Well, we left Star Valley heading to Ireland on Aug 30th. My bucket list item. Spent the night in Salt Lake City, UT for an early morning flight (6:00 am). Of course since we used milage for the tickets, we got to Shannon, Ireland the next morning by way of Salt Lake City, UT to Dallas, TX, to Orlando, FL, to Philadelphia, PA. But since we left Philadelphia at 9:45 PM, we arrived in Shannon at around 7:00 AM. Tired, but after renting a car, we heading to Limerick for the night. On the way, since check in wasn't until 2:00 pm, we did some touring on the way.
Everything was really green, and all shades. But of course, they get a lot of rain, but is sort of like Seattle, with a drizzle and some sun, so you just do things anyway. First stop was Bunratty Castle. Here, we explored the castle and grounds. This first dates back to 1251.
 |
| Front view |
|
 |
| Always take picture of signs to remember where you are! |
A little song during the tour.
 |
| Pygmy Goat |
|
 |
| View from Castle window, Beautiful |
 |
| Period costume in Main Hall |
 |
| Everyone to their own taste. |
 |
| Another view of the countryside |
 |
| Children's garden and carved houses. |
 |
| Still trying to determine type of plant |
 |
| Original Durty Nelly's |
Then on to Limerick. Checked in the hotel and then walked around the River Shannon to get something to eat. Very early night, but had to have a Guinness. Next morning, we walked the River to see some of the city.Beautiful city with lots of history.
 |
| St. Mary's Cathedral |
|
 |
| The River Shannon |
|
|
Heading to our home for six days, The Fisherman's Lodge in Scariff, Clare County, Ireland
 |
| Small resort, only six studio rooms |
 |
| No view from room, but could walk out to Lough Derg |
|
Rested and headed to town of Scariff to buy some drinks and breakfast so we would have something at the place. Drove around the Lough and to Killaloe. Wanted to take a boat ride on the River Shannon, but really to wet and cold. Still had beautiful scenery and lots of fun. Even made it to an Irish Pub with an Irish band that evening. Nothing starts until 9:00 pm and we're old folks and are in bed by then.
 |
| Town of Killaloe |
|
On Monday, September 4th, we drove over to Ballyvaughan to the Ailwee Caveand Birds of Prey Educational Centre. Of course, remember with all this driving, it's on the wrong side of the road. Bob did a great job, only missed one or two turns on the round abouts.
On the way we stopped at Dunguaire Castle. We didn't intentionally plan many castles in Ireland, since we would be on a tour with several in Scotland the last week of the trip. But since it was there, we stopped. Looking at the pictures, everyone must have been my height, Bob had to duck to go into every room.
 |
| We also stopped by Poulnabrone, The Portal Tomb |
Of course, we finally arrived at Ailwee Cave and the Birds of Prey. The cave is one of the oldest in Ireland, but although it was beautiful and interesting, it doesn't compare to some that we have been in in the USA. Now, the Birds of Prey was absolutely fantastic. Both Bob and I had an hour each with a Harris Hawk. We walked into an adjacent forest. There we let it fly and had it come back to us. We got there early enough to see the show, then I took my turn. Al was my hawk, and Bob''s hawk was named GinGin. It's funny that the Birds that they have are not native to Ireland. They are trying to reintroduce the birds to the area.
There's so many more pictures of the hawks, Snow Owls, Turkey Buzzard, Falcons, that you would be bored looking at them. To say the least, we really enjoyed the experience.
After visiting the local pub for dinner, we headed home since the next day was just as full. We drove to the tip of the coast to visit the Loophead Lighthouse.
Hard to get great pictures in the fog and mist, but do the best we can for memories.
 |
| Loophead Lighthouse was used during WWII to identify friendly borders |
 |
| Scenic farmhouse |
|
 |
| Atlantic Coast no way down to the water |
 |
| Memorial to the lives lost at sea in this Fishing Village |
|
 |
| Looks like a really old cemetery, but it's still being added to now |
 |
| This is a sight all along the Wild Atlantic Coast |
 |
| The Thatched Cottages that you hear about in all the novels |
|
On Wednesday we drove back to "The Wild Atlantic Coast" to visit the Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands. Took a cruise that morning over to Inis Oirr (the smallest of the 3 Aran Islands. It was rainy and windy, so the ride was rather rough. I loved it. As we arrived on the island, the dolphin were playing in the water by the dock. This island was a real fishing village before tourist became the main occupation and income.
 |
| This dolphin is used to people, you could pet him | |
 |
| The island was basically rock |
|
 |
| Old church |
 |
| An example of how most the roads were lined. Notice, no shoulder |
|
 |
| Self explanatory signs. No misinterpretation here |
 |
| Cold and windy on the boat to see the Cliffs of Moher from the water |
|
 |
| just an example of the size of the cliffs |
|
 |
| Another view , No sunshine to make them shine |
 |
| Picture of what they should have looked like on a perfect day |
 |
| Still pretty impressive |
|
 |
| The waves are really crashing into the rocks |
 |
| The sun shone a little to show the colors |
|
 |
| To let you know that you are in Ireland |
 |
| If you thought you had seen the cliffs somewhere before |
 |
| The castle on top of The Cliffs of Moher |
|
|
Well that's a short version of our week in Ireland. On Thursday, it was rest, wash clothes and repack to move to Manchester, UK on Friday morning. It was a lot of fun and interesting. Learned a lot about history of the country and their battle to maintain independence. Northern Ireland is a part of UK, but Ireland has been able to remain it's own country.
Comments
Post a Comment