September 15, 2013
We woke up to wind and rain this morning—lots of both!
Mount Royd Country Home is known for its award-winning
breakfasts and it didn’t disappoint. The
breakfast was something to behold! I
don’t remember the total number of fresh fruits carefully prepared by our
hostess, Josephine, but it was at least a dozen. I had smoked salmon for the entre. After the VERY nice breakfast, we decided we
just had to stay here another night! (After-trip
note: The china used for meals at Mount
Royd was the only china that was not white during the entire trip!)
Breakfast at Mount Royd
We drove north to a nearby ring fort named Grianan Ailligh
that dates back to around the birth of Christ. The walls are 4.5 meters thick and about 5
meters high with three terraces, or walkways, on
the inside. Two long passageways, which
were blocked off, are contained inside the wall. The fort was the Royal Citadel
for this area between the 5th and 12th centuries and was
built on a high mound that may have been a sacred mound, or prehistoric burial
place, possibly dating back to the Neolithic period (about 3000 B.C.) Three small mounds, about which not much is
known, circle the fort. Speculation is
that they may have been part of a smaller Bronze Age or Iron Age hillfort. Essie and I decided to climb up to the top
walkway for a view of the countryside.
The wind was blowing hard—I would estimate it at 50 mph plus—so we did
not stay up there long. Coming back down
on the narrow, wet, stone steps was a challenge.
Grianan Ailligh Ring Fort
Inishowen Peninsula, County Donegal (Below)
Thatched roof cottage with out-buildings
A "Good" Country Road (Speed Limit = 50 MPH)
Countryside-Inishowen Peninsula
We continued to drive north on the Inishowen Peninsula to
Doagh Famine Village. We toured the site
which was restored by a man that had grown up in one of the thatched
homes. He had assembled a lot of very
old tools and equipment and he had produced dioramas showing life during
various periods of time. His talk was
spiced with political perspectives before, during, and since the famine of the
1840’s which were quite interesting to hear.
Some of the exhibits, as well as his talk, contained interesting
comparisons between the Great Famine (1845-1850) and famine-stricken countries
today. We were all surprised at the
number of common sayings which we take for granted that originated in
Ireland. He shared many here and we
heard others throughout the trip. This
location is well off the beaten path, is very remote, and has a harsh
environment. We were glad our hosts
recommended it to us.
Doagh Famine Village
Instead of driving
another 20 minutes to the northeast to reach the northern-most point of
Ireland, we turned southeastward and drove through the center of the peninsula
passing a few thatched cottages, which are still in use, along the way.The weather today was VERY windy with many passing rain showers. Gale force winds were forecast and they were certainly present in some areas along our route.
FAST FACTS: The current
government is a coalition of the center-right Fine Gael and center-left Labour
parties who rose out of the ashes of the devastating 2008 financial
melt-down. They are not able to
institute their policies because of the €85 billion (Euro) bailout by the
International Monetary Fund, the European Union, and the European Central Bank,
which has to be repaid at what has been described as a prohibitively high
interest rate. As one writer said, in a
few short years Ireland went from a poster-child of economic success to a
terminal patient on financial life support.
Times are tough.
Unemployment is up, pay is down, and tourism (one of Ireland’s main
sources of revenue) fell by approximately 30% between 2008 and 2011. In spite of these adversities, the Irish have
not taken to the streets, as has been done in Greece and elsewhere.
September 16, 2013
We were up early and headed south, driving through County Sligo
to Galway in wind and rain most of the day.
The first sight we saw along Sligo’s north coast was Benbulben (also
written Ben Bulben), a high plateau which was “home” to Nobel laureate poet and
dramatist William Butler Yeats. Much of
his poetry is set in the area and he is buried at the churchyard in Drumcliff
at the foot of the plateau. It was a
very pretty area.
Our only stop of the day was Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery
which is a Neolithic era monument. This
is Ireland’s largest megalithic cemetery (and one of the largest Stone Age
cemeteries in Europe) with over 60 monuments/tombs, some of which are among the
oldest in the country. Most of the activity
took place here between 3000 and 4000 B.C.; however, two monuments date from
5400 and 4600 B.C. The monuments include
stone circles, passage tombs, and dolmens (a prehistoric monument consisting of
two or more upright stones supporting a horizontal stone slab) that are set in
rolling countryside. Some burial tombs were large mounds with the large central tomb
containing remains of seven people--the oldest was about 58 and the youngest
about 7 years of age. They were buried
as skeletons, not cremated like in other similar tombs. This particular tomb has a reconstructed
cairn surrounding it now, giving visitors some insight into the materials and
methods of construction used during the period.
Below: Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery
Central Tomb
Satellite Burial Site
Entrance to the central tomb (above)
Central Tomb gravesite inside the cairn
The wind was blowing so hard as we toured the cemetery that
the rain drops felt like ice hitting my face.
We did not linger long at this location!
We spent the night in Galway, on the west coast, and it is a
picturesque town. I would love to spend
more time in the city and surrounding area since we only skimmed the surface so
to speak. We didn’t have any luck
getting into a B&B, so we stayed at the Galway Arms Inn located along a
canal in the downtown area. This suited
me just fine because it meant we could park the car and I didn’t have to drive
us to and from dinner! We spent a
leisurely evening strolling the streets, listening to some good music in a pub,
and eating traditional Irish dishes for dinner.
All in all, it was a very nice evening with good friends in a nice city!
The night out in Galway
FAST FACT: Irish
(Gaeilge) is the official language of the country and all official documents, street and road signs, and official
titles must be either in Irish or in both Irish and English. The language is really only used in the rural
areas of Counties Cork, Donegal, Galway, Kerry, and Mayo--which are mostly
western and southwestern counties.
