Back In Mohill

t had been a long day. We had taken a red-eye flight, walked around Dublin, and had a long drive back to Mohill. John Reynolds dropped us off at O’Brien’s B & B, The Travelers Rest, which was located next door to their pub. I had fallen asleep in the car and didn’t realize the time as it was so light outside for so late an hour. I went directly to our room, took a shower and fell asleep. Terry was so excited to be there that he went down to the pub and had a pint or two of Guinness.

The next morning, when we awoke, Phil O’Brien brought us our traditional Irish breakfast. You couldn’t have asked for a lovelier person! She was so accommodating to us during our brief stay there as we looked for a house to rent for the summer. From there we went to rent a car at Patsy Walpole’s Opel dealership. We stopped into Casey’s Bar and surprised Thomas Casey and his wife, Maura. We asked if they might know of a house we could rent but they didn’t at the time. They suggested that we go to the (Real) Estate agent next door.

In the next couple of days, Thomas and John both brought us around to see a few places but we thought they needed a bit more work than we were able to put into them. So we booked a flat over Margaret Wynn’s dress shop, which was next door to Casey’s Bar on Hill Street. Margaret was a very nice lady and her daughter, Catherine, was nice as well. One night they asked us if we would like to go to a nearby lake where Catherine and some of her friends were going to swim. One of her friends was an American girl who was engaged to the brother of another friend and was visiting on holiday.

For the brief time we were living at the flat we spent quite a bit of time going to the different pubs and restaurants in Mohill. We went into the Willis Pub and B & B one evening and met some local “regulars” of the establishment. Their names were Gerry and George. Gerry was a character who was always happy and telling jokes. He worked as a bartender at a pub in Carrick. We didn’t know it at the time but he lived in a house across the street from our flat. George was a huge man of at least 6’ 6” and he was a lorry driver. We ran into him all the time either at the pub or John Reynolds' restaurant.

I must also tell you about our friend, Snowy. He was a white mixed breed dog belonging to someone who lived near Glebe Street in downtown Mohill. I don’t believe there were leash laws in force as we saw a lot of dogs in our travels that were not leashed. Snowy would follow us around town whenever he saw us. On occasion, we would stop at one of the butcher shops and get him a bone or a couple slices of ham at the deli. He was a sweet, mild-mannered dog and he made us feel at home just as the people of Mohill did.

Finally, the day had come when we found our farm house to rent! Thomas Casey contacted Francis Heslin of Carrick who had a farm out in Drumgrania and the house was not in use. A man from Cloone was using the grounds to graze his cattle and he did the haying there. We all met at the house and came to an agreement. We were to rent the house while Thomas McNamara had use of the land. Thomas was a very nice man who had lived in America for many years, in the New York City area, but had come back to his Irish roots. We had a nice chat and we were on our way back to the flat to pack our belongings.

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