By Paddy McCarthy
I was Out&About with my wife Patricia last week as we took a trip to Key West, Florida for a few days before all Hell breaks as we come closer to Saint Patrick’s Day, and boy am I looking forward to it. You know, the beautiful thing about being Out&About is that you can see where all the Irish immigrants went all over the United States and to meet them on my travels is just brilliant.
Key West is just mind boggling as it is only two miles by four miles in diameter with one way in by road and, can you hear this, no crime, wow. The residents are so laid back, it’s so unbelievable, with a population of only 25,000, that’s it. From October to April/May it grows to 40,000 with the “snowbirds” who come for the beautiful weather that is all year round at about 74 degrees, I love it already.
Now, you’re going to like this: the famous Duval Street in Key West is highly recommended I might tell yea as this is the main street in Key West and there are over 200 bars and restaurants, including Sloppy Joe’s Bar that we were in for the music and the craic. We then found a famous bar called Irish Kevin’s and met the man who founded the southernmost Irish bar in the continental US. Irish Kevin’s opened in Key West in Florida on July 28th, 1998 by Kevin Bartlett who hails from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. Irish Kevin’s is located in the heart of Old Town, Key West on world famous Duval Street. Kevin has been a singing and playing guitar for the best part of 45 years. As soon as he reached his seventeenth birthday and got his driver’s license, he started playing guitar and singing in bars and clubs all over Ireland.
Kevin got an amazing opportunity to take over and open his own bar and so on July 28th, 1998, Irish Kevin’s opened its doors on the busy 200 block of Duval Street. Later Kevin sold it to new owners who asked him would also still perform and yes he is doing that to this day, all he wants is to play his music. This island city is like no other city in the world, and Irish Kevin’s is like no other bar. Go on down and find out for yourself as I did and wow is it brilliant.
Now as we were staying at the hotel in Key West, I got to meet Alan Maloney, founding partner of the Mount Falcon Castle Estate, a 4-star family hotel from Ballina, County Mayo. Alan and his brothers Barry, Mike and Shane, another brother with a background in hotels, bought the Mount Falcon Castle in Ballina, County Mayo for 3.5m. Alan, who is the manager and heads up the operation, is ready for a great season. The estate boasts the fishing rights for 1.5 miles of the River Moy, Ireland’s most prolific salmon river, and is also close to both Lough Conn and Cullen, famous for brown trout fishing. You will be hear a lot more in a couple of weeks from our Feature Editor Barry Coughlan on Mount Falcon Castle Hotel. Now that was a trip that I will not forget for a long time!
Finally I want to wish Cardinal Timothy Dolan a very happy and blessed birthday for this Thursday, February 6! Timothy Michael Dolan is the tenth and current archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York, having been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.
I hope to see you all again next week when I am Out&About again…