Post a Comment On: Wicklow

After many years of being invited, I was finally able to stop work long enough at the right time to visit my friends John and Lindy in Donard, Wicklow. I went overland and sea with my girlfriend Dana.

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We caught the 9 a.m. train from Euston to Holyhead, wondering if imminent force 9 gales might prevent us crossing, but the forecast was updated and the time of the Big Wind kept on being pushed back, so we decided to go for it. The day in Wales was grey, warm and spookily calm, the winds were low, with just spots of occasional light rain, and the Irish sea was dead calm.

Our fast ferry had been cancelled for safety's sake so we travelled a little later on the big cruise ship which took 3 hours instead of one and a half. By the time we got to Dublin, the wind had picked up so much so that we had trouble standing on the port side to catch a cab.

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We met Lindy at the opening night of the Hard Rock Cafe in Fleet Street, which was work for her, but which allowed us a night of free beer, music, chicken in breadcrumbs, and cheeseburgers made to Lindy's great recipe. A great young band "The Pirhanas" played and Mr Def Leppard donated a guitar. We hung out next to Jon Bon Jovi's glam stage jacket and a really nice Ovation-style acoustic guitar which I seriously considered borrowing.

That night in the Wicklow mountains, the winds got up to 90 mph and howled around Fauna Cottage, waking us up every hour or so. We felt safe enough under the eaves in spite of the drama, but as we saw on the news over the next couple of days, large parts of south east Ireland were underwater.