FBI - Full Blooded Irish

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Irish Heat Wave - Full on!

The above was shot at 9PM as I left for a ride  in almost full sunlight!!

Eagle with (Bicyclist) Leader of Ireland’s Staff

Here during this atypical Irish heat wave, where temps have been in the low to mid 70's for the last few days, I stopped in at Taoiseach, Enda Kenny's Castlebar office to show Teresa, his office manager, at the far left, my bike. I finally made good on the promise I made almost two years ago to show them the Eagle, when Virginia and I brought Cayo in to meet Enda when our little guy was just two months old. Though Enda, a genuine cyclist, was not there, the reception my bike and I got was an enthusiastic one!

Occupy Ireland – How they did it in 1886

My training rides have been taking me deeper and deeper into the Irish countryside.  And as they do, I’ve been pedaling deeper into its history. My journey from Dublin yesterday, for example, took me to a national landmark called Eviction Cottage. A small home restored in 2000, it had been destroyed by its landlords in 1886 to keep the evicted family from moving back in. It represents the last eviction in this part of Ireland. This was a regular occurrence  until the Irish Land League managed to get reasonable land laws put in place to protect the many farmers who had suffered crop failures  from property owners most of whom lived in England. 

The tenants right activists  did so with the strength of numbers. Whenever an eviction was set to occur, great numbers of people were always on hand for the actual event. The landlords were mocked and embarrassed with the  carnival atmosphere (including large law enforcement battalions as the evicted party hauled their possessions away, in the case below, on a horse drawn cart) that would result.

Such property owners also then found their businesses boycotted. They also found themselves unable to rent their property to anyone because such renters would be the the subject of great scorn, 

This is what the home looked like before it was restored. 

The horizontal log held in place by three standing logs  you see here, swings back and forth to serve as a  battering ram. Used to destroy the homes of its day, it stands adjacent to the cottage.

FYI:

 

1847 — The worst year of the potato blight:

4,000 ships carrying peas, beans, rabbits, salmon, honey, and potatoes left Ireland for English ports.

9,992 Irish cattle sent to England.

4,000 horses and ponies sent to England.

Approximately 1,000,000 gallons of butter sent to England.

Approximately 1,700,000 gallons of grain-derived alcohol sent to England.

source: “Irish Central” magazine  editor, Patricia Harty in this blog post of hers 

             THX 4 all of U!! 

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Irish Scorcher - 82 Degrees!

It's actually hot in Ireland! And it is supposed to stay this way for  few 

more days. Nor am I going to let  it slip away  by working NBG....

These horses were very friendly. Don't know what it is about my seat 

(cow hide and sweat, hmm...),but this was not the first time that I had to 

cut my visit short because a horse started chewing on my seat....

btw: And the heat does not go away when nightfall hits. Which isn't until 10:30 PM. And yet  if you're thinking bicycle heaven, don't forget it's usually between 50-60 during the summer, with healthy does of precip. and little or no sun

Manulla Country Store & Ctty Centre

The Eagle is getting stronger and stronger. We rode to the country store 

in Manulla that you've seen me visit on the mountain bike. A fair amount of 

climbing, the bike was up for it no sweat.

19 mile round trip.....

Some of the 600 or so people here, play bingo once a week at this large building........

btw: I did the ride in bike shorts (no leggings) and a short sleeve shirt!

Eagle to the Pig Factory!

The above swine slaughterhouse is only five miles away, but I have not come out here on the Eagle because the roads to it are about as bad as they get over here in Ireland. However, since this is the safest and  quietest way for me to get to Westport, a lively bicycle hub for the Great Western Greenway,  I decided  the gusset Pawel Guba welded around the inside of my 

rim was now ready for the ultimate acid test. 

Result: the wheel rolls true after the ten miles of punishment the bike endured !!

Those of you who have been following the trouble I have been having over with keeping 

the Eagle rolling will be pleased to know that my bike is finally  riding G R E A T!! 

btw: Off in the distance, in the center of the photo above, the smokestacks you see remind me of the concentration camp settings one can find in Germany...