Meanwhile, on our Trip to Tralee …
- Helen Walsh Folsom
- Oct 19, 2017
- 2 min read
My daughter, Bettse and I, were on our way to Tralee in County Kerry Ireland to see the great Kerry County Museum. It is quite an amazing museum including life-size figures, the essence of a country peasant village, dioramas illustrating the heart-and-soul of Irish life, and relics from the ancient past.
However, not unusual, we found ourselves driving lost through a lovely quiet street in an unfamiliar village and totally lost.
A tall, elderly gentleman was strolling along the sidewalk carrying his groceries. With typical Yankee boldness and assurance of welcome, we pulled over and asked him, “How can we get to Tralee?”
He nodded and waved a long arm toward the street we were following in confusion.
“Onishtay,” he said. “Onishtay.
“Onishtay?” Neither of us could understand the word.
“Onishtay,” he said he said again.
Had we stumbled into a Gaeltacht, an area where people still spoke Gaelic?
We thanked the old gentleman and drove away, continuing on in confusion. Soon we happened upon a petrol station and asked a young man if we were in a Gaeltacht?
The young man laughed.
“You are already on the road to Tralee. He was simply telling you, ‘On it stay!’”
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“If you wash the car it will rain” Correct.
Of course it will. That’s Murphy’s Law.
“If you go on a diet, ice cream the price of it will come lower.”
Murphy’s Law.
“If you buy a new fishing boat, the lake will dry up.”
“If the weatherman predicts rain and you take an umbrella it will not rain. But if you don’t take it…….”
The more that you try to get something precise, the more that it will be precisely off.
That's the law of Murphy!
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To read more of the story of the story of Annie Moore, read "St. Patrick's Secrets, 101 Little-Known Truths and Tales of Ireland" by Helen Walsh Folsom.
With the aid of my daughter, Bettse Folsom, we are responding to a series of answer & questions & snippets about Ireland that many people have asked me during events where I have attended. If you have a question, please contact me by email and I will be happy to address it.
Thank you for reading my blog!
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