Rugby

Rugby is a passion in Ireland.  I have 5 guys at work, 4 Irish and 1 English and they all talk rugby.  When we came here, I really wanted the kids to play in an Irish sport, just to put them in a position to make some friends and experience something that they wouldn't get a chance to in the states.  Now Ireland has 2 Gaelic sports that are likely only played in or near Ireland or in a place where there are lots of Irish.

Hurling and Camogie: These are stick and ball sports with the boys playing Hurling and girls Camogie.  Not sure what the differences between are as I have yet to see a game, although I'm dying to.  Grace went to her first Camogie practice  yesterday, but "someone" forgot to take some pictures, thus her Daddy and you are not going to see any here.  Stay tuned.

Gaelic Football:  Again, I haven't seen one of these matches, but J.J. has decided that he's going to try playing this.  From what I've seen, this is some kind of soccer game with hands.  Kicking, dribbling, passing...they all seem to be things you can do.  The kids get to play this a bit at school along with soccer (football, here).  His first practise is tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Rugby:  Rugby is an international sport and Ireland is a contender.  It is very popular to play with leagues starting for kids where they are about 5 (according to a Dad that I was talking to at Rod's first practice.  Speaking of first practice, that was Friday night.  They are well into the season, but we found a team that would take a late comer and so we went on a chilly night.  At least Dad was chilly, as he wasn't running around rolling in the muck for an hour.  The coach told Rod his first match was on Sunday at "half 11".  (11:30AM for all you slow to pick up on the Irish lingo).  Rod came home very sore and tired with a big smile on his face.  A hot shower and few Ibuprophen later and he was fine.

With Mass at 10AM on Sunday planned, Joe and Rod had to depart before the Communion wafer was down and make our way to the north side for an away match at St. Paul's College in Clontarf.  Rod didn't have his uniform yet, but since they are black and white, the coach said either color would do.  He chose to wear an old white t-shirt of mine (one definitely headed for the bin - that's Irish for trash).  It was a brisk day with clear skies and temps in the upper 30's, low 40's.  Dad dressed in many layers and was still a bit chilled.  Rod had on his long black basketball shorts and white t-shirt with a black underarmor.  Looking at him made me cold.  To warm up, the coaches had them rolling in the damp grass/mud.  They were a mess before the first kick, but they didn't seem cold.

The  Belvo Minis looked shaky to begin with, giving up 2 trys (touchdowns for the American football literate), but they rolled back into the game scoring 4 trys.  Their competition scored 1 more and the game ended at 24-18 (I think??  It was so cold, my ears weren't working correctly and we really wanted to get to the warm car.)  Rod got to play for about 1/2 of the 2nd 1/2 and had some great fun.  His quote of the day:  "Whenever I got the ball, I got rid of it as soon as I could!"  He's playing a forward position, which means the big slow guys that spend most of their time tackling and hanging in the ruck or scrum!  The backs are the guys that handle the ball most and do a lot of running.  He was very excited and talked the whole way home.  A very good day indeed.  Here are a few pictures from the day:  Rod's First Rugby Match

Our Post Holiday Activities

Our times after the Christmas Holiday were pretty lazy.  We had our furry family members back in the fold and we didn't want to stray too far, so we managed to find some days to go on some short trips via car and train and see the sights.  This kids were back in school on the 9th, so their new found habits of sleeping in to 9 or 10 ended as did their parents.  Here were some of our adventures:

The South Wall.   Coming into Dublin harbor that leads to the River Liffey, there are two large breakwaters that were built starting in the 1700's.  On a sunny day with not a care in the world, we got on our bikes with the intent to ride to the lighthouse on the end of the South wall.  It was a very nice ride, but when we got to the final leg, we didn't think riding our bikes over the cobblestone surface out to the lighthouse would be good for our rear ends or our bikes so we walked the final bit avoiding waves crashing over the surface at certain points.  Here are some pics from that day:  South Wall




This Hill of Tara.  We kind of looked at this as the Stonehenge of Ireland.  It goes way back to times B.C. and is mainly a set of mounds and stones.  The stone monument is called the Stone of Destiny, brought here by a godlike people as a sacred object.  If you touch the stone and it roars, you are declared the rightful king of Tara.  Unfortunately for the Rames', no royal decrees were made that day although we all gave it a touch.  As much as Radley sniffed the base of the stone, I think many dogs have also attempted to claim the crown.

In the surrounding area, there were hundreds of sheep roaming about and it appeared that they had the primary job of keeping the grass short and providing for fertilization of the entire area.  Martha reminded me (yet again) of the fact that we left a crucial possession in storage in Redmond:  Our Wellingtons.  Grace now has hers and some hiking boots have been acquired.  A short walk around the church cemetery fenced off in the middle of the area was clear of any mud or sheep droppings, so all feet were quickly returned to their clean state, although quite a bit damper.

Trim Castle.  From the Hill of Tara, we ventured over to Trim to the castle there.  The castle was not open due to the holiday week, but we walked around and saw the area.  This castle was constructed in the late 1100's and we are definitely going to go back when it is open so we can visit the interior.  Trim was a beautiful town.

Here's a link to a folder with pictures from that day:  Hill of Tara and Trim

New Year's Eve:  We bought a game for Christmas for the family called Discovering Ireland.  Martha found it at a craft fair she went to where the inventor of the game had his booth.  It's kind of like Life, Risk, and Monopoly rolled into one.  The premise is that you have to land and depart Ireland and travel to some specific destinations between the two.  But there are some roadblocks and impediments (including your fellow players) that keep it from being a straight path.  Fun...  Each time you get to a destination, you have to read the card and it tells you something of your location.  One thing we found is that nearly every area in Ireland is known for it's angling.  Yes, Ireland is a fisherman's paradise according to the game.  Rod left all his fishing stuff in Redmond, so for Christmas, we acquired a few pieces so he could go and surf fish from the beach.  Road and I went down to the bottom of Booterstown Road (it ends at the Irish Sea) and wet his line for an hour or so one day.  The tide was high, so we didn't have any luck.  When the tide is low, you can walk on the sand out about 1/4 mile or so.  So on New Year's Eve, we decided to make a trip down to Killiney Beach.  Killiney's a beautiful small town on the DART (train along the Irish Sea and thru Dublin).  Also home to Bono.  We secretly hoped Bono would be out for a walk with his dogs so Radley could get a bit of action, but he had to settle for some regular pooches.  It was a nice day and since it resulted in the landing of a fish, it was a fisherman's dream.
After the fishing success, we went to the Hanley's house.  The Hanley's are some wonderful friends we've met.  Philip and Aine (pronounced "Own'-ya") have 3 kids, two of them that line up with Rod, J.J. & Grace.  They had a little party on New Year's Eve and we spent a fun evening playing video games, eating, drinking, talking, and attempting to send flaming lanterns up into the sky.  The weather was not cooperating, so in the end, only one lantern was launched and even that one was a frightening experience as we watched it get whipped around and feared it would land somewhere and start a fire.  Here are some pictures of that day:  New Year's Eve

Howth:  January 2nd brought us to Howth.  Take the DART north until it stops in Howth (end of the line).  Howth (pronounced "Hoe-th") is another place where a big castle resides (now a cooking school and a golf course).  We were told that the people that own castles can't just live in them.  The taxes are so high on private estates, that they've had to turn them into businesses to keep them in a different tax category.  In Howth, there is a family that still lives in part of this castle, although much is in ruins.  They have a cooking school in part of the castle and on the grounds was a "transportation museum", which was a large pole barn with dozens of really old vehicles from double-decker buses to Guinness trucks to military vehicles.

After the visit to the castle, we proceeded to head for Howth Head.  This is a really beautiful walk along the sea out to a lighthouse that has a view of Dublin.  The troops were getting a bit tired at that point and the sun was setting slowly, so we didn't quite make it all the way to Howth Head, but we were close.  Here are some pictures from that day:  Howth Head