Flying Monkey Travels : Emerald Isle Bowl, Ironman 70.3 Ireland

Dublin - Notre Dame vs. Navy

Flippin awesome game on so many levels: 1) Free tickets to the game thanks to #87 Daniel Smith who is a friend of a friend of my brother-in-law, who actually got us the tickets; 2) Lovely, newly engaged friends that went to the game with us - one of whom was a real live Irish person; 3) BEER IN THE STADIUM, sorry that is a novelty because you can't drink at games in London - or at college football games in the U.S.; 4) Notre Dame winning 50 to 10 over Navy, 5) Representing the O'Riordan clan at the game and feeling properly Irish, or something like it.

Don't think it was all gorgeousness and such the whole time. Dublin had been invaded by 50,000 Americans in their brand new, sensible running shoes - that have never seen a day of running. I waited too long to book a hotel room and we had to stay at The Gate Hotel. Oh god, don't ever stay there. Seriously, I love to camp and can stay in a small/cheap/dumpy rooms without complaint, but this place was not OK.

Overall though, fantastic trip and THANK YOU to my brother-in-law for making it all possible!

YAY at the game in amazing seats.

The band playing an Irish tribute.

Our real Irishman Ronan, with his gorgeous fiance!

Leprechaun sighting, I thought Ronan was going to die when that guy came out.

We were so close, right up front with all the players' parents.

Our sweet Irish friend Ronan got me thinking about all things Irish, so I did a little research (thanks Wikipedia) based on a few of his comments during the game.

Bagpipes – not Irish, they are Scottish. People think they are because they have them in St. Patrick’s Day parades in the U.S. The Irish have the uilleann pipes, which are played with your arm inflating the pipe’s bag-thingy. Check out that photo there on the right. The uilleann pipes sound similar, but they have a greater range of notes and I don't think they are quite as loud as traditional bagpipes.

Kilts – also, not really Irish. While you could say that the kilt has Celtic/Gaelic roots, Irish people have never historically worn tartan kilts (again that is the Scottish apparently). The Irish did wear a 'Lein-croich', which is a tunic made of solid color cloth. Queen Victoria liked how they looked so much that she made her Irish regiments, serving in the British Army, wear them. In the 19^th and 20^th centuries kilts were worn by the Irish as a symbol of Gaelic nationalism, I guess they were as desperate for identity as we Midwestern Irish are today.

There you have it. My entire understanding of Irish heritage has been a lie, I am shattered (not really). The red-haired Irish are actually the descendants of Danish Vikings, and there aren’t any kilts or bagpipes in Ireland……WTF.

Galway – Ironman 70.3 Ireland

Immediately after the Emerald Isle Bowl, we made the 2-hour drive west to Galway. Some friends were visiting from the U.S. and were racing the Ironman 70.3 the day after the football game. Since we were in Ireland anyway, we decided to go cheer on our friends and generally catch up on all the U.S. gossip that we have been missing.

As a side note, who the eff thinks it is a good idea to participate in a triathlon in this part of the world anyway: crazy people - that's who. It was pissing down rain and freezing when we arrived, which is a pretty typical Irish summer day from what I understand. Luckily, by race morning the clouds had parted and the sun was out for a gorgeous (but still too cold for me) race day.

Sorry I don't have many photos, I forgot my camera that morning......

Our man C.H. on the run.

After watching our amazing friends complete the race, it was right to the bar. This was an exercise in fortitude for my liver. Here is how the rest of the day went:

Guinness, Guinness, Oysters, Guinness, Chowder, Guinness, Guinness, Fries, Guinness, Guinness, Guinness, Guinness, Guinness, etc.

Oh man. Thank god for the best invention of Ireland and Britain, the half-pint…….