One year of Irelandlogue
It’s been a year in the ‘logue, folks and, as I promised in an earlier post, I thought it would be a good idea to have a look over the year of blogging that’s been. What follows is a review some of the highlights of the past year’s logue-ing.
Over the last year I’ve spent every day blogging about interesting Irish things. Now that irelandlogue has been in existence for a year, it’s become an interesting Irish thing in itself. It’s a great thing: I’ve had the good fortune to have lived a fascinating year and to have had a blog to reflect it in.
A Year in the ‘Logue
September 2006
Getting my blog legs. Posts include my post on the etiquette of drinking in Ireland and Osama Bin Laden spotted in Athlone and even a couple of posts on the IRA.
October 2006
One of the early highlights of blogging had to have been my appearance on the Gerry Ryan show. Gerry was talking about pumpkin carving, something Kim and I have been doing every year since arriving in Ireland. Like most people, he assumed that jack-o-lanterns were an American tradition. The story of Jack O’Lantern is, actually, an Irish one and the carving of pumpkins is simply a variation on the ancient Irish tradition of turnip carving. My turnip carving video got me on Ireland’s most popular radio show. Awesome.
That same month we got to play The Roisín Dubh in Galway with Bill Coleman. Sue Wheat.
November 2006
I experienced firsthand the Irish anti-drink-driving campaign and Michael Jackson stopped through Athlone.
December 2006
December brought flooding, The Wren Boys, disapproval of Ryanair and I finally figured out the names of Irish meals.
January 2007
Irelandlogue got listed on irishblogs.ie, bringing a lot more native Irish traffic to the site. The plight of rural Ireland was also very much in the news when the report that 1/3 of County Galway pubs had closed within a month of the new drink driving laws coming into effect.
February 2007
The results of an archeological find in County Longford showed Ireland has possibly the earliest signs of permanent human settlement: 7000 B.C. How romantic.
March 2007
Bono got knighted.
April 2007
April revealed the uselessness of disposable breathalyzers, the inexplicablility of the Irish television license and Robert Sarazin Blake came to town.
May 2007
We conducted the fourth annual midland songwriter night here in Athlone. I was the parent of THAT baby on the plane and I realised that while you can never go home, there’s always garlic curry cheese and bacon chips to soothe the pain.
June 2007
The Westmeath Independent interviewed me and published an article about the blog. When the article ran, the article was featured on the front page of the newspaper with the headline, “She’s putting Athlone on the blogger’s map.”
Is it because I’m from San Francisco? *grin*
July 2007
We got to play in an Irish castle in July! Kerbside took the stage as part of the TriAthlone festivities with the first-ever rock gig in Athlone castle.
August 2007
More print media attention came in August when The Guardian ran a whole article praising irelandlogue.com. Whoo-hoo!
Also, the Vikings apologised for invading Ireland a few hundred years ago.
Not least of all, I auditioned for the Irish sesame street!
September 2007
Kerbside played with Mundy! On the down side, Ireland’s soccer team and Ireland’s rugby team kinda fizzle out.
Last, but not least we come full-circle, and I have a chance to catch my breath and write a few retrospective posts!