'59 Plymouth Forum

...and, the limo out and about!

The registration for the tags that the limousine bore seemed to be lost in antiquity; and the bureaucratic hurdles of reclaiming the historical registration proved to be quite a challenge. Richard O'Donaghue, Limerick councilman (at the time) and fellow classic car enthusiast, to the rescue! Richard was able to cut through the red tape, and soon the limousine was street legal. With Richard's aspirations to become a Teachta Dála in the Dáil Éireann (a representative in the Irish Assembly), Pat campaigned in the limo in support of his friend.

And Richard won! Was the limousine responsible? We will never know for sure, but it seems likely!

And in order to provide Richard with a grand entrance to the Dáil, Pat made the trek in the limousine from Limerick to Dublin - but, not without incident. Because he needed to be in Dublin by mid-morning, he had to start out in the wee hours in the dark; and the stop and go in proximity to Dublin taxed the charging system with the lights on, and discharged the battery. The engine died, and could not be restarted! The ceremonious entry seemed imperiled while the car sat for an hour, until a Good Samaritan provided a jump, and the observation that the headlights had likely taken their toll. With the lights no longer needed, Pat was again underway in time to meet up with Richard, and stage the triumphant arrival.

And yes - Pat made it safely home to Limerick, in time to read all about it in the papers.

Pat is both an artist, and a craftsman. Besides his passion for cars, Pat has an intense interest in the castles of Ireland, and in both their restoration and preservation. Of particular interest is Castle Oliver, and I quote from their website:

Significant time and effort has gone into the restoration and renovation of Castle Oliver. Following it's decline into near ruin, several recent owners of the Castle have commissioned various restoration works. Spearheading the effort is local Pat Conroy, whose knowledge and dedication to the Castle has been invaluable in the effort to return the Castle to its previous glory.

Pat had ample opportunity to demonstrate his artistic skills in restoring numerous stencils throughout the castle, the process of which you can view here on YouTube.

Pat Conroy wrote:Over 90% of the Original Stenciled design on the dining room walls of Castle Oliver was lost or destroyed. This is the restoration project that entailed reinstating almost 4,000 hexagons and other details.

Pat now works full time in residence at Castle Oliver. He documented the restoration in a hauntingly beautiful slide show, which you can view here on YouTube. And while you're at it, check out some of Pat's amazing pencil drawings of Castle Oliver, among many other drawings which can be found here.

Pat Conroy wrote:As a self taught artist I've never been afraid to experiment, when it comes to fantasy I believe there should be no limit to the imagination. Why not have a dragon take down a t-rex? Or have castles that go skyward! As a mountaineer who has climbed in New Zealand, Australia, Everest base camp and back home here in Ireland I've often found myself looking down on the world with a different perspective, I've tried to capture that feeling of height in my artwork or what it would be like to be suspended above a scene. Patience is my true gift, on my Castle Oliver drawing alone, after spending 40 hours on it I decided to give it another 40 hours and get every detail right. I have others that took considerably longer. I use only pencil on paper.