O'Carroll Clan Celebration

Last year Sean and I (Kay) went home to Ireland for the celebration of Sean's brother Noel and his wife Peg's 50th wedding anniversary. In this day and age when marriage seems to be for the short haul this is a wonderful milestone and testament for the institution of marriage. Family came from all over Ireland, Canada and Australia. The celebration started with mass at the local church in Duncairn. It was made more meaningful by the family members which included sisters, brothers, children and grandchildren who did the readings. Not a dry eye could be found in the church when Noel and Peg's daughters stood up to tell everyone about the wonderful parents they have. On a lighter note when Sean got up to do his reading the priest realized that he had met him 40 years ago in New York and they had a little get together right on the altar. Like all good Irish celebrations a party was held after the mass in the local hotel where everyone enjoyed the Guinness and the Craic! Of course no Irish party can be a success without toe taping music. Everyone knows that the Irish are the best dancers in the world i.e. Riverdance and the O'Carroll clan are no different! Well some of us are!! A picture of the original wedding party of Noel, Peg, Marie and Francis was taken and everyone looks just as good 50 years later.
Everyone had a wonderful time and the Canadian and Australian contingent stayed on and enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of John and Sadie at Snugborough Heights for the remainder of their holiday.

Happy St. Patrick's Day (Belatedly)

Well we have just past the annual celebration of the Irish with St. Patrick's Day last week. It seems the world has adopted this holiday as celebrations are held around the world. From Chicago where they dye the river green, to Milton where my neighbour across the road who flies his tricolour, and all the way to Moscow and beyond. We enjoyed some of the festivities over here in Toronto. Dad went to the parade, it was a bit cold for the rest of us. The Parade had to be re-routed due to a bomb scare. Imagine that, a bomb scare in connection with the Irish. Did you ever hear of such a thing?!?! ;) But we did enjoy some craic and the music of Madd Paddy at the Ireland Supporter's Club. Having a great time on the dance floor were Hannah, Brendan, and Orla.

Heel and Toe and Kick!

Last summer Hannah started Irish dancing classes and she is really enjoying them. She had seen the Irish dancing on our wedding video and had watched the Riverdance video my mom and dad have and she decided that's what she wanted to do. So every Tuesday evening I bundle her up, dancing shoes and all and head off to the beginners class at the Finnegan School of Irish Dance. Patricia Finnegan is one of my dad's former geography students who was a competitive Irish dancer around the same time Shauna was. I was on the school's website to see if their is class tonight (the kids are on a school holiday this week, so I wasn't sure if it was a holiday from dance class as well-it isn't) and found this picture of the beginner class. Have a look who is front and centre!