Headford Ireland: Sister City Trip Report
– 2009
By Steve Tate
My wife Jennifer and I had a fantastic time in Headford, they are great hosts! They had a four-day itinerary for us and we ended up spending five days there, here are some of the highlights:
Thursday May 14, we arrived in Headford and met John McHugh at the Angler’s Rest Hotel for drinks, John McGraw joined us later. Discussed itinerary, etc. then were taken to our hostess’ house a mile or so away. Rosie Mohan was our hostess and we had a whole floor of her three story house to ourselves, -2 bedrooms/2 baths. Rosie and Jennifer bonded immediately and John McGrath’s wife and kids were there and fixed us dinner. Later that evening, they took us to a pub near Headford for some music – it doesn’t start until 10 and they are on “Irish Time” so everything is late, but it was great fun.
Friday May 15, John McHugh took the day off work to be with us, he drove us down to Galway and first stop was a radio station where we were interviewed by a host that was in Boston for the start of the Boston to Galway leg of the Volvo Boat races, the mayor of Galway was also in Boston. We then went to the Galway County building (their counties are their “local governments” as the cities – like Headford – do not have governments, the Headford Association that we have the relationship with is more like a Chamber of Commerce), and talked to the last year’s mayor, the deputy County manager (the manager was also in Boston), and two of the Councilors that represented Galway. We had an exchange in their Council chambers and they presented me with a very nice crystal vase. Friday afternoon we toured the Ashford Castle in Cong, a magnificent structure that is famous for “The Quiet Man” being filmed there, but it is now a fancy hotel with a very upscale restaurant – we got served a tea and given a tour. Friday evening we were back at the Angler’s Rest Hotel for a presentation by a very noted local Galway Historian and Geologist on the history of the Headford area, this was very interesting.
Saturday May 16, we headed back to Galway for a walking tour by the very same guy who did the lecture the previous evening. There were 12 of us and we toured for three hours, and extended it after the leader left us by going to the new cathedral. Then back to Headford where John McHugh gave us an extensive tour of Ross Eirely, a Friary in Headford (I have a picture of it in my office). John’s father had written a history of it and John was a real expert – he played there as a kid and knew every nook and cranny – and he gave us a copy of the book. I met with several members of the Headford Association that are working on establishing an “Eco Campus” – an incubator for new businesses with emphasis on Green Tech – they have most of the funding needed to start that venture and will be moving forward this summer, and hope that some Silicon Valley firms will want a (Headford) European location. One of the Headford Association members – Eamon Walsh – was playing drums in a rock band in Galway that night, so John McGraw took us down there to see him, another great time.
Sunday May 17, church was the first thing on the docket, a Mass that was being broadcast on the radio, and it was quite short – about 35 minutes. We had a horse show event (“Gymkhanna”) scheduled for Sunday afternoon but found out Friday that it would be cancelled – it was really raining hard while we were there but the great people kept us so busy it was not a problem. As a substitute, John McHugh drove us quite a few kilometers north to a natural history museum – unfortunately it closed at 5 and we only had about an hour to see it, it was quite fascinating. That evening back at Rose’s house we had a party with lots of food, drink and fellowship. It was at the party that we decided to stay an extra day so that Jennifer could go with Mary McHugh on a shopping trip to Galway.
Monday May 18, Jennifer did the shopping trip with Mary and then we took Rosie out to dinner at the Angler’s Rest. There we also met with the head of Headford’s Quilting Club, and are getting them in touch with our club for exchanges, etc. Later that evening, John McHugh came over to say one last good-bye, we left early Tuesday morning.
We had a really wonderful time and can’t say enough about what great hosts we had. Headford rocks!
