Page 209 - WDT MAGAZINE IRELAND ISSUE WINTER 2018

My parents first visited Ireland more than 40 years bordered by a rock face on the inside and a low stone
ago to visit Tony and his wife, Aine . They returned wall on the outside, with a drop-off of 100 feet to rocks
again the next summer and the next. When they an- below.
nounced that they’d bought a house on Brandon Bay in As I picked up speed, I applied my brakes. Nothing
Fahamore, my four siblings and I were puzzled. People happened. For a second, I envisioned my bike crunch-
in the Midwest buy summer homes in the Northwoods ing into the wall and me flipping over it. But I feathered
of Minnesota, Wisconsin or even Ontario, Canada - the breaks, squeezing them off and on to bleed away
where we’d vacationed as a family. But Ireland? the water from the rubber brake pads, and was able to
By then they were empty nesters and younger broth- slow down my descent. I breathed a sigh of relief, only
er Stuart was taking on more duties at the newspaper reading later on that unlucky cyclists have perished on
so my father could be gone from late May to late that road.
August - returning in time to watch his beloved Iowa I made it back to the lowlands - riding carefully - and
Hawkeyes play Big 10 football. And my mother was a had dinner that night with my parents at Spillane’s
school teacher, so she already had her summers off. Pub (spillanesbar.com) in Fahamore. The next day, we
When I visited them, I often flew over with my tour- strolled to the pier, watched small fishing boats head
ing bicycle, pedaled out to sea and viewed
from the Shannon some of the seven
airport on the west side Maharee Islands, the
of the country to their largest of which has
home and stayed with the remnants of a 7th
them for a couple of Century monastic set-
days before riding off tlement.
for adventures. Then Then we walked
I’d circle back, stay for along one of the
several more days and beaches that stretch
fly home. It made for for miles on either side
some great trips when of their sandy isth-
I was single and in my mus before returning
20s. home on narrow lanes
On one visit, I rode an beside carrot fields On
easy 25 miles on the low road from Fahamore to the the way, we fed apples to inquisitive horses. And when
town of Dingle on the south side of the peninsula. That we stepped inside the cottage, it was time for tea and
night, I wandered through the village and ended up some of my mother’s scones.
listening to traditional music in a pub. And in the morn- My father has been gone for nearly 20 years. And my
ing, I browsed a bookstore and later watched a sheep mother, now 94, has Parkinson’s and lives in a nurs-
auction in the town square. ing home in Iowa. But their little house remains in the
On the way back, as clouds moved in and a light family. And all three of my children have traveled to
rain began to fall, I began a more difficult route for Fahamore with me to explore County Kerry and other
my return to Fahamore with a 1,500-foot climb to the parts of Ireland.
top of Connor Pass. It was a long, slow ascent and I On the most recent visit, two summers ago, my two
pedaled my bike in mist and heavy fog, occasionally youngest children and I flew into Dublin and spent a
seeing sheep with a dash of color on their wool - a few days there learning about Ireland’s Viking and rev-
mark of ownership - grazing by the side of the road. olutionary histories. We also bicycled around the city
At the summit, the fog cleared. I shivered and sipped with an entertaining, school teacher guide (seedublin-
some hot tea. bybike.ie) to see the many sites, did a tasty, walking/
Then I hopped back on my bike, a vintage Gitane, food tour (secretfoodtours.com/dublin/) and explored
and began the descent on the narrow road, which was the hip Temple Bar neighborhood on our own.

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