Travels in Eire #14

Cailin slept well that night after the restless night before. Even while it was summer, the weather was cool enough to use the down comforter and get comfy in the bed. Her dreams were of windswept skies, green hillsides and fences of stone. And as she walked through the fields, a man walked with her. She could not make out who it was, but she felt secure and loved and warm all over. It had been a very long time since she had such happy dreams like this.

Morning arrived quickly and Cailin showered, dressed and headed downstairs with her bag for some breakfast before Darren arrived and they headed out for the trip to Galway. The trip was 169 miles, but with some sightseeing stops and the fact this was Ireland, it would take all day. They would probably arrive quite late, but with sunset around ten, it would still be light out. It was going to be a long day though.

Cailin thought she remembered Darren saying he would arrive at the B&B by 8am, but here it was 8:15 and there was no sign of Darren. Should she call him? Was she being to anxious? She decided to take her backpack out to the car and as she closed the trunk and turned around she saw Darren walking down the street toward her. It was almost 8:30.
“Sorry, had to take care of a few things,” he muttered mysteriously. “So how are you this morning? Did you sleep well?” he asked as if to brush off his first statement.
“I'm fine, is everything okay?” Cailin couldn't help but wonder if there was something she was missing, but Darren only smiled and nodded back.

“So where's you map, Cailin? I want to make sure you understand the route we are going to take and if there is something you want to see, we'll make a detour so you don't miss anything.”

They spread the map out over the hood of the car and planned the trip. They would head back out through Donegal and then south to Sligo. Cailin wanted to stop by Drumcliffe and see W.B. Yeats tomb and his famous mountain, Ben Bulben. She loved his poetry and just wanted to get a feel for the area. Besides this was where her grandfather had grown up. From there it would be further south to Cong and a visit to the Abbey there. It was an incredible ruin from pictures she had seen. Then on to Galway and west of Galway to Barna and Furbo where Darren's family was located. It would be a very long day.

Darren was unusually quiet at the start of the day. Cailin knew something was not right, she could sense it, but wasn't sure what it was. Was all this friendliness and flirting just a way to get to her? Was he taking advantage to get a ride to Galway? She hoped Darren would share, but was not going to push him. Once they were out on the open road, not really a highway, but a two lane road out of the city, Darren started the conversation asking Cailin about her interest in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Cailin explained about getting lost on her way to the Antrim Coast and ending up in Mullaghmore. She told Darren about traveling to Ardboe and finding her great grandmother's name on an old memorial at the cemetery and and realizing it was who she was named after. While O'Neill was not her last name, it had always been part of the family name. She told Darren about how she found a relative in Mullaghmore who helped her get started on this journey.

And now to make the connection with where her grandfather had grown up before he left for American, would help her continue this journey.

At this point Cailin realized that she had been doing most of the talking while Darren drove and quietly listened. Finally Cailin had enough of his silence.
“Darren, I know we haven't been on the road for very long, but could we pull over at the next stop?” Darren didn't seem to pick up on Cailin's concern, and probably thought she just needed a rest stop. Little did Cailin, or even Darren know, from this point on, all things would change.