Crochet Guild of America: Tour of Ireland and Scotland Day 4: April 1, 2003 Avoca Handweavers, Glendalough, Wicklow Gap, An Grianan report by CGOA member Barbara Pretzsch

Tuesday, April 1^st we were on our way to our first series of classes in Irish Crochet.  But we had some sightseeing to do first.  We travel through a wealthy area where houses cost from €1 to 1-½ million Euros.  There was a small coffee and sandwich kiosk on the sidewalk, which was so lucrative that it had been sold recently for £2.3 million (Pounds not Euros or Dollars).

Avoca

We arrived at the Avoca Hand Weavers lying along the small Avoca River.  It is the oldest working mill in Ireland today and dates back to 1723.  We were invited in to watch the weavers at work.   The looms were large and a young man showed us how they made the shuttle fly back and forth.  I thought I had seen looms used before but I don’t remember the shuttle ‘thrower’ like I saw here.  After the visit to the gift shop we went to the Meeting of the Waters for lunch.  It was delicious.

At the gift shop I found my first stamps for all the post cards I had purchased to send to friends and family back home.  The gift shop was called a “Craft Shop” and we were all anxious to see what goodies it held…but alas the definitions of words here were again in play.  It was only a souvenir shop.

Glendalough

We were headed next to Glendalough.  It was a monastic site founded by St. Kevin in the 6^th Century.    “Braveheart” the movie was shot in this location much to the disappointment of Scotland, since that was where the story took place!   The 40 meters high Round Tower of Glendalough ranks among the most beautiful of Ireland. The monastery lasted for more than 600 years. The fall came when the English troops destroyed the buildings to a large extent around 1400.

On our way north now we passed through the Wicklow Gap and although the highest in this range is only about 2000 feet, it is fairly bare and rocky.  John pointed out the heather, which was brown but would be purple in a few weeks.

It was about this time in our trip that John determined that we were ‘loose’ enough, oops not the right word, well we were ‘laid back’ enough… well that won’t work either….hummm we were open minded enough…that will work…to call the CGOA the Call Girls of America!  We got a good laugh over the fact that “John” was taking us for a ride!&nbs p;

We left County Dublin and entered County Meath, pronounced ‘Mead’.  I noticed that they really don’t say the ‘th’ sound.  It sounds like ‘d’ or ‘t’.  I was trying to understand the word ‘three’ once and it sounded like ‘tree’.  We were headed for Drogheda on the River Boyne.  We didn’t really stop there but spent a bit of time there because of traffic. Slowly making our way through the town we saw signs for Coors Beer, Heinz Catsup and Diet Coke in a silver bottle.  Do we have coke in a silver bottle in the US…I can’t remember?

We finally found our way to An Grianan on a very narrow road where construction was going on.  We literally scraped past hitting the bushes on the left side.  The bags were off loaded and we bid John a fond farewell.  He was a most informative and enjoyable guide.

We pulled our bags into the lobby and were invited to sit down and enjoy some tea and biscuits (delicious cookies). Ann Flanagan, the President of the college, welcomed us.  We were assigned our rooms and each of us had one to ourselves. 

An Grianan dining area

To get there we walked up stairs and along a corridor that skirted the dining area on the floor below.  Beautiful quilts lined the walls everywhere.  The tiny rooms contained a bed, a chair, a small closet and a sink and counter with a window looking out over a beautiful lawn.  Across the hall were the bathrooms, some had showers but most were tubs.

Dinner, oops, “high tea” was served at 6:00.  High tea is a proper supper in my language.  We had chicken salad, fries or ‘chips’, bread, butter and jelly and of course tea and coffee with a delicious teacake for dessert.

Next we visited with other ladies here at the college who were doing other things like painting, calligraphy and gardening. These ladies took a week at a time to go on their retreat and learn an art.  Some of the other classes were Yoga, Make-up, Quilting, Historic Homes, Glass Etching, Golf Clinic (there is a golf course n earby), Computer Skills and Aromatherapy to mention just a few.

We were to be entertained by 2 different programs that evening.  A local high school group was presenting an original play they had written for a class they were taking.   There were 8 young adults who each took several different roles.  W e were the audience for their ‘dress rehearsal’.  Except for missing some words (still hard to understand the brogue sometimes) I followed it pretty well.

The second really neat activity was to view quilts that had been done by the Quilting Club in Drogheda.  The quilts were exquisite and one woman had made her daughters wedding gown with fantastic embroidered edging and designs on it. She also had made a quilt with the folds of cloth stitched in one direction then in the other.  Well I am totally frustrated in trying to describe it and was reluctant to tear myself away to get a camera! There was an “Around the World Quilt”.  One lady started the center and sent it plus 1 meter of one of the materials she had used to a friend in another country.  That person added a border with several materials as well as some of the material sent with it.  Then it went on with each participant adding another border and another meter of material.  There were probably 8 people involved before it was returned to the originator.  She then finished it to the size she wanted it.  Each person somehow added his or her name and country to the quilt.  It was stunning!  In fact all the work was stunning.  There were at least 25 different things on display.  It was a real treat to meet these ladies.  Then it was time for more tea and bisc uits for the 10 PM “meal”.

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©2004 Crochet Guild of America. Article and Photographs: Barbara Pretzsch Webweaver: Pam Oddi

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