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Forgot to mention that some of our group visited the FBI building in Washington a few days ago. They were shown around by a man named Pat Manning whose family came from the Ballyferriter area.
The group were allowed to use the shooting range and were on a high for hours after the experience.
Went to Union Station this afternoonand boarded a train for New York with Dermot Kinlen and one of the local St Brendan committee members. The fare was $55 return. It was a very comfortable Amtrak train but the public address system was earsplitting. No chance you’d fall asleep and miss your stop!
Arrived in New York four and a half hours later. Was surprised to see large tracts of reed grass or giolcach around swampland on the outskirts of the city which reminded me of the reed beds around the Short Strand at home.
Got a taxi to the residence of the Irish Ambassador to the United Nations, Robert McDonagh. Dermot Kinlen knows all the right people!
The Ambassador’s wife, Róisín, showed us to our rooms and then made the best cup of tea I have ever tasted.
Later, we all went to dinner at Joyces Restaurant. Dermot had invited the Japanese Ambassador to the UN and his wife, the British Ambassador and wife and Fr O’Hare, newly appointed head of Fordham University. The meal was delicious and must have cost Dermot at least £300.
Monday, May 7.
Visited the Empire State Building - over 100 floors - and took several photos of the city. Then a quick visit to St Patrick’s Cathedral where Dermot got confession. He confessed to me he has a real fear of being killed in a plane crash. That makes two of us!
Next stop was the Grand Central Station and later called to the Bord Fáilte offices on 5th Avenue and gave Simon O’Hanlon the background to the St Brendan race and the Brendan Festival in Dingle.
On to the United Nations building where Ambassador McDonagh treated us to lunch and then a tour of the General Assembly room and other parts of the building.
The security appeared to be very lax - my shoulder bag could have contained 30 pounds of explosive but nobody checked it.
Later, went down town to the Irish Echo office to give them information about the Brendan Festival in Dingle and that we are expecting some currach crews from the States to take part in the World Currach Championships there in June.
Said farewell to New York and headed back to Washington on my own by train which took only three hours this time.
Went to The Dubliner pub and met Ciarán MacMathúna and his son, also Ciarán and spent a few hours with them.
Tuesday, May 8.
Had lunch with Ciarán junior in the International Monetary Fund building where he works. Had a brief tour of the place - very impressive.
Last day in Washington so spent the afternoon sightseeing and buying some presents for the family.
The city is rich in monuments; the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Iwo Jima memorial etc but the one that impressed me the most was that of Albert Einstein which is located in a secluded grove of trees near the Viet-nam memorial. This is a huge bronze effigy of Einstein who is depicted sitting on a series of steps and holding a piece of paper bearing his iconic formula, E=mc2.
The monument is so big that people are dwarfed when standing beside it or sitting on it.
The weather turned nasty around 4pm with thunder, lightening and torrential rain and it was like being in the tropics.
Had a meeting later with Jim Ruland and members of the St Brendan committee and spent a couple of hours going over the week’s events and the next steps in the proposed St Brendan trans-Atlantic yacht race.
Wednesday, May 9.
The Rulands drove me to the airport and my flight left Washington at 5pm arriving in New York just after 5.30. By the time the baggage was out and I had walked to the Aer Lingus desk the flight to Shannon was boarding.
The jumbo jet was packed. Took off at 8.20pm, an hour late, and headed eastwards for Shannon.
Thursday, May 10.
Set down in Shannon at 6.35am. A cool, moist ‘soft’ morning. Passed through immigration without incident but had a bit of hassle with customs. Jim Ruland had given me some St Brendan magazines which were produced by his committee plus a bunch of St Brendan ties for the Kerry committee. The customs man thought that I was going to sell the stuff and it took a while to convince him otherwise.
Got a bus to Limerick and another to Tralee then a lift to Dingle and home.
