Was part of a group of five relations that flew out to the Isle of Man - or is that Person ? on Wednesday morning for the funeral of Jack Killey who was married to Frances Killeen from Main Street Ballinasloe. Airfares to the IOM are something else. Niall Grenham got on the Internet and the best available was 160 Euro with Manx going out and 55 Euro with Aer Aran for the return journey. Think one of the airlines had a 900 Euro return fare. If you are thinking of going over then shop early on the 'net. The guesthouse owner told us that he gets a £40 sterling return fare to England by doing this. Jack's daughter Emer saved £100 by choosing to fly from Liverpool rather than Manchester.
It was the first time that I attended a cremation. The body was taken from the morgue and arrived for a funeral service in the chapel at 1'00 pm. The clergyman told us that he knew Jack and gave us a brief history of his life in the army during WW2 when he was captured and imprisoned in Colditz for a long time and also in Italy. He receieved shrapnel wounds during the war which remained with him all his life. May he rest in peace.
Met two old friends Derry and Pat who very kindly took us to the funeral in their landrover and also out to a meal on Wednesday night and to the airport yesterday morning. During these trips Derry did a kind of Paddy Kavanagh type tour and showed us the banking area and much of the TT motorbike circuit with the corners and the places on the road where the bikers fly through the air at speeds of over 150 MPH. There is a sign on the roadside that says "Say Hello to The Fairies" which is well obeyed. The island is about 30 miles long by about 20 miles wide. They have their own language which sounds a bit Irish. Was looking out for a Manx cat and when I saw a huge cat spread out in our guesthouse we asked the owners if it was a Manx cat. It turned out to be a wild cat that had settled in with them. The only Manx cats we saw were the souveneir ones at the airport. A meal out in a restaurant in Creg Ay Baa offered a fine range of starters, main courses and desserts and worked out on average at £15.60 sterling each. There are nine golf courses on the island and green fees are about £20 per day on most of the courses.