Ireland: Yates, Strokestown, and bit of rain.

Day 5: we woke up to sunshine and the hope that nearing rain would stay away for the day. Allison and I made breakfast, fried eggs, toast, berries, and tea. We also packed a light lunch of bread, cheese, and sliced apples as we were not sure where the road would take us. Coincidently it took us 7 km up the road to the Drumclifee cemetery where WB Yeats is buried. A local hero returned here to rest after a prolific career as poet and author. Near the church yard was a small tea house, mom and I enjoyed coffee Allison earl grey. There was a lovely gift shop and free WiFi. We spent close to an hour futzing about and then headed south towards Strokestown.
Strokestown is home to the Mahon estate which was rumored to be sold for a measily £125,000 in 1981. Olive Packenham Mahon was in her early 80s, twice widowed, and loosing money trying to maintain the property which included 300 acres. Mr Callery approached Olive to buy a few acres, she said it's all or nothing, so he bought it. What Mr Callery didn't realize was the house and all of its contents were included in the sale. Realizing the historical value of the house and it's contents, Mr Callery open the house for tours and has been painstakingly restoring it ever since. He also opened the walled gardens and created the national Irish famine museum on property. The tour was extremely interesting and we enjoyed our time there.
We left right before the museum closed and headed back towards Sligo. Allison made dinner, roasted and stuffed pork loin with potatoes, broccoli, salad and a dessert of berries. We had a leisurely walk to the beach where it began drizzling. Just as we reached the door of our cottage the sky really opened up. We spent our evening playing cards and drinking wine.