Ireland Day 9 - Slieve League & Derry

Day 9 started with rain...lots of rain.  When we woke up in Donegal, we could hear the rain pounding against the skylights.  We had planned to head for Slieve League, the highest sea cliffs in all of Ireland this morning and were anticipating it being one of the coolest places we would visit so the rain was dampening our spirits significantly.  We headed down for breakfast and to try to come up with a Plan B but by the time we got there the rain started to subside and by the time we left the hotel, we had sun!  This day turned out to be one of the nicest that we had the entire trip!  What a blessing!

We originally missed the turn for Slieve League which gave us some additional time exploring the coast which turned out to be a nice perk but we eventually found ourselves in a lower parking lot for the cliffs.  We were not 100% sure if we had to park in this lower lot and hike up (which is what they make it look like) or if you could drive up further and park up by the cliffs.  We opted for some exercise and decided to hike the 3 mile circuit up to see the cliffs.  The views on the hike were fantastic and well worth the effort but the wind was once again brutal!  The waves were crashing in hard enough that combined with the wind, a mist was actually being carried up the 1,500 foot sea walls and spraying onto us!  I have never seen anything like it in my life.  (Note for anyone going to Northern Ireland - you don't have to hike, there is parking at the top.)

As if the views from the hike were not enough, when we got to the top we were left awestruck by the massive Slieve League.  The cliffs actually rise just short of 2,000 feet above the sea level, three times the size of the Cliffs of Moher!!!  I had to take 9 pictures and merge them together to even get a full image of the cliffs.  Here is the mighty Slieve League:

One of my favorite things about Ireland is watching the massive waves crash into the rocky coastline and the Slieve League was one of the best spots for this.  The water is so turquoise and the waves strong enough to cause a lot of white foam.  I love the colors!



From the Slieve League we headed into Northern Ireland to stay in the city of Derry.  En route we saw an absolutely perfect rainbow.  It was the first time either of us had ever seen one where you could actually see the full arch from start to finish (we had a high perspective from where we were driving).  You could even make out a second rainbow above it (but bairly).  I didn't get a good picture of it when we could see the whole thing but the below picture at least gives you an idea.  We now felt like we had been blessed with the full Ireland experience!

We stayed in a cool bed and breakfast in Derry that we had found in the guidebook.  Derry is the second largest city in Northern Ireland and is famous for being the location of Bloody Sunday (or the Bogside Massacre) where twenty six civil rights protestors (mostly teenagers) were shot by British soldiers in 1972.  This is actually currently in the news as Britian has announced that they will be paying money to the families of the victims.  Derry is also known for being a walled city as the old section of the city is surrounded by stone walls.  Our B&B allowed us to stay very close to both the Bogside area and the old city.

We took off on foot to explore Derry and to find some dinner.  We were able to walk through the walled city and get some views from the top of the walls and to see some murals that artists made in memory of Bloody Sunday.  Below are some pictures of us at the walls of the old city, looking out on the Bogside area from the walls, an example of the murals, and a picture of our room at the B&B.  So a day that started out rainy and looking like a disaster turned out to be another favorite from the trip!

Ireland Day 8 - Sligo & Donegal

Day 8 turned out to be one of the more beautiful days that we had and we were able to take advantage and see some beautiful scenic locations.  We started out by heading into Sligo to see a little bit of the town but mainly just to find some good breakfast (aka coffee).  We found this really cool cafe with outdoor seating right on the river that runs through Sligo.  We enjoyed a great pancake breakfast, great views, and great hospitality from the waiter.  Here is Am at Lily's Cafe and her yummy breakfast:

We opted to head for the scenic coast rather than spend the rest of the morning exploring the town.  We headed for Rosses Point which turned out to be amazing.  The views of the ocean were fantastic and the waves were really pounding the shoreline.  As fantastic as the location was, there really were very few people around as well which made it even more enjoyable.  Here are some pictures of the Rosses Point experience:

From Rosses Point, we continued around the peninsula and found Parke's Castle on the banks of Lough Gill.  The castle dates back to 1610 and had amazing views of the water.  We decided not to spend the money to tour the castle (they wanted a fortune) but did enjoy the views from the outside.  Here we are at Parke's Castle:



Am and I piled back in the car and headed for Glencar Waterfall.  As you are driving down a back road to access the waterfall you can start to see the water making its way down from the high cliffs.  A short hike brings you to the lower part of the falls.  This waterfall is made famous by the poet W.B. Yeats who loved this waterfall and wrote about it in his poem "The Stolen Child".  Here is Glencar Waterfall and a picture of us from the parking lot of the falls:

From Sligo, we headed to Donegal to find us a place to stay.  We had not had any luck calling places from the guidebook so we took a quick tour of the town to see what we could find.  Am was finally able to reach one of the B&Bs only to find that they only stayed open during the summer months and were closed for the season...however, they owned another place in Donegal that was still open.  This led us to Mill Park Hotel which turned out to be another fantastic find.  The hotel was crazy nice but had reduced their pirces since the really busy summer season had past.  We ended up with an amazing room at a super low price!  God provided once again.  Here is Mill Park Hotel:

We closed out the evening with dinner at The Olde Castle Bar just outside of Donegal Castle in downtown Donegal.  Good food and a cool pub atmosphere was a great way to close out a fantastic day!

Ireland Day 7 - Kylemore Abby

Day 7 was a little less exciting of a day but don't worry, it picks back up tomorrow!  We had a fairly long drive from Galway to Sligo and it rained a ton throughout the day so we were somewhat limited in what we could do.  We decided to hit a castle that the pastors from the church we attended Sunday recommended and then to hit a cool old abby before heading up to Sligo.

Ashford Castle was really a cool spot but, unfortunately, unless you are staying there (which costs an arm and a leg - it is a 5 star hotel), they don't like for you to come inside.  We enjoyed touring the grounds and checking out some of the cool guard buildings and gardens.  Here are some pictures:

Kylemore Abbey was a lot of fun despite the fact that it rained the entire time we were there.  I, being brilliant, didn't bring my umbrella so I ended up soaked (as did my camera - was very thankful for a well built Nikon!).  The Abby sits at the base of Druchruach Mountain in beautiful Connemara.  It was built by a rich English dude, Mitchell Henry, who had taken his wife out to Connemara on a vacation and had noticed how she fell in love with the area.  Out of love for her, he invested his fortune in building what is now Kylemore Lodge.  Mitchell was actually a really great guy who did a lot in his time at Kylemore to help out the people who lived in the area.  He employed a lot of them, treated them and paid them well, educated their children, and taught them how to be more self sufficient and to work the land.  They loved him for it.  It was a very cool story.  Mitchell's wife died a while later and he also built a chapel on the grounds in memory of her.  We were able to tour both the house and chapel on our visit.  The estate is now owned by a group of nuns and is used as an abbey.  Here are some pictures of the abbey (and Am) in the pouring rain:

From Kylemore, we were off to Sligo where my desire of staying one night in a castle was realized.  The castle was only built in 1884 so it isn't super old but it was super cool.  Here are some pictures of the Sligo Clarion Hotel:

Ireland Day 6 - Galway

Day 6 started with a trip to Abundant Life Church in Galway. We had looked up churches online the night before and this one popped off the page. We couldn’t find it in the GPS and really didn’t have a good address but knew it was in a business park. We found some businesses in the general area of the city on the GPS and prayed for the best. When we got to the correct area, we couldn’t find the business park but we did get stopped by a group of police officers doing a random check on car registrations. They gave us directions to the business park and we pulled into the church just in time for the service. The worship was fantastic and the message very timely and relevant for us. We knew it was God who had led us there.

We had the opportunity to talk to the pastor and his wife after the service and they made some recommendations for a great lunch spot, the places we had to check out in the city, and even where to park. The recommended parking deck was for the Jury Inn which was one of the top rated hotels in our guidebook but they were listed well outside of our price range so we never even called them. Am suggested we at least check with reception to see what kind of rate they could give us since we were already there.  Turns out we were offered an awesome rate! We decided we would crash there that evening.  Our room had a great view of the harbor!

We hit the streets of Galway for lunch and shopping. The pastor had recommended his favorite fish and chips place which we found was fantastic. Am was even able to get fried salmon in place of the usual fried cod! We did some shopping and had a lot of fun looking at all of the Claddagh jewelry including a museum with rings dating back over a hundred years. Am had picked up a ring for herself at Bunratty Castle and we picked me up one in Galway. So we now are each wearing Claddagh rings (as if it wasn't hard to get used to wearing one ring - I now have two!). The streets of Galway were full of street musicians which were a lot of fun to watch. One band (pictured below) were fantastic and we picked up a CD.

The first of the “things to see” in Galway was St. Nicholas Church which was Columbus’s last stop before sailing for the new world and has a great tribute to Jane Eyre. The second site was Lynch’s Castle. Lynch was Warden of Galway back in the 1690s.  The castle is famous for an incident in 1693 when Lynch's son killed someone on the docks. A mob marched on the castle demanding justice. To appease the mob, the father hung his son out of the window. This is where the terms “lynch mob” and “lynching” come from. Here are pictures of the church and castle.

After getting settled in at the hotel, we decided to walk to Trad on the Prom, a fantastic show we were going to see this evening. The walk was a couple miles along the coastline and was beautiful. And, honestly, it felt wonderful just to be out getting some exercise. We walked down a causeway that led to a small island with a lighthouse and experienced spectacular views. Here are some pictures from the walk:

Trad on the Prom is a show featuring musicians from Riverdance and Lord of the Dance and some of the top dancers in Ireland. It was absolutely phenomenal. The music was some of the best we have heard and the singers were fantastic – especially a guest singer they had. The dancers were top notch and the venue was small enough that you were really able to see the amazing footwork. This will definitely be one of the highlights of the trip. Day 6 turned out to be one of the best days we have had on the trip thus far!

Ireland Day 5 - Cliffs of Moher

Day 5 started with breakfast at the hotel in Limerick and a drive up to Bunratty Castle. We couldn’t actually go in the castle but it was still fun to see it from the outside. The best part was the great store across the street where we were able to pick up a lot of great items and ride out some rain storms that made their way through the area. We ate some lunch in a nice café in the store and then hit the road again. Here is Bunratty Castle:

Our next stop was the famous Cliffs of Moher which claim the best views in Ireland. This is a stop almost every tourist to Ireland makes but it is always a gamble. The cliffs are often covered in fog to the point that you can’t see a few feet in front of you, let alone the great view of the cliffs. We were blessed to have an absolutely perfect day for viewing the cliffs! It was quite the experience. Before I go further, here is a picture of the cliffs so you can picture them in your mind:

The crazy part about being at the Cliffs of Moher is the wind. It really feels like you are in the midst of hurricane force gusts. You have to fight to step forward every foot and brace yourself not to be blown over. I have never experienced anything like it in my life. There is a walkway that goes up to a viewing point where you can see the cliffs as in the picture above. This was the best angle due to the sun but the concrete path ends just before you can turn a corner and get out to a spot where you can see the water crashing below and the cliffs beyond. There is a sign saying you are not supposed to go any further but nearly everyone was.

I wanted the picture so we ventured beyond and found out why that sign exists. Once you turn the corner, the wind picks up dramatically and it is really hard to stand. I pulled the camera up to my face and could barely hold it in place. I took my picture and we quickly popped back over to the other side of the sign where the wind died back down. Absolute craziness! You can walk along the cliffs and see the mini castle in the picture above but you still fight the wind the entire way. Am and I had a blast both in seeing the views and in trying to stay on our feet! Here are some various views of us around the cliffs:

From the Cliffs of Moher, we headed toward the city of Galway. We were unable to reach one of the B&Bs from our guidebook ahead of time so we decided just to roll into town and see what we could find. Galway ended up being absolutely beautiful. The edge of the city snakes around the bay and we found a hotel that looked good right on the water. Am gave them a call and the rate was slightly more than our limit…but, they were having a wedding and the room they had available was just above the reception area. According to the lady, Irish wedding receptions often go until 1:00 AM…and then they pick back up with a disco! She was willing to knock off 40 euros if we wanted the room above the reception (which put it well within our price range!). We decided to give it a shot so we visited the hotel. At reception, the lady apparently thought we weren’t going to take it because she ended up knocking off another 20 euros (in 10 euro increments) before we were able to get the words out “we’ll take it”.

We were both exhausted enough that we barely heard the music so this ended up being an amazing find! One fun thing we are finding out about Ireland is that the hotels tend to have a lot of “family” rooms that have multiple beds. The room we ended up with at this hotel had a queen size bed in the main room but then two adjoining rooms – one with two single beds and another with one single bed. Pretty awesome if you are bringing a family to Ireland! Below are some pictures of the room. Overall, another fantastic day in Ireland!!!

Ireland Day 4 - Dingle & Limerick

Day 4 started with breakfast at Gorman’s Clifftop House and some gazing at the beauty of the Atlantic Ocean. We then headed for the town of Dingle for a morning of shopping and just enjoying strolling through a really cool town. Thus far, Dingle has been our favorite town and the place we would choose to stay if we were ever living in Ireland. The shops were fantastic and we picked up a lot of little goodies.

After our shopping and a coffee from a Dingle coffee shop (thanks again Rebecca for getting Am addicted to coffee), we headed for Slea Head Drive, a beautiful drive around the coastline in the Dingle area. We actually found that we enjoyed this drive more than The Ring of Kerry. Maybe it was the lack of rain but we just really enjoyed the views as we wound our way along the coastline. The cliffs are fantastic and the waves crashing against them make one of the best sounds in the world. I soooo wish we had a video camera (forgot my point and shoot) to show the waves! Here are some shots of the cliffs, the ocean, and the crashing waves:

One of our fun stops in Slea Head Drive was at a beach. We broke out the tripod and took some pictures together (below are a couple of them) which was a lot of fun. Am did some beautiful artwork in the sand and we shot it from up on top of the cliff (it was huge!). Now all of Ireland knows I am in love with Am. To top off this stop, there was a cool little truck set up selling coffee and snacks. Can anyone say “smoothie cart”?

After finishing the beautiful Slea Head Drive, we headed for the city of Limerick where we booked our first night at an actual hotel. The Clarion we stayed at is one of the tallest buildings in Ireland at 17 stories high (one record actually said it was the highest). The rooms were inexpensive and we ended up with a massive one with views of the Shannon River right below the hotel. We decided to order some room service and kick back and watch a movie (Blind Side – one of the best movies I have seen this year). Another awesome day complete.