O'Brien's Tavern

ne night we met Gerry Bohan at O'Brien's Tavern. We were having a great time visiting with Gerry, Jim and Phil. There were some other people there that we didn't know. After a while, one of the men came over and introduced himself to us. His name was Vincent Shanley. We were quite interested to talk to him since one of Terry's ancestors was Winifred Shanley Reynolds, his great grandmother. Vincent didn't know much about his family history so we never learned if he and Terry were related.

Vincent came from the small village of Ennis, outside of Mohill. We had never been there but had seen the sign on the road to Carrick. He had such a thick Irish brogue that Terry and I had a hard time understanding him. Sometimes we smiled and nodded our heads because we just didn't know what he was saying. He had stopped in for a pint of Guinness on his way home so he wasn't going to stay too long.

I went up to our room to freshen up and, when I came down, Vincent and Terry had gone across the street to O'Carolan's Pub. I went over there and Vincent bought me a drink. We visited for a while, then the three of us finished our drinks, and Vincent went home.

Terry and I went back to O'Brien's and there was a new person sitting at the bar. His name was Romain Guillot from France. He was one of the wine stewards at the new restaurant at Lough Rynn. He was young and delightful to talk to. He told us that he had signed up at a private employment agency in France and was hired through them. His French girlfriend had also been hired as a waitress.

Terry decided that it was time for him to go up to bed. I stayed for a while and met two young girls. There was a snooker table in the back that the teenagers would play so there were several of them playing that night. I never caught the girls' names but they were fascinated with me. They told me how much they liked my soft American accent. I told them that I like theirs, too. Right after we met, they asked me if I knew any celebrities. I laughed and said, "As a matter of fact, I do know one". "Who, who, who?", they asked. I told them that I know Steven Tyler from Aerosmith. They got so excited!! So, I told them that I met him when we were about 12 years old and that he spent summers at a lake nearby, where his grandmother had cottages. I said that I hadn't seen Steven to speak to since about 1980 so I had lost touch with him. They asked me if I knew his daughter Liv. I said that I had never met Liv but I had met her sister, Mia, when she was about 3 years old. The girls were really funny because they were so impressed that I knew a celebrity and he was a rock star as well!

It was last call at O'Brien's and I was getting tired so I excused myself, went up to the room and went to bed. But first I took a photo of the O'Brien’s dog, Mr. Murphy.

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