A Cross Country Trip to Wexford from Kilkee, Ireland

Wexford is a town with much history on the opposite side of the country from Kilkee. On July 24 we set out on a northeasterly direction by car to Ennis to catch the train for several days of exploring another part of this country where we had not yet set foot. On the way we passed rolling green, green countryside where many horses, sheep and cattle were grazing. After an hour's car ride we reached the town of Ennis where we hopped on the train which took us southeast to Limerick. In this city we took a bus to Limerick junction where we caught the train for Dublin, now again heading in a northeasterly direction. The train in Dublin, where we transferred to the Wexford line, now took us straight south along the east side of the country along the Irish Sea coast. Beautiful mountains on one side of the rail line with the stunning coastline on the other. The east side of the country is sunnier and warmer than the west and so it was that the beaches were full of sunbathers and swimmers.
In Wexford town, in the southeast of Ireland, we joined an historical walking tour around the town where many years ago the Vikings, Normans and British had invaded and many battles had been fought.
We also enjoyed browsing through the many shops along the business street. Best of this little outing was the warm, sunshiny weather.

Brilliant orange sunset

It had been a cloudy day as most days this summer in Ireland. Close to dusk, the room was suddenly filled with the most amazing glow of brilliant orange and as I gazed outside at the sky, I noticed the clouds had lifted off the horizon, allowing the illusive sun to send out an evening blessing. As I stepped out into the garden I felt almost hypnotized with the glorious beauty of the orange rays on the lawn, shrubs and flowers, all aglow in the unexpected, welcome light, the rain drops still glistening on their foliage. A truly holy moment.

New granddaughter, Aisling O'Brien

On July 11 in the morning we had a call from son Kieran in Dublin that a new little granddaughter had arrived safely and we felt delighted. That evening another call came with the news that this tiny little 6lb 14oz girl would need to undergo open heart surgery. Needless to say, we were all very concerned and got busy with getting family, friends and church community to pray for a successful operation and a good recovery.
On July 24 we were pasing through Dublin and stopped in at the hospital to visit the new family and got the good news that the baby was being discharged that day and she looked absolutely beautiful! She was taking milk eagerly from the bottle and crying when it wasn't immediately forthcoming, all pointing to a healthy recovering child .