Bridget explains

Thursday. Drove down from Swords to Tullow in County Carlow for part of a library conference there. It being a gathering of librarians the usual gender balance was in evidence, about 5 men and 70 or so women. Though I upped that by opting for the sitting-in-a-circle-philosophy-workshop later in the morning and was the only male with about 20 odd women. I mean 20 something women of course, they weren't in the least odd :) 
After lunch there was a cultural tour in a superb art centre which you would not expect to find in a midland town. The tour guide's voice sounded familiar and so it was. Bridget a friend from my 20s in Cork, who I hadn't seen since then. I put her completely off her spiel when she spotted me and squawked to the whole group Is that Michael Plaice, from Cork, I haven't seen you in a 100 years! We had a good natter later on our chequered careers since. Visual.