What a great time we had at Irish Fest. I had the pleasure of letting book lovers know that my new book, Celtic Wisdom, Treasures From Ireland, is just about to be released. I had copies of Brigid of Ireland with me at the Fest as well.
I had book signings and a talk at the Hedge School with my friend Patti Lacy, author of An Irishwoman's Tale--an amazing book based on a true story.
It was a pleasure to meet new friends like Alister McReynolds, historian and author. He is an expert on the Scots-Irish. I picked up a copy of his book. In addition I reconnected with Dr. Tim Campbell, Director of the Saint Patrick Centre in Northern Ireland. He had advised me on my St. Patrick chapter in Celtic Wisdom and I presented him a copy of the book at the Fest.
I met many other really cool people, including the organizers of a couple of other Irish festivals. We heard a lot of cool bands, including Master Fiddler Natalie McMaster and her husband Donnell Leahy; and the legendary Tommy Sands (who also happened to sit next to me on the shuttle ride back to the hotel.)
Finally, I have to mention an amazingly funny and educational play put on by the Bangor Drama Club (that's Bangor, Northern Ireland). It was 10,000 years of County Down history in 30 minutes. So fun! Earlier we met Galvin on the shuttle who told us about some of the challenges the group had, including one member who was temporarily left in London due to a passport irregularity, and another who fell on the sidewalk in Milwaukee and broke her wrist. But the show went on and it was great!
It was so much fun to meet readers, including one who told me she had bought Brigid of Ireland at the Dublin Irish Festival. Now, if I just didn't have to WRITE, I could spend my time visiting the many Irish festivals all over the country. But Tom says we should save our money to visit Ireland, and after all we heard about Northern Ireland, the land of both of our ancestors, I think he's right!
