Backpacking through Europe in 1994

Day 1 • Shannon and Limerick, Ireland
September 7, 1994

Well, I made it, now let’s go explore Europe!

My Photographs from today

Day 1 9-7-94

Shannon and Limerick Ireland

M.O. Mahony
5 Crescent Villas
O Connell Avenue
Limerick, Ireland

Above is the address of Mick, the bloke who bought all my beers at the Grand Mariner pub (in his own handwriting). A very nice guy, but pissed off his gourd. I was at the pub to take in an acoustic jam session, and it was surprisingly easy to make friends, but I should give most of the credit to my accent and camera.

In addition to the above Mick, I met another guy named Mick who rides Harleys (Harley-Davidson motorcycles). He met Adam Clayton (the bass player for the Irish rock and roll band U2 - my all-time favorite band!) and Larry Mullen (the drummer for U2) in Dublin at a Harley convention where they had been invited to judge a wet T-shirt contest. I met Mick’s wife Mary, who met Bono (the lead singer for U2) in a tattoo parlor in Dublin in 1988. Bono wanted to see a girl getting a tattoo, and they ended up talking for quite a while. I also met Nigel, the bongo man in the band. But I'm way ahead of myself. Let's go back to the beginning.

I arrived in Shannon around 10:00 am. The flight was uneventful save for a three hour delay in Boston to fix a faulty fire extinguisher. Customs was a breeze, and I strapped on my pack, took a deep breath, and stepped out of the airport and into my new life.

After about 300 or 400 yards my pack became unbearable. As I sat on the ground catching my breath the realization of what I was doing hit me like a bullet. I was 100%, completely and totally on my own. I could not call anyone to come pick me up. I could not hail a taxi because I had no local currency (I didn’t want to get screwed out of my few precious dollars at the airport exchange). I didn't know where I was, or worse, where I was going. My lighthearted joke of the last few months was now a stark reality.

I continued on into the town of Shannon, a few miles up the road. I stumbled onto the town shopping center (I would guess Shannon has less than 1,000 people) and de-packed. I found the bank, and exchanged $24.00 US for £14 and change. Now that I had money, I found the supermarket and bought a candy bar. Next, I found the travel shop and got a bus schedule, and I proceeded a block over to the bus stop.

I met a woman who called herself Mother Teresa and she blessed me. I sure could use it. We boarded the bus and rode the 15 miles into Limerick. I'm glad I didn't try to walk it. Once in town, I headed for the USIT office to purchase a travel save stamp for £7. It will give me half price fares all around Ireland on trains and buses. They told me where the hostel was, and I walked the four blocks to it.

It didn't open until 5:00, and it was only 2:00, so I was just going to sit for the wait when the manager opened it up so I could at least put my bags inside. The fee was £6, and after paying she gave me a map of Limerick and I set out. I went to an art museum, down to the edge of the Shannon river, over to a castle, to the train station to check on times to Dublin, by a take-out place for a burger and back to the hostel at 5:00.

Utterly exhausted, I crawled up onto my bunk, into my sleeping bag and was immediately asleep.

I awoke around 9:00, showered, changed, and headed over to Catherine Street to find a pub. I met Mick upon entering and spent the rest of the evening getting free Guinness beer, and singing with Nigel and his friends. I made it back to the hostel at 5 till 12:00, and once again, was asleep as soon as I hit the bed.

A comment from me today about this Image

In 1999, I was enrolled in the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale studying Commercial Photography.

The school had a brand-new, state-of-the-art negative scanner that cost $12,000 and I had access to it. This is one of the images I scanned. I then used another brand-new, state-of-the-art Macintosh computer in their computer lab along with a brand-new, cutting-edge software program called Adobe Photoshop to add color and enhance this image. This photograph then became part of my Senior Portfolio for graduation.

I graduated with Honors at the top of my class and earned the distinguished “Best Portfolio” award.

Without a doubt, this picture of King John’s Castle has always had a very special place in my heart and always will.

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