On the 9th of January we headed to Ireland for a couple of weeks. It was a short trip, but we covered some serious territory. We left the bikes in Glasgow with our wonderful and kind landlady, Jennifer, and she even took us to the airport. In the rain. Of course.
Bob got a really bad cold right when we arrived, so we laid low in Dublin for most of a week. We still got out a little bit, and managed to have a good time between sneezes and sniffles.
Here's the Ha'Penny Bridge (so named as it used to cost a ha'penny to cross it!):
Here's the famous Temple Bar, which is located in an area called Temple Bar. Somewhat confusing, but there you are. The Temple Bar area is really touristy, and not recommended if you want to see real Dublin. If you ever go there, ask us and we'll let you know where to go for good music and good Guinness at reasonable prices.
In Ireland they deal in a LOT of craic. In fact, they even take it upon themselves to identify craic dealers so that it's easy to know where to go for a good time! We had loads of craic. Craic is good.
We took a free walking tour, and here we are learning about Molly Malone and her two, um, ruffly sleeves.
We visited the Irish Whiskey Museum and learned quite a bit about Irish Whiskey. It's quite different than Scottish Whisky - and quite tasty!
We also took our first ever day bus tour - definitely a different way to see the country side! We headed north to Belfast and the Giant's Causeway. After seeing just how narrow the roads of Ireland are, we decided we were glad to be in the bus, vs. cycling on the side of it! We learned through our travels that Belfast was historically Ireland's only industrialized area. They have a long history of ship building - the Titanic was made at this shipyard, and now there's a great huge museum dedicated to this sunken gem. The building is the size and shape of the bow of the great ship, and it's truly impressive to stand beside it. (boB here: I hate to say it, really, but I think the building looks a lot like an iceberg...)
In Belfast we took a Black Taxi tour with an excellent local guide Tom. He grew up in the Catholic neighbourhood and had many a story to tell about his life on Falls Road and how times have changed (or not changed) during the last several decades. We heard about the area's fascinating political history through Tom's personal experiences. We explored the peace wall dividing the Protestant Unionists and Catholic Nationalist neighbourhoods and saw some incredible murals depicting issues related to "The Troubles". It was an eye-opening experience.
Along the northern coast we came across some incredible scenery. Although we have never seen the series "Game of Thrones", we hear that some portions of it were filmed along this coast line, including the areas around the village of Ballintoy, which was the village of Pike in the series, and Dun Luce Castle which was the House of Greyjoy in the series.
The Giant's Causeway was created approximately 60 million years ago as a result of numerous volcanic eruptions. Millions of years of erosion have left some 40,000 interlocking hexagonal basalt columns. Steeped in colourful folklore, it is Northern Ireland's only UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here's some pics of the Giant's Causeway.
You might recognize the rock formations? The very same columns appear on the other side of the sea, at Staffa in Fingal's Cave. That is the Giant's Causeway, connecting the two places across the water. It's really cool!
We also visited the Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge which crosses a 30 meter deep and 20 meter wide chasm. This bridge was orginally by salmon fisherman- brave souls!
Christchurch cathedral:
And guess where we went?!?!
The safe at Guinness that holds the sample of yeast for fermentation. Very special stuff, those little yeasty beasties!
Every day is a.......
Fun Irish tutorial:
"The cause of labor is the cause of Ireland, the cause of Ireland is the cause of labor." - J. O'Connelly
Some fantastic music at a session in Dublin:
Walking back to the hostel we came across.....
The country is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising. This was the uprising that finally resulted in the formation of the Republic of Ireland about six years later. The history of the uprising is fascinating, and the Republic is buzzing with celebrations this year.
We also took a side trip south to Glendalough by bus:
Called the monastic city, it was an important center of early celtic Christianity. St Kevin's round tower can be seen below.
And another view of the tour through the window of a ruined church.
Below is a pic of bob and our wonderful and entertaining bus tour guide Jim. Jim was super fun, loaded with craic, and we had such a good time with him that we even met up a week later for a beer in Dublin. We highly recommend the Wild Rover bus tour company, and be sure to ask for the tour that Jim is guiding.
The spectacular lakes of Glendalough- surrounding the lakes there are many trails through the some last remaining ancient old growth oak forests in Ireland.
We went over a pass to get to Kilkenny. Normally the view from the pass is fantastic, but today ... not so much!
We ended our afternoon in Kilkenny with a pub at the Hole in the Wall. A quirky and historic pub, the bartender served history as well as pints!
After our stay in Dublin we took a train west to Galway, a lovely medieval city with the most beautiful water hole covers we'd ever seen. There was other cool stuff there, too, but these covers really caught our attention.
And incredible music in lots of pubs!
And the shortest, fastest river in Ireland!
and a Pie shop!!
Great winding roads blocked off for pedestrians. Every 50 feet or so a different street musician singing their hearts out!
We stayed in a wee apartment... it was kinda narrow, but really cozy and quiet.
We took an informative tour and learned about the 14 tribes who ruled the city prior to Cromwell's seige, which ended in 1652.
The town came alive at night! Loads of people on the streets, musicians busking (in the rain) and the pubs were generally packed.
After Galway we took the Road to Lisdoonvarna!! (happens to be the name of a really fantastic tune)
And at the end of the day we ended up in Doolin, arguably the best place on the west coast of Ireland for traditional music. This time of year, however, the place is a little ... quiet. This sign epitomizes the state of the town for the next couple of months:
Some beautiful art work on the side of a Doolin pub:
Near Doolin is the Cliffs of Moher. A beautiful place to go for a walk on a windy day - the seas were crashing below, and the clouds racing past above. Fascinating!
You might think that we were standing on the very tippy precipice of the 600-foot high cliffs in order to take these pictures. Aaaaaand you'd be right. It was a little nerve wracking in the gusty winds!
For all ye lovers of 'Princess Bride'- we give you the Cliffs of Insanity!
There was one bit that was REALLY muddy:
Don't step on fires, okay?
We kept coming across these vans and we can't help but wonder how one stumbles on such a job? It must be hard work, but someone has to do it!
We stopped briefly in the town of Ennis- for a walk through town on a bus layover...
We arrived in Sixmilebridge for the Shannonside music festival. On Thursday night we attended the centenary concert that featured many local musicians singing and playing tunes related to the Easter Rising of 1916.
We heard some top notch music over the weekend - including The Piper's Union - phenomenal! (He's playing the uillean pipes, below, which bear a passing resemblance to Scottish pipes but are much more complicated. And your intrepid Advil Highlanders Pipe Band are truly intrigued by the uillean pipes ... might have to get a set of those, too!!)
A portion of the festival was held in Bunratty castle folk park. Built around 1425 AD, it was the last of a series of castles built on the same site. It served as a vital stronghold of the O'Brien family through the 16-17 centuries. It was renovated in the 20th century and now contains lavish furnishings from the 15-16th centruries. There were concerts ongoing in several rooms in the castle throughout the afternoon and we were free to wander about. We even heard Mariachi music in the castle basement! Quite an ecclectic mix!
Bunratty Castle at night:
And by day:
From the top of the castle we looked down on Durty Nellies, one of the venues for the festival:
Here's a session at MacGregor's in Sixmilebridge. This is an English group from Norfolk, and they were really fun to be with. The white blur at the right side is the step dancer - she was GOOD!
Selfie!
Well, that's our brief tour of Ireland. We're planning to go back there in May for a couple of months, and this was a great teaser. We love the west coast - great scenery, incredibly nice people, and loads of music.
Take care, and we'll be in touch.
As down the glen one Easter morn, to a city fair rode I. Where armored line of marching men, In squadrons passed me by. No pipe did hum, nor battle drum did sound it's loud tattoo. But the Angeles bells o'r the Liffy swells rang out in the fogy dew.
ReplyDeleteI did not realize that this was the 100 anniversary of the Easter uprising!
Thanks for the wonderful photos and awesome story's that fit them.
I hope you are both doing well. Love ya and miss you bunches!
Lance.
Thanks for posting the great pictures and descriptions, M and B! Sorry you caught a cold - we're getting it over here, too, if it makes you feel better.
ReplyDeleteThansk!
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ReplyDeleteThanks you for posting a brief tour of Ireland. I loved all pictures and description written by you. Me and my wife are planning trip Ireland. I would be very thankful to you if you share ireland itinerary with us. Thanks in advance!
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