Ireland

New Bridge House

A couple of months ago, I went with my friend J and A to the New Bridge House and Farm in Demense, Ireland. J volunteers with the Alone group every couple of weeks. Alone is a volunteer run organization that matches volunteers with the elderly and home bound. They work together to also put on volunteer / elderly outings and socialization programs. I was asked to tag along and to pictures of the group for their newsletter, which I was only too happy to do.

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The New Bridge house and farm about 30 minutes north of the city center. The building itself is a Georgian era home with multiple out buildings including a carriage house, stables, old pig / chicken homes, victorian walled garden, and plenty of park land and animals. Some of the history of the location is as follows:

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On June 19th, 1736, Charles Cobbe (Cobb), then Bishop of Kildare, paid £5,526.5.6 for the townlands surrounding Donabate, Lainstown, Haggardstown and Newbridge, containing 490 acres. In 1747, the house itself was started on part of these lands, in a traditional Georgian style. For inspiration, the Bishop used another fine Georgian house which he had visited in the city center. In 1751, Charles son, Thomas, married Lady Elizabeth Beresford, daughter of the Earl of Tyrone. She brought money into the family, and redecorated and updated the house including adding the famed Red Drawing room. The house has been occupied fairly consistently since the completion under Lady Elizabeth, and remains occupied part of the year by the Cobbe family today. The surrounding parkland, house, and property now belong to the Fingal county council who manage and run it as a public and visitor’s attraction.

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The day that I was there was bright sun most of the day, but also intermittent showers. We toured the house (no pictures allowed) and went out into the petting “zoo” portion of the animal farm and the out buildings. One of the highlights was watching the peacock strut around in the courtyard. We also got to see a very old guilded carriage that used to be used to take the mayor to the swearing in ceremony in Dublin.

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One of the amusing parts of the tour was actually seeing the sign on the blacksmith’s shop – and getting a chuckle.

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If you’d like to see more on the house (including pictures of the beautiful inside) you’re welcome to check out their website at:

http://www.newbridgehouseandfarm.com

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National Adopt a Dog Month

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Hi, Riddick Here. Did you know that it’s National Adopt a Dog month? This is a picture with me and my Human best friend this summer at the Giant’s Causeway in N. Ireland. I picked out my human back in 2003 from Best Friends Animal Society. We started out in Salt Lake City, and she made a promise that I would be hers to love forever. We have been together for 9 years and moved in 2005 to live in Germany and now live in Ireland. I’ve seen lots of Europe and been on planes, trains, boats and automobiles – and lived quite the life – and I have fans from all over the world. I’m now 13 years old and despite slowing down because of some arthritis in my old age, I know I’m truly blessed because I have found my forever home in my “Mom”. I hope others will learn from my human and take a chance on adopting a shelter dog or cat. We all have so much love to give and deserve to have forever homes. Remember, A pet is not just for Christmas – we’re love for a lifetime!

Riddick Smiles

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Laura Lynn Charity Ball

Laura Lynn Charity Ball

As if the bake sale last week, Wednesday, wasn’t enough, I bought tickets to a formal charity ball held at the Crowne Plaza (about 5 blocks from where I live) here in Blanchardstown, Ireland. The charity ball was in support of the Laura Lynn foundation. They run the first hospice house for terminally ill children, which was opened here in 2011. (In the USA, these are usually run by the Ronald McDonald House or the Shriners Club.)

You can find out more about the Laura Lynn charity, hospice house, and donate here: http://www.sunshinehome.ie/lauralynn-house.html

Laura Lynn Charity Ball

Tickets to the ball were very reasonable at 50 Euros each (30 Euros for those of us where I work because we were offering some prizes for the raffle) and included a 4 course meal. There was also a fabulous singer, dj, and a raffle the night of.
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Thing is that despite telling the guys on my team that they’d get some massive brownie points if they took their girlfriends, they all declined. When I arrived at the Ball (with 3 other lovely ladies) I had to giggle. The place was about 10 beautiful ladies dressed in ball gowns and looking gorgeous – to 1 man per table! Above you can see me, Diana and Sylvia; Below it’s Me, Jacqui and Sylvia.
Laura Lynn Charity Ball

We had a great evening (Men out there – really, if you wanted to meet women – this is for sure the place to do it – as they all wanted to be Cinderella for the eve!) despite the drought of men – eating, dancing, and laughing at the fact that none of our “yellow” book raffle tickets were drawn. (They had different color tickets that were drawn from all over the crowd. for prizes worth up to 500 euros!)

Laura Lynn Charity Ball

By the time I got home at 3am, my feet hurt, and I was ready to climb out of the restrictive garments that make us all look so good – and into my PJs, have a cup of tea, and head off to dreamland.

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