Sean and Sandy

Today I had a drink in Sean's Bar.

This is significant for a few reasons. One of my sons is called Sean. His 5 times great grandfather, Alexander (Sandy) Laing, who I have written about in previous posts, undoubtedly had a few drinks and played his fiddle here in 1810 when he was a 19 year old soldier from Scotland stationed in Athlone. And the name of the town, Athlone, comes from the name of original owner of Sean's Bar.

Athlone is right in the centre of Ireland, and is on Ireland's longest river, the River Shannon.

 The military barracks are still here and are one of the largest in Ireland.

The medieval castle has seen many seiges. It is now a museum.

There is also a 32km long lake just north of Athlone. We took a boat ride up the Shannon River to the lake, Lough Ree. Vikings once lived on the islands and ruled the area. Early Christian monks lived there before that.

 Some parts of Athlone are a bit drab and run down, but some parts are quite funky.

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