Days 8 And 9...the successful attempt!

I got a nice letter from Lesley Gilmour from Winnipeg, MB, Canada. I will be writing back soon after we reach the states again. It's very cool when I receive letter's like that, (sometimes I feel like I'm writing in a dark room to myself!) Then out of the blue someone who gets it, gets back to me. Thanks Lesley!

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On Wednesday we toured the N.I. Causeway Coastal route: Mussenden Temple, Portrush (where my ancestor Mary (Pollock) Gilmour came from), and of course Old Bushmills Distillery. I've decided to post a serial travelogue after we are done as I am running out of storage space and the Computer is full. The 16 gig disc I bought before leaving was incompatible and unformatable. Pics and videos of this beautiful section to come at a later date.

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On Thursday we started out at the Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge, (...and got SOAKED; just before we reached the Bridge! ...we saw it coming but it came on so fast that we had no choice but to turn our backs to the hard driving rain AND sleet!

First our A**'s got wet, then they got pelted with hail! ...No worries... ...it passed over and we walked like cold wet tin soldiers down to the Bridge entrance.

The attendant smiled and quipped: "We should be good for be a half an hour before another one comes through..."

Here's a quick video of the successful attempt:

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After we went to see The Fureys in Strabane on Thursday, it was wonderful! The Alley is a small 200 seat Theater and there isn't a bad seat in the house. More on the later...

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Here is a pic of Greenmount at Sunset on the 16th before we jumped in the car again and headed to Strabane for the show:

How many shades of Greenmount can you count?

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....We went to Belfast today and PRONI was a bust. I managed to verify what I already knew; but the only way to really sort out anything else, would require a weeks worth of in depth research and many hours of Micro film. Great if you live here, but not if you don't....

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After we went to PRONI we bounced uptown and we were rewarded for our persistence. I GOT TO MEET GILLIAN GILMORE! The Associate Editor of The Ulster-Scot, the official newspaper of the Ulster-Scot Agency. I signed up for a subscription to the Newspaper, joined the Ulster-Scots Language Society, and received a reprinting of "BESTY GRAY or, HEARTS OF DOWN: A tale of Ninety Eight", AND! A copy of "The Low Country Boys" latest CD too! (Pastor Brian you are REALLY gunna love this one!)

Thank-you SO MUCH Gillian! We listened to it twice through on the way back to Omagh!

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"How's 'bout ye!"
obeedúid~
17/Oct/08