Noel's grandfather told him the best stone to build the house with was to be found in the old sheds that stood on the property. So they pulled them down, cleaned up the stone and have built their house from them on the same spot the old buildings stood. It looks beautiful. This house will have quite an historic feel, with the old stone on the outside and the very old slate tiles on the roof. They sourced them in junk yards and cleaned them up. They look fantastic. The house has a very cottagey feel to it. It will be very cosy, especially on a winter's day (or maybe even a summer's day!).
Noel has some great ideas for this back area. 
He wants to make it into a courtyard. Still some work to go but they think they will be in before Christmas. In the winter, when the leaves are off the trees, they will have spectacular views of Lough Oughter.
We moved on to see Drumlane abbey; Drumlane means the broad ridge.
The abbey has one of the oldest intact round towers in Ireland, believed to have been constructed in the year 555. It's interesting to look at it, the entrance is about 3 metres above the ground.
In Irish cemeteries there are always Celtic crosses on some of the tombs, especially the older ones. They are symbolic of Ireland and its Christian heritage. The decorations record episodes from the gospels, and served as a means to learn about stories from the Bible for many of the people who couldn't read.
We left Catherine and Sarah and headed off for our afternoon drive through Belturbet, Ballyconnell, Bawnboy, Glangavlin, Dowra, Drumkeeran, Manorhamilton and arrived at Dromahair for tea.
On the return journey we came through Drumshanbo, where we saw Allan's name sake, Lough Allen, Leitrim, Keshkerrigan, Fenagh, Ballinamore, Newtowngore, Killashandra, Crossdoney and home to Cavan.
This is another long list of towns and villages for you to read but unfortunately I can't give you the Irish pronunciation which makes them sound so delightful.
Now the idea of this trip was so we could at least see and maybe walk on Cuilagh Mountain, the highest point in Counties Cavan and Fermanagh, where it sits on the border. But unfortunately the weather wasn't kind to us, the mist set down over the whole mountain and we didn't see a thing, let alone walk on it. So can you catch the thought that we are not enjoying a sunny summer in Ireland. I don't think we have seen the sun yet! And as I write this the rain is lashing down. But we have been told this is a soft day.
The second point to take in is that the roads we travelled on are not motorways, not secondary roads but your average Irish country road; windy, hilly, heavily hedged and narrow, with lots of side roads coming off and on as they take you through the villages, so the whole journey takes a lot longer. We arrived home after midnight!
Our trip was made more enjoyable with Howard's renditions of many an Irish song that sprang from his lips as we drove through the different towns. He can sing a song about nearly every town we drove through, every lough we passed, an event that has happened in history, a person of notorious repute and then there's always the love songs about Mary or Paddy..... Howard certainly kept us awake.
And Catherine always amuses us with her Irish sayings:
- the seldom is more wonderful.
- She was telling us how she was talking to a man from Dublin who asked her where she was from. When she said, Cavan, he said, "Ah, that's where the seagulls fly upside down, just in case the money falls out of their pockets!"
- Ouch, yourman would steal the collar off a nightmare.
- There was herself and yourman, they met on the Hooley in the local hall.
- He was a real twerp of a man.
- It was a divil of a job with this and that and tother thing
- Herself was busy looking after the wee cutties and then the ironing had to be done because it was Monday.
Talk to you in a wee while....
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