Our last day in Dublin proper, for now, is spent with family before most of them go back to their home base. Sister-in-law and father-in-law are heading off to his natal village, a tiny west-coast town called Ballyhaunis. Given it’s probably inability to accommodate many visitors, we decide to opt out of that trip and head south tomorrow. The only cloud on our horizon, figuratively, is that Thomas woke this morning with the most disturbing cough… what I call a “croupy” cough but Madeleine has dubbed it a “creepy” cough. He’s a bit congested so hopefully it’s just a bit of hoarseness from being out very late last night and laughing and screaming with a gaggle of his peers.
We went for a walk along the beach near Dun Laoghaire and found the famed Martello tower where James Joyce reflected upon his most famous works. The tower overlooks a partly rocky, partly sandy area where many locals frolicked in the sea. It may be that sunny days are so rare that any burst of sunshine provokes a trip to the beach but frankly, it was much too chilly for any of us canucks to consider stripping down but that’s what many here did, some younger girls stripping down to their undies and diving into water that was likely in the same temperature range as the local Guinness taps. I was chilled just watching them.
Who knows, perhaps the Irish are onto something here. I’m sure dipping into frigid waters has some beneficial health effects…if it doesn’t kill you.