Golden Moment

Mary McNally Mills

Dear Barry’s Tea,

Follow That Van!!
I live in England, but my late father was a Sligonian and I try to get to Ireland at least once every year.
As you have guessed - our whole family adores Barry’s and we are constantly ‘switching’ other people on to the magical brew.
A couple of years back we were returning from a trip to Strandhill and found ourselves behind a Barry’s van. After taking a picture, I told my husband: ‘follow that van!
Seriously, no one over here can believe that such a good tea is so hard to find – unless you are lucky enough to live in an area where large numbers of Irish people have settled.
At the end of every holiday, I go into the Wine Street Tesco in Sligo and look wistfully at all the shelves stocked with Barry’s Tea, knowing that I will not so easily be able to buy it back in England.
Naturally, I bring some back, along with a good supply of Pink Snacks and Taytos – but my hoard of treasure does not last long!
Last year, when I had run out (and before I found a UK supplier) I had to beg my Irish Dance Shoemaker (in Cork) to send me two emergency boxes.
I finally managed to track Barry’s down at a store some 50 miles from my home; so we go there three or four times a year and buy every single box on the shelf.
People look at us as if we are insane – but we’d be mad not to drink it!