Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Coole Oysters

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Moran's Oyster Cottage was a splendid place to eat lunch after a walk in Coole Park. Lady Gregory, owner of Coole 100 years ago, was often host to William Butler Yeats and his circle, and he wrote a book of poems called "The Wild Swans at Coole." (More about Coole elsewhere, later).

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The peat fire was warm, and the oysters so fresh that the Moran family member who opened ours showed us a little sea worm still alive inside one. (I shuddered. A lot.) Other family members have won national and international competitions to see who can open 30 oysters the fastest without damaging them.

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They were DELICIOUS!

After lunch, we watched the swans on the water in front of the restaurant. Yeats saw nine and fifty on Coole Lake, where we saw none at all, so they must have come down here for the day.

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2 comments:

Jeanie said...

I want to crawl into that scene -- and now! Looks so inviting and beautiful!

~~louise~~ said...

GREAT shots Mae. Looks like the weather is cooperating too!

P.S. I'm so glad you weren't hampered by the surprise "guest." I believe you when you say the oysters were DELICIOUS! Nothing beats a fresh oyster in my book!