[O'Callaghan]

I went to the Irish Festival in Old Town, Alexandria on Saturday. I live in Maryland, but although this is in Virginia it's closer to me than some events in Maryland.

I wore my Co. Cork kilt and ran into someone else similarly attired, who raised a fist in the air and shouted 'Cork!' when he saw me.

It was a fairly small event, but none the worse for that. They held it in the Riverfront Park, which turns out to be the one on the short street that runs parallel to Union Street but nearer to the river. There are a couple of other parks there on the riverfront, so naturally I went to those first before I found the right one!

It was a hot day, but with plenty of breeze off the river to provide under-kilt air conditioning. That's a big advantage of the location.

We were there towards the end, having gone to a couple of the wrong parks, and watched the Irish dancers and then listened to a fellow singing rebel songs and accompanying himself on the guitar.

I had a strange conversation with a lady who asked me if my kilt went 'round and 'round? She seemed to think that kilts had 20 yds of material and wrapped many times around the wearer. I'm afraid I didn't quite know how to put her straight on the subject.