Mountrath

One of the reasons.. no it wasn't just for the Guinness Factory tour.. I wanted to go to Ireland was because my mother's family is from there.  Specifically a speck-on-the-map town called Mountrath.  Her sister, my Aunt Mickey diligently researched the family tree and found the town.  We have not mad the connection with anyone living there as related yet, but I am sure that will come.

I stopped and talked with the butcher for a while. He was a very nice man and I felt welcomed there.  I was giving Shane a ride back to Cork, so we grabbed some tea there too since we were in for a long day with Kilkenney Castle on the way.

All in all it was a nice town, nothing truly notable about it. Oh, it did win the 'Tidy Town' award last year.  Ireland has this cool competition in each county where all the towns compete on being the tidiest.  Based on frontage landscaping, rubbish, and other factors I don't know.  Very smart.