Baile Átha Cliath


Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Eileen

I forgot to mention something so cool that happened in Galway the other weekend. On the Sunday that we walked around the city shopping for gifts, we found ourselves strolling through a small street filled with vendors, mostly selling crafts. Some of the jewelry was pretty awful, but one booth caught our eye; the stone and beadwork was just beautiful, and there was a huge array of styles. Bingo.
"Eileen, try this one on," one of my friends said.
"Which one of you is Eileen?" we heard a voice say. I stepped back to see the middle-aged woman sitting next to the table smiling up at us. "That's my name!"
Now, my excitement at this news may have seemed excessive, but I haven't met another Eileen my entire time here, and she agreed she didn't get to meet too many. As we all chatted with her, we learned that she made all of this jewelry herself, but hadn't been out to sell it in a couple months. She has a daughter who went away to college but transferred back to Dublin because, as she put it, "You don't appreciate where you're from until you leave it for a while." That hit home for us. As amazing as traveling has been, we're all missing the good ol' US of A. Boston in particular. Oh, I love that dirty water.
Eileen also told me that our name means "peace". This is utterly false. Eileen means "light" or "brightness", and I have known this since I can remember, ask any baby names website! I didn't correct her though; she was pretty keen on giving me an Eileen-discount on the absolutely gorgeous ring I got for my friend, so I say let her think it means peace!
Every Irish person I have met here has shown some form of approval upon learning my name, from airport employees to friends. I've always loved my name, but here it's like a get-out-of-jail-free card, somehow. They also pronounce it differently, emphasizing the EI rather than the LEEN. I guess I owe my parents a thank you for that; thanks for not naming me anything else!
After a few snippets of life advice, we purchased our jewelry and were on our way. She thanked us for bringing her such wonderful luck; after months of being away, she was nervous about not making any sales her first day back, but she said we made her feel great about her merchandise again. I think that should have been worth a free pair of earrings, personally.

1 comment:

  1. Nice story...but are you SURE Eileen really WAS her name? Nice sales pitch!

    Well, WE love the name - always have. "You're welcome!"
    Love,
    Mom

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