The hangovers were worst for Lorna and I at the start of day three. I didn’t even make it down for the full Irish Breakfast and surfaced at checkout time looking a bit green around the gills. Us Skinnies are a little out of practice at extreme rum drinking it would seem…
Preparing for a busk
First task of the day was a busk near the venue, we gathered our things and headed to a square which looked busy enough to set up stall and bang smash out some tunes. Ot was too much for lorna and she curled up for a ten minute nap in the double bass case. This worked out nicely because ater striking up some tunes we got a bit of an audience and they all looked delighted/mildly shocked when a slightly bleary Lorna emerged from the bass case to join in the fun.
First gig of the day was at Kyteler’s. We showed up in time for some toasted sandwiches, chips and refreshing pints of beer. Once Mick the soundman had set up the PA we got on stage and deliver somewhere near two sets of 45 minutes, it was good and we had several hoards of children jumping about the place. Not bad for an afternoon do.
Dan and Max waltz while the rest of us have a wee
As soon as we finished we were in the car and heading to Birr for a gig at a bar whose name has escaped me for now. After Guinness and a chinese takeaway were quickly consumed we warmed up the crowd by playing a few tunes in the bar before taking the stage in the undercover beer garden area outback. The place was soon pumping and we played straight through for nearly 2 hours. Brilliant fun, and we sold a ton of CD’s too. We were treated to an amazing B&B that night, an old Georgian House with high ceilings and amazing furniture.
Country Gent
We had a long lie in the next day before heading to Shannon Bridge for the final gig of the tour. We were all amazed by Kileen’s. The venue was a pub but it was also a shop, we have never seen anything like this in England as far as we know, but it was amazing. The shop was equipped with all kinds of crazy items such as bicycle pumps, fishing lures, pipes, hardware and chocolate behind glass cupboards. We had a hearty dinner of Lasagne and chips (we ate a lot of chips this trip) and then proceeded to drink a large quantity of Smithwicks ale, tasty stuff.
Sitting in the shop/pub
We had another 2 lots of 45 minutes to deliver and the pub was quickly packed with locals and all kinds of folks. I was a touch worried playing traditional English music in a dstictly traditional Irish pub might be a bit of an issue, but I was dead wrong, everyone went crazy as soon as we started, singing aong, dancing and having a raucous time with us. We loved it. One chap even did some freeform plank dancing, his legs were moving so fast you could barely see them! Astonishing stuff.
Fox & Mule
After the gig we went back to the bloke who owned the pub’s house and bedded down in his spare rooms. Wonderful views from the top of the farm house. We loved you Ireland. Can’t wait to come back again soon. xxx
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