Happy New Year 2006

I know it was a tradition in Austin for people to go swimming in Barton Springs Pool on New Year's Day. I thought it was the same tradition here, but it turns out, it's on Christmas morning. The location is a place called 40 Foot at the base of James Joyce's Tower in Sandycove.

From http://dublin.hotels.travel-tracker.com/:

A mile south of Dún Laoghaire, the Martello Tower is SANDYCOVE 's most prominent feature . James Joyce spent some time here with his friend Oliver St John Gogarty, whom he later transformed into Buck Mulligan in Ulysses . On the seaward side of the tower is the Forty Foot Pool - named not for its size but because the 40th Foot Regiment of the British army used to be stationed in a battery above it.

And from Ramblings of a Defiant Irishwoman

SWIMMING on Christmas morning, when any right minded individual would be on their knees at Mass, or slaving over a hot stove in the kitchen. No wonder it was a men only tradition up to a few years ago!

Times have changed and never more so by what I saw yesterday at the 40 foot! Traffic jams of men, women, children, and Santas helpers coming and going, ..

Well, I missed the traffic jam by going on January 1. I wasn't alone, though, as there was a older woman packing up as I arrived. So, how cold is the Irish Sea in winter time? Check out this model. Ireland is the island on the left. We're right in between 54N and 53N on the map. (Convert C to F - multiply by 1.8 and add 32)

Nice.