Where in Ireland?
At the time I invited guesses.
They arrived by email, by Twitter, and by sheep.
Where in Ireland was that cottage?
Most guesses were for Connemara but it wasn’t Connemara, or anywhere in Galway though this is where I had looked the most and was very close to getting 2 houses there, one near Ros an Mhíl and another on Inis Meáin.
There were a lot of guesses for Kerry. I had looked quite closely at a cottage behind Waterville and another near the Gap of Dunloe, but no it wasn’t Kerry either.
There were a couple of guesses for Mayo, one quite specificly targetting the Louisburgh area and while they too were wrong I had spent the final month of my search concentrating in that area north of Killary all the way up to Clew Bay.
One guess came in for Wexford, but despite the beautiful weather I endured for the 3 weeks in the cottage, I wasn’t in the sunny south east.
A couple of other single guesses were for Sligo and for Clare. Nobody went north of the border with their guesses, but I did. To get there.
The cottage was in Donegal.
I won’t be getting any more specific; I’m just mentioning the county because I promised I would and some people never forget a promise.
If you so wish you can read (or re-read) the chronicles of my life at the cottage and see some photos. For now I have a lot of painting to do, in a new adventure in a quite beautiful corner of county Dublin. More of that next week, though.
Eolaí gan Fhéile:
I really enjoyed the cottage essays so much; I hope you start writing about your new place soon, too.
me too!!
I love Donegal and I am missing your adventures and Dog-dog’s take on his new surroundings. It’s wonderful that you can transfer what you see into lovely art. Looking forward to reading about your new place and seeing your work.
“The Maam we call it” in day 7, was the only solid clue I recall you giving. That and mentioning an island a few miles off the coast with a ferry and a lighthouse.
In boredom, I tried to hunt it down. I only nailed down the general area you might be in. It was a slow workday otherwise I wouldn’t have had the chance to read all the posts in one day or become an armchair stalker from half a world away.
I guessed somewhere close to Inishbofin. But I’ve never been to Ireland, so that was little better than throwing darts at a map.
Trevor
Donegal!! You are a lucky Pup-puppy to have a cottage in the county of my husband’s grandfather’s birth. He was born in 1838 in a townland named Sandfield, not far from Ardara and Glenties. I’ve visited there twice; the last time with my three daughters. We brought back over 2000 pictures and there wasn’t a ‘bad’ one in them. I have three children living in the KC area and was so happy to find your site! I’ll bet you’re Irish-speaking. Love your paintings. Failte Virginia McKenzie