Day 2 - And on the Sabbath they rested.

Whew!  Day 1 was writing motivator, eh?

Well as the say goes, Sunday should be a day of rest.  And that is what we did.  Luckily we set an alarm for 8:30 after going to bed at about 1 am.  If we were going to eat breakfast we needed to be downstairs before 9 am we were told.  The lady that owns the B&B is very nice lady.  She just told that she serves breakfast from 8 - 9.

We managed to get downstairs a few minutes before 9 and enjoyed a lovely breakfast.  It was raining Sunday morning.  Which was perfect.  We had the perfect excuse to stay in for awhile.  Back upstairs we went, and both us promptly fell asleep until noon time, or maybe even a little later.

We had made plans to meet cousin Geraldine sometime Sunday.  She was to call us when she got done with her errands.  Anita laid around the room for a couple of hours, sorting day one pictures, and writing blog posts.  Next thing you it is 3 oclock and it had stopped raining.  We decided to go down to Kilkenny castle and have a look around until cousin Geraldine called.

It ended up Geraldine contacted us just as we were going into Kilkenny castle and joined us for the tour.  It was an interesting tour.  But of course, you don't get to see any of the really cool stuff.  Only the parts they have furnished in period pieces.  But it was fun and it carried us thru to supper time - which means another pub!  

Geraldine directed us to Pub she knew.  It was another of the pubs in a very old building called Kytellers Inn.  Had some history of being haunted by a witch - or something.  But it was a really neat place, with good food and cold pints.

My current favorite Irish beer is Smithwicks (pronounced Smiticks)  It is a red style ale that was produced by the Smithwick family in Kilkenny from 1710 to 1965 when it was bought out by Guinness. 

I've had a few instructions given me in the pubs about what beer to drink and when.  One old timer at the bar explained to me: "You see, Smiticks you can drink all year, hot or cold weather.  But Guinness, a really good beer, it is too thick and heavy for the warm summer months.  You can't drink Guinness when it's that warm out"  

After dinner, Geraldine agreed to come back to the sitting room of the B&B with us so she and I could put our heads together about family and genealogy, go over what learned from the gravestones, compare what we each had in our head, and see if we could figure just how we are related.  Not to mention writing it all down so it wasn't just in our heads.

Geraldine & Jim working on Genealogy

We worked together for an hour or so.  Anita was helping a lot also.  During the day on Saturday, as Geraldine and I were talking, Anita would be taking notes.  Which worked out great.  

Bottom line: Geraldine and I are indeed 4th cousins.  We have common ancestors in our Great, Great Grandparents Bryan and Mary (Collins) Condren.  A total guess on our part, but these 2 were probably born in late 1800's. Maybe 1860-ish.  Basing that on when my grandmother (Nana) was born (1905) and giving 20 years per generation.  

I have it in a spreadsheet now.

So that ended day two.  A lot of much needed rest and recovery.

There are a few pictures from Day 2.  Most I put in the body of this post.  If you want to see them all in one place you can check them out here: Day 2 Pictures

😀😎😁😏  Back to Day 1 for a few minutes.

I promised to tell you about the last Pub Anita I stopped at Saturday night as we were making our way back to the B&B after helping everyone celebrate the Kilkenny Cats winning the Leinster cup for the 3rd year in row.  

 A few blocks off the main drag we came upon a small stone building with a Guinness sign hanging over the alley we were walking down.   We decided to go in.  Where upon we were given a history lesson buy a couple of very friendly gentleman, one of which was the barkeep. 

The place was called the Home Rule Club (or HRC).  The HRC dates back to the mid 1800's and as the name implies, the clubs goal was support of self-government movement - Independence from England.  There were clubs all over what is now the Irish Republic.  They supported movements and politicians who supported Home Rule.

As you may know, the Irish Republic is now a self-governing country of its own.  Making the Home Rule Movement a bit obsolete.  Over the past 30 years or so the HRC's in Ireland have been closing down.  The HRC in Kilkenny is the last HRC in the country.  The club officially no longer exists as a national organization.  But this group here in Kilkenny are keeping their club open.  As it was explained to us: "...for the purpose making sure those damn English don't get it in their head to come back and try to put us their stinking thumb oppression again..."

Now that sounds pretty serious.  But it wasn't - I do not think.  It was said, then followed by great joyous laughter by the gentleman around the bar.  They just wanted to have their club and pub stay open, and needed a cause.  And that was it.  Keep on mind that is about midnight, and most of the folks in the Pub had been drinking most of the evening.

It was an interesting place. And a great idea to stop and share the evenings final pint with these guys.  They were very welcoming and Anita & I loved it.