Saturday in Dublin

On Saturday we got up ahead of schedule and had a wonderful full Irish breakfast at our B&B.  Pat was very accommodating in assuring that we had plenty to eat before our adventure to the big city!  With bus passes in hand, we walked about two blocks to catch a bus into Dublin City.  It was a nice leisurely ride, especially since David did not have to drive on a congested Saturday morning.

Once in town, we walked several blocks (maybe 10?) to the starting point of the Dublin City Hop On/Hop Off (HoHo) tour bus.  The 90 minute loop route provides visitors with the opportunity to learn about and stop at many of Dublin's top attractions.  We only had the one day to see Dublin, which severely limit our choices from the possible 23 stops.

With the Guinness Storehouse a given, we thought that would leave us with three or maybe four additional stops to fill out the day.  What we didn't take into account was that the two OPW historical sites (Dublin Castle and Kilmainham Gaol) were by guided tour, based on scheduling upon arrival so some time would be lost waiting for our tour.

Our first stop on the HoHo bus was for Dublin Castle.  We had an 80 minute wait for our group, which we used to walk further down the hill to the Christ Church and Dublina.  The church was hosting an open market that largely had homemade baked goods and candies; not much in terms of farm type items (vegetables, fruits, etc.).  Dublina is a historical exhibit chronicling the history of the city with particular focus on the Vikings time in Ireland.

After milling around for about 45 minutes, we headed back to Dublin Castle for the start of our group's guided tour.  As was just posted this morning on TripAdvisor, Dublin Castle is not really a castle in function or reality today.  While yes, there was a castle built on this location in 1204, today "Dublin Castle" is an official government building that until the last century, was the official offices of the British government during their rule of Ireland.  It was here at Dublin Castle that the British surrendered to Irish rebels when Ireland gained her independence from Britain in 1922.

 A lot of Ireland's history is contained here and the tour focuses largely on providing that history lesson.  Our guide took us through several of the very impressive "State Apartments" including the State Dining Room, the Throne Room (where the very large throne of King George IV from 1821 is on display) and St. Patrick's Hall (which is still used today for the inauguration of the Irish President).

Only one tower from the original fortified medieval castle, dating back to 1228, remains in tact.  The Bedford Tower built in 1728 is another old structure here that remains in the courtyard which is largely overshadowed by the office like buildings that surround it.  The clock in the tower continues to be fully functional.

After our time at Dublin Castle, we boarded the HoHo and headed to the Guinness Storehouse.  Guinness has built this large visitors' center to tell the story of their beer which dates back to founder Arthur Guinness and the signing of a 9,000 year lease contract to operate the St.James Gate brewery in 1759.  The self-guided walking tour spans the expansive building with multiple floors of story boards, antiques and interactive exhibits.

With the completion of the walking tour, visitors are invited to use their ticket stub to have a pint of Guinness, either at their "pour your own" pint of Guinness on the fourth floor or have them pour it for you in the Gravity Bar on the seventh floor.  There was about a 20 minute wait for David to make it into the "pour your own" but he was able to learn how they do it and pour one for himself.  Since his mom and I don't drink beer, David was able to use one of our tickets for another pint upstairs while we used the last ticket stub for a diet coke.

The Guinness Marketplace has all the makings of a good tourist trap, with plenty of ways to spend your money.  They have an outstanding marketing program that prominently displays their brand throughout Ireland and the world.  For those needing to have a memento from Dublin, there are plenty of opportunities to buy something with the Guinness emblazoned upon it.

After our time at Guinness, we headed to our final tourist destination of the day, the Kilmainham Gaol.  Built in 1796, this prison has also played a very significant role in Irish history especially since our visit coincidentally  came at the 96th anniversary of the execution of 14 Irish rebels who fought England in the 1916 Easter Rising in another failed attempt at independence. After finally achieving her independence in 1922, the prison was decommission in 1924.  Today it stands largely as it did for more than 200 years.

Kilmainham Gaol is another one of the OPW Heritage sites and requires a guided tour to enter and access the buildings and grounds of the prison.  It was very eerie to walk through the narrow halls of the small cells, knowing how poor the living conditions were for the men, women and even children who were sent her for their crimes.

We also visited the work yards, as well as the execution yard where the Easter Rising rebels were killed the week of May 3 - May 12, 1916.  It was a somber reminder to everyone, but especially the Irish, of the sacrifices of many over centuries to achieve their independence from British rule.

Back on the HoHo bus, we went through Phoenix Park, which is one of the largest urban parks in the world.  Not only is it home to a large internationally recognized zoo, it is also the location of the Irish President's residence as well as that of the Ambassador to Ireland from the United States.

Our last stop in Dublin would be for dinner.  Having researched the HoHo bus route, I pinpointed what looked to be a nice pub that was conveniently near one of the 23 stops. Nancy Hands Pub & Restaurant did not disappoint.  With about 90 minutes until the final HoHo bus, we had plenty of time for an early dinner (around 6:30pm) and then back to our B&B in Malahide.

There was a bit of adventure as we exited the HoHo at the final stop and tried to get directions from the driver to our connecting bus that would take us "home" for the evening.  After some walking around rather aimlessly, we finally saw a #42 bus come from around the corner.  As it turned out, the driver providing us with instructions was off by one parallel block or something was lost in the translation.  Either way, we found our way to the correct bus stop and within the hour we were on our way.

It had been a long day and in spite of the exhaustion we felt, we all enjoyed knowing that we had just concluded one heck of a vacation!

Transition Day - County Galway to Dublin/Malahide

This was our last major drive day for David, with roughly 350km covered today (Friday).  We took our time getting out of our timeshare cottage in the morning.  Once the beds were stripped and kitchen cleaned, we were on the road by about 10:30am.  The skies were still cloudy after an early morning rain, but they appeared to be clearing.  For the most part, we had a very nice day for the drive east to Dublin.

The one "for sure" stop enroute would be Clonmacnoise Cathedral, roughly two hours from our cottage.  After a short detour (thanks to Toots and programmer error), we found our way to the historic 6th century ruin site that contains some of the best kept high crosses in all of Ireland.

It has been nice that throughout our trip there have been few other people, and this site is one where it was especially nice since it is very popular with visitors as the exhibit area (inside) is rather small.  It is there that they have brought in the two remaining high crosses to save them from deterioration from weather.

The Cross of the Scriptures is believed to have been carved into sandstone around 900 AD.  They have had a replica made which sits outside in front of the church in the same spot as where the original cross was.  (I am standing next to it in the photo above.)  On the south end, there is another replica cross in the place of one that also resides in the indoor exhibit area.  This South Cross as it is known is thought to have been the inspiration for the Cross of the Scriptures as it contains a depiction of the Crucifixion of Christ on one side.

This site contains several buildings and ruins spanning for more than 600 years, from the mid 6th century.  Clonmacnoise was frequently attacked (more than 40 times) between the 8th and 12th centuries, most often by the Irish themselves.  Other attackers included the Vikings and Anglo-Normans.

After walking around the various buildings at Clonmacnoise, we headed on for Dublin and our next accommodations - Pebble Mill B&B in the waterfront village of Malahide.  Our hosts Pat & Monica were very welcoming; our room just right for our final two nights in Ireland.

We headed out for an early supper around 5:00pm at James Gibney & Sons Pub in Malahide (about 10 minutes from our B&B).

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NOTE:  For detailed reviews on all of our accommodations, tours and restaurants/pubs look for an update with links to my journals at IgoUgo.com.  I anticipate it may take a couple of weeks to get them all written and posted, so please be patient.

Last Day in Connemara

For our last day in Connemara, we had plans to do a circle loop that would include Connemara National Park.  Due to using the Garmin and not hand mapping with the OSI Atlas, we shortchanged ourselves, partially because of Toot’s routing and partially due to some crankiness when we were unable to find a specific destination.  Cong in County Mayo was especially perplexing as Toots didn’t know where some places were and the OSI Atlas had what we were looking for misplaced.  In particular, the Cong Abbey was a challenge to find, only to stumble upon it as we headed to the Tourist Info Center.

The Monastery of Cong was founded in the 7^th century but the original abbey was destroyed by fire, subsequently rebuilt in the 12^th century but was again destroyed, this time due to invasion in 1203 by the Normans.  Most of the current ruins are of the 13^th century rebuilding of yet another “new” abbey as well as the adjacent church.  There are some however, that are part of the earlier two buildings.

There are some main walls along with the carvings that are still in fair shape. One stair case to the top a tower is also in decent shape, allowing visitors to climb atop the structure.

While in Cong, we also drove by the entrance to the Ashford Castle Hotel, although it was closed to the public by guarded gate.

From Cong, we returned to Connemara for our visit to the Kylemore Abbey.  This abbey was actually built as the castle home of Mitchell & Margaret Henry in 1867.  Baronial Castle as it was known at the time was a gift from Mitchell to his wife Margaret.   Kylemore was purchased in 1903 by the Duke and Duchess of Manchester and later sold again in 1914.  The financial troubles of these two owners led to the house being left to caretakers until a new owner could be found.

In 1920, the Community of Nuns of the Order of St. Benedict purchased the castle and the nearly 10,000 acres surrounding it.  For nearly 90 years (1923 to 2010) they ran a boarding school for girls mostly from the surrounding communities, although some women from prominent families including Angelica Huston have attended school here.   Today there is still a small group of Benedictine Nuns who reside and work at Kylemore Abbey.

The main house is open to visitors, with five of the lower level rooms on display.  Some of this part of the house has been rebuilt after a fire damaged it in 1959.  Many of the furnishings are not original to the Henry’s although several pieces on display in the dining room were original to their family, bearing his initials and coat of arms.  Upstairs, there were 33 bedrooms and dressing rooms, all of which are closed to the public.

On the grounds, Mitchell Henry built a Neo-Gothic Church, largely modeled to be a miniature cathedral.  He built it after his wife of 32 years died (at the age of just 45 . . . you do the math) after a trip to Eqypt.  He wanted it to be a memorial in her honor.  It was beautifully designed and today has the original stain glass window depicting the five graces; fortitude, faith, charity, hope and chastity.

Behind the church is a small graveyard where many of the Benedictine Nuns have been buried.  Further down the hill, there is also the mausoleum where Mitchell brought Margaret’s body to be laid to rest.  He was also returned to Kylemore after his death and has been buried there with her.

The walled gardens on the estate encompass over six acres and had fallen into shambles over years of neglect.  They were reopened in 2000 after the Benedictine community worked tirelessly to restore them.  Unfortunately due to the late hour of the day, we were worn out and did not make our way to the gardens.  For those who wish to tour them, there is a shuttle bus that departs near the castle to take you.

Throughout our ride today the roads were narrower and more twisting than most we had traveled previously.  There were wonderful views of the granite mountains, rich valley pastures and beautiful blue lakes.  A couple of the lakes seemed to go on for miles and miles. Often we met driving obstacles head-on; most frequently sheep with their young lambs but at one point in the road we did pass a woman pushing a baby carriage in the middle of the road.

Back at our timeshare cottage, we enjoyed a light dinner of burger and fries.  Afterwards, we watched the 1954 classic movie “The Quiet Man” starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara.  It seemed appropriate since our cottage is on the road that crosses over “The Quiet Man Bridge” and earlier in the day we saw the replica of the movie set house used in the movie during our visit to Cong.

As he had previously done on each of the nights before, David built a fire using a fire starter log, kindling sticks, peat bricks and fire wood we purchased in town on Sunday.  The peat is an interesting thing in that it is actually bricks of compacted organic material from the Irish bogland.  Earlier in the day during our drive tour, we got to see where peat comes from, as we passed several bogs where the peat had been cut from the ground and stacked to dry out.

We leave Connemara in the morning, returning to Dublin for our last two nights.  We will be staying at a B&B in the northern suburb village of Malahide.  Our original plans included taking a walking musical pub crawl tour in Dublin Friday night, but we’ve made a change to that plan.  With the long drive from County Galway, with a planned stop or two along the way, we felt that trying to do a two and a half hour tour that starts at 7:30pm would simply be too much . . . and would most likely take its toll on how we might feel on Saturday when we are to take the Dublin Bus Company’s “Hop On – Hop Off” self-tour of Dublin City.

So for now, that has us about caught up here on the blog.

Aran Islands/Inis Mor

Inis Mor is the largest of the three Aran Island and is approximately five miles long and two miles wide.  With just over 800 residents, it has somehow maintained its quaintness in spite of becoming a popular destination of visitors to Ireland.   This two day excursion was anticipated to be a highlight of our holiday.  We were not disappointed!

We took the 1:00p ferry from Ros a Mil (County Galway) and arrived approximately 45 minutes later.  The weather on Tuesday was overcast and very windy; the Galway Bay was rough.  When we arrived at the Kilronan we were greeted by our guide & driver Gerald of Failte Bus Tours.  Having made the arrangements months ago, it worked out very well to have him meet us at the ferry and takes us to the Aran Islands Hotel, our home away from home while visiting Inis Mor on this overnight side trip.

With about 30 minutes to get freshened up and ready for our tour, Gerald returned to take us around the island.  The weather never did clear up, with clouds and showers throughout our three hour tour which encompassed the entire island with the exception of Dun Aonghasa (more about that later) and Seal Colony (due to the high tide).

As we rode with Gerald, he explained about life on the island.  He also shared the history dating back to 2000 BC when Celtic Tribesmen lived here.  Around 500 AD religion came to Inis Mor, as it became the location for several monasteries.  On a previous tour, a guide referred to Inis Mor as the location where they “turned out monks and priests” when Christianity was brought to Ireland.

Of particular note were the Seven Churches where the ruins of two small churches remain, alongside several 15^th century monastic houses; the lighthouse and land fort located at the highest point on the island; and the far eastern end of the island where dozens of small brown rabbits could be seen grazing.

We also visited the 5^th century church of St. Enda, one of the earliest monasteries on Inis Mor and the fishing pier near the far west end of the island.  For a small island, I was surprised at how diverse the geology of the land was.  Much of the island was the same craggy limestone as what we saw in The Burren on Monday . . . but there were also small areas of grasslands where cows could graze.  We were told there were few to no sheep on Inis Mor because they are wanderers and the island was not conducive to raising them here.  A side not, without sheep there is little need for dogs so there are very few dogs on Inis Mor.  We did see this pretty boxer the next day . . . I thought he’d make a nice addition to my sister’s Brindle Pack . . . bucket mouth and all!

 

The next day (Wednesday) after breakfast, we were picked up by pony & trap by John (driver) and Laura (horse).  We spent three and a half hours touring other parts of the island we could not fit in with Gerald the day before.  Because we were coming out of low tide, we still had enough time to visit the Seal Colony, which was our first stop.  It was especially nice to be out and about sightseeing before the first ferries arrived with hundreds of day-tripper visitors.

The seals could be seen about 100 yards off the shoreline, sunning themselves in the morning sun on rocks that seemed to be just below the water’s surface as the tide continued to inch it way towards the rocky beach.  As the tide was coming in, the seals could be seen moving further inland in an attempt to gain more time on the rocks.  John told us that within the hour, we would be at high tide, with the water lapping up to the rock wall barrier of the road.

After the Seal Colony, we head over to Dun Aonghasa, the stone fort built along the island’s 300 foot Atlantic coast cliffs by Celtic Tribesman around 2000 BC.  The three concentric circular rows of stone walls were built as defense from attackers from the ocean.  Historians are not sure who they were fearful of, as it is thought that the sheer cliffs of 300 feet would be enough protection from intruders.

The view from atop this point on the island was spectacular.   The walk to reach the fort was approximately one kilometer, uphill mostly over a decent gravel pathway.  Until, that is, the final 100 yards or so which increased in steepness over very rough and rocky terrain.  Ellie and I opted to stop rather than risk a fall in attempting to scale the last segment of the hike.  David continued and later provided video with commentary of the sights from above within the fort’s walls.

After our return back down the footpath, we met up with John and Laura.  There were several pony & carts awaiting other passengers who had arrived by ferry during the 90 minutes it took us to climb and return from Dun Aonghasa.  In this area, we saw the blacksmith who comes to Inis Mor monthly from Galway to shoe the horses.  John told us that it costs €70 for a set of four.  Ironically, he returned to the mainland on our ferry later than afternoon.

Ellie had her heart set on buying a genuine handmade Aran sweater while on Inis Mor.  Thankfully I had received good advice from folks on TripAdvisor on the best place to shop, which was confirmed by both Gerald and John.  Ellie bought two lovely sweaters from the little shop in the village adjacent to the entrance road up to Dun Aonghasa.  With a 20% sale, she paid just €40 each for them.

After our shopping visit, we headed back towards our hotel on the “high” road.  Laura did well pulling us up the gradually inclining hill, although I must admit I really felt for her as she worked her way back to where we were picked up.

As you may have noted in the photos, John’s trap (aka “buggy”) is covered with roll-up side panels.  Gerald had helped to make our arrangements with John and suggested we might like this arrangement given how poor the weather was while out with him in the van.  As luck would have it, we woke up to crystal clear skies and little wind.  That said, it was still nice to have the ability to have the enclosure just in case showers or high winds moved in.

John was clearly proud of his recently acquired new cart.  He told us he bought it about two weeks ago, having it custom made to meet his specifications.  It was very comfortable and spacious.  While the weather was good enough that we could have rode in the more traditional open cart, we were happy to have opted for this one while out with John.

Back at the Aran Islands Hotel, we enjoyed a couple of hours of downtime with a beverage and some internet time.  Niall (pronounced like “Nile”) was kind enough to drive us down to the pier in time for our 5:00pm departure. 

A little bit about the Aran Islands Hotel . . . Niall is one of the relatively new owners and has made great strides on improving the here-to-fore less than great reputation of the only hotel on Inis Mor.  While visitors have the option of many B&B’s as well as a few hostels, this hotel is really the only location that has the ability to host a wedding of any size.   For us, I selected the Aran Islands Hotel for their location; close enough to the pier and village of Kilronan and yet far enough away for lovely seaside views.  Additionally, they feature a full-service pub and restaurant, making it nice to be able to come home and enjoy a pint (or three) and the just make our way upstairs (by lift) to bed.

Our stay was delightful.  We had the comfort of a spacious family suite, which are very popular throughout Ireland.  The room accommodations included a queen size bed along with two twins.  A bathroom with a great shower along with a sitting area that included a couch and desk, plus television added all of the comforts necessary to enjoy a relaxing stay.

As for the pub & restaurant, we thoroughly enjoyed our dinners as well as the full Irish breakfast that is included in the room rate.  I was surprised at how reasonably priced the dinners were, ranging from €12 to €17.  David and his mom enjoyed the nightly special of roast beef while I chose the cod and chips.  We did partake in desserts, which were exceptional too!  Our total bill including soft drinks, a couple of pints and a shot of Jameson came to €75.

About the pints of Guinness, for those reading this in anticipation of an upcoming trip to Ireland, I recall there being some posts on TripAdvisor regarding the price of a pint here.  So far, we’ve paid been €3.40 at Gally’s in Tralee and €4.40 at Ballyseede Castle Hotel also in Tralee.  The most common price paid, however has been €4.00, including here on Inis Mor at the Aran Island Hotel.  So far we have yet to see the reported €5 - €7 pint!

The one beverage I have been surprised at, has been soft drinks.  I’ve paid anywhere from €2.00 for a 200ml bottle to €4 for a twin-pack of two liter bottles at Centra.  Most pubs and restaurants have fountain type soft drinks which have been poor in quality.  I much prefer those who serve in the can or bottle, even if they are a bit more expensive.

At this point in our holiday, we just have three days left.  It’s hard to believe we’re winding down and will soon be back home in the USA.  Today (writing on Thursday) we are planning to go to Connemara.  Tomorrow, we head back to Dublin where we’ll be staying two nights in Malahide at the Pebble Mill B&B.  With a 10:00am flight home on Sunday, we’ll be happy to be less than 30 minutes away from the airport.

Until next time . . .

Cliffs of Moher and The Burren

On Monday 30 April we took another motor coach guided tour, this time with Galway Tour Company (GTC).  This was the full day adventure that seemed to never quit giving.

We had to meet the tour company in Galway which is about 45 minutes from our timeshare cottage.  Fortunately, Toots got us there without incident.  A large motor coach arrived at the scheduled time to pick up us and take us, along with other passengers acquired along the way, to the main Galway City Bus Terminal in centre city.

There GTC as well as a couple others, plus the Eirebus Company operated.  Inside, people were congregated by which tour company and specific tour they were signed up for.  For the Cliffs of Moher (pronounced Moe-Her), GTC had received a number of late and last minute reservations as evidenced by the need to hustle to bring in another tour coach.  With two filled large coaches at a capacity of 53 each, there were still 14 of us still waiting for a bus assignment.  This would turn out to be a blessing and perhaps a curse.  Could it be the fairies were already at work?

Once the hustle and bustle ended, our remaining group of 14 was called upon by an affable man who as it turned out would be our driver and guide for the day.  We thoroughly enjoyed our day with Declan, who himself seemed more fairy than human.  He totally had “the look” and his voice caricatures allowed him to play both roles throughout the tour.  But what caught me almost immediately was his quick and most charming wit.

Our tour went out in a much smaller bus that was more a cross between van and motor coach.  Declan called it “The Toaster” because of the boxy rectangular design.  While the bus would hold approximately 24 passengers, it was nice to have a little more space and fewer people to have to wait for at each of the stops along the way.  This became especially evident as we crossed paths with the two other GTC groups who were seemingly always waiting for people and in spite of leaving well before we did, returned to Galway after us.  Well, they would have returned after us had we not broken down on the last big hill coming into the Galway Bay area . . . but that is best told later.

While we were scheduled to depart the Galway City Bus Terminal at 10:00a, it was nearly an hour later when we finally pulled out of the city.  What with all of the logistics including getting another tour vehicle and driver, plus needing to stop for diesel before leaving the city, we found ourselves immediately behind schedule.  The good news was that Declan was nimble enough to change up the itinerary just enough to have us avoiding the other tour coaches along the way.  Somehow, we even arrived for lunch before the first two GTC groups.

This tour was very educational thanks to Declan’s storytelling and broad breath of knowledge.  He was seemingly informed on everything “Ireland” including her history, geology, botany and sociology.  A great deal of time was spent providing us with background information on the various sites we visited, sometimes spanning more than 10,000 years!  Yes, Ireland is a very old land with history of inhabitation dating back to the Druids.

There were a number of quick photo stops along the way, all of which included an interesting account or story of what we were going to see or experience.  If I were to tell about each, this blog entry would take hours to write and probably even longer for you to read!  Instead, I will list the various stops here, saving the main attractions (The Cliffs and The Burren) for a more detailed description.

The Dunguarie Castle was our first stop.  It was built in the 16^th century, adjacent to the original castle by the same family some 900 years earlier.  While they do charge an admission fee to enter, you can visit the outer grounds and take photos.

The Corcomroe Abbey, a Cistercian abbey ruin sitting on the rocky hillside, out the outskirts of The Burren.

We stopped in Kilfenora to see a couple of 11^th century high crosses.  Because they were carved into limestone which is easily eroded by the wind and rain, these high crosses are under a protective greenhouse type shelter to help preserve them.  Given the time and elements they have survived to this point, they were in remarkably good condition.

O’Connor’s Pub of Doolin was our lunch stop and seemingly had all of the tourist trade coming through their doors.  We were fortunate that when we arrived, they were only at about half capacity.  Had we been on one of the larger tour buses, which arrived shortly after we did, I’m not sure that there would have been enough sitting area for everyone to dine.

The Burren was as “moon like” as I had read about in all of the tour literature about Ireland.  Geologists say that two distinctly different land masses came together in prehistoric times to form the island of Ireland.  This region is starkly different than those rich with lush green vegetation and pastoral farms.  For those willing to stop and get out, however, they will be treated to a botanist’s dream given the number of beautiful flowers that grow wild here.

With seeds brought to the Irish coast of the Atlantic Ocean on the Gulf Stream, flowers including orchids, may be found coming up from the fissures in the limestone surface.  Our visit was a bit early in the spring to see a large assortment of flowers, but there were plenty to see.

The Burren is also the location of some ancient burial grounds dating back more than 5,800 years . . . older than the Egyptian Pyramids.   Poulnabrone Dolmen is the largest archeological find in the area, and is believed to be the burial grounds containing some 30 individuals.  Findings of gold and gems have also been found in this area, the largest of which is marked by a small monument near the road traversing The Burren.  Visitors interested in seeing the items recovered from this site may do so at the National Museum in Dublin.

While driving through the 300 square mile area, we did make a couple of stops to get out for photos and to stretch.  Throughout the afternoon, we had some light rain showers, so some of the stops were not so convenient . . . especially given the nature of the surface to be walked on.

After lunch, our featured destination . . . on to The Cliffs of Moher!  Today the area is marked by two large parking lots (one for cars and another for motor coaches) and the visitor center which has been built into the hillside of a farmer who refused to sell his land for the development. Many Irish feel that this development in the name of tourism has really hurt and detracted from the area.  I can see their point, but do feel that great effort was taken to protect the natural beauty of the area while at the same time providing guests with an educational and safe means to view the cliffs.

Before the “tourist” attraction known as the Cliffs of Moher was created, visitors could walk right up to the edge overlooking the five mile stretch of rocks rising from the Atlantic Ocean some 700+ feet.  Today, there is a protected walkway along much of the cliff’s edge, although thrill seekers can get a more up close visit by climbing further up either hillside beyond the foot path and railings.  Also on this site is O’Brien’s Tower which was built in 1835, not for protection, but they say to further attract tourists to this area.  I find it a challenge to believe this, but that is what Foder’s Ireland tour book reports, so it must be true, right?

After about 90 minutes at the Cliffs, we were back aboard our “toaster” and heading along the coastal route back to Galway.  We did stop again at The Burren to see wildflowers as well as the oceanfront where the Atlantic meets the smooth limestone surface.

We did make one last scenic stop, which would be where the angry fairies may have taken their revenge on Declan for taking us to one of their storied forts earlier in the tour.  Fairy forts are revered and considered part of Irish legend.  The little men with green hats and orange beards were believed in before Christianity came to Ireland.   Christians believed they were more pagan than anything, and to believe in the fairies was tantamount to devil worship; after all, they did live below the surface of the ground.  A lot of conflict arose between those with differing belief systems; although some of the ancient archeological artifacts do have carvings depicting both coexisting in Ireland.

 

Fairy forts are underground with tunnels that can be heard echoing if you stomp on the surface ground.  With an elevated ring of earth lined with protective trees for seclusion, today it is against Irish law to destroy or otherwise disturb these landmark dwellings.  Declan took us to one such fort which was very interesting.  He said that to enter a fairy fort without invitation by the fairies was a sure way to give cause for retaliation.  He told a couple of stories of folklore involving the fairies, which instilled belief by many in our tour group; others were still skeptical.

After taking photos of Galway Bay from that last scenic stop, we all boarded the bus.  Ready to go . . . the bus wasn’t.  Apparently from what Declan could diagnose, when setting the parking brake the brake canister did not refill with air, hence making it impossible to release the brake or to drive any further.  As we sat atop the hillside, both of the other GTC motor coaches passed us.  Fortunately, Declan was able to honk and chase down the second one that had roughly 10 or 12 vacant seats.

We boarded that bus, with some couples cozying up, girlfriends on their men’s lap for the remaining 45 uncomfortable minutes.  Because this tour group had yet to stop at the Dunguarie Castle, we made that stop.  Unfortunate for them, the site was closed with the gates locked so all they got to see was the castle from the outer yard.  This stop was an added 30 minutes, making our return to Galway even further delayed.

Because the bus we were riding on was actually a Dublin Tour Company vehicle and as such would be returning to Dublin City that evening, we had to meet up near Galway to a relief bus that would take all of the Galway originating guests back to their pick-up points around the city.  We were expected to return to Galway between 6:00 and 6:30p but it was closer to 8:00p when we finally arrived back at our car.

WHEW what a day!  About 30 minutes later we got back to our cottage, where we fixed sandwiches for supper.  We knew this would be a late meal, but not this late.  It was good that sandwiches were on the planned menu for the evening.