Jean's Journal: Boats and buses

by Jean Farrell

I’m typing this on our boat. All is wonderful, but I fear we may be coming to the end of our days afloat, I’m very sorry to say!

The problem is our age. We are now in our mid-seventies and our boat is 50 years old. Even our dog is getting too old!

We found it very difficult, this year, to do the massive cleaning job involved in getting the boat ready for the river. We did contact a professional boat-cleaner. €870 was the price he quoted. We rolled up our sleeves and did it ourselves!

In spite of arthritis, back pain, inflammation, osteoporosis, rheumatism and joint pain, we persevered! I’m exaggerating, but after a week’s work, we felt we had the whole lot.

As well as all the cleaning, there is endless bending and manoeuvring inside, which doesn’t suit older folk, sad to say. Younger folk talk about “Hopping on and off the boat.” We struggle on and off, always holding tightly for fear we’ll fall!

One more complaint – as well as cleaning the boat, we also had to clean our whole house before we left. This is because various relations are coming to Athlone for short breaks and will be staying there. So, by the time we set off and went through the lock-gates, I was badly in need of a holiday!

End of complaints! After all that work, I am determined to enjoy every day of our summer on the river.

It’s great to see so many folk on hire-boats. A lot are not from Ireland. We spoke to Germans who were delighted with our weather. They told us it was 43 degrees in their country when they were leaving.

I’ve written before that, as a child, the very first non-nationals I saw in Ireland were German tourists on hire-boats. That was in the 1950s and '60s. Isn’t it great that they continue to come every year, in big numbers?

The foreign visitors on hire-boats see the ‘real’ Ireland. Instead of being whisked by bus from the Cliffs of Moher to The Giants Causeway, those on hire boats can moor in little places like Dromad, Mountshannon and more. These villages are beautifully maintained, with lovely flower displays.

The tourists enjoy the music and company of local folk in the pubs. One French man told us he had the best night of his whole life in a small bar, in Leitrim village!

When we moored in Banagher, I remembered that old friends from school were meeting in Tullamore for lunch that day. Even though I was on the boat, on the river, I was mad keen to join them.

Upon investigation I discovered that a ‘Local Link’ bus left Banagher every day for Tullamore. Even though Banagher is only 37km from Banagher (23 miles in old money) the journey on the Local Link bus took an hour and a half. I didn’t mind one bit, for I love bus journeys. There is nothing to do only day-dream, admire the scenery and maybe chat to others.

These little Local Link buses are wonderful. Having always lived in the Athlone town within easy access of buses, trains and cars, I didn’t appreciate the fact that if you live in the middle of the country, it is very difficult to get anywhere, if you don’t have a car or are too old to drive.

I had a tour of county Offaly that day! The bus went to Cloghan, Ferbane, Pullough, Ballycumber, Clara, Ballinamere, Tullamore, and all the places in between.

Well, people got on and off at every stop. Most knew each other. Some were visiting grannies in these small villages. Others got on and off at the train station in Clara. More got off and on at Tullamore hospital.

One woman, who lives alone, told me that she comes into town to get her hair done every Saturday. Another woman said that she visits different friends in different villages nearby because she lives alone also and loves the company. “I’d be lost without this bus,” she said.

I was very impressed with this invaluable service. These little white Local Link buses travel around every county in Ireland. In some remote places, the bus driver takes people right to their front door. What a wonderful service for lonely, isolated folk.

An old woman sat in beside me on the bus, as I toured Offaly. What an interesting person! This woman told me that she had lectured all her working life in Trinity College. Classical Studies was her subject.

She said she was on her way to Clara railway station to get the train to Dublin in order to attend a meeting of The Classical Association of Ireland. Now, aged 83, she gives many Latin grinds, in her house, to law students. She also gives Greek grinds to other students. These people drive out to her house, in her small village. Who would have thought that the classical languages are alive and well in County Offaly?

A line from the poem ‘A Poor Scholar Of The Forties,’ by Padraic Colum, came to mind. “Years hence, in rustic speech a phrase, as in the wild earth a Grecian vase.”

Indeed Clonmacnoise, in County Offaly, was once a great seat of learning. Students came from all over Europe to study there.

I met my pals in Tullamore and returned to Banagher on the same bus. I am now an expert on the geography of Offaly!

We proceeded down river, towards Lough Derg the next day.

More river news next week.

jeanfarrell@live.ie