We flew in to Dublin to find my cousins Rosarie and Martin de Courceys' smiling faces waiting for us. Packed our bags in to the car and we were off on our next adventure. Stopped on the way for lunch and to stock up with provisions, then on to Banagher, on the River Shannon, in central Ireland. It started raining as we were approaching the marina, which didn't bode well for the next three days on the river, but we crossed our fingers, hoping for an improvement, as we loaded our gear on to the boat. We set off north, with lush countryside and happy cows grazing in the paddocks flanking the river and graceful white swans swimming on it. Ahead of us was a commercial building with a high chimney, in the middle of nowhere, whose purpose we could not guess. 
We berthed for the night at Shannon Bridge. The bridge itself is a beautiful arched structure which was completed in 1757. To our relief, the rain had stopped by then, so Paul and Martin set off on a reconnoitre of the town and pubs. Came back to tell us that one of the pubs, Lukers Bar, dated from the 1750s, and that the publican knew of a De Courcy pub in a country town, which we would be driving through a few days later. They had also gleaned that the structure which had puzzled us was a peat fueled electrical power station - only in Ireland would you find that. Astonishing. We were treated to a spectacular sunset that evening. Photo taken looking towards bridge.
To our relief, the next day dawned sunny and warm and we headed further south across Lough Ree, a huge lake, stopping to see the classy Hobson Bay Hotel, before going on to Lecarrow, a picturesque harbour. Surprise, surprise, another pub was found, where the delightful lady publican insisted on giving Paul a lesson on pouring a pint! Rosarie and I enjoyed sitting outside in the warm sun sipping cool wines. On our way back to the boat, a friendly donkey poked his head over a stone wall to say hello to us.
The third day we awoke to another fine day, and retraced our route. Lunch stop was at Athlone, an attractive walled city which is the largest town on the Shannon, located in the middle of Ireland. The Athlone Castle, originally built in 1210 for King John of England, dominates the waterfront, and we had a walk through it.
While waiting for our turn to go through the lock, Paul and Martin were disappointed to see that we were tied up alongside Sean's Bar, but as it wasn't open, they couldn't visit. Dating back to 900AD, it is Europe's oldest bar. During renovations in 1970 the walls were found to be made of wattle and wicker and some 1000 year old coins were also found.
A little further on, the ancient city of Clocmacnoise is an extensive 6th century monastic settlement, founded by St Ciaran. We have never seen so many Celtic crosses as there were in the graveyard there. The site was of such importance in Irish culture that the high kings of Ireland of the time were buried in its ancient graveyard.
Stopped off at Shannon Bridge again for a great night of music at Killeen's Bar. The next day returned the boat to Banagher, drove Martin to the nearest town to catch a train back to Cork, and Rosarie, Paul and I set off on the next phase of our Irish adventure... which will be the next story!
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