin do a duet on the piano.

The next day we headed northward up the middle of the country through Cashel, Thurles and Holy Cross, Roscrea, Birr, Athlone, Roscommon and finally to Strockstown - our destination. 

In the middle of our drive we passed through a valley between low mountains with agricultural fields halfway up the mountains. Since we were on the move we didn’t stop to take photos but I managed to catch one decent photo.

As recommended, we stopped at this old Abbey (1180) in the idyllic town of Holy Cross. It’s a small town that is pristine and peaceful. Must be the influence of the Abbey. As we ate lunch the skies cleared and it was a beautiful sunny day for the rest of our drive.

 After taking the photo of this house, I turned around and found this photo on the pole behind me. I think it looks like Trump. Robert disagrees. If not, it’s a very close likeness.

Compared with the south, the north flattens out with the occasional small mountain here and there. It seems dryer here probably because we’re not at the coast. 

Forgot to mention that on the road to Holy cross we pulled off the road to figure out what to do. A car passed us and pulled off the road up ahead. He waited for us to drive by to see if we needed help. We gave each other the thumbs up to say we were ok. Such nice people. I read about the kindness of the an Irish. 

The cottage where we are staying near Strokestown sits on the incline of a small mountain. More to come…..