Ireland!

Ireland is awesome!

I've been here about 9 days and regret not blogging sooner, because it's hard to remember everything! I'll go quickly, though, because I'm paying a lot for this internet access :-/.

The adventure started when I arrived at Logan, sat on the runway for 1.5 hours, and then was told that my flight to Philadelphia was cancelled (I was supposed to fly Boston-Philadelphia-Shannon). Instead, I hopped on a flight to Heathrow (London) and then to Dublin! Watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off on the plane, which was fabulous. I was extensively interrogated at customs in London, then spent a while hanging around trying to see if I could recognize a part of the terminal where they filmed Love Actually and regretting that I didn't have any pounds. I had to take a shuttle from the arrivals terminal to departures, and got freaked out when the bus drove on the left side of the road! It's really hard to get used to. Flew to Dublin, and then ended my journey by taking a bus to Galway, where I met my aunt at our B&B.

It was raining in London, cloudly in Dublin, and raining in Galway. Since then it has brightened up and become beautiful! I think it was my aunt Posie who did it; she left today and now it's getting cloudy and cold, hehe.

The first night in Galway we went out for dinner--Irish lamb pie! It was delicious. Next day we explored Galway, spending most of our time on the pedestrian streets in the center of town. We saw the original Claddagh ring shop (the rings with a heart, crown, and hands), then spent a long time trying to find the University. It turned out we couldn't park inside, but we got to see a little bit. Then headed up to Connemara, where we managed to get really lost, a lot. The roads in Ireland are really narrow and the signage is definitely not adequate. Connemara is beautiful--lots of rock and hills, along with a beautiful coastline and peat bogs (the ones people fall into and then their bodies are found preserved hundreds of years later). We stayed the night in Oughterard, then headed down to Costelloe, where we met up with Posie's friend Bob Quinn, a writer and movie maker who knows a lot about the ancient people of Ireland. Then headed along the coast (admiring scenery all the way--can't wait to show you pictures!) until we came to Roundstone, a town famous for musical instruments. There we saw someone making bodhrans, the traditional irish drums, and I bought a book of traditional Irish tunes to try playing when I get home.

After Connemara, we headed down to the Burren, also famous for its natural beauty. We stayed in Ballyvaughn in a B&B with beautiful views of the mountains and lots of wind! I was exhausted, so I went to bed extra early.

Our visit to the Burren was great--we saw a dolmen, which is a very old stone tomb (I think about 4-5000 years old). That was quite cool. I also went to a stone ring fort from the 6th century or so. The Irish have a tradition of building with stones, but without mortar--amazing architecture.

Next we headed to the cliffs of Moher, one of Ireland's most popular tourist attractions. It's basically huge, beautiful cliffs; look up Ireland tourism and you'll probably get a picture of them, haha.

Then down through county Clare, on a car ferry, all the way to Castlegregory on the Dingle peninsula, where we met up with our relatives for dinner! Posie had been keeping in touch with Maureen, my grandfather's cousin, whose house we went to for dinner. Afterwards, we saw the end of a game of gaelic football, which is a bit like soccer-handball with a volley ball--it was pretty cool. We met Maureen's husband, sisters, kids, and grandkids (some of whom Posie had met before, I believe). Stayed up talking; it was great to meet my Irish relatives! I figured that all the grandchildren are my third cousins.

The next day we drove across Connor Pass, a beautiful road through the mountains, and drove around Slea Head drive, which circles the western part of the Dingle Peninsula. Saw another stone fort, 1500-year-old stone "beehive huts," the 1200-year-old Gallarus Oratory (still in beautiful condition--made out of stones without mortar), and Kilmalkaedar church, an old stone church with a very old (and new) cemetery and an old stone sundial. Both Gallarus and Kilmaldaedar had Ogham stones outside--standing stones from the 4th century with ancient writing on them. Also went to a museum that contains the largest mammoth skull in the world and is run by a guy from Connecticut. We climbed up Slea head, the (beautiful) westernmost point of Ireland. That night we ate at Ned's Pub in Castlegregory, where they had live music. Irish pubs are great--most of them are just like one would imagine (without the pub brawls).

Monday we spent with Maureen, Jack (her husband), Peig (sister), Noirin (sister), and Noel (Noirin's husband). First we saw a beautiful forest (after not seeing forest for a while, it was a nice surprise), then headed to Cloghane, where we saw the house my great-grandmother Mary grew up in, as well as a graveyard with tombs of my ancestors and a 5th century church ruin! Then a bit more of a drive to see the scenery, and we headed down to Dingle to meet more relatives! These were Ann, Elizabeth, Paedr and Jack, related to my great-grandfather Tim. We had a drink and talked about family history; I admired two of my distant cousins, who were adorable. I think there must be a rule here that all Irish children have to be extra cute!


The next day we visited Dingle, a cute town that grows in the summer because there are great beaches around there! We visited some shops on the cute shopping streets and saw a couple places called "Brosnan's _______." Cool. I bought a cheap tin whistle that I look forward to playing.
Met up with Ann again, and went to see Jack's house, which is next to the stone house in which my great grandfather was born. It was a farm back then, and still is. That was very cool.

The south-west of Ireland is highly Irish-speaking; all the signs are in Irish and english (some exclusively in Irish), and though most people speak english, I think I did hear some speaking Irish. It's very cool how the Irish keep their language alive.

Then off to Inch beach, a cute beach where we ate lunch, then down to Killorglin, another cute town on the peninsula below Dingle. We went for dinner at the Climber's Inn, an Inn/restaurant in the middle of the mountains where Posie had stopped in the middle of a storm 12 years before. All the mountain drives (well, all the drives) are beautiful, and so full of sheep! There are sheep everywhere! And they're dyed blue and red to identify them.

Then a new day and off to the Skellig Islands, which were simply amazing. Full of gannets, gulls, and the most adorable puffins. We climbed 600 stone steps or so to an old monastery at the top (the same dry-stone construction). The island was beautiful and the views were amazing! The puffins were also extremely cute, and all over the place! On the boat trip back, we passed the smaller Skellig, where we saw a few seals, as well as tons of birds.

Then along the south coast where we stopped to see some gardens and yet another ogham stone. My favorite was seeing the stone circle in Kenmare. Stone circles are so simple, but I loved it. Maybe I'll become a stone circle hunter.

We spent the night in Killarney, where again we went to pubs to hear music. Most of the music is played with guitars, banjos, and maybe fiddles/mandolins. Killarney was another nice town, though it's bigger--more of a city.

The next morning we saw Muckross Abbey, a ruined Abbey next to a victorian mansion (Muckross House), in Killarney National Park. Then we actually did go stone-circle hunting, but without luck. I think the one we were looking for was on private property. Oh well, it was still a bit of an adventure.

Then the long(ish) drive to Limerick, stopping in the cute town of Adare for lunch. We ended up in Bunratty, where we had a quick peek at the castle and got to see the folk park, a reconstructed 19th-century village. Bunratty was unfortunately quite touristy, but still interesting. That night we went again for pub music, and ended up staying out until 11 or so, the time it gets dark here. It's so funny! I don't think I've ever been awake when it's dark outside.

This morning Posie left from Shannon airport to go home, and I grabbed a bus to Dublin, where I am now. I plan to visit the city tomorrow; it's dinner time now so I'll head out for a bite to eat. Hope you've enjoyed reading about Ireland! I'll update again soon--I'm hoping to head over to Wales for a bit this week.

Hugs from Ireland!