The Faces of Ireland

We have not just been on holiday this past year, we have been living our lives to the fullest.

There is much to love about this beautiful country.  It’s rich history, struggles and accomplishments.  The segmented countryside with it's rock walls, rolling green hills and dramatic, windswept coastlines.  The people. Ah, the people. These are more than faces, these are our friends.  People that we've met and who have impacted our lives, forever. Folks we've chatted with and who have supported our stay in Ireland.  I will miss each and every one of them.

Pepe & Emer of Westport 

Sean- ARTIST

Tom & Adrian of CONNAUGHT BISTRO

Adam of SMOKE

Sue & Brandon of SEAN'S BAR

David of L&N BUTCHERS

Georgie from the corner

John, from Wales, Lockmaster

Kenny, docent at Trinity College Library

Buddy

Michelle, Rory & Willow - neighbors

Paul of AIB Bank

Pharmacists of NAYLORS PHARMACY 

Ronnie, helper at the Lock

Norman - tour guide extraordinaire

Stan of CUSTUME PROPERTY

'other John' lockmaster

Phil of DUBLIN

Timmy - the Lockmaster Himself

George of VIKING CRUISES

Doolin

So we've left Athlone, cleaned out the apartment - gave most of our house hold belongings to Michelle.  She's a neighbor who is a social worker and knows of folks that can use our stuff.  Before leaving for the states, we decided to give ourselves one last mini-holiday and headed to Doolin.

We stayed in a wonderful B&B - Aran View House Hotel, and yes, we can see Inisheer from our room. Innis Oirr aka Inisheer is the smallest of the 3 Aran Islands.  Our B&B is just a few minutes from the town center.  In fact I believe everyone staying at the B&B is an American. We found McDermotts Pub just down the road, quite enjoyable for dinner and enjoyed some good Irish music.

After a yummy breakfast and chatting with Sharon, part owner of Aran View House, we decided to visit the island.  We had planned to hike across the cliffs, but the weather has been so warm these past few days we decided it was a glorious day for a boat ride.  Sharon and her kids go out there just to spend the day at the beach.  The water is so clear. We'd spent so much time watching the comings and goings on the River Shannon it was high time for us to get out on the water.  After seeing how clear the water was I wished I could have jumped in. We did see some dive boats and believe you me, I was tempted!

Caught a ride with Bill O'Brien of Cliff Island Tours and took the 15 minute boat ride to Inisheer.









We must have hired the oldest driver and horse on the island for our tour.  This poor old horse did not want to go up or down, and the roads around the island are nothing but up and down.  It was a slow tour, and the horse had the worst gas.  In addition to the sights, this made for an interesting ride.





We were able to stop off and see the ruins of the shipwreck Plassey.  Grounded in 1960, all survived.  I was very surprised to see tourists climbing all over the rusty old ship. The island lighthouse has been automated and has no name. After about half way into the ride we decided to hop off and walk to see the ruins of O'Brien Castle.

The horse would have never made it up the steep hill.  There is not much left but the keep and again, the tourists climbing all over it.  (no respect!)  This island has more rock walls then I have seen in any one place, and they are taller than most.

There is a brackish lake that over flows into numerous walled areas in the winter.  Our driver indicated that most folks leave in the winter, only a handful stay behind. Summer days they have over 1,000 visitors to the island.  There are 30 kids in the schools, they do have primary care, one small grocery store, cafe's and a couple of hotels - a few B&B's and a number of places if you want to pitch a tent. Lots and lots of bike rentals.

Frank Wassink

I noticed a man with a tripod taking lots of photos', figured he'd know how to operate my camera, so I asked him if he would take our picture. OMG this man, Frank Wassink from Denmark is a professional photographer, I'd say he knew what he was doing!!  He took one look at my camera, reprimand me for not cleaning my lens, cleaned it, then proceeded to change my lens with his and took our picture.  Turned out pretty good.  I in turn took his, with my own lens.  He gave me a few lessons and pointers on cameras and taking pictures as we chatted.

We took the long way back to the mainland, cruising around the Cliffs of Moher.  What a fantastic way to see the cliffs.  We have visited the top 3 times now, but this is such a unique experience, and you see so much more.  It's wonderful to be on the water when it's so warm with little to no swells and the view was pretty awesome.

PHOTO ALBUM - Aran View House Hotel

PHOTO ALBUM - Doolin

HodgePodge

I've been looking back over my photo's and realize there are a few stops we've made over the past few months that I have not posted.  Mostly they were repeat visits, or not enough to say about them to write a whole page.  So I'm putting them together here, under HodgePodge.  (This way I can link any photo's too.)

On our second tip to the Cliffs of Moher the weather was not as stellar. Still spectacular, just not very clear.

We drove through The Burren National Park.  Now this was an unique place.  It's windswept landscape is made up of mostly bedrock and limestone.  This is also where you'll find one of the over 100 dolmans in Ireland, the Poulnabrone Tomb. (dates back to the neolithic period 2900-4200 BC) Numerous caves inhabit the mountains and in the town of Ballyvaughan sits the Burren school of Art.

There are a dozen or so stone circles in Ireland, we found the Drombeg Stone Circle down around Cork.  In addition to the circle, there are the ruins of dwelling and cooking place.  The cremated remains of an adolescent was found during an excavation in the early 1950's which dated back to 800 BC.

We revisited Birr Castle, this time spring was in full bloom and there was much to see in the gardens.

We enjoyed a few nights at the beach.  Inchydoney beach is a great, and very popular beach where the tidal range is between 6-13 feet.

Joe & Charlotte

PHOTO ALBUM - Cliffs of Moher and the Burren

PHOTO ALBUM - Inchydoney Beach

PHOTO ALBUM - Drumbeg Stone Circle 

PHOTO ALBUM - Birr Castle

Cahir Castle

We decided to stop for tea/coffee and stumbled across the Cahir Castle. Such a fortuitous find. Come to learn it was another Butler castle.  Belonging to a cousin of the Butlers of Kilkenny.  Actually, it began as an O’Brien family castle in the mid 1100’s but was granted to the Butlers in the last 14th century.  They enlarged and remodeled it over the next few centuries. After Cromwell’s invasion of Ireland, mid-1600, the castle fell into ruin and was partially restored in the 1840's by Lord Cahir.  After Lord Cahir died in 1961 and the castle was returned to Irish state.   

I suppose due of the transfer of power and ownership over the centuries, the castle took on a medley of structural ideas. We opted out of the tour, but I did hear the guide mention that it was the ladies of the house that always wanted improvements made. 😉

It’s a very grand castle, comfortable courtyards and delightful surrounding landscape, with a hodgepodge of buildings.  Although not as grand as the Butler castle in Kilkenny, it was very unique with it's own personality.

PHOTO ALBUM

Mizen Head

Mizen Head Signal Station is located at the end of the Kilmore Peninsula the utmost south-western point of Ireland. This is one of the most dramatic, stunning & breathtaking places I have seen in Ireland and the weather the day we visited could not have been more perfect. 

This is the sort of place you have to be ‘in the area’ to visit.  It’s not the sort of place you can decide on a whim to explore. After driving Ireland for the past year, I’ve discovered anytime you drive out to the end of one of the peninsula’s you must plan for 4-5 hours round-trip driving time. The roads tend to get smaller and narrower the further out you go. So, after a few hours of winding roads, some looking more like someone’s driveway than a public road, I was astonished to find the parking lot full of cars and even some smaller motor homes.  Obviously more crazy folks like us that want to discover the best of what Ireland has to offer. 

They have a small gift store, cafe and educations/history area to walk through before you buy your ticket and head out to the cliffs. 

The cliffs here rise high above the Atlantic Ocean and are glorious. They say they are so dramatic because it’s where the currents meet up from the west & south coasts, the storms pound the land and years of shifting helped in the formation as well.  

The lighthouse is now automated as most are, but for years the lighthouse keepers lived and worked on the peninsula, under all conditions of weather. Mizen head barely touches the mainland and various bridges have been constructed over the years for keeper access. 

Fortunately for us the ‘new’ bridge (reconstructed replica in its original design from the early 1900’s) opened to the public in 2009. Along with the bridge, they have created numerous viewing platforms all along the cliffs for your viewing (and picture taking) pleasure.  Their home page states “Enjoy the exhilaration of the walk down the cliffs!”  Ugh. 

Even though the bridge spans high above the gorge, about 150 feet, you still have to walk down to get to it and it’s a fairly steep slope too.   Oh, but so well worth the hike.  From each platform you are treated with another spectacular view of the surrounding cliffs. 

Once across the bridge we hiked up to yet another platform and could see from Dunlough bay to Sheep’s head to the Beara Peninsula, maybe even Dursey Island way off in the distance. Breath taking. Coming back up we opted to take the famous 99 steps – which is one way (UP).  We stopped at the café for tea/coffee & a few more pictures. 

This is definitely lands end, Irish style. 

PHOTO ALBUM