March through Ireland

OK – finally got it figured out. Jet-lagged, we had to sleep, then barely had time to select and edit photos, then realized the learning curve on this thing was steeper than expected. Anyway, here's the beginning chapter, with more to come later.

DAY 1
March 11:









Ready to go at Monterey Airport, thanks to Peter and Louise!






Afraid to drive on the "wrong" side of the road, we're doing Ireland with a private car and driver, arranged through Ireland Chauffeur Travel, a family-run company based in Tiperrary. http://www.irelandchauffeurtravel.com/


Kevin, its founding father, met us at the airport in Belfast and took us to the Hotel Europa in the heart of the city. It's where the foreign press used to stay during what the locals refer to as "the troubles."

There's a suite on our floor named for Bill Clinton, because he apparently played a significant role brokering the peace process between the IRA and the government here. And across from our room a plaque on the wall commemorates a recent visit by Hillary! I don't know why she didn't stay in the Clinton Suite....

Kevin and his Mercedes saloon car, "Elvis."

The Crown Liquor Saloon across the street is among the oldest in Belfast and was a “no man’s land” for meetings between the press and the IRA.

DAY 2
March 13:

The Irish tour begins --- Heading N from Belfast we explore the “Antrim Coast” through Carrickfergus, Carnlough, Ballycastle to the Giant’s Causeway.

Carnlough harbor scene



Harvesting seaweed along the Antrim Coast

Basalt pillars of the Giant's Causeway

According to legend, this “8th wonder of the world” was built by the giant Finn McCool (the Irish version of Paul Bunyan) to bring his lady love from the Island of Staffa to Ireland. The Giant’s Causeway is a UNESCO World Heritage site and consists of about 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns 12” in diameter and up to 40’ high.

Giant's Causeway

Going up was the easy part...

We topped off this very cold day with a visit to Bushmill’s distillery. http://www.bushmills.com/

Irish whiskey taste test at Bushmills.





Then down the road to our hotel, the Bushmills Inn, a “living museum of Ulster hospitality.” You can click on the link and read all about it one of the best hotels we’ve ever stayed in! http://www.bushmills-inn.com/

DAY 3

March 14—Mothers Day in Ireland

Breakfast at Bushmills Inn

Kevin (our driver) gave me a long-stemmed red rose this morning in honor of Mothers’ Day!

Working our way from E to W, today we’re in Co. Donegal in NW Ireland. First stop, Dunluce Castle – a well-preserved ruin, if that’s not an oxymoron. With a beautiful setting, formidable to would-be attackers, it played a small role in history of British/Scottish/Irish power struggles.

Wall at Dunluce castle

Next stop, Londonderry - as the N. Irish refer to it. (The Irish from the Republic of Ireland to the south call it just plain Derry.) (London)derry is the only remaining completely walled city in Ireland and was a key site in the struggle between the Protestants (i.e., England and its allies) and the Catholics (most of the Irish, aided by Jacobites from England plus the French and Spanish). During the Siege of 1689, Derry lost more than 1/3 of its population to starvation and disease. http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A45561134.
During the more recent “Troubles,” (London)derry was the site of “Bloody Sunday” in 1972, when anti-UK passions were fueled after British soldiers shot 13 civil rights protesters. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Sunday_(1972). To this day, Londonderry is a divided city, with Protestants (UK loyalists also known as Unionists) on one side of the river and Catholics on the other.

(London)derry city wall.

Sign in (London)derry.

After (London)derry, we leave N Ireland (UK, British Pound Sterling) and enter the Republic of Ireland (European Union, Euro). We drive through Glencolumkille, Carrick and Killibegs, with occasional photo stops for Atlantic Ocean views and the black-faced sheep, which seem to be everywhere. Kevin tells us these are called “Jolson” sheep… Ireland has had severe winter weather this year, so everything is brown, rather than green. Everyone tells us they’ve never seen it so brown. Nevertheless, the Slieve League Mountains are beautiful. Black-faced sheep, Ardara, Co. Donegal


Thatched-roof house in Slieve League Mountains





At the foot of Ben Bulben (a mountain), we reach Drumcliffe cemetery, where WB Yeats is buried. He wrote his own eptaph: “Cast a cold Eye on Life, on Death. Horseman, pass by.”





Celtic crosses in Drumcliffe Cemetary





Tonight we stay in a castle! Markree Castle Sligo – Check it out: http://www.markreecastle.ie/