Ireland, Oct 10, 2009 - Finishing Up

We stayed in Kinsale on Thursday night and for dinner had a Steak and Guinness Pie at the White House Pub in town. The food was great and afterward we stayed for desert and listened to a trio of Irish musicians. They played instrumental music using a guitar, Irish bagpipe and a long wooden flute. It was a nice change from some of the other pub music we'd enjoyed up until now.

Next morning we set out with umbrellas on a 90 minute walking tour of Kinsale with local guide Don Herlihy. Don gave an education about the city's history, it's central role in sea trade with the Americas and in the centuries long conflicts between the Irish, Vikings, British, and Spanish.

In the afternoon we drove south to Old Head where we watched the sun chase the morning rain away over the lighthouse and golf course. I would have been thrilled to play the famous course, but unlike the other places I played, it was crowded. Golf tour vans were stacked in the parking lot; rain and even the $450 greens fees didn't keep the golfers away.

Afterward we drove to Wicklow, about 30 miles south of Dublin to see Mary's cousin Sarah and her family. Sarah made us a great lunch, lots of tea and we enjoyed a 3 hour long visit with kids and grandkids. Afterward we drove to Dublin Airport to turn in the rental car and stay over one last night before our Sunday flight home. We go direct from Dublin to Phila, leave at 11:15 am and arrive at 1:55, hopefully to catch the second half of the Eagles game and the Phillies.

The trip was wonderful, the week in Donegal allowed us to see lots of people and places that time doesn't allow on most vacations. The second week to see the rest of Ireland wasn't nearly enough. We saw some wonderful sights and got to sample plenty of meals, music, golf, different beers and an Irish whiskey or two. We had to make some tough choices about where to spend our time and had to leave important sights like the Cliffs of Moher, Ring of Kerry and Dublin until next time.

The blog was fun for me to do again, thanks to all for reading and especially for the comments, I enjoyed reading them all. I'm hoping to stay put at home for the rest of the year and finally get to some of the house projects that have been on my list since retiring from work in February.

Could it be 9 months already since I left work? Some of my work friends said I'd be so bored after retiring I'd be wishing for my old job back ................. shaking my head and smiling when I think of that one.

See everyone next week ..... smiling about that too ! John

Ireland: Thursday Oct 8, 2009 – Dingle Peninsula, Tralee (County Kerry) and Kinsale (County Cork)

The trip from Clifden to Tralee reminded me a lot of driving slow suburban roads home in the US, so there aren't any pictures worth posting. We drove through Galway and had lunch in Limerick on the way. After staying at an older hotel in Tralee we started out early Thursday to drive the Dingle Peninsula.

The Dingle Peninsula is the western most part of Europe and the drive around the tip is about 60 miles of narrow and very scenic roads. Dingle is also deep in Catholic history with many ruins of old stone houses, churches and forts. We stopped at an intact ancient church called the Gallarus Oratory, a rock walled (and roof) church still intact from St Patrick's era. Also, local tradition says that sometime in early 500's AD, a local cleric, St Brendan (The Navigator) sailed on a 6 year sea voyage that took him to North America nearly 1,000 years before Columbus. Supposedly there might be evidence of his visit somewhere near Groton, Connecticut.

The town of Dingle in the middle of the peninsula had a few pubs where we had lunch and there was about an hour to visit the local shops. Later on Thursday we drove through rush hour traffic in Cork and got a room in Kinsale for touring on Friday.

Ireland: Tuesday Oct 6, 2009 – Clifden (County Galway), Connemara National Park, Ballyconneely, Connemara Golf Links

After breakfast Tuesday we traveled down to Ballyconneely and I played the Connemara Golf Course. It was right on the water at Mannin Bay and was beautiful to walk. It was dry this time but windy and crisp, so I bought a wool hat to keep the wind out of my ears while I walked the hilly course. Mary went off to do some hiking in Connemara National Park and picked me up after my round. On the way back to the hotel we drove down a long narrow peat bog trail that led to the site where Marconi transmitted the first transatlantic wireless radio signal; it was received on Signal Hill, Newfoundland. Not more than a few hundred yards from the transmitter site is a memorial, in the middle of the bog, where the first transatlantic flight ended in a crash about 8 years before Lindberg’s famous solo flight. After dinner I sampled some Irish whiskey at the hotel and we made it an early night with achy muscles from a day of golf and hiking the national park.

Ireland: Monday Oct 5, 2009 – Donegal, Sligo, Ballina, County Galway, Clifden

Our departure on Monday was delayed a couple of hours because of a late start; we went out Sunday night to the the Reel Inn in Donegal to hear Irish Music. The pub is right off the main roundabout in the center of town and a short walk from our hotel. The music and Guinness were both excellent so we stayed till after midnight. Monday we headed south again and drove through Sligo, stopping for lunch at Ballina with the idea of driving to see Achil Island on the coast. When it was obvious the road was slower than I had hoped we decided to bypass Achil and see how close to Galway we could get . By 5 o’clock we were getting tired and in Clifden and stumbled upon the Abby Glen Castle for a place to stay. The rate was good and included dinner and breakfast, so we decided to stay a second night too. Driving through the west of Galway was beautiful, with mountans and trees along the rocky coast and scattered peat bogs. There even was an occasional herd of sheep, stopping traffic.

Ireland: Sunday Oct 4, 2009 – Carrigart, Adara, Killybegs, St John’s Point, Donegal (town)

Saturday was busy with Rose, Sean and Brigid getting ready to leave for Dublin and home. Mary & I went to Carrigart again to try and visit with distant cousin Vera McBride. We had trouble finding her house even though everyone in town seemed to know her and have an opinion of where she lived. When we finally did find her house, she wasn’t home. We stopped for lunch in town and tried again but she was out for the day. Mary left a note and some cookies at the door.

We then went cemetary hunting near the church outside of town, but initially didn’t have any luck finding the grave of Mary’s Dad’s first wife (Ellen) who died in childbirth when she was 36. We then called Mary’s cousin Jeannie McBride on the cell phone to West Chester and she told us what she remembered from her last visit. When we went back in for a second try there it was; Jeannie to the rescue!!

On Sunday it was saying goodbye to Ann who was such a wonderful host for the week. Her whole family including 3 grand babies were arriving from the states so she’ll have a busy week again. We headed out toward Donegal town via Letterkenny stopping for Sunday papers and a great Lamb Stew lunch at a hotel in Ardara. From here it was a drive to the fishing village of Killybegs and then on to St John’s Point before finding our hotel in Donegal.

Mary used the evening for goodbye phone calls and a nap; since the hotel has internet service, I made a couple of blog posts to catch up to the present day. Later it’ll be a short walk to the town center for a local adult beverage and something to eat before bed.

Ireland: Friday October 2, 2009 – Glenveagh Castle and National Park, Glen, Rathmullan, Milford

Between the rain showers and family visiting we spent a couple of days touring locally. Thursday we spent most of the day at Glenveagh Castle and the national park. The castle was built on Lough Veagh in the 1800’s and was used as a private residence and hunting lodge until around 50 years ago; eventually it was donated to Ireland’s National Park System. We took a tour inside the castle but the gardens, surrounding grounds and almond cake in the castle tea room are also worth the trip.

We spent Thursday night working on Mary’s family genealogy with all the cousins putting their heads together to make up a master list. The number of cousins came to over 160, so it’s no wonder I’ve been confused all these years.

Friday we traveled around Glen and Carrigart driving the hillsides overlooking Mulroy Bay searching for land that used to belong to Mary’s father. Afterward we drove to Rathmullan where we watched race horses training on the beach and then had a late lunch on Lough Swilly. Later we drove to Milford for dinner at the Milford Inn and came back to the cottage afterward for another session of cousin chat.

Ireland: Wednesday Sep 30, 2009 – Dunfanaghy, Horn Head Cliffs, Doe Castle, Carrigart, Letterkenny

Started the day with a drive to Dunfanaghy walking through the town shopping for souvineers and had lunch by the fireplace at the Arnolds Hotel. We then drove the coastal cliffs of Horn Head where we walked through the heather, turf and peat to get to the top.

The drive down was via another narrow winding road, and I hoped all the way down that another car wouldn’t come in the opposite direction because there was no room to pass or turn around (also hoped we wouldn’t drive off one of the cliffs). We then stopped in Falcarragh where I got a coffee and Mary visited with a neice of a friend of her mother who owns a clothes shop called Margaret’s.

On the way back we stopped by Doa Castle where the greeter was a friendly sheep dog. We then drove to Carrigart and lit a candle in a large stone Catholic church on the way back to Kilmacrenan. For dinner I had a great fish pie at the Lemon Tree restaurant in Letterkenny.

Ireland: Tuesday Sep 29, 2009 - Doon Well, Rosapenna Golf Pavilion

In the morning we went to a place called Doon Well, a holy water spring which is supposed to work miracles if the water is drawn out after a series of prayers spoken while barefooted. Nearby was also Doon Rock where a milestone battle was fought between the O’Donnell Clan and English invaders. For the afternoon I headed off to the beautiful Rosapenna Golf Pavilion to play a round on the links style golf course located on the Fanad Peninsula, with many of the fairways directly on the Atlantic coast. It was misty and windy so I didn’t have any trouble getting a tee time or in going out as a single. Despite the weather I played fairly well, was able to avoid most of the sheep droppings as I walked the course. I was glad I chose the warm afternoon sun to play under. I took a hot shower as soon as I got home and happily the car's driver seat had mostly dried by next morning when we went out touring again.

Ireland: Monday Sep 28, 2009 Screen, Carrigart, Rosguill Peninsula

We started the day looking for Mary’s mother’s (Brigid Boyce) childhood home in Screen, in County Donegal close to where we were staying in Kilmacrenan. But finding it was tricky. We turned off the main road (N56) onto a path that was so narrow at points that bushes were rubbing against both sides of the car. After a couple of tries at finding the house on our own, we called Mary’s cousin John Murray and he showed us the left turn we needed to get there. Screen is a village, but there didn’t seem to be more than 2 or 3 homes. Brigid’s three room home has been vacant for many years but wasn’t in bad shape. The roof and stone walls were intact as well as the hearth inside. The attached room for animals was torn down years ago, and there were two other buildings, one a small barn and the other a storage building for chickens and hay that was falling apart. Earlier in the day we visited Brigid’s mother’s (Mary Lynaugh) home that was in much worse shape with the roof and walls falling in. But one attached room is still good enough to house around a dozen sheep. Decendants John & Mary Murray live with their 9 kids on the property next to Mary Lynaughs old house. David and Mary Ellen Muldowney currently live adjacent to Brigid Boyce’s house. On the way to nearby Milford, we visited St Brigid’s Church where generations of the families have gone to Sunday mass. From there, it was on to Carrigart for lunch at a Gaelic café before we continued to the Rosguill Peninsula and the Atlantic Drive. Weather was windy, cloudy and misty (yet again) but the scenery was wonderful even if not the best for picture taking.