IRELAND, PART FOUR - CLIFFS OF MOHER -NEW GRANGE, ETC

Ireland looks  like a small country when you look at the map but when you are driving it does not seem very small. After leaving Lough Gur we drove several hours through beautiful scenery on our way to our next adventure. There were many things we did not see in our travels because there is just too much amazing beauty to see it all and not enough time.  

Well we made it to the Cliffs of Moher, or if you are a  Princess Bride fan - The Cliffs of Insanity. Our daughter told us we needed to be sure and be there at sunset for the best views. Well we tried but you can see from the sky that the clouds blocked the sunset.  It was pretty cold and windy but still spectacular. A young married couple took our photo after we had taken theirs.

We arrived in Ennistymon mid afternoon and found our B&B without too much trouble. It is a lovely place which was actually built to the owners' specifications for the purpose of being a Bed and Breakfast. It is on a lovely property and well done.

Ennistymon street. Note the parking going both directions. Although we drive on the life here  there does not seem to be any rules about which direction to park.

This is another example of the use of color.

And again. It is very charming.

This was our lodging that night.

The beautiful garden and view.

And our lovely room. Steve was just relaxing a bit before we took off to see the cliffs.

We had purchased tickets for the Cliffs of Moher on line. It turns out they were actually parking tickets for a place across the street but we were glad to have a place for the car. We walked across the road and the shops were mostly closed except for the main one. Of course we had to check it out and I found view cool things. I actually really like souvenir shops and usually can find something I like or think someone else will like. However I have to say that we are not buying a lot of souvenirs for our family. Guess we are just being selfish enough to buy things we would like in our home and figure the family can come visit us to see everything :).

It was pretty cold with the wind chill factor. It was too much walking for Steve so most of the time he sat on the cold steps waiting until I had taken the photos I wanted. I am afraid he was pretty miserable but very generous to let me do my thing.

The cliffs are quite a sight. I am curious to know which part of the cliffs were actually featured in the movie.  One of the people looking at the cliffs said they can gone on a cruise to see the cliffs up close but that the water was so rough and scary she wished she had not gone.

Even without a proper sunset the sky was amazing.

Up close and personal to a cave.

And a perspective of the cave to the rest of the cliffs.

This is looking to the right side to see part of the cliffs there.

So, another view.

Steve in front of a 'sign' with the cliffs in the back ground.

OK just one more.

A bilingual sign. I guess that is Irish which is kind of cool.

I like this sign and sentiment as we exited.

So, after being at the cliffs we looked for a place to get some supper. We found a lovely restaurant where we sat by a window and watched so many  of birds  flying among the trees in the early evening. Steve was so cold so ordered soup and soda bread but I was really quite hungry and ordered this lovely fish meal. Isn't the presentation lovely? And it was VERY delicious.the prices are pretty reasonable for dinner too.

Our morning view from our bedroom. There is a little reflection but hopefully it does not spoil the shot too much.

Our hosts were lovey people who took good care of us. Along with giving us good driving guidelines of places to see Steve was shown the little scooter which our host uses and even takes with him on the airplane since he also has trouble walking. If we cannot find a good solution to help Steve's walking after we get home  we may look into something like this for him.

Just us in the front yard with the view.

Such a beautiful view!!!  I just have love all the beauty we get to see pretty much every day.

On our way to new adventures we saw this random castle ruin just sitting there.

And more beautiful views.

So this is a real deal along the western coast of Ireland. If you are ever in Ireland you must be sure to drive along this way. There is just so much to see.

A view as we drove.

The landscape began to change as we drove.

We stopped along the way because we just had to take some photos .

Things became more rugged and rocky.

And then the 'burren' began. It was eerily beautiful and amazing. If you want to know more about it check out this website.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Burren

I have never seen anything like it before. It would have been cool to take a long walk  but it was pretty cold and Steve was not up to a walk. So we just drove on enjoying it with frequent stops along our way.

There were bits of land along the way.

And this amazing church ruin. Look at how the builders of the wall incorporated  the huge rock in the path of the wall! Awesome!

Now this is rugged farm land. Can you even imagine how hard it must be to eke out a living on this rocky land?

And there is a lot of building material readily available for the iconic rock walls.

Just look at how the rocks are set together with so much space between them! A definite skill is necessary to balance the rocks and make these walls.

More burren along our way.

Just in case you forgot about the narrow roads. Glad I was not coming the opposite  direction!

Another beautiful church.

A beautiful valley between the burren.

Another rock wall. Look at how HUGE some of the roads are in this one.

Just lots of rock walls.

Dunquarie Castle along our way. One has to wonder why a castle would be out there. So many castles, most of them in ruins. I do not think living in a castle would have been very comfortable. Cold and damp are the descriptors that come to mind. And I remember one time reading about castles and how the  people would just leave a castle and move on to another when the insects, etc became too much.

Always beautiful scenes along our way.

I had to laugh when I saw this "laundromat" in the parking lot at a service station when we stopped for gas. Laundry is a big problem when we travel. We had washed out a few things in the sinks at our B&B's but actually finding a place to really do laundry can be a problem. But no, we did not use these. They were occupied and we did not have time any way.

We were driving to our next B&B which was Bective Mill. Sadly the mill for which it was named had burned to the ground a few months prior and it was still in ruin.

This bridge was along my way when I went for a walk after we were checked in.

Just a mile or so down the road was this old abbey ruin. I think it must have been beautiful back in its day. It was dated back about 1100.

 It always makes me wonder about the people who occupied it at one time and why it was allowed to go to ruin.

The next morning we were one our way again. We tried to leave early so we could beat the rush at New Grange and so we could have enough time to get to our next stop in Omagh, North Ireland. It was another cool and cloudy day but thankfully there was no rain.

We found the right place and bought our tickets and then waited for our turn to get  on the bus. No one is allowed to drive out to the site but the buses do a good job of shuttling all of the tourists to the right place. It was about a 10 minute ride.

And this is what we saw as we got off the bus.

This is the opening and only a few people are allowed in at a time. There is a guide who goes in and explains  things but we were not allowed to take any pictures inside and we had to hold our backpacks and belongings in front of us because the passage was so narrow.

The opening above the door is where the sun shines in at the winter solstice. In fact they were  letting people put their names in a lottery to be able to be inside during that time to see the actual phenomenon. While we were inside there was a short video that portrayed how it looks during the solstice. It is all very interesting.

Another interesting fact was that the ceiling of this structure looked just like the ceilings of the beehive huts we saw in the  Dingle Peninsula a few days ago.

And sadly there as graffiti. Not modern but back in the 1800's by someone who carved their names and then Denmark.

And here we are!

Huge rocks near the structure.

A stone circle near the structure.

Showing the wall of the structure. Note the white and dark rocks. The guide told  us that the face of the wall had collapsed and had to be reconstructed but that it had fallen showing the pattern of the white and dark rocks. She also told us that the light rock came from one area and that the dark rocks came from a totally different area miles away. So it is interesting to wonder why it was constructed the way it was and with the materials that were used.

This small structure is set off to the side of the larger one , but no explanation was given as to what it was.

Some of the foundation stones had designs etched in them which no one seems to understand.

A view of the foundation of the structure.

More designs.

And more views with Steve as well.

I regret not taking a photo from the other side of the structure.

Need I say anything?

View walking back from the bus drop off.

If you look really close you will see the structure in the background. That was how far we had to ride by bus.

And then we were on the road again. This time leaving Ireland and entering North Ireland. There was no border  to cross and only the speed limit signs changed to let us know we had left one country and entered another. It will be interesting to see what happens with Brexit. There are people who are afraid that "Brexit without a deal" will spawn violence. And there are others who feel like this will be a chance for Ireland to be unified with the six counties of North Ireland brought back to Ireland.

So, our time in Ireland came to an end. We learned so much and in the process learned how little we actually know. We met lovely, amazing people and were treated kindly everywhere we went. We departed with many fond memories.