Ballyvaughn: A Small-Town Crawl

After Leenane, we spent several days in a house outside Galway with no internet or cel service (hence the absence of updates).  We made several day trips, including a fantastic day on Inis Mor in the Aran Islands, as well as a night in Galway where I became an involuntary participant in a rather impressive street performer's stunt (see below).  We then moved on to the small town of Ballyvaughn for an overnight stay on our way to the Dingle peninsula. 

After checking into the lovely Ballyvaughn Lodge, we began our exploration of the town.  The first stop for my dad and I was the pub in the Logue Lodge, one of the local b&bs.  We found the place gradually filling up in preparation for the semifinals of the Gaelic football league, in which Dublin Coun was taking on Kerry County.  Fans of both clubs populated the place, and we quickly looked up the rules to get up to speed.  Gaelic football is an interesting mix of soccer, rugby, and American football.  It was very fun to watch, and the Smithwick's was going down smoothly as the game got into full swing.  The crowd was initially subdued, but got more vocal as the game got more intense.  The staff was friendly and answered our questions about the game patiently.  When Dublin won on a go-ahead score with only a minute or two left, half the crowd exploded in cheers--very fun atmosphere to watch sports in.  While Logue was nothing to get too excited about, we left with a favorable impression.  

After meeting up for dinner, the full fam headed over O'Lochlainn, a small whiskey bar on the edge of town.  This place was fantastic.  A quiet bar intended for chatting, the place boasted a huge whiskey selection (pic below) and a barkeep that chatted us up about our travels, local attractions, local history, and music.  We sampled several whiskeys including some Jameson, some Red Breast, and some Green Spot, and Emma continued her adoption of Jameson and ginger ale as her drink of choice.  We had a good chat with the barkeep and amongst ourselves, telling stories and jokes for an hour or so.  A cozy place, O'Lochlainn probably only seats about 30, with a bar and a few tables in the front and a small snug for 5-6 in the back.  I'd definitely go back with a few hours to kill if the opportunity arose.  

We were ready to head home after O'Lochlainn, but a few of us had hoped to catch some music while in Ballyvaughn.  Passing the bar at the Hylands Burren Inn on our way back, we heard applause and cheering.  While my mom and Ellie were too tired for another stop, Emma, my dad and I dropped in to see what was going on.  What we found was a tiny front room where a group of four musicians were entertaining a packed crowd of about 20.  We found a couple seats, got some drinks, and settled in for the show.  An informal group, the musicians bantered with the crowd (many of who, were locals) between songs.  One of the musicians at one point pulled out a contraption consisting of two wooden marionette-type dolls and a long, thin board.  While the rest of the band played instrumental, he bounced the board up and down against the dolls' feet to create complex percussive patterns.  One of the coolest musical performances we saw.  At one point, the "leader" of the band even attempted to get my dad to come up and sing, singling him out of the crowd and saying that he "looked like a man with a song."  Unfortunately, the old man was too far out of his element that night to lead a performance, but did join in happily in singing crowd favorites like "Molly Malone" and "Goodnight Irene."  After another hour drinking and singing, we called it a night and headed back to the inn, very glad we'd made the stop at Hylands.