Erin go bragh

Whatever I was expecting when I arrived back after a year away, it wasn’t this glorious weather. Driving through the Irish countryside in my rented Ford, I could hardly imagine a lovelier welcoming. (Even better, over the next couple of days many people thanked me for bringing the weather with me; I am much more used to the opposite response: ‘The weather was great until you arrived.’)

My first stop was at Nodlaig’s, to pick up the things I had left there a year ago. Nodlaig was outdoors on her wooden chair, the phone beside her; she could have been sitting there for a year, so little had changed. There was the smell of a recent turf fire in the kitchen stove, and the same metal teapot waited on the counter. Even the biscuits in the jar looked the same, and quite possibly were; I cannily declined one on the basis that my stomach was unsettled from the trip.

I next drove into town and met up with my landlord from last year, Donal, who had found me a place for my two-month’s stay. This year I would live in a gate lodge on the other side of town, in a rural area called Monasteroris. Donal had sent a few photos, so I had a sense of the austerity of the lodge’s façade and the sparseness of the interior furnishings. The kitchen, however, had been completely re-done and the new appliances meant that I would be able to cook.

The lodge is set back from the road just enough so that the traffic is quieted; the stone wall that surrounds the property blocks the view of cars as they drive by. At an earlier point the house might have been two tiny outbuildings that were eventually joined by the creation of a short corridor. Both the front and back doors open onto this corridor. On the right side as you enter is the sitting room and kitchen, good-sized rooms with fresh coats of paint and, in the kitchen, a new stove, the usual tiny fridge and washing machine. On the left side are the bathroom and bedroom. In the bedroom there is a new bed and mattress and a monster piece of furniture that seems to have been hauled out of a basement somewhere to serve as a desk. It is filthy and covered in cobwebs; the top is piled with nasty looking cushions and the broken drawers are filled with old junk, in stark contrast to all the new furniture.

On that first day we quickly discover that the shower, which along with the other bathroom fixtures was not replaced, is broken. After travelling on the red-eye from New York and driving three hours from Belfast, I am more than ready to bathe. Not only the shower but the entire hot water system is out of order; my first night in the house I wash by heating water in the electric kettle. The fridge is also not working; my 87-year-old landlord and I manage to coax the washing machine, next to the fridge, out of its cabinet and see that the plug just needs to be fused. In the course of this my landlord realizes that, in going for the cheapest options, he has bought a fridge without a freezer box and a washing machine without a drier (normally in Ireland these are integrated into one unit). This is bad news for him, since to be able to rent the place once I’m gone he will probably have to replace both of these.

After everyone leaves, with a promise to send someone the next day to tackle the shower, I head to Tesco to put in a few necessary supplies before a bigger shopping tomorrow. As I enter the store, I see two friends from last year, Niamh and Niall, who are packing up their shopping in the checkout line. Niamh and Niall run the Eden Deli, my favorite place in Edenderry, a charming café that serves a great lunch, typical Irish food that is perfectly prepared by Niall using local ingredients and house-cured bacon; Niamh gorgeously runs the front operation. After they tell me their exciting news—a baby is on the way--they invite me to shower at their house behind the café the next morning, an invitation I gratefully accept.

Now I’m back in the lodge house, feeling a little lonely in the small darkening rooms, tired, in need of a bath, and happy to be back in this friendly and peaceful place.