How to Catch a Bus—Memories of the Emerald Isle I

Comeragh Wilderness Camp was little more than a muddy meadow with a few trailers in those days, and even catching the bus didn’t go like we planned.

I was the cook, and Naomi was the secretary, both of us American volunteers in the southern part of Ireland. I had been there only a few months when Naomi asked me if I could drive her to the bus stop, so she could catch the bus to the Dublin airport. She had booked a flight to visit her family.

“There’s just one catch,” Naomi added. “It will be at 1 a.m. But the bus stop is in Kilsheelan, which is only about 15 minutes’ drive.”

The early morning hour came and we both crawled into the old white van. I left my pajamas on since I thought I’d be back in bed in thirty minutes.

The white van was in working condition that morning, which was not always the case. (Incidentally, this same van would later lose a wheel and strand Naomi on a round-about on the road to Waterford.)

We drove from where we lived in Rathgormack to the village of Kilsheenlan, and parked at the bus stop, which happened to be the car park of a pub. (Parking lots are called “car parks” in Ireland.) It was a cool night in March. We sat in the van to wait for the bus to come.

“I think I see the bus!” Looking down the dark road we could see the headlights of the Bus Eireann bus coming closer and closer.

It never slowed down.

The bus zoomed by the pub, going on into the night toward the Dublin airport without Naomi.

For a few minutes, we sat and stared.

“Why didn’t it stop?” Naomi said very quietly.

Then her tone of voice changed. “We’re going to catch that bus! We’ll drive after it to the next town!”

I slid over to the left to take the passenger seat. Naomi shifted the white van into gear, and we went after the bus, even through we couldn’t see it any longer.

As we drove, we discussed which town the bus might go to next. Carrick? “No, we aren’t on the road to Carrick,” Naomi realized after a bit.

This was before smartphones were common, and we had no GPS, and no map.

As we drove on, not even sure if we were following the right route for the bus, I began to worry that we would have to drive several hours north to Dublin so Naomi could so catch her flight, and I would have to drive back alone. I had no wallet, no cash, and no cell phone. I had never driven that far in Ireland. I was still wearing my pajamas!

Then we saw the back lights of the bus ahead of us on the road. I don’t remember if we cheered or sighed with relief!

We followed the bus to the next bus stop, in a little town called Callan. The bus turned into a side street and parked. Naomi pulled the white van up to the curb and hurried over to the bus.

The bus driver had gotten out and was clearly unhurried. “How far did ya chase me?”

We asked why he hadn’t stopped. “Next time,” he told us, “stand next to the road. Then I’ll stop, if I see you.”

I said my good-byes to Naomi and she left on the bus, on the road to Dublin, on her way to Florida. I went on my way back through Kilsheen to Rathgormack, in the little white van, in the dark, in my pajamas.

The next time, it was my turn to catch a bus in Kilsheenlan, and I stood on the middle of the road so we won’t have to catch the bus again!