Irish History

I found this great video on the history of the Irish. It's amazing how almost exactly Ireland is like the video.

Irish History

Galway Then and Now Photos

I found an archive with some interesting old photos of Galway about a week ago, so I decided to do some Then and Now. Here's a link to the photos.

Galway Then and Now


In other news:

If any Keeley's out there have any info on the genealogy of Keeley's over here feel free to let me know because I'm stuck in America. I have possibly found a lead that LEADS me to believe that the Keeley's came from either Galway or Clare. Otherwise I have gone through every single boat record by hand and have yet to find a record of a Jeremiah Keeley (may not be spelling). Any info helps. Thanks

More Pictures

We don't really do much so there's not much to talk about. I did find my favorite beer which is exciting, it's German. We went to the Spanish Arch the other night. Here's your history lesson for the day. The Spanish Arch is an extension of the old city walls (there is no connection to the Spanish). It's prior name was The Blind Arch and it was built in 1584. So anyway, we went with some of our room mates and just hung out. It's very nice down there because it's right on the river Coribb just before it goes into the ocean. Here's the links to the new photos:

Photos 3

Photos 4

World Sunlight Map

Wanna see a where the sun is hitting on the Earth right this minute. Then check out this Website

LIDL

LIDL is the best store in the world. This is because it is super cheap. I got 2 pizzas, a package of 6 scones, a giant container of peach yogurt and a 2 litre jug of pop for $6.88. website

I got a job!!

http://www.frontdoorpub.com/

I'll be serving lunch and dinner to tourists and Galwegians alike, five days a week.

And it took less than week!

It's a good day for the dollar

It's nice to see that the dollar has made much head ground over the last 2 weeks, now around 1.47.

oh those Keeley's

Did you know that 136 Keeley's fought in the Civil War. I have no way to confirm that, just take my word for it.

New photos

I uploaded a bunch more photos for anyone who would like to see them. I am also currently working on a google maps with the photos so that you can see where they are located relative to the city. This will take me awhile though.

P.S. - Each album has a maximum capacity of 60 photos, so you will see that the one photo album has photos you have seen already because I did not use all the space. Trust me, there are about 30 new photos in the album. The second album is completely brand new.

Album 2

Album 3

This is Galway in 1651

Settled

We finally found a place in Galway, I will upload more photos of the area later, but for now here are the photos I have uploaded. Mostly of Dublin.

Album 1

Album 2

No Internet

I am finally able to get on the net for more than 20 minutes and for free. I meant to upload some picture, but forgot my cord so I guess that ideas out. Here's an update:

We moved down the street to a different hostel because our other one was booked up. The wifi does not work so I have to be a tourist all day, which sucks. We had three room mates, one from Winnepeg, who was really nice and then 2 from Orange County California, right between LA and Sandiego (do you catch my drift). The room was nice and we had our own bathroom.

The first night there we went to this bar that played some good music and met some cool people from Galway. They told us to move to Galway and since we were debating between Galway and Dublin, we decided to heed these peoples advice and we leave for Galway tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.

Why Dublin?

Dublin gets it's name from when it was originally a Scandinavian settlement. After settling on the River Poddle, they used a nearby lake called Dubh Linn, or black pool, to dock their ships. Eventually, with the city growing, they covered over the River Poddle and the Dubh Linn. It is apparently not really known where the Dubh Linn existed because there are claims that the site was where Dublin Castle now stands or the penguin enclosure at the Zoo. Most likely, it was situated at Dublin Castle.

Day 2

Today we went to look at an apartment which turned out to be fairly cute. Shared with 3 other people in a cute part of town. We are going to continue looking at other places before we make a decision. Here is a satellite image:

We are waiting to hear back from a few people for new apartments. After eating some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, we walked to the north west and then straight over right up, almost, to the docks. The past 2 days, it has become apparent that umbrellas are a number one priority. Oh and also, It's really cool to see the modern and historical architecture competing. It's one thing coming from Chicago where there are buildings from the 1800's or living in 2 apartments built in 1900 and 1908, but to see churches that are hundreds of years old littering the streets and random cobblestone streets being hugged by tiny brick houses is another. It's really cool to see building after building that dates back to the mid to early 1700's.

We did book another hostel, about 10 feet away from our other one, for the next 3 days while we continue looking for a place.

!!!!!

We're here! We have cell phones with Irish phone numbers! We're looking at an apartment tomorrow! Guinness tastes infinitely much better in Ireland!

Pictures to come... stay tuned!

P.S. Jon wants the world to know how comfortable the hostel beds are. I think that's just because we barely got more than two hours of uncomfortable sleep on the plane and are walking around like drowsy zombies. I'm sure the hostel floor would be equally comfortable, but I'm not going to find that out firsthand.