Trip to Ireland (Part 5 of 5): The Cliffs of Moher and More

Day 6, our last full day in Ireland, was beautiful, windy but beautiful. The rain and clouds had finally passed making way for a spectacular sunny day. We hated leaving Dromoland Castle and all it had to offer but Asia and I were on a quest. Today we were driving to the end of the Earth to stare 700 feet straight down into the Atlantic Ocean below us. The Cliffs of Moher were amazingly beautiful. We slowly made our way along the 3-4 mile trek south along the cliffs from the visitor’s center to Hag’s Head pausing frequently to admire the awe-inspiring views and take some shameless selfies. It was a pleasant hike as very few people venture that far from the center. While there were literally thousands of people crowded around the visitor’s center area, there were only about 10 people including ourselves exploring Hag’s Head and Moher Tower which has stood watch over the Atlantic since the Napoleonic War times.

 

 

 

 

After spending most of the day at the cliffs we headed south toward Limerick, the birthplace of my grandmother. Once in Limerick we found our way to the 13^th century King John’s Castle. Unfortunately it was closed by the time we arrived so we took a few pictures from the River Shannon and street side. Our favorite find was a painting on a building of a scraggly-looking man looking at an ice cream cone while displaying a Hello Kitty tattoo on his neck. Check out the special topping on the ice cream.

After about a twenty minute drive we arrived at our next destination, Glenstal Abbey. We were impressed as soon as we entered the Glenstal Abbey’s grounds. There is a beautiful, small stone chapel at the entrance gate where I met a very friendly white dog. The drive from the gate to the Abbey is roughly a mile long and winds its way through beautiful fields and gardens. We passed a few runners doing their hill workouts and I wanted to join them but I chose to explore the buildings instead. At first glimpse of the Abbey we were amazed at its size; the internet did not do it justice. This place is huge! The Abbey consists of a Benedictine Monastery, a boarding school for boys 13-18, a beautiful church, and various other buildings. It was built in the 1830s and sits on over 500 beautiful acres. Glenstal is home to 40-50 monks at any given time and the school is attended by roughly 200 students each year. To our delight we found the Abbey open so we took the opportunity to give ourselves a self-guided tour. It reminded us of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Like at Hogwarts, this building was not without its own surprises as the water in an unoccupied bathroom decided to turn itself on just as passed it. Not to be out done by the plumbing, we also heard piano music coming from a room that we had already toured earlier that contained no piano or speaker system. We kept expecting to see the walls and staircases to start shifting like at Hogwarts but it did not happen. We also toured the church and surrounding grounds as the sun went down. Oh and I can’t forget to mention the ghost-like image at the top of tower standing vigilant over everything (see photo below).  

 

 

 

We made our way back to the M7 highway and drove back to Dublin to our final hotel, the Dunboyle Castle. While it was a very nice hotel, it’s not much of a castle. The original castle was home to the Lord of Dunboyle but was destroyed. The Georgian house that replaced it in 1764 passed through many hands before becoming home to the Good Shepard Sisters Convent in 1955. It was eventually sold and converted into a hotel in 2006. The hotel bar reminded us of what one would expect to find in an upscale Manhattan establishment so we opted to walk into the village to look for a pub instead. To our dismay, the first two pubs we found were locked but luckily we saw a gentleman standing outside a dark doorway for a smoke. The sign on the building said W. Brady Grocer but what we found inside was a fantastic pub. As with every pub we had visited, the bartender was super friendly and between pouring pints we had a great conversation with him about his favorite television series, The Sopranos.

 

While our trip was short, just 6 days in country, we had a great time. We saw a lot of the countryside and met a lot of great people along the way. We definitely want to go back soon because there is so much more to see and experience. Ireland is awesome! For more photos and information, check out my Facebook at Gary Davidson Runs and keep watching http://www.asiagoesplaces.com/.

Trip to Ireland (Part 4): Rain, Wind, Hail, and a Fire

Day 5 greeted us with rain, high winds and a forecast which included “thundering clouds”. Today’s trip was to include the Cliffs of Moher; however, due to the weather and a wrong turn by me taking us back to South Dublin (don’t ask) we decided to visit the cliffs the next day. Our first stop was unplanned like so many others. We found the Manor Hamilton Castle along our route. After parking the car we found that the castle visitor’s entrance was locked so we took some photos from outside. On our way back to the car we decided to walk around to the right-rear by way of someone’s driveway. To our delight we found this side wide open so in we went. We found that Manor Hamilton Castle was built between1624-1638 by Sir Frederick Hamilton. The castle was once part of his over 17,000 acre estate; and I was happy to purchase my 1.5 acres in Jamaica. I guess I have a way to go to catch Mr. Hamilton. 

After a few other short on-the-fly stops we made it to our next planned location, the Roscommon Castle. This castle was built in 1269 by Rogert de Ufford, Justiciciar of Ireland. The castle is part of the 14 acre Lough Naneane Recreation Park and is free to enter. The weather took another turn for the worse and decided to drop some hail on us so we took shelter inside a small room where we met a very nice lady and her kids who were doing the same (you can see them in the lower right corner of second photo below). They live nearby and use the castle as a playground, very cool.

After enjoying some more scenic roads we found our destination hotel for the night in County Clare. Dromoland Castle is a huge 5-star hotel which includes such activities as golf, row boats, mountain bikes, trails, archery, clay shooting, horse riding, and even falconry classes. Yes, I said falconry classes. Due to the weather and our late arrival, we chose to take a short hike and run around the immediate grounds as it turned dark. The current castle was built in the 15^th-16^th century and sits on over 400 acres. It was once owned by the O’Brians of Dromoland, the Kings of Thomond and Barons of Inchiquin. The family lineage links back over 1000 years to Brian Boroimhe (Boru) High King of Ireland in the eleventh century. We enjoyed some great food in the Gallery room and then we followed the sounds of live music. We sat beside the fireplace enjoying her singing and some cold pints of Guinness. When the lady was done for the evening one of the bartenders stepped out from behind the bar and blessed us with a few great Frank Sinatra songs. I rebuilt the fire to the delight of everyone in the room except the younger bartender who attempted to politely scold me (lol). We enjoyed the fire and a few more pints until closing and then retired to our room for the evening. So came the end to another great day in Ireland!

 

 

 

 

 

For more photos and information, check out my Facebook at Gary Davidson Runs and keep watching http://www.asiagoesplaces.com/

Ireland Trip (Part3): Northern Ireland

Day 4 started with an early departure from Kilronan Castle due to the nearly 3 hour drive to the northern tip of the island into County Antrim. Our first stop along the Coastal Causeway Drive was at the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. This swinging bridge links the mainland to Rocky Island. It was originally built in 1755 by fisherman but now it’s a way for tourist (like us) to get to the island. The bridge spans the 65 foot gap and sits some 100 feet above the crashing waves below. On a clear day visitors can see Rathlin Island and Scotland. It was very windy and cold while we were there but we had a great time plus the wind made the bridge rock wildly adding to our fun.

 

Our next stop was a short one. The Dunseverick Castle, or what’s left of it. There’s not a lot of history written on it; however, it is thought to have been a stronghold around 500BC. The original fort was said to be captured by Vikings in 871AD. It was also visited on a number of occasions by Irish hero Saint Patrick in the 5^th century. A small part of the Gate Lodge is all that remains.

 

Our third stop was our primary reason for our drive north, the Giant’s Causeway. This place was truly amazing. Scientist say that volcanic activity some 60 million years ago created this wonder. It’s estimated to have some 40,000 hexagonal basalt vertical columns running form the nearby cliffs into the sea with the largest standing close to 40 feet tall. The park has multiple trails ranging from an easy walk along a tar road to more challenging trails up and down the hillside. Unfortunately, due to recent landslides only about half of the stones are assessable to the general public.

 

 

 

Finally we made a stop by the Dunluce Castle, built in the 13^th century. It was once home to Randall McDonnell the 2^nd Earl of Antrim. Although the castle had already closed for the day, we were able to walk around the grounds and get some shots of the outer walls. This castle is quite large but the coolest part to me was Mermaid’s Cave which runs under it. It is said to have held Spanish treasures at one time. The cave is now officially off limits. With that said, check out my Facebook photo album for more from inside (lol).

 

For more photos and information, check out my Facebook at Gary Davidson Runs and keep watching http://www.asiagoesplaces.com/