Ireland Barry Maher

Many of my father's fondest memories were of his early  childhood in
 Ballyglunnin in County Galway, Ireland. He lived in a castle, he told us,
 and learned to love learning in a tiny, one room school. Castle or no
castle, once in the states, his mother cleaned houses; his father
 was a laborer. Through their efforts, my father became the first Maher to complete
high school and then college, at Notre Dame. I still have the letter he
wrote his parents when he was accepted at Harvard Law School.
"From housecleaning to Harvard in a single generation," he'd
 say later. He loved America for that. Still, his life was hardly easy.

He nearly died during WWII, and lost a wife and two children within a year.
Later, three other children would die. Those of us that reached adulthood
did so with the best educations money could buy; and he raised a company
president, two corporate vice presidents, a doctor, a telecommunications
 executive, an myself. He always dreamed of returning to visit Ballyglunnin, but
with all that educating to do, there was never the time, never the money.
The only time I ever saw my father cry was when we, his children,
bought him that trip to Ireland for his 80th birthday. One of my
 sisters and I were looking forward to traveling with him, but unfortunately- though he'd
been practicing law up to a few months before-his health deteriorated
rapidly and Alzheimers disease set in. Soon he didn't even recognize  us. The
 trip never happened.



 Then a couple of years, for no discernible reason my book,
Filling the Glass, took off in Ireland, and I was booked on a speaking tour
there I was determined to visit Ballyglunnin, the castle and the one room
school, but my schedule was tight.
The Irish have developed a reputation as the world's greatest  hosts, a reputation that turned out to be actually true rather than just  marketing hype. Even though I wasn't really a tourist, I was immersed in that
 hospitality. At engagements I was treated more like a guest rather  than someone they were paying to speak. There were dinners and receptions and "must see" sights to be seen. All of which left me only one day for
Ballyglunnin.

 I set off for the tiny hamlet with several sets of complex directions and three conflicting maps. Every time I stopped and asked for directions I was embraced like a long lost relative, but, though a few
people had heard of Ballyglunnin, no one was quite sure where it  was. I must
 have bounced along every back road in County Galway, but none of
 them led to Ballyglunnin. The next morning, in Galway City, I spoke of my father during my
final presentation, and I mentioned in passing what had happened the day
before. At the luncheon afterwards, I was finishing up my lasagna-
which seems to be a particular Irish favorite-and thinking about heading upstairs
 to my room to pack. That's when the CEO announced, "Mr. Maher, your
car has arrived, complete with the savviest driver in all of Ireland." Less
than two hours later, the limo, myself, the CEO. and a local Member of
Parliament  pulled into Ballyglunnin. The locals decided I was a returning hero, and
took us on a tour of the village, the old one-room schoolhouse, and
 the"castle," an aging, rather modest resort hotel where my grandfather
had run a small shop. But a castle indeed to any seven year old.

The real highlight of the trip came upon my return. Though my
 father hadn't recognized me in over a year, when I showed him my
 photos of the school and the "castle," his cloudy eyes slowly cleared. Then  those eyes met mine.
"Ireland," he said softly. "Thanks, Barry, for Ireland."

 I thank the Irish for Ireland, particularly the kind souls  who gave
 me Ballyglunnin.



> Author, speaker, Barry Maher, www.barrymaher.com, has appeared on the Today Show, NBC Nightly News, CNBC and he's frequently featured in publications that range from the New York Times, the


> Wall Street Journal, the London Times, Business Week and USA Today to-his personal
 favorite-Funeral Services Insider.  His books include Filling the Glass, which has been cited as
"[One of] The Seven Essential Popular Business Books," by Today's Librarian along with books like The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and The One Minute Manager.


> Barry Maher

My website is www.barrymaher.com. "Copyright, 2008, Barry Maher, adapted from No Lie: Truth Is the Ultimate Sales Tool, used by permission."