"LEGENDS" BAR AND GRILL ACROSS THE WAY FROM THE HAMPTON INN, IN PHOENIX A 'NO GO', DUE TO CLOSURE FOR RENOVATIONS...........

Our Wednesday night dinner had to be relocated back to, The Tilted Kilt tonight, due to our first choice, Legends Bar and Grill, where I hopeD to have an, "I Canorvore",  "beef is meat": dinner, as my friend, the late Michael Mullins, who was a, renowned Kilkenny Butcher, used to say; so I settled for a TK Irish, We Mean French Dip Sandwich, and a hearty, beefy, bowl of TK Chili.  Su-perb, "pub grub", as the Irish  say.   I called Fr. Dan Bollard, this afternoon to extend my 30th anniversary good wishes to him, as I said in today's earlier blog columns, being true to his innate and sincerely developed spirituality, Dan is on a 30 day Retreat, so I send him my fondest regards and grateful best wishes for our friendship, fraternity, and fellowship, over the past 30 Years.  Speaking of this night 30 years ago, in Kilkenny - at just after 9 p.m., that evening, Fr. Marty Joe, we as seminarians called Fr. Campion, drove the two of us, to the home of a family in Kilkenny City.  Their home was the first of a handful of homes we visited during the two weeks I was there.  This first Irish home, was of a young married couple, whose home has been the second home to dozens of priests and seminarians through the years, the home of Patricia and Michael Shortall.  Their cordiality and hospitality was awe-striking.  They were very welcoming and curious about my first thoughts of seeing Ireland and Kilkenny, and soon provided ample refreshments, a drink poured, chicken and ham sandwiches, and biscuits, (cookies) as I called them, and a pot / "cuppa" tea !!!!!  Little did I know that night, their home would become a hearth I would be invited to return to repeatedly, over these subsequent three decades.  Returning to SKC, at around Midnight, I went to my room, said my prayers, and fell fast asleep.  Ever the thoughtful host, Fr. Campion arranged it, so that a late breakfast ten to twenty minutes after 10 a.m., was awaiting me when I reappeared in the main building the following morning...........Thank You All, For The First 30 Years of Personal And Communal, Experience of Ireland - 1981-2011 and going forward,   Fr.  Troy David Powers  aka SKC as, "Grand High BOZO" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Slainte to Reverend Monsignor Tommy Maher, Fathers Dan Bollard, Oliver Maher, Jim Cassin, Tom Norris, Jimmy Dollard, Fergus Farrell, Willie Hennessey, Martin Tobin, Kieran Cantwell, Jim Murphy, Paddy Baker, Denis Quinn, Paddy Dunne,  Bishops + Lawrence Forristal, + Seamus Freeman, Kitty O'Connor; Jim & Aine Kavanagh, and the entire Kavanagh Family in Urlingford, Dublin, Roscommon, and Mayo; Oliver Maher Sr., and the Maher Family in Freshford, and Roscommon; Brigid Mullins and Family; Geraldine and Kevin Butler and Family; Michael and Patricia Shortal;, John and Phyl Cleere; and  Paady Bollard, Paul, Stephen, Kay McDaid, and the complete McDaid clan; the Baker and Dunne families; Gerry "Bozo" Cleere; Shaun Doherty, and the LIST GOES ON...........THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING MY FRIENDS, AND TRULY MY IRISH FAMILY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..............................tdp