Crochet Guild of America: Tour of Ireland and Scotland Day 7: April 4, 2003 Monaghan, Carrickmacross, Clones report by CGOA member Barbara Pretzsch

Friday, April 4^th  we were up at 6:45 to pack and get ready to leave.  We had a group picture of us all on the steps of An Grianan taken by the President, Ann Flanagan so we could all be in it.

Our second driver for the next leg of our trip was also John so I call him John 2.   It started out a foggy morning, like you see so many pictures of Ireland.  On the way to Monaghan, our next stop, I noticed more cows and John Deere tractors, more American influence. 

Castle Cabra

We stopped for ‘tea and scones’ at the Cabra Castle. This is a most elegant place with a beautiful golf course and hotel. 

Liz Riordan, Tosca Mark, Barbara Reid, Delma Myers enjoying Irish coffee at Castle Cabra

Believe it or not we were served Irish coffee at 10:30 in the morning.  So I finally got to taste Irish coffee.  It was served warm in a wine glass with frothy white top.  It was delicious!  The scones are very much like a sweet biscuit with little pieces of fruit in them.  Also delicious!

We arrived in Monaghan at about 11:30 at the shopping center.  It was quite modern looking with McDonalds arches on display.   Many of the ladies knew where the “wool” shop was and took off at a pretty good clip. We were to be back at the bus at 2:30.  We gathered at the meeting point showing all the goodies we had found.

Sliagh Beagh hotel

The little town of Knockatallon in the foothills of the Beagh Mountains was the destination although I can’t say I ever saw much ‘town’.  We were staying in a nice new hotel called Sliagh Beagh.  There was not an elevator and I was glad that they brought our bags to the room.  Liz and I were assigned a room at the far end of the building, which was by that time was at ground level because the hotel was built against a hill.  The hotel is owned collectively by the town.  The area was in the midst of the fighting between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, being right on the border.  Many fled the area and it now is trying to bring people back into County Monaghan for tourism and living.   The hills are ideal for hiking and I suspect they are grooming the area for this type of vacation.

Marie Treanor with Kitty Sheffield

Shortly we meet Maire Treanor who is the co-founder of the Clones Lace Guild and the Clones based Cassandra School of Lacemaking.  We looked at some of her beautiful things. 

Marie Treanor's christening gown

She had a beautiful christening gown.  She told us that she started it with her first child.  She added on to it with each child and she has three girls. Many children in her family have used it and each child’s name is embroidered on the skirt. 

We had dinner with Maire and her two helpers, Grainne McAleer and Rosarii Flynn.  Both these ladies are pictured in the book that Maire has published and that we worked from.  After dinner we boarded another bus and started to Clones for a tour of the Cassandra Hand historical places.

&nbs p;Church of Ireland

Clones is located only a half mile from the border of Northern Ireland.  We started our tour at the Church of Ireland where Bishop Thomas Hand (husband of Cassandra Hand) presided.  This church sits on a hill above the town’s diamond and can be seen for miles around.  We were let into the church and given a talk on the area.  Walking along the path leading to the door we were told that it was part of a famine grave and they still have bones working their way up through the dirt to this day. 

Cassandra Hand School of Lacemaking

Next on the tour was the Cassandra Hand School of Lacemaking. Actually it is in poor condition and is to be renovated sometime in the next 5 years.  It was buil t in 1860 when Cassandra Hand used her own money to build the school with money she had made from the cottage industry.   Across the street is an old round tower with the top missing.  It was said to date from about 1100.

After a quick stop at the graveyard where Cassandra Hand was bur ied we were on our way home.  In the clear dark blue sky hung a crescent moon, so pretty over the Irish countryside.  The road was narrow like the country roads around home and someone usually had to pull way over near the hedge to get past our bus.  The fences are grown up with hedges and then trimmed straight across the top of the fence.  Our way home had us crossing into Northern Ireland and roads we were on 7 or 8 years ago had been blown up and had been that way for about 20 years.  The British guarded the checkpoints.  John said, for no reason at all sometimes they would be detained.  If you were on the government or union side the British would say OK, go ahead.  But if you were a Republican they would cause trouble.  John’s uncle lived on the border and could hear the fighting often.

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

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