Passion, Faith, Tradition, Love, Warmth... This is how I would describe my experience at the Breen's home in Emly, Co. Tipperary. As our coach bus pulled to a stop, I could hear my heart pounding, anticipating who would be on the other side of the bus doors. When Katie and I stepped outside, a sweet older women greeted us with a huge smile, her name was Sheila. We drove through the darkened night, down the winding, twisting road, speeding past frozen trees and stretches of green fields. Once we came to a stop, we stood in awe in front of a gorgeous, white home, that stood next to a quiet farm. We were introduced to Sheila's husband, Peter and their daughter, Mairead (who has her own chiropractic clinic). After a delicious dinner, Katie, Sheila, Mairead and I all sat at the kitchen table for hours, sharing stories, memories and laughs; Sheila was like a book, once you open it, you can't put it down, and everytime you turn a page, your anticipation grows as each new message is pulling at you to read more. The next morning, Sheila was very eager to bring us to our first Hunt; this hunt took place in Elton (about 10 mins away). As we waited for the hunt to start, men and women, old and young, all dressed in blazers, white pants, brown boots and black hats, continued to trot back and forth, on their beautifully groomed horses, waiting until the horn blew. Once all 50 horses were lined up, they released the hounds. About 30 dogs came rushing out of the trunk, barking and howling. Then, as the horn was blown, they were off! Down the trail in search of those frightened foxes. Once we returned to the house, we had a delicious, traditional Irish meal; ham, potatoes, cabbage and of course TEA. After dinner (lunch), we were given a tour of the farm, by their oldest son, Simon, who has a one year old, Julia. He showed us their 300 cows, used for beef and dairy and also their cows that were expecting; there would be about 140 new calfs this spring. After our tour, Katie, Buster (the dog) and I ventured out to their fields. Their land stretched for miles as we walked along the dirt path, through the fields. As we came closer to the end of our path, we noticed that there wasn't an opening in the electric fence. Katie, being her crazy, but brave self, saw what looked like a handle and pulled it off of the post. Thank goodness it wasn't electric haha. We crawled under another fence and over another, finallly we were free. Once we walked into the kitchen, warm scones were waiting for us on the table. We had a hot cup of tea (probably already our 100th haha) and ate our homemade, delicious scones.
The evening, Katie and I were invited by Mairead and TJ, their youngest son who is getting his PHD at Limerick, to go out to chinese with Mairead theatre cast and then to the local pub. The people were so welcoming and so kind, as we sat around the table chatting about life. However, the chinese place must have been saving on their heating bill because the place was FREEZING! haha. We were all ecstatic when we walked into the pub and there was a crackling fire waiting to heat our frozen hands. Katie and I sat and chatted with TJ, learning all of the Irish ways. We learned that the stereotypical America is annoying and fat, oh, and they say oh my god! way too much.. we got a kick outta that ;).
The next morning, we went to their local church, the church of St. Abigail. It was a lovely sermon, the church filled with people from the town, all knowing each other by name and a little part of their own stories. After church, we headed home for dinner (lunch) and yet another cup of tea, followed by warm, homemade apple tart with cool, vanilla ice cream. When it was time to go, Katie and I grapped our things and said goodbye to the sweetest women, with the biggest heart. As we drove down the drive, we glanced behind us, still in awe of this big, gorgeous white home, filled with love, faith and tradition, all of which will continue to bind them together and never fade.
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