Dubliners--Part III

The next day after breakfast at the same B&B and just before leaving, we spent some time talking with the man of the B&B who informed us that we were going to be in Dublin fortuitously during the National Hurling Championships.  We were told that it would be a busy crowded weekend with the numerous fans.  He had also booked a place himself to be there on that evening as he was a big hurling fan.  Our B&B host was a short but well-built man in his late 50's just full of energy and full of the gift of gab.  He reminded me of a bull dog with his stance and a leprechaun with his expressive waving of his arms as he talked about his love of the game reenacting his favorite hurling plays.   He had in some way been affiliated with a team that won the hurling championships a few years ago when playing off a tie game.   He was so excited to talk about the sport and had several enthusiastic tales to tell of that event.  He spoke rapidly and we were trying hard to understand through the strong accent and the idiomatic expressions what he was talking about while we did catch the familiar four-letter words sprinkled like spice through-out his tales and several funny jokes.  It seemed at that historic game there was a "mystery" player that had replaced an injured primary player at the very last minute.   Since they do wear helmets the fans and press could not recognize him by his face as they made him keep his helmet on.   This fill-in player was young, maybe 19(?), and thus they didn't want the opposing team to know how far they had gone to get a last minute replacement.  The mystery player made some very impressive plays and was important in helping his team win.  Such a typical sports talk!  He then told us which pub we absolutely had to go to in Dublin to watch the game which is about 80 minutes long, and if it ends in a tie...so be it...they play again the next week!

The walk to the area took us through typical Dublin crowds in a major shopping area.  Most of these people are tourists, I am guessing.

The Dublin Canal is in the photo above.

We had the two young people (son and DIL)  to make sure we found the "Living Room" which actually seemed to be several pubs together and was a rather large sports viewing place.  We got there about an hour before the game and most people were watching the Ryder's Cup, so we lucked out on getting a table for the six of us at the time that golf game ended.

All the typical fan stuff (Kilkenny and Tipperary) was being sold on the streets and the bars had colored balloons representing the teams hung across the doors outside.  The little lassie above with the heart shaped face was so excited for her team.

I nursed a glass and a half of Guinness, while some of the others in my party polished off a couple of pitchers of the respected ale.

Sorry no photos of the actual game..but you can Google it.

What a lucky time for us in Dublin!

Next let me talk about the people we met.