After the brilliant week of music in Miltown-Malbay, we headed north just a short ways to a village called Liscannor to spend our last week in Ireland with Eimhin and Jonny, a couple we met through HelpX.
Eimhin and Jonny advertised needing help with the general upkeep of their cottage, and, we, wanting to spend the week in County Clare (noted for incredible traditional music) while obtaining insight into local culture, signed up for the job!
The instructions to cycle to their place were quite straightforward - head north to Lahinch, then west to Liscannor. Take the first left after going up the hill, and then ride toward the sea until you find the blue cottage.
And blue it is!!
Eimhin's mum ran a boutique in Liscannor and had painted the place a brilliant blue several years ago. There was some paint to spare, and when Jonny and Eimhin wanted to repaint the cottage they figured there was enough left to do the job. When they open the buckets, which were labeled as white, they found it was blue!! But, why not? The neighbors... well, let's say it took them a while to adjust to the color, and not without a good deal of commentary!
Here's Eimhin and Jonny. By the way, Eimhin's name is Gaelic, and is pronounced ey-Veen. She's Irish and grew up in this cottage, and Jonny is from England, near Liverpool. They met while living abroad in Australia of all places. During the years after Eimhim graduated from University, many young Irish peoples were emigrating due to lack of employment opportunity at home in Ireland.
We had various things to do while we were at the cottage - rearranged the kitchen (with Eimhin's oversight!), pulled wheelbarrows full of horsetail from between the flagstones, painted a bit, cut back ivy from the stone wall, helped hang the Paddy Whisky sign on the back patio and cooked some wonderful vegetarian meals. Overall, a very fun time, and in a beautiful place with lovely people.
They live very near the sea, and we enjoyed the incredible scenery found just a short 5 minute walk from the blue cottage:
One afternoon Eimhin took us into Ennistimon, a small market town to southeast of Liscannor, and we spent a few hours roaming the streets and taking its charm.
That's the falls of the river Inagh known locally as 'The Cascades'- very powerful!
A massive cedar in the garden of the old riverside hotel.
Look out!! Be aware!!
I don't know why we have to be so cautious. They were quite content to graze.
Beautiful street art celebrating the musical heritage of west Clare.
And ... How long has it been since you've seen one of these?
I do wonder how they decided the additional €0.74 was necessary. Or maybe it's actually a discount of €0.26?
And we found Melinda's long-lost hair salon!
Funny they haven't been sending the royalty checks... We meant to ask about that but they were closed. How convenient, eh?
There were dozens of traditional pubs along the main street, some combining other businesses with their pubs (such as the pub that also served as the funeral home - perfect combination, eh?).
On Eimhin's advice we stopped at Eugene's pub to experience Eugene and his whiskey collection. He's a very interesting man - a recovering alcoholic with an encyclopedic knowledge of whiskey and a passion for sharing it. In fact, he's so passionate about sharing it that he told us about it for a full forty-five minutes before asking us if we wanted any! We sampled two drams that were recommended by him and by Eimhin, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Irish whiskey is quite different than the Scottish variety. Not better or worse, but quite different.
Unfortunately, boB had been fighting a cold for most of the week, and by Wednesday it got the better of him...
Rather than taking a nice cycle trip through the Burren as planned he was relegated to lemon-ginger tea-drinking duty. Poor boB.. ;-(
She stumbled upon several church ruins en route to the Burren. One of which was covered with ivy in the small village of Nougharal......
and came with a private tour from a very friendly feline:
She spotted a small mural outside of a pub in Kilfenora;
Even the sheep are musical in Ireland!
The Burren National Park is an area of great natural beauty and archeological, as well as geological, interest. We highly recommend a cycle or a walk if you're in the neighborhood- the limestone rock formations are stunning and otherworldly.
Below you see the famous Paulnabrone, a Neolithic portal tomb excavated in the 1980's. It was found to contain the remains of at least 33 individuals, as well as many personal items, such as stone beads and quartz crystals.
Later in the week we met Eimhin's father and mother, who run Doll's B&B in Doolin. They've been in the Doolin area for most of their lives, and used to run Gus O'Connor's Pub, which is the oldest pub in Doolin. Gus was Sean's grandfather, so the place was in the family for a long time!
He's also a historian and is involved in the local historical society. He took us on a walking tour around Doolin one rainy afternoon.
We're at the Killilagh Church here, which Sean helped to restore and stabilize. (Don't know why Melinda's got the frowny-face going... Maybe because it was the cold-feet-in-the-rain syndrome?)
We walked out to the sea, through tall grass and heather, and we got quite wet! But it was beautiful and was a real treat to hear the stories of growing up on the Burren and playing in these fields.
The geology is fascinating here - ancient rocks being eroded continuously by the sea... Treacherous walking, for sure!
Surprisingly, the rocks were not too slick, for the most part.
Standing next to a few million years of ancient limestone!
Eimhin and boB, on the Burren, in the rain.
Curious cows in the rain. G'morning, Ladies!
At one point we were in a pub and found this wee beer mat advertising a new flavor of Guinness:
Mid-Strength? At 2.8%? What's light-strength, then? Hmmm... No thanks.
We went for a walk to Hag's Head one afternoon when boB was feeling a bit better, and found his exceptionally bouncy and excited chap:
He just wanted love!!
Here's the Napoleonic Signal Tower at Hag's as built when the Irish feared invasion by Napolean, and the entire west coast is dotted with them. Each one is visible from the next, and on a clear day one can easily see the others up and down the coast.
The towers were never actually used "in action" because Napolean was defeated just as the towers were finished.
There's boB sitting on the edge of the world at the Cliffs of Moher just passed the Hag's head. We had been at the Cliffs in January, and the weather wasn't much different this time!
It's a beautiful place, and the challenging weather makes it even more dramatic. Here we are in our ever-present yellow rain jackets!
We stayed at Liscannor for the week, and on Sunday we took the train to Dublin. We were sad to leave County Clare as well as our hosts Eimhin and Jonny - they were welcoming and friendly and we are grateful for the opportunity to stay with them and learn about their life on Ireland's west coast.
On arriving in Dublin we stowed our gear at the hostel and then biked to Dublin's historic zoo (in intense sunshine and heat, we might add!). Dublin Zoological Gardens are immortalized in the song covered by the Irish folk group The Dubliners, and so we just had to go there and sing it for ourselves!
The Dublin zoo opened in the 1830's and although it was mostly enjoyed by the wealthy middle and upperclass, the zoo would offer admission on Sunday's for a mere penny- making it something all Dubliners could afford once and a while.
The weather was absolutely perfect, and you might even say it was hot. Even the giraffes were headed for the shade! Quite a contrast to the weather we'd had on the west coast!
Sadly, we learned that there are only 250 of these guys left out in the wild. They are endangered due to poaching and loss of habitat:(
We enjoyed watching the chimps get their daily chow. Their diet appeared to be much like ours- lots of fresh veg. It used to be that the Dublin Zoo would host tea parties with chimps... But no longer.....at least we have learned something about taking care of captive wild animals.
This chimpanzee is one of many who live in a family group on an island at the zoo.
It was amazing to watch and witness animal behaviors, including those of our our own species as we stumbled through the crowds......
Loads of people looking on at something amazing here! Look at all the cameras! What could it be??
It's boB on a zebra!!
Kidding. They were actually looking at this guy:
This sign cracked us up!
In the elephant house we saw this wee chap having a blast with the sand pile:
And we learned that elephants need to sleep on a small hill rather than flat on the ground. Lying on the flat ground makes it harder for them to rise in the event of a surprise during the night, such as a predator lurking.
This poem is a poignant reminder that we (the Royal We) need to do a better job of protecting animals who are being driven to extinction.
After leaving the zoo we stopped to watch a cricket match for a few minutes.
This young chap was doing the same!
Later we stopped at a wonderful Japanese restaurant for dinner ...
And a Berra.
After a full day of fun, we stopped in at the Black Sheep, a pub specializing in craft beers that we discovered back in January......
and had a final pint of luscious black stuff:
We had a fantastic time in Ireland, and after nine weeks it was hard to grasp that the time had gone by so quickly. A sunny few days in Dublin, Gerry's Pub and all the lovely people of Bunnifinglas, the festival in Limerick, seeing Angie and Junior and Liam again in Miltown-Malbay at the Willie Clancy Festival, Eimhin and Jonny in Liscannor .... What an adventure!
Next stop, Liverpool!
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