We are now back from Ireland, shaking off jet lag, and letting the significance of everything settle in. The following itinerary will give some idea of why I never posted during the trip. In a couple days we should have our life back in order and I can write something more meaningful than an itinerary.
Thursday, July 5
Arrived at 5:30 AM Dublin time. Picked up the rental car and was immediately thrust into Dublin rush hour traffic. Driving on the opposite side of the road and using my left hand to shift a six-speed transmission. The GPS was giving road names in Gaelic. Got to the first of thousands of roundabouts. Apparently, the Irish use roundabouts to ensure that no invading army will ever get to its destination. While the Irish sit in a pub with a pint watching the show. Lise heard words coming out of my mouth that she never heard before. Finally got to the Airbnb where we were staying and crashed for a couple hours. Got up, toured the Guinness brewery, walked around Temple bar, met Lindsay for dinner, then crashed again for the night.
Guinness.
Having a pint in the Guinness storehouse.
Molly Malone of the song. Our Molly’s namesake. We were discussing names when the song came on the radio and that was all she wrote.
Friday, July 6
In the morning we met up with Lindsay and headed to the historic Boyne Valley. Switched from driving in Dublin to Irish country roads. About the only difference is the higher speed limits in the rural roundabouts. Circular death.
This road is two way traffic, 80 kilometer/hour speed limit. That’s 48 MPH.
We started at Kells to see the Celtic crosses. By now a dose of religion may have been a good thing for me. After Kells we hit Loughcrew Cairns, a prehistoric passage tomb, older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids. We also went to Trim to see Trim Castle, used as York Castle in the movie Braveheart.
Kells Celtic crosses.
The 5,000 year old Loughcrew Cairns passage tomb.
Some of the 5,000 year old symbols inside the tomb. Meaning unknown.
Trim castle.
Friday night we stayed at Hopewell retreat, site of a spring that has been used as a water source for a few thousand years. The spring is on a private farm. We stayed in what was once the stables converted to an apartment. More on Hopewell Retreat in a later post.
Hopewell retreat.
Saturday, July 7
We started Saturday going back to Trim Castle where we promptly got a parking ticket.
After Trim we went to Hill of Tara, the traditional seat of the Irish high kings. Tara has a large rock phallic symbol at the top of the hill. A newly crowned king had to drive a chariot around with his wheels touching the rock. Ancient legends had a godlike people, the Tuatha Dé Danann, bring the stone to Tara as a sacred object. The stone will roar when touched by the true King of Ireland. Not a murmur when I touched it. Or the group of German witches that were seeking some kind of spiritual thing.
The Lia Fail or Stone of Destiny. Bottom right is a group of German women that were have a seance and rubbing the stone. It was weird.
After Tara it was Newgrange, like Loughcrew Cairns another prehistoric passage tomb. Much better preserved than Loughcrew though. Both Loughcrew Cairns and Newgrange are older than Stonehenge and the Giza Pyramids by something like a thousand years. These aren’t just piles of rocks stacked up. They were planned, built, and decorated with a purpose now lost to us. On the winter solstice the sun shines the length of the passages to light the center.
Newgrange passage tomb. Around 5,000 years old.
The entrance to the tomb. The large rock is what prevented the site from being destroyed. In 1699 a quarry was started but the first thing they hit was this entry rock. The locals doing the quarrying realized this was significant leading to the eventual preservation of one of the most complete neolithic sites known. On the solstice the sun shines through the top opening illuminating the interior passage and central area.
Newgrange.
After Newgrange it was back to Hopewell for another night among the spirits with no internet connectivity.
Sunday July 8.
Sunday, we did a bit more driving around the Boyne Valley and visited the ruins of Mellifont Abby. Mellifont was in use from 1142 until 1539. William of Orange used it as a headquarters during the battle of the Boyne in 1690.
The ruins of Mellifont Abby.
After Mellifont we drove back to Dublin Town to drop off Lindsay. She tried to navigate us through Dublin and its traffic to her housing at University College Dublin. All survived my Dublin driving, but we left her in a state of shock a few minutes from where she lives. Surprisingly she is still talking to me.
Monday, July 9
Lise and I headed from Dublin to the Irish west coast to spend four days in what is billed as, The Wild Atlantic Way. And wild it is. In addition to the hazards of Irish driving I became accustomed to, let’s thrown in huge tour buses. And maybe crank up the speed limit a bit.
Two way traffic, 100 kilometer/hour speed limit. That’s 62 MPH. Cliff on one side, ocean on the other.
We spent our first night in Dingle, a small fishing village that also serves tourists as the jumping off point to the Slea Head drive. We stayed in rooms over Murphy’s Pub. There was also Murphy’s Ice Cream and Murphy’s Stout. Dingle isn’t very large so I’m really hoping we aren’t getting into a cousins marrying kind of thing.
Lise in the window of Murphy’s pub.
Murphy’s Ice Cream. Right up the street from Murphy’s Pub and considered some of the best ice cream in Ireland.
Murphy’s Stout, served at Murphy’s Pub.
Musicians in Murphy’s Pub.
The Temperance Hall in Dingle which, from what I’ve observed, is not used very much.
View of the Irish countryside on the way to Dingle.
An old cottage on the Slea Head drive.
Slea head, where the film Ryan’s Daughter was filmed.
The road around Slea Head.
Lise on the beach.
Tuesday, July 10
We spent Tuesday morning driving around Slea Head and doing some hiking, then headed down to Valentia Island. Doing parts of the famous Ring of Kerry along the way.
Views from hiking around Slea Head.
On Valentia Island we stayed in Knightstown, another small fishing village. Our accommodations were at the Royal Valentia Hotel, a hotel since that 1880s. The Royal Valentia was kind of the center of town life, a primary eating, drinking, and meeting place, with a seafood chowder to die for. Kind of like Murphy’s in Dingle it was food available all day, dinner from 6:00 – 9:00, then traditional music from 9:00 – 11:00.
The Royal Valentia apparently included a village dog named Rucus (pronounced Ruuucus). He wasn’t a stray. He was well groomed and had a tag. Rucus apparently owned the hotel courtyard where everyone knew him. While Lise and I were eating he wandered into the dining area, looking for pets and mooching handouts. The waitress saw him and just said, “Rucus, get out of here”. Rucus just turned around and walked out the door to the courtyard.
A sign on the car ferry dock going to Knightstown that I found amusing. .
Traditional musicians in the Royal Valentia.
Rucus
A traditional Irish fry breakfast. The two non-potato round things are the Irish version of scrapple, something called black and white pudding. Don’t ask, don’t tell.
Wednesday, July 11
We spent Wednesday driving part of the Ring of Kerry, but also going back country up to Killarney National Park. Ireland has been mostly stripped of its post glacial forests. Killarney National Park is one of the few areas that has significant forests and is a designated UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Scenery on the way to Killarney
A lake in Killarney National Park
Trees in Killarney National Park
Torc Waterfall
Ring forts (Circa 500 AD) near Cahersiveen on the Kerry Ring
Ballycarbery Castle near Cahersiveen on the Kerry Ring. A few hundred meters from the ring forts. This is on private property.
Thursday, July 12
This was a major highlight for me. I rode a boat out to Skellig Michael, a U.N. World Heritage site with a monastery used continuously from about 600 A.D. to 1200 A.D. It took us about an hour cruising at 12 knots to get there. About eight miles out in the Atlantic. The monks rowed little leather covered boats. At least they didn’t have to contend with roundabouts. The island was also used by Steven Spielberg for the filming of Star Wars. Talk about a time span.
Our sister ship.
Approaching Skellig Michael.
Looking up from the boat landing. 600 steps up to the monastery. Steps that were installed in 600 AD.
The monastery.
Atlantic puffins that nest on Skellig Michael.
Razorbills, which also nest on the island.
After Skellig Michael we drove back to Dublin for the night and had dinner at Arthur’s Pub. Arthur’s has been a pub for over 200 years, and has some historical connections. It is right by St. Catherine’s Church, outside of which the patriot, Robert Emmet, was hung, drawn and quartered in 1803. Probably for inventing roundabouts. His death mask hangs on the pub wall. Arthur’s is also the closest pub to Guinness. There’s a rumor that they have a pipe running right to Guinness so they can supply the freshest draft outside of the brewery.
Friday, July 13
We grabbed Lindsay and headed to the City of Tribes, Galway. Mostly we just cruised the Shop Street area.
I love it. 1651. Still has some of the original walls in the pub.
Saturday, July 14
Saturday, we drove to the Cliffs of Mohar, the legendary Brian Boru’s hunting grounds. A stunning place used as a backdrop in a Harry Potter movie. I found myself wondering what it was like to be a Celt standing at the edge of the cliffs.
The Cliffs of Moher.
Lindsay on the Cliffs of Moher
Me on the Cliffs of Moher
After the cliffs we back into Galway for a little shopping. Lindsay bought me a hat from O’Maille’s. They have been hand making woolen clothes for 75 years and supplied the costumes for John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, and Victor McLagan in the movie “The Quiet Man”.
Quiet Man picture from O’Maille’s. Not my picture.
Our hats from O’Maille’s.
Lise and Lindsay under the Spanish Arch (1584). Part of a defensive wall to protect business in Galway from raiders.
Nowhere to go until the tide comes in.
Sunday July 15
We drove back to Dublin for the last time. On the way we stopped in Tullamore at the Tullamore Dew distillery. Learned interesting things about one of my favorite whiskeys and Irish distilling in general. And got to taste a range of their whiskeys at the end. I ended up buying a bottle of a version they only sell right at the distillery. You can’t buy it anywhere else in the world. Problem is, with that lineage I’m never going to want to crack the bottle open.
The old Tullamore Dew distillery, now the showroom.
After the distillery tour Lindsay navigated us through Dublin right to her dorm. Either my driving improved or we all got numb to near death experiences. We returned the rental car with no dents, something I attribute to some form of divine intervention. More likely the whiskey tasting.
Later that evening we had an experience that sort of said everything about the trip. Lise and I were looking for something to eat and started at a pub about a half block from our lodging. They didn’t serve food but directed us to some other establishments. On the way back to our lodging we stopped at the pub to have a couple drinks. Talked to the bartender and watched some Gaelic football and hurling matches on the tube. Came time to pay and the pub didn’t have a charge card system set up. We didn’t think we had enough Euros so the bartender said, “Don’t worry about it. If you’re coming back tomorrow you can just pay me then.” He said this to two total strangers that he knew didn’t live thereabouts. Where in the States is something like that going to happen? As it turned out, we did in fact have enough Euros to pay our debt.
Monday, July 16
Lise and I spent a relaxing day cruising around Dublin Town, catching some of the sites we didn’t have time for during other visits. Most notably we saw the book of Kells and the Long Room, Trinity College’s famous library. Seeing the book of Kells was worth fighting the mobs. On Lindsay’s advice we booked tickets online the night before and got the earliest time slot we could. We showed up 45 minutes early and they went ahead and let us in. The lines were three times as long when we came out of the library.
The Long Hall library at Trinity College. Inspiration for the forbidden library in Harry Potter maybe?
We also did the epic Emigration Museum, guaranteed to make you dislike the British, and St. Stephan’s Green. Guaranteed to make you dislike the British even more.
They did an excellent job of conveying the importance of the Green during the Easter Rising. Very simple low-key signs but very powerful. I remembered St. Stephen’s Green in my reading about the Rising. To be there was moving.
She led a contingent of troop at Stephen’s Green during the uprising. Legend has it she kissed her pistol before surrendering it to the British. Sentenced to death, her sentence was later commuted.
A pub established in 1620 where we ate lunch.
St. Pat’s Cathedral. A church has been on the site since 1200.
The Samuel Beckett Bridge in Dublin. Anyone can build a bridge. Why not make one in the shape of a harp, the symbol of Ireland.
Tuesday, July 17
The long trip back.
The parting glass, Dublin Airport.
Ed's and Lise's Biggish Years 