Ireland at Last!
It was hot, very hot. We decided to stop early for the day and headed for the campsite. We were relaxing in what shade we could find, dozing in our chairs under a tree. Suddenly the peace of the afternoon was shattered when several large four by four trucks arrived. The safaris to Ngorongoro Crater were returning.
Loud, excited chatter came closer. Two young blokes stopped by Nicolle. One was Australian, the other clearly Irish. They were studying the maps of Europe, America and Africa posted on Nicolle's sides.
The Australian exclaimed "Gee, these guys have been everywhere!" The Irishman was stabbing our map of Europe! "But they haven't been to Ireland and we're their closest neighbour!" We decided we must make amends as soon as possible.
Loud, excited chatter came closer. Two young blokes stopped by Nicolle. One was Australian, the other clearly Irish. They were studying the maps of Europe, America and Africa posted on Nicolle's sides.
The Australian exclaimed "Gee, these guys have been everywhere!" The Irishman was stabbing our map of Europe! "But they haven't been to Ireland and we're their closest neighbour!" We decided we must make amends as soon as possible.
April, 2015, we set out on a month tour of Ireland.
We stayed overnight at Woodside Touring Park, Chester before taking the Stenaline Ferry from Liverpool to Belfast. Crossing a little bumpy so not to Sue's liking, she slept and didn't eat. I enjoyed the Guinness and fish and chips!
Spent our first night in Ireland on the Harbour Car Park, Carrickfergus.
We stayed overnight at Woodside Touring Park, Chester before taking the Stenaline Ferry from Liverpool to Belfast. Crossing a little bumpy so not to Sue's liking, she slept and didn't eat. I enjoyed the Guinness and fish and chips!
Spent our first night in Ireland on the Harbour Car Park, Carrickfergus.
Next day, after a trip to the tourist office, we visited Carrickfergus Castle and Mount Stewart House and Gardens. Had a tasty lunch of soup and sandwiches at the National Trust Café. Parked overnight at the Aire at Donaghadee.
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Visited the Round Tower near Dundalk and Newgrange Neolithic Passage Tomb before heading to Dublin.
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Spent the next few days at Carmac Valley Campsite, collected our daughter Ally from the airport, and viewed the sights of Dublin.
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Drove through the Wicklow Mountains and visited the sixth century monastic settlement in Glendalough founded by St Kevin.
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The Rock of Cashel was the traditional seat of the kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the Norman Invasion. In 1101, the rock was donated to the Church. According to local mythology, the Rock of Cashel originated in the Devil's Bit, a mountain 20 miles north of Cashel, when St. Patrick banished Satan from a cave, resulting in the Rock's landing in Cashel.
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The gardens to Bantry House were developed by the second Earl of Bantry and his wife Mary. Inspiration was taken from their travels across Europe. The gardens contain seven terraces; the house is located on the third. One hundred steps are located behind the house and are built to appear to rise out of a fountain and are surrounded by azaleas and rhododendron.
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Despite poor visibility, we drove the Ring of Kerry. It had rained every day of our trip so far. They don't call it the Emerald Island for nothing! We then took the ferry to Valentia Island.
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A difficult drive along very narrow roads took us to the Gallarus Oratory on the Dingle Peninsula. Interpreted as either "rocky headland" or "shelter for foreigners", the chapel’s shape has been compared to that of an upturned boat.
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Took a boat trip out of Dingle Harbour to see Fungie.
Fungie is a wild Bottlenose Dolphin, no one is quite sure of his age but he has been there for nearly 32 years and the experts tell us he has a lifespan of between 40 and 50 years. He is about 13 feet in length and weighs around 250kgs.
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Visited the South Pole Inn in Annascaul, home of Antarctic explorer Tom Crean. Tom Crean was a member of three major expeditions to Antarctica, including Captain Scott's 1911–13 Expedition in which the race to reach the South Pole was lost to Roald Amundsen and ended in the deaths of Scott and his polar party. During this expedition, Crean's 35 mile solo walk across the Ross Ice Shelf to save the life of Edward Evans led to him receiving the Albert Medal for Lifesaving.
Crean was second officer on Ernest Shackleton's Expedition on Endurance. After the ship became beset in the pack ice and sank, Crean and the ship's company spent 492 days drifting on the ice before a journey in boats to Elephant Island. He was a member of the crew which made an open boat journey of 800 nautical miles from Elephant Island to South Georgia, to seek aid for the stranded party.
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Leamaneh Castle was originally built around 1480 by Turlogh O’Brien, King of Thomond, as a five storey tower. The name of the castle 'Leamaneh' is said to derive from the Irish 'Leim an eich' or in English, 'The horse's leap'. In 1648, Conor O'Brien and his wife, Mary McMahon, extended the tower with the addition of a four storey mansion house.
On the way to the Cliffs of Moher we visited the Neolithic Paulnabrone Dolmen and limestone pavements of The Burren. On arrival at the Cliffs of Moher, the lady manning the parking booth advised us that visibility was low and it might not be worth it. We decided to continue our visit regardless and were justly rewarded as the clouds cleared and we got lovely views.
On the way to the Cliffs of Moher we visited the Neolithic Paulnabrone Dolmen and limestone pavements of The Burren. On arrival at the Cliffs of Moher, the lady manning the parking booth advised us that visibility was low and it might not be worth it. We decided to continue our visit regardless and were justly rewarded as the clouds cleared and we got lovely views.
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Visited Killary Waterfalls and the memorials at Doo Lough and Murrisk commemorating the Great Famine of the 1840s.
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The Megalithic Cemetary in Carrowmore is one of four major passage tomb complexes in Ireland. There may have been more monuments originally but 30 have survived. Most of the sites are "satellite tombs" which surround the largest monument, placed on the high point of the plateau, the cairn called Listoghil.The tombs consist of a central dolmen-like megalith with 5 upright columns bearing a roughly conical capstone on top, enclosing a small pentagonal burial chamber.
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Visited the Ulster American Folk Park just outside Omagh. The park was developed around Mellon House, the birthplace of Irish-American banker and lawyer Thomas Mellon. The museum comes in two parts, the Old World and the New, and tells the story of three centuries of Irish emigration.
An interesting museum with costumed guides, displays of traditional crafts, agricultural displays and an array of farm animals. Samples of traditional Irish and pioneer American food, including freshly baked soda bread and pumpkin pie, were on offer.
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Walked the walls of Londonderry and viewed the murals in the Bogside.
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Ally is a fan of the television series "Game of Thrones" and was keen to visit some of the programme's locations. Sue had done some research before leaving home and had marked on our map the main sites. Armed with this, and information picked up in the tourist offices, we embarked on a self-drive tour.
[click] to continue on our "Game of Thrones" self-drive tour
[click] to continue on our Ireland tour
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