Irish mother takes time for visit

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

SLEEPY EYE -- After living in Winona, Minnesota for 17 years, Barb and Dick Vickery returned to live to the misty, green, rolling countryside of their native Ireland.

The Irish have a reputation for their friendliness, hospitality, close family ties, deep religious convictions and skill as writers and storytellers. Musicians, too.

Indeed. Barb Vickery, the mother of Sleepy Eye attorney Matt Vickery, returned to America this week for high school graduation ceremonies and to visit her other children in various parts of the country.

Dick Vickery, who doesn't enjoy traveling much, stayed home to tend the garden and fish.

The couple owns and operates Bow Hall Bed & Breakfast and evening meals in Castletownsend, Skibbereen, County Cork, a peaceful, quiet hamlet of 80 people in southwestern Ireland.

Bow Hal is a three-bedroom house overlooking a harbor along with nearby beaches, a golf course, sailing, fishing, touring, shopping, pony trekking (riding) and historic sites.

Known for the tasty popovers and brownies Barb enjoys baking, Bow Hall has attracted the likes of English actor Jeremy Irons who starred in the movie "Mission" years ago, and guests from around the globe including many singers and artists.

"I love to cook," Vickery said, offering this journalist one of her rich, sweet brownies with chocolate frosting.

Vickery said Ireland isn't nearly as commercial as America, but it is getting more and more so.

The tiny hamlet where she lives is crime free and the pace of life is slow. There are no national security alerts in southern Ireland.

"Nobody locks anything," she said. "Many people leave keys in the locks on the outside of doors."

The air is warmed from the gulf steam. The Irish climate is milder and less extreme than Minnesota. It rarely snows or gets above 80 degrees F.

"Contrary to popular belief, it doesn't rain all the time in Ireland," Barb said. "Occasionally, we'll have summer droughts. Other than that, it's very non-threatening."