A day fishing

Saturday I woke up, had a good breakfast of fresh Ballymaloe hen eggs and took a walk around the gardens. At noon we all biked down to the Cookery School with Jean-Christophe and Baptiste (who ended up walking because of a broken bike). We had pizza at the little cafe, cooked by one Emily and her husband. Emily works in the gardens some days and is somehow connected to the Allen family in this complicated family web.

Seriously if you’ve read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the Allen family tree is about nine times more complicated than the Vanger one. The funny thing is, none of them actually work in the same business…some own the restaurant, some are in farming, some own a café, some teach at the Cookery School, some own the Cookery School, some sell food products, and the list goes on.

Anyways after a quick walk through the gardens and teaching the Jeans more English we headed back. When we got back, Rory Allen took us to Ballycotton (the town five minutes down the road to the right from the Ballymaloe house) and onto his fishing boat. After a quick ride out past the lighthouse, we started fishing. But we really didn’t just go fishing…we went catching. Within five minutes, Mel and Emily had brought up mackerel. Then Rory and I started to catch some and then within about 45 minutes we had caught 20+ mackerel and a baby cod that had to be thrown back. The wind was cold on the ocean, the seagulls swarming our catch, and I really felt like a wind-hardened Irish fishermen…kinda (Ballycotton actually translates to “land of the small fishermen’s houses” in Irish). Meanwhile Ballymaloe translates to “land of the sweet honey” while Shanagarry, the actual town its located in, means “old gardens”.

Honestly, this was as much success in fishing (or catching) as I can remember. It was a fun time and we were all grateful that Rory invited us to go out with him.