Back in 1999, when Brian spent a semester abroad in Cork, he worked at a bar with Jason Collins. They lost track of each other but just this year, through the miracle of Facebook, got back in touch. I make fun of Facebook sometimes, and get annoyed at people who post about eating oatmeal for breakfast or jogging .78 miles yesterday, but it can be a great way to connect with people you haven't seen in a while. That's how we ended up with Jason, singing karaoke in an Irish cop's basement at 3am.
Clonakilty is a small coastal town, famous for being Michael Collins' home and a summertime resort destination. Jason considers himself lucky to be a policeman there. He's not the kind of cop that wants to see a lot of action in a high-crime area. Clonakilty's cases are minor thefts and traffic accidents, and Jason knows everybody in town.
On Friday we checked out a few of the sights around town
Incheydoney Beach:
Birthplace and childhood home of Michael Collins:
Galley Head lighthouse:
The lighthouse was closed for the off-season, but Jason wasn't worried. He decided we would just jump the fence. There was a van far off heading down the road between cow pastures, but were pretty sure it wasn't coming all the way to the lighthouse. We also came up with the plan that if anyone asked what we were doing there, Brian would play the loud American tourist and say something like, "HI THERE, I'M AN AMERICAN, HERE TO FIND MY ROOTS. THIS IS A GREAT LIGHTHOUSE YA GOT HERE, BUT IT WOULD BE EASIER IF YOU UNLOCKED THE GATES." Our plan was fool-proof. And wouldn't you know it, as we started walking back toward the road, we saw a white-haired lighthouse keeper getting out of the same van. Brian started to stride up with a little cowboy swagger, ready to recite his lines, but Jason choked and went with honesty instead.
He told the lighthouse man that he's a policeman (Garda) in town and we were visiting and wanted to see the lighthouse, sorry for the trouble. The lighthouse man went on to explain that it's so lovely out here and he wishes it could be open year-round but the trouble is that someone came out here to walk a dog once when there was construction work going on, and the health and safety board got worried about people falling off the wall and such, and if that happened then he would have to take the blame for it and be in a tough situation. But it really is a shame and he's glad we enjoyed the view and Jason can come back anytime he likes, just give the lighthouse guy a call and he'll come and open it up.
(If something like this had happened in Germany, we would have just gotten yelled at).
We saw the lighthouse keeper in town the next day, walking down the street with his wife. It's good to be nice to people in a small town since you will certainly run into them again...
We happened to be visiting during the retirement and 50th birthday celebration (that's right, retiring at 50) of Tim, Clonakilty's most popular police officer. Tim looks about 38, goes tanning regularly, spends most nights at the bar and most mornings at the gym. He eats fish and drinks seaweed smoothies. He has traveled the globe. He may have been the inspiration for the TV ads about the most interesting man in world. We got to be part of the weekend-long event in Tim's honor. Friday night we took over a pub in town and had a lock-in, which means that instead of closing at 12:30 like the pub is supposed to, they lock the doors and everyone stays until they have long forgotten what time it is. Technically this is illegal, but since most of the law enforcement in Clonakilty and neighboring towns was there with us, I felt pretty safe.
On Saturday I got to see my first hurling match. Jason is on the Clonakilty team through the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) and it was one of their last games of the season. In hurling you hit the ball with your hurley stick to a teammate. You can catch the ball with your hand, usually aided by the hurley, and you can run with it for a little while if you balance it on the hurley. If the ball goes through the posts (field-goal style) then it's worth 1 point, but a ball in the net scores 3. That's about as much as I learned about hurling anyway. And then it poured rain and I ran for the car. The game was a tie at the end; they have to play a rematch.
Saturday day/night was a party at Tim's house, part 2 of the birthday and retirement extravaganza. It involved a lot of karaoke in the basement. Brian stole the show.
I had a great time Friday night, but struggled a little on Saturday between 12 and 3am . Eventually I found a second (or fourth) wind somehow.
It was a great weekend, and I felt more like visiting I was an old friend than being a tourist in a foreign country. So the next time I go on Facebook and get annoyed at a picture or someone's dog trying on a new leash, I will remember that it can be useful too. Without Facebook and Jason, we would have never me the most interesting man in Ireland.
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