Joseph Francis Downey

I should have posted this here long before now. To all of you son's who have father's who are living I highly recommend a vacation with your father. Over the years we had numerous family vacations that were all excellent. A father and sons vacation is very different. We covered topics we would not normally have covered and had a pace of vacation that was very different than the pace we have when everybody is there.

I don't want to discourage family vacations but a father and son vacation is truly worth it.  Here is the obituary that was written by my sister Stella.

Joseph Francis Downey

Passed away peacefully on Thursday August 13th, 2015,  surrounded by his loving family. Leaving with cherished memories, his children Peter (Myrna Lynne), Aidan (Annette Manuel), Mary Downey (Pat Dawson), Stella (Michael Maguire), John and their mother Josephine Downey, eleven grandchildren, Jacob, Mark, Scott Downey; Adam (Christa), and Jessica Downey; Lindsay (Steve Buffett), Laura Ryan, Caitlin Ryan (Derrick Lee); Niamh, Deirdre, and Maura Maguire; five great-grandchildren, Rachael and Rebecca Downey; Brady and Chase Buffett; and Hunter Lee. He is predeceased by his mother and father Teresa (Wall) and James Downey, brothers Bernard, Edward, Tony, Jerome and James, sisters Frances, Sr. Mary Andrina and Cecilia. Also leaving his sisters, Theresa Cashin, Kathleen Barry, Ann MacNeil and Lucy Briggs (Jim Briggs). Joe was born on October 28th 1930 in Great Codroy NL, the tenth of thirteen children, he and his family farmed the fertile land of the Codroy Valley where all hands, big or small, contributed to the many daily chores required. Whether building a barn with the wood they cut and sawed or tending crops and animals, the natural environment was part of everyday life and the valley was always home to Joe no matter where he lived. Joe attended Memorial University and graduated in 1958 with a Bachelor of Education. He initially taught in Norris Arm, Allan’s Island, and St Bernard’s before spending the greatest part of his career teaching in St John’s at Holy Cross and then served as principal of Holy Spirit School until his retirement. He also served on the executive of the Newfoundland Teacher’s Association, assuming many roles, as he endeavored to ensure fair working agreements for teachers and equitable education for all. Joe was proud of his profession as a teacher, loved people and enjoyed engaging in conversation and debate. He took great pleasure in being part of children’s growth and he was always comfortable around large groups of kids. His household while his own children were growing up was a gathering place where everyone was welcome, fed, and participated in whatever was happening. Known as Poppy Joe to his grandchildren and their friends, Joe’s great love in later life was his eleven grandchildren to whom he was devoted and available 24/7. He could always be relied on to pick up/drop off, treat to lunch or breakfast, babysit (he always said his grandchildren babysat him) or go on an adventure to various locations in and around the city. Poppy Joe was a grandfather extraordinaire who was deeply loved and respected and played many roles in his grandchildren’s lives. He had a multitude of nieces and nephews whose talents he recognized and supported as if they were his own children. His joy was to see his family grow into contributing members of their communities with shared family values. Visitation will take place at Caul’s Funeral Home, 84 LeMarchant Road, St John’s NL on Monday August 17th 4:00pm-8:00pm. Cremation has taken place with burial to follow in the Codroy Valley at a date to be determined. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Community Food Sharing Association.

Final Pub Count

I just found this unfinished post. I believe this is the final count of the pubs we visited. There are 2 that will need a little more research. We know where they were but not what they were called. If the names have not changed, Google Street view might help.

1. The Temple Bar
2. The Quays
3. Fitzsimmons
4. Gogarty's
5. The Vat House
6. Messrrs Maguire
7. Ha'Penny Comedy Club
8. The Brazen Head
9. O'Shea's
10. Turks Head
11. Thomas Read
12. Auld Dubliner
13. Thunder Road Cafe (Not Irish but very cool.)
14. The Foggy Dew
15. The Gravity Bar (On top of the Guinness Storehouse)
16. Bull and Castle
17. The Palace Pub
18. O'Neils
19. Doyles
20. Darkey Kelly's
21. The Foggy Dew
22. Legends (Next door to us.)
23. Porterhouse
24. The Place next to Thomas Read?????
25. Another one down by Gogarty's Temple Bar area ?????
26. Langton's (Kilkenny)
27. Peter's Pub

Time For Another Pub Crawl

OK folks, I know we all believe we are too old and too mature for this kind of stuff. Get over it!!! Every now and then we need to get out and have some fun. This was was a bit more fun than most but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do it again.

Any thoughts on venues? Any thoughts on cities? There are lots of great places we could go. It has to give us the opportunity to spend quality time with each other and we have to get a lot more out of it than just a pub crawl. Granted, for me, a pub crawl can be enough but since we are going to put the time and effort into it. Let's get some more out of it.

I say we should do a couple of things:

1. Let's put lot's of thought into the venue.
2. Let's expand the participants - all of us know lot's of people who will significantly enhance the pub crawl experience.
3. Let's do it next year. This gives us a reasonable planning window.

For me George Street would be just fine and it adds a whole bunch of visiting opportunities. Many other venues come to mind. Let me know.

Wishing he was driving the train!

For many years Guinness used their own special trains to move material around the brewery. The gauge of this very unique train was 22 inches. The tour of the Guinness Storehouse provides excellent information on the entire history of Guinness including these unique trains. If you want specific train info online, this is a good place.

In this picture you can see poppy envisioning himself spending a day driving a train and contributing to the production of a lot of very good beer. At the end of the day he is looking at his work place behind the "wheel" satisfied with a job well done. Of course, he will never be able to do this and will have to be content with simply drinking Guinness. Within in 30 minutes of this picture he was in the Gravity Bar drinking a pint.

Bangers and Mash

There are still a number of posts left to do and we will slowly get to all of them. One of the important ones to get out of the way is the winner of the Bangers and Mash competition. Keep in mind that none of the pubs we visited knew there was a competition. There were only 2 judges and the judges required several pints during the judging process.

We had bangers and mash at several pubs. In all but one place, it was always very good. Once place stood about the rest among the pubs we visited. The Bull and Castle had the best bangers and mash. The sausages were better. The mashed potatoes had perfect consistency and the gravy put them over the top to beat out 4 other pubs.

One place served us re-heated sausages and gravy that had been in the pot all day. It was the exact same mashed potato recipe and gravy that we had at a previous pub .... only the gravy was old and the mash had been sitting around awhile.

I totally recommend the Bull and Castle. The food is great! They have an excellent selection of beer and drinks. Get there early on the weekend. This place gets busy and the service is quite good.

Just A Quick Update

We left Dublin yesterday. Unfortunately it didn't cross our minds to get a picture on the final day. The day appeared to start very well with dad and I successfully managing to get on the plane with Aidan. His plane was leaving Dublin 2 hours earlier than us. Unfortunately that plane ended up being delayed. We ended up arriving in Newark 3 hours late. This was all related to the ash cloud from Iceland. First the airline had to change the route that the plane would fly so the cloud could be avoided. This didn't impact departure time (originally) but it did impact flight time. Then it did impact departure time because there were too many planes competing for the same flight routes.

When I arrived in Newark I motored for my gate to try to get my plane and missed it by mere minutes. They re-booked me on a 6:20 flight that was delayed to about 7:20. All in all, I got out of bed about 5am in Dublin and went to bed at midnight in Dallas. Long day.

I never did find Aidan and Dad at the Airport in Newark. I assume they were sitting in some bar. I literally checked them all but did not pause to drink in all.

Still many pictures to update here on our visit to Dublin, including our opinion on the winner of the Bangers and Mash competition and the Irish Stew competition. Keep in mind that none of the places serving us knew they were in a any specific competition.

Poppy doing what he does best.

Here's the reason we came to Ireland....to visit the Guiness Storehouse with Dad and enjoy a pint. The camera angle doesn't show the glint in the eye, the warmth spreading through the body, and the overall satisfaction of pouring a fresh pint of stout down his throat.

He enjoyed it so much that we had to chase it down with another, and another, and......then the BABS struck.

Temple Bar at 2am

Here's a shot of the Gogarty's in the Temple Bar area at 2 in the morning. The pic doesn't do justice to the number of people that were actually here at this time. The place was hopping with activity....Gypsies bumming money (we were actually cursed by one after refusing to give her any), people at the eaterys, all types and sizes of people going by....we stood by a take-away (actually we were leaning on it for balance) and watched the goings-on.

I would have to liken this place to George Street in St. John's on a nice night. It was a great 2nd last night.

2nd Last Night in Dublin

Here we are hanging out at The Palace Pub with Gary the bartender and his girlfriend, Julieanna, the very attractive young lady from Brazil. We just stepped in from the street after witnessing a wonderful brawl between a cabbie and someone who threw up in his cab....blood was involved and the Garda (local police force) were called....a wonderful sight. Gary, the firery Irish redhead that he is, wanted to join in the fray but it was over before he could get down the stairs.

Many nice people at this pub and we chatted with a few before carrying down the street to another pub. Also chatting with a fine Irish girl who just arrived back from Florida....Peter poured on the charm and she left. HAH!!!

It's your turn to pay.

This is what it took in order to get Peter to pick up the tab. He arrived over here with no credit and was waiting until Wednesday to get a replacement couriered over.....until then, he was hitting up the old man on a pension and a poor student to cover the cost of everything. Well, things changed after this and we're giving him a chance to catch up.