I left Dublin after hiring a car with a view to heading for Cork via Kildare. My object was to find out more about the tradition of religious women founded in Ireland, and also to see more of the countyside. Getting to Kildare was no problem despite my fears. Driving on the motoway was not difficult and getting into Kildare easy. I had lunch there with one of the most wonderful women I know.

I moved on towards Cork, or more precisely, Mallow, where I had decided to stay. Mallow is close to Ballygriffin, the birthplace of Nano Nagle, the founder of the Presentation Sisters. I would then also be able to get into Cork easily by train, as I had been told that it is very difficult to drive around Cork given all the one way streets and lack of parking.

The trip from Kildare to Mallow was almost a nightmare – the trip that should have taken a couple of hours took nearly five! The Sat-nav was little help! I got very sick of hearing ‘recalculating’; the main problem being that there were a number of roads closed, and of course the sat nav ccould not cope with that!

I handled it well, thinking that I would eventually get to Mallow! I did of course, and then spent at leat an our finding my hotel, which the sat nav couuld not identify! They have trouble here identifying the streets and some streets have more than one name!

The weather is very cold and wet! And they thnk it is spring! I went into Cork toay after visinting Ballygriffin. There I found a sister from Brisbane so we sspent some time identifying people we knew. Cork City was cold andd wet, but but train trip was good, a chance to see some of the county side. I et up with a Sister at the Presentation Convet in Cork and we had aftternoon tea! I got the train back to Mallow, and felt a sense of achievemeent that I had negotiated another city successfully!