2 weeks, 4 states and 2,000 miles after arriving in Atlanta, Georgia, it was time to return home to Ireland. Reassured that our daughter was settling in well to her new abode in the University of South Carolina, we were back in Georgia. We were spending our last day (and night) in Ringgold, North Georgia. We chose this location as it was a convenient break off point between Nashville, Tennessee, where we had spent the previous couple of days, and the airport in Atlanta.
The guesthouse we stayed in was advertised on Airbnb. And funny enough, the Irish diaspora being what it is, the place was owned by an Irishman who moved here in the 1970s! Kyran was an enthusiastic and welcoming host. His property was immaculate and homely. It was located in a tranquil wooded area with views over a small valley. Although we were only staying for one night, the refrigerator and larder were stocked with enough supplies to sustain an army for a short campaign. I remember being pleasantly surprised to see that the provisions included a bottle of wine. That evening as the sun was low in the sky, we sat on a bench overlooking the surrounding fields. Being the only drinker, I had to endure the hardship of tending to the bottle of wine, while Kyran spoke of how he came to live in Georgia; what he had worked at before retirement and his family. We were joined briefly by his wife Janet, a quiet, unassuming and gentile Georgian lady. Just as the sun dipped below the horizon a family of deer emerged nervously from a small clump of trees. It was hard to imagine this land as a bloodstained battlefield of the civil war or the site of a close call with a tornado a few years earlier. Watching the deer, I thought to myself ‘Sometimes it’s the simple things that make an ordinary day extraordinary’. As darkness fell we said our goodnights. We had only known them for a matter of hours but by the end of the day, they felt like old friends.
As we prepared to leave the next morning, Kyran’s hospitality excelled once more. He delivered two hot breakfast rolls that he had prepared for us. He had a name for them, which I can’t remember. But the taste was unforgettable. The only regret I have is that our stay was a short one. We keep in touch occasionally but if we ever find ourselves in the southern states again, Ringgold will be the first port of call.
Update June 9th 2025. This morning, I learned that Kyran passed away in January of this year, at the age of 73. We kept in touch over the years by email but contact became more infrequent with the passage of time. I emailed him last week and when there was no reply, I searched the internet and found his obituary.
It was hard to take in because Kyran was larger than life and the type of person who made you believe that he would always be around. He was big and strong with a deep booming voice and hadn’t lost any of his Irish charm and wit. He was a generous man with a big heart. The year of our visit,2016, was a historic year for hurricanes in the southern states. Large swathes of the Carolinas were flooded and thousands of people were being advised to leave. Kyran contacted me and offered to let our daughter, who was in North Carolina, have the use of his cabin for the duration of the emergency. Acts of kindness like that are rare these days.
Our thoughts are with Janet and his family who will be trying to come to terms with the huge void that he left. The fact that he made such an impression on us in a very short period of time was a measure of the man and he will always be part of that chapter in our lives. May he rest in peace.
Bleeding Dove 