Saying goodbye to Leonard Cohen in Mullaghmore

[jammymulligan]

After a fantastic concert on Saturday night which included receiving a set list from Bob Metzger, I wanted more. I knew the band had taken over the Pier Head Hotel and that Leonard Cohen had strolled around the village and beach. So off I went on Monday morning to wish him and the band a safe journey and to thank them for the wonderful concerts we'd all been privileged to participate in.

Roscoe came out and I had a chat with him. He showed me the silver worry beads he'd received from Leonard, how they'd had a wonderful time here in Ireland and discussed what being on tour was like. I had a photo taken with him and other people came to talk to him. After a while a white truck arrived to collect all the luggage. Then a bus came..nothing fancy...and various members of the band started to come out. Rafael Gayol went around to the bar and returned holding a pint of Guinness which he brought inside. By this time a crowd had gathered, other band members left the hotel and got on the bus.
There was much talk and speculation about Leonard Cohen and whether he'd left or what. Then the hotel door opened and the Man walked out with his guitar strapped to his back. A cheer went up and everyone clapped and tried to get some pictures of him. Leonard Cohen smiled gracefully and waved,said wow a few times and got on the bus .
I'd asked Roscoe where they were flying from, was it the local airport?, he said yes so I assumed it was Strandhill.
As the bus left, my driver(!)Alison and I headed off in pursuit. I phoned some friends and told them to get to Strandhill Airport. We were tailing the bus and got to Sligo where instead of taking the turn for Strandhill, the bus headed out of town...of course..Knock Airport.
Unfortunately there wasn't enough petrol in the car so we had to fill up, we lost sight of the bus but headed onto Knock.When we went inside the terminal , I asked a Guarda had he seen Leonard Cohen. "Most people coming to Knock are hoping to see the Virgin Mary but you want to see a 75yr old singer" he joked. He then told us the bus went onto the tarmac to the plane and we could catch it taking off. We watched the British Airways plane taxi and take off and hoped Leonard Cohen would be back next year.

[Geraldine OB]

Hey there...I thouroughly enjoyed all the banter on Monday morning at Mullaghmore, but your right seeing the man with the most charisma on earth was just amazing (and well worth the wait). So hello to all the fellow speculators from Monday. I only got one half desent picture, but seeing him was enough - and worth every second of the 4 hour journey back to cork... Ger n Pete.

[jammymulligan]

Hi sham...my driver Alison got some good photos. I will send some on as soon as I can.
The good news is that the owners of Lissadell have signed a 3yr agreement with POD, the promoters so who knows? See you next year