CHRISTMAS 2012

 

 



Children in Austria are not waiting for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, they are waiting for the Christ Child instead, guided by little sweet angels with silver wings.

I remember when I was a child, my siblings and I sat in the kitchen, helping our mother to prepare the chocolate decoration for the tree. She told us Christmas tales, we were listening, were all excited and could not wait to walk into the living room, where the Christmas tree and all our presents would be.

The fire crackled in the old wood stove and made us feel warm and cosy. My mother put a few fir tree twigs on the top and in the oven she put a pan with some apples to roast. That fragrance was so wonderful! The scent of Christmas, I will never forget!

We waited impatiently for the little Christmas bell to ring, as soon as we heard the gentle tinkling chime, we walked in order, from the smallest to the tallest child, into the living room. Our eyes got big when we saw the beautiful decorated Christmas tree, glittering and shimmering, with lots of burning candles between the branches, underneath laid out the presents for every good child.

Some of us said little poems, others read a brief Christmas tale, subsequently we sang “Silent Night, Holy Night......”. I remember my dad’s deep voice, when he joined in and my mum’s lovely gentle smile and her loving eyes, when she saw our faces radiant with joy.

This year my parents will look down to us from heaven and they will be there with us in our hearts and memories, when we celebrate the “Birth of our Lord Jesus”.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE!
FROHE WEIHNACHTEN!
NOLLAIG SHONA DUIT (Irish Gaelic)

Margit Anna Doyle

Fall 2012

 

Autumn arrived in Ireland and brought some bright, but cold days. Time to get out warm clothes from the wardrobes,  there could be a frosty winter ahead! We did not notice much from the global warming here yet, as the summers and winters in Ireland are getting colder every year. 

 

Some pictures of Co. Sligo

My husband, who knows his home country very well, always neglected Sligo, that surprised me, because I have seen lots of reports on tv about that county and I found it very interesting, so I had to convince him of the beauty of County Sligo and that it is not as boring as he thought. I researched on the internet and found out that this county has much to offer, from sand dunes to forests, mountains, lakes, castles, monestries, thomb stones and lots of old history.

Mein Ehemann, welcher sein Heimatland sehr gut kennt, hat Sligo immer vernachlässigt, was mich überrascht hat, da ich viele Reportagen über dieses Bundesland im Fernsehen gesehen habe, welche ich sehr interessant gefunden habe, also machte ich es mir zur Aufgabe, ihn von der Schönheit Sligos zu überzeugen und davon, dass es keineswegs langweilig ist, wie er dachte. Ich forschte im Internet nach und fand heraus, dass dieses Bundesland viel anzubieten hat, von Sanddünen bis Wäldern, Bergen, Seen, Schlössern, Klöstern und viel alte Geschichte.

Rosses Point with the mountain Ben Bulben in the background.

 

Simply beautiful, there is not much more to say! Einfach wunderschön, mehr kann man dazu nicht sagen!

 

Parke Castle, Lough (Lake) Gill

Schloss Parke, See Gill

 

 

Photos by Margit Anna Doyle 

Sligo Folk Park

In 1990 a group of Rivertown people came together and founded the family park. They came from different backgrounds as agriculture, business, educcation, professional and community areas. The group had the common aim of arresting the rural decline of their locality.

1990 kam eine Gruppe von Rivertownleuten zusammen und gründete den Familienpark. Sie kamen von unterschiedlichen Berufssparten, wie Landwirtschaft, Geschäft, Bildung und Gemeinschaften. Die Gruppe hatte das gemeinsame Ziel eine ländliche Rückschau auf ihr Gebiet zu schaffen.

The Sligo Folk Parks is a nice park for old and young. You can walk into the houses and see how people in former times lived. Especially children will appreciate to see the chicken, ducks, peacocks and will love to use the children toys. The admission fee is not high and it is definitely a visit worth. Unfortunately it is not very much promoted and not many citizens of Sligo know about the park, as we discovered, so you will have to find the right road to the park yourself, which is outside of the city.

Der Sligo Volkspark ist ein netter Park für jung und alt. Man kann die Häuser besichtigen und sehen, wie die Leute früher gelebt haben. Speziell Kinder werden sich über die Hühner, Enten, Pfaue freuen und werden liebend gerne die Kinderspielzeuge benutzen. Die Eintrittsgebühr ist nicht hoch und es ist definitiv einen Besuch wert. Unglücklicherweise ist es nicht gut beworben und nicht viele Einwohner von Sligo wissen über den Park Bescheid, wie wir feststellen mussten, also wirst Du die richtige Strasse zum Park selbst finden müssen, welcher sich ausserhalb der Stadt befindet.

As we were the only one visitors on Sunday, we did not have to pay an admission fee We found it a pity that this lovely Folk Park was forgotten by people before it had the chance to get  well known and we are sure, if it does not get more visitors in future it will be closed completely soon.


Da wir am Sonntag die einzigen Besucher waren, mussten wir keinen Eintrittspreis bezahlen. Wir fanden es jammerschade, dass dieser schöne Volkspark in Vergessenheit geraten ist, bevor er die Gelegenheit hatte bekannt zu werden und wir sind uns sicher, dass er bald geschlossen werden wird, wenn sich die Besucherzahlen in Zukunft nicht erhöhen.














A small country school.
Eine kleine Landschule.

 Kitchen and children room.

Küche und Kinderzimmer.













In one of the stables you will find entrances of old shops ( see pictures below).
In einem der Ställe findet man alte Geschäftseingänge ( siehe Bilder unten).

 Old Post office. Altes Postamt.

Photos by Margit Anna Doyle

 

 

IRISH WEATHER

When I visited Ireland in July 2003 for my very first time, I was told to bring warm clothes, because it was said the Irish summer was not predictable. Well, it turned out to be the hottest summer in records and my daughter and I had to buy tshirts, because we brought only warm pullovers in our suitcases. We had no problem with the heat as we were used to it, but the Irish people suffered terribly, they never experienced so many days with temperatures over 30 degrees before. Luckily it was a one off and the next years were back to normal, which means lots of nice days in May and June with average temperatures ranging appr. from 20 to 25 degrees.

I remember, when I moved to Ireland permanently in April 2008, I was complaining about the last winter in Austria and that we had no snow at all. I love snow, especially around Christmas time! The next morning, I looked out of the window and was shocked to see everything covered under a thick white blanket of snow. That was like a nice welcome present and I was so happy to get my winter for one day. The snow melted away during the afternoon and all what was left was a nice memory. Usually there is not much snow in Irish winters and if it snows, then only a little bit, but that is enough to stop the whole country and children get time off from school.

In the last few years, there was neither a winter, nor a summer. The weather seems to be the same throughout the whole year. I was often wondering, when people on the street greeted with a friendly "hello! Isn't it a nice day?", on days where dark clouds were hanging heavy from the sky and not a single sun ray could pass through. I learnt that people here are happy enough with any weather, as long as it is not raining. This year's summer was a disaster, it was practically not existing and I heard people jokingly saying: "Didn't we have a nice summer last Thursday?"

I must admit, I love Ireland, but I hate the Irish weather, especially from the past 2 years. I need sun! I need warmth! I need seasons! But where can I go to complain?

Stradbally, Copper Coast

Stradbally Strand  is a lovely small beach, with lots of little caves. As the entrance to the beach is on a hidden place, it is not overcrowded, that makes it even nicer.

As I stated in other posts before, I love the Copper Coast and it is always a visit worth. In Tankardstown you will find these buildings which belonged to the old Copper Mines.

Photos by Margit Anna Doyle