A Sort of Homecoming

So, I presently live maybe one mile from the ruins of Carrigogunnell Castle in County Limerick. Local historians agree that the castle was most likely built around 1449 and was nearly forever occupied by the O'Brien family (likely, my friend Chris is a descendant) on the site of a former volcano that had gone dormant ages before that.

By the way, Flatmate Kevin from West Cork likes to put on his best Irish pirate voice and say, whenever he sees castle ruins or versions of same, “Ah, dere's a shtink of oppression off it, lads.”

This castle is now covered in the Irish version of kudzu, which would be your garden-variety (known here as “bog-standard”) ivy. And overgrown trees and scrub brush. But it's still an impressive sight.

And it is also a favorite destination of mine, where I take the dog on hikes after work or on the weekends. Bog-standard castle in ruins, according to most. Well, according to me.

Until now, that is...see Bono's backdrop, below.

[And thanks to Jay Stanley for pointing this out.]

What's interesting about this is that, for me, U2—not The Pogues or "The Quiet Man" or Thin Lizzy or Van Morrison or even “Darby O'Gill and The Little People”--put the first images of Ireland in my head, courtesy of MTV Music Television. I had to watch MTV covertly in the homes of neighbors and friends, because my mother wouldn't allow MTV in our house.


So, a flag-waving Bono singing about "Sunday Bloody Sunday" at Red Rocks first taught me about The Troubles that the Irish faced. And one of my first cassette tapes I bought at Hot Dog Records in Jonesboro, Arkansas, was “The Unforgettable Fire.”






So, I've long been a fan. And also, I always thought that the drummer was, like, way hot (far right, in photo.)

The other side of this castle is where Lola and I visit, where the kids have burned bonfires for literally hundreds of years, celebrating celebration and apparently engaging in various levels of grab-ass.

Weird how these things reveal themselves, you know?

Hope to see you, too, soon.

j:.