Leenane & Clifden, Ireland

Tuesday morning we began our drive towards Leenane in county Galway.

Lots of shops, bars and restaurants in this area were named Joyce-something or other. There are so many people with the surname Joyce that the maps actually say Joyce Country over the county.

We drove through Cong. My dad loves the movie The Quiet Man and it was filmed here.

Love this picture of our horse friend just hanging out by the road.

Finally in Leenane. This is Killary Harbour.

First things first...hanging out in Hamilton's Pub.

Daddy ended the night at the local pub with his cousins and the girls and I watched Netflix.

Wednesday was the day of the Joyce-Hastings reunion and also Jason's birthday! The day began with a visit to the cemetery and a mass at church.

Killary Harbour

An Lionan - "where the tide fills"

Visiting the cemetery and Jason's great-great-grandparent's burial plot.

Jason's great-great-grandparents Tobias and Bridget, who had 14 children.

Jay and the girls after church mass with distant cousin, Patrick McKinley and his wife and granddaughter.

After mass we went to the Carraig Pub for a drink and to meet up with various relatives.

Cousin Peader Heggarty teaching Rosalie how to play her new tin flute.

Jason and the girls with our Canadian cousins, Ryan, Paul, Greg and Anita Turner, Dominic Hastings from England and Rebecca Squires from Boston.

After the Carraig Pub we went into town to Gaynor's Pub for some more fun and some live Irish music.

Hillary and cousin Deb

The girls with distant cousins, Iris and Silva Joyce (their father Edwin is in the back left).

A blurry Dominic and Jason.

Rosalie with her second lambie, Katie Erin Holly. She generously gave her first one to relative, Holly Chapman.

After the family gathering we decided to go into the town of Clifden for a birthday dinner.

Ashleigh Falls

Kylemore Abbey - Grammy's maternal grandfather, Patrick Kerrigan, worked at Kylemore driving the coach for the owners of the estate.

We had dinner at a restaurant called Mannions and then decided to stroll around and window shop. The girls were upset that Jay didn't have a birthday cake, so we finally gave in and stopped at a pub called O'Malley's for dessert and live Irish music. I'm so glad we did. After one of the band's songs, they asked Rosalie, who had been enthusiastically clapping along, if she'd like to sing a song. She jumped out of her seat before thinking about it! I was so surprised that I didn't even think to take a picture or video but luckily Jay got a snippet. She sang in front of about 50 people and everyone was cheering for her at the end. The kids were so excited and spent the ride back to Leenane talking about Rosalie's music career and if she'd end up in Hollywood, New York or Las Vegas!

When we got back to the hotel, Jay went out to the pubs with Dominic and some other cousins that were in town for the reunion. The girls and I watched Netflix again and rested after our long day!