SFLimerickToday

In 1988 I was a teenager “back home from America”, visiting relatives and friends in Ireland, and had the enormous privilege of volunteering at the Global Communications Conference at the then newly restored Dromoland Castle. Put on by the National Institute for Higher Education and Irish Peace Institute Research Centre in Limerick speakers included Live Aid’s Bob Geldof and US media mogul Ted Turner who had recently started the Moscow Games. The focus of the conference was how to use technology and global communications for peace building and I was fascinated.

The castle and grounds at Dromoland were grand. The flocks of ducks were an ever amusing attraction as I walked back across the lawns to my nearby B&B which was cozy, friendly and the perfect grounding counterbalance to the finery of Dromoland. And the hosts served one of the best Irish fry ups I’ve had!

During the conference I got to join attendees on tours of the nearby countryside – dotted with hills and volcanic rock – as we traveled to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. I also went into Limerick, to walk alongside the River Shannon, and explore the city centre. I remember going inside St John’s Cathedral, struck by the fact it has the tallest spire in Ireland.

I was off on my way to Galway to stay with cousins soon after the conference ended, but it was in many ways a life-changing event for me. A phone call came for me in Ballinrobe, Mayo a few weeks later, offering me a paid position with Cooperation North (now Cooperation Ireland) in Dublin. I jumped at the chance – which was not only remarkable as work experience, but afforded me the opportunity to stay longer in the country of my ancestors.

I will always hold fond memories of Limerick in my mind and heart.

- Aimee Goggins, San Francisco, CA