ENNIS, IRELAND. MY HOME-FROM-HOME!

I have a little home in the West of Ireland now, in the charming town of Ennis, and it makes all the difference! I’m no longer travelling to Ireland as a tourist, but rather as a tax paying, garden owning, supermarket frequenter, who grumbles about the weather when it’s raining, and gets high as a kite when the sun comes out! I check out the clearance section in our supermarket too. The other day I got a perfect head of lettuce for 25 cents, as opposed to the regular 1 euro and felt like a proper ‘local’. If only petrol had a bargain section too!

I’ve had hardly any Starbucks since I arrived, maybe it’s because there aren’t any in Ennis! We love the Insomnia Cafe which has a very high standard of coffee, treats and overall ambience. Kevin and I are fussy about our coffee and agree Insomnia is every bit as good as Starbucks!  It has become our ‘local’.

For breakfast, it has to be Lyons tea and a few slices of McCambridge’s brown bread, smothered in rich creamy butter. Is it any wonder my jeans are getting snug as a bug! For our afternoon treat, we enjoy visiting all the colourful and eclectic cafes around town. Between Lyons for tea, and Bewley’s for coffee, they have us all covered!

I buy the Sunday Independent straight after the 11.30 mass at the Cathedral each Sunday. It’s a massive newspaper and takes all week to read! After mass, it’s a wander across the street to the Old Ground Hotel for brunch. This continues to be a much anticipated Sunday ritual for generations of Ennis families – Mammies, Daddies, Grandparents, and cute little kiddies. Needless to add, everybody is dressed up in their Sunday best! The Old Ground Hotel is as iconic an establishment as the Cathedral in Ennis, or the Empress Hotel in Victoria. It has been around since the 1800s too. Kevin and I were married there 36 years ago on July 9th!

Last Sunday, the priest at mass made a comment about how the Irish people never like to see people go hungry, and that it goes back to our genetic memory of the brutal Irish Famine in the 1800s when millions of Irish people starved to death. He also remarked at how generous the Irish were to starving nations through their group, Trocaire, which donates millions to third world countries. Our contribution is apparently huge! Things like that make me proud to be Irish. The kindness and generosity of heart is definitely still in evidence in my adopted home of Ennis. The memory of the famine might explain why the food is so good here – that and the fact we’re a Taurus Nation. Taureans are the best chefs in the Zodiac!

As a more frequent resident now, I make an effort to say hello and smile at every stranger I meet. I pat the local dogs and tell them I’m a vegetarian, so no bones! I even smile at the stray cats too, and tell every Mother with a pram that she has the most beautiful baby in the whole world! Just like a smile, positivity is contagious! And if you don’t believe me, then you gotta fake it to make it!

After 25 years living in Canada, I know it’s going to take a while to adapt to things I miss about Canada, but hey! I’ll only be visiting here for a few weeks each year! Yet the strangest thing is that when I am here, it’s like I have never been away! Clocking up my biological years, I still have lived longer in Ireland than Canada, so I guess that part makes sense.

I have made friends in all the little shops around the town and some know me by name now. Kevin and I busy ourselves doing nothing lol! It feels fabulous doing absolutely nothing but relaxing! Yesterday, we spent 345 euros at the garden centre! (I guess gardening is work…oops I forgot!) We nearly went potty waiting for sunny weather to plant all those gorgeous flowers. I enjoy adding touches of colour and cozy to our ‘Sunshine Cottage’. The walls are buttercup yellow just like our house in Victoria. It’s tiny, by North American standards. Yet it has a cute little garden, three decent sized bedrooms, and two bathrooms. Plenty big to keep us busy and happy and large enough to accommodate visiting family. It raises a good argument for the merits of downsizing. It may not be such a bad idea after all when the time is right. Sometimes, less is more…

This smaller place is easy peasy to maintain. Everything is so easy here in Ennis. No noise, no traffic, no stress, no big housework, no big maintenance bills, no big anything! and very comfortable mattresses! When it comes to comfort, I don’t skimp. Give me a nice china cup, yummy tea, and a comfortable bed. At heart, I’m a simple girl…or so I like to think! For Kevin, a little evening stroll down to the Old Ground Hotel for a pint of Guinness is a nice way to end the day. It’s the little things…

We live in the shadow of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. This iconic building is the heart and soul of Ennis. It has been around since the 1840s. By day, you can hear the melodic toll of its bells on the hour. By night a golden halo of light surrounds its majestic spiral. A giant hands sculpture has been erected in front of the Cathedral to remind us that God holds us all in the palm of his hands. Such a lovely comforting feeling every time I pass it.

Friendly people, fabulous clothes shops, buzz, warmth, cozy cafes, music, idle chatter with strangers, delicious food, McCambridge’s brown bread forever! butter, like you have never tasted, and good old fashioned fish ‘n chips – not forgetting the creamy pints of Guinness for Kevin! Some of the things we miss about Ireland, which is why Ennis, the town we were married in, is our newly adopted ‘Home from Home.’

Slainte from Ennis!

Hugs,

Patricia xxx