Ireland

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with love from West Cork, Ireland (2002)

With love from West Cork

30.7.02 Just a quick ‘hi’. Hope all’s well. Had a nice week in Co. Waterford – splendid weather, fab scenery, coves, seals, beaches, jelly fish & v. friendly people. Farm was great & now over at Bantry Bay generally poking about. Lovely mussels & boys enjoying it all! Hope to see you after 5/8 – love to all – Alison + Bells

Here’s another message waxing lyrical about Ireland; Alison and the Bells certainly seem to be making the most of it 🙂 It looks very picturesque, however, for a professional shot, it is a shame that the horizon is not level!

The card is postmarked ‘DURAS 01.8.02′ and carries a 41 cent Europa stamp.  2002 was the inaugural competition for the best Europa stamp design.

I became friends with Alison when our children were small. We shared a love of encouraging play in the countryside and enjoyed many days of riverside picnics, water fights, dam building,  football and rounders matches.  These days Alison and I still meet regularly for walks, which inspire our art and poetry 🙂

 

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with love from Ireland (1986)

With love from Ireland

Firstly, Belated congrats. Hope you’re both enjoying plenty of bliss! Well we’re now at the end of the Irish Tour 86. We’ve seen lots of Ireland like Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Limerick and back to Dun Laoghaire. Just about every place featured overleaf I’d say. As you’d expect we’ve dabbled a bit with the Guinness and checked out lots of cousins and generally speaking had a great time. Might see you if we come down for Sunderlands’ game at Portsmouth. Lots of love Gerard and the lads on hols!

An enthusiastic status update from the Emerald Isle where ‘Gerard and the lads’ obviously enjoyed themselves 🙂

Postmarked ‘DUN LAOGHAIRE 1.30pm 2 AUG 1986’ the card carries another, barely legible, postmark asking ‘are you on the VOTERS LIST…’

The 24p stamp features Cormac Chapel and is part of the Irish Architecture series issued between 1982 and 1990

Amazingly, this card was sent some ten years after we met on holiday as young teenagers! The card is addressed to both me and Simon and acknowledges our recent wedding; however, we did not meet up for Sunderland v Portsmouth. The good news is that I have now re-connected with Gerard and we have exchanged several emails. He (and his wife) still live 300 miles away, but we are thinking about planning a get together in conjunction with next season’s football fixtures 🙂Â