Terry and Sooz's Travels

Saturday, October 5, 2019

October 5, 2019 - Rathbaun, Ireland

Last night we stayed at the Claddagh House B&B just outside Ballina. The room was nice especially since Sooz needed a rest with her cold, but the best part was meeting Bill and his wife Dawn who were helping the owner run the place while she was out of town. We really enjoyed their company and getting a feel for what it's like to live in the area. They had recently moved there from another part of Ireland after retiring. Bill like to fly fish and ties his own flies. Dawn has been helping her friend out at the B&B and other things in the community.

We then drove a short distance to the Dun Briste Sea Stack on Atlantic coast. It is a dramatic coastline with a piece of what used to be the main part of Ireland now located just offshore. We hiked to the peninsula to be able to see the stack better while the wind was howling, the rain pelting and the temperature dropping. It was cold. But I'm glad we went because the landscape and scenery were bold and raw and perfectly Ireland. I love that kind of weather and scenery.

Next on the agenda was a visit just down the road to Ceide Fields, "a bogland reserve teeming with flora and fauna marked by stone age dwellings and tombs" . There was also a nice, modern Visitor's Center. The story is that a local farmer was out clearing his fields and found a couple of strange looking rocks that he placed out by the road. It just so happened that an archaeologist drove by, saw the stones and determined them to be foreign leading him to locate a prehistoric dwelling area nearby under several meters of bog. "The site is the most extensive Neolithic site in Ireland and contains the oldest known field systems in the world."

We tried to reserve a room in Galway but everything under $250 a night was booked so we continued on to the Hydro Hotel in Rathbaun, County Clare that dates back to 1875 and got its name due to it being the first hotel in Ireland to offer guests hot and cold running water.

Video of Dun Briste Sea Stack:

Video of a modern sheep rodeo:

Hydro Hotel in Rathbaun, County Clare

I love this sign telling you to slow down due to loose gravel

Tyl Irish rural narrow road

Sheep rodeo!

Visitor Center at Ceide Fields Historic Site

View from top of Visitor's Center

Inside Visitor's Center

Dun Briste

Dun Briste Sea Stack

Dun Briste

Not Photo Shopped

Dun Briste Sea Stack - check out the wavy looking grass due to the winds

Underground passage to the ocean

Dun Briste Sea Stack

Friday, October 4, 2019

October 4, 2019 - Ballina, Ireland

Lots of driving today after leaving the Midlands Park Hotel in Portlaoise. After 2 hours of driving we stopped at Molloy's Bakery in Roscommon. I didn't take any pictures so I can't show the huge amount of fresh baked goods they have from pastry to bread. I had a kind of hot dog (sausage roll) and vegetable soup which came with some fresh baked bread. Very tasty. Sooz had a quiche and hot tea. Unfortunately Sooz has come down with a cold and has been fighting it all day.

We continued on to visit the Roscommon Castle just down the street from the bakery. It seems so strange to have an ancient castle ruins in the middle of town surrounded by a walking path and city park. And these ruins were entirely open to the public for no charge; we just walked right in and gave ourselves a self-guided tour. I wish you could see the pictures because it was really cool.

After driving a little further west we wanted to visit the Sligo Gaol (prison) which is in the town of Sligo and was open from 1823-1959. After we arrived at the site we found out it is not open to the public and is being used for storage by County Sligo. It's very strange to see this nearly 200 year old building being used for storage.

About 10 miles away is the Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetary. We got there a little late so we missed the guided tour. Sooz picked up a book and we did our own tour. The main structure on site is somewhat similar to the Newgrange structure we saw several days ago except that the Carrowmore structure is 6,000 years old, 500 years older than the Newgrange structure. The Carrowmore structure was also designed to allow sunlight to light up the interior area for only 4 days a year, around the end of October. The ceremonial part that directs the sunlight is actually set on stone shims so that it is properly aligned.

From there we drove to Ballina and are staying at a B&B. Not sure what we'll do tomorrow, it depends on how Sooz is feeling. We know we want to spend a couple of days on the Dingle Peninsula. That area looks pretty interesting.

Carrowmore

Susie taking Carrowmore in stride

Carrowmore Visitor Center

Roscommon Castle understatement

Roscommon Castle fixer upper

Do I need a caption here?

Roscommon Castle

I'm not a construction guy, but these stone walls without cement or mortar are pretty impressive and they are everywhere

Thursday, October 3, 2019

October 3, 2019 - Portlaoise, Ireland

I'm still getting used to driving the car instead of the motorcycle. It really is different driving a car than a motorcycle. I find it easier riding the bike than driving the car. The narrow roads feel much more narrow than with the bike.

We drove to Abbeyleix to investigate Susie's family history. We went to Heritage Center and had a great chat with the 2 people working there. Sooz got some good advice and suggestions one of which was to check out the cemetery in Kilkenny, and the local bakery since we were going to be there.

The weather turned pretty nasty on the drive there getting cold, windy and rainy. The cemetery did not pan out but the bakery was a good call. We did a drive by of the Kilkenny Castle and some of the shops, but the weather kept us from doing much walking.

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

October 2, 2019 - Portlaoise, Ireland

A wee bit of a sad day today; we turned in the motorcycle for a car. It had to be done, Tropical Storm Lorenzo will be here tomorrow night and the weather will turn nasty for a day or two.

In the morning though, we toured the Newgrange historic site at Bru na Boinne. The Newgrange circular structure was built 5,500 years ago and we were able to go inside. It's pretty wild standing in the middle of this structure that was built before horses were domesticated, before the wheel was invented and 1,000 years before Stonehenge was built. The ceiling was round and has never leaked and of course there was no cement or sealant used. It was designed to be aligned with the rising sun during the winter solstice. It's in really good condition because the Irish were/are superstitious about going inside. It was a tight squeeze to get through the 4-foot high opening and at times so narrow I had to turn sideways. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the structure.

We had to take a bus to the site and John our guide had about the driest sense of humor I have ever heard - he was great and I recorded a video of him.

After Newgrange we jumped on the bike and headed to the town of Naas for lunch and then rode to Celtic Riders to drop off the bike and pick up our rental car. Below is a short video of the owner Paul and his daughter Louise who keeps Paul in line and the office running smoothly. His son Ian manages the shop and keeps the 25 bikes they own running and in good condition. It is a well run operation and I highly recommend Celtic Rider if you are looking to rent a motorcycle in Ireland.

After Paul gave us a lesson on how to drive a car in Ireland we headed south to our hotel in Portlaoise. Paul coached Susie on what to say if I start getting too close to the left side of the road, which is something American drivers have a tendency to do.

Narrow street in Portlaoise

The shop at Celtic Rider

The rental bikes in the shop at Celtic Rider

A secondary structure at Newgrange

Landscape surrounding Newgrange

Our guide John

The entrance to Newgrange

Newgrange from a distance

A sign

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

October 1, 2019 - County Meath, Ireland

Not a lot of pictures today, it was mostly ride south and try to stay warm. After a very nice breakfast at the Salthouse Hotel we geared up and started south. We bypassed Belfast and stopped for coffee and warmth at McCartneys in Moira, Ireland.

Once we crossed the invisible border between Northern Ireland into the Republic of Ireland speeds changed from mph to kph and currency from Pound Sterling to Euro. Brexit may change all of that, or not. Brexit is about all we see on the TV news.

The Salthouse Hotel spoiled us for future hotels, it was very nice. And let's just say that the Dalys Inn in County Meath, where we are staying tonight, is not the Salthouse Hotel.

One thing we have noticed on this trip is that we have been traveling fewer miles per day and travel times are hard to gauge. As you can see on the map below we covered a fairly large segment of the Isle today and really did not go very far compared to U.S. distances. We had highways for over half the trip today and we made excellent time averaging 75-80 mpg on the highway. However, for part of the trip we were on narrow country roads and maybe had an average speed of 35-40 mpg. As we start heading further south in Ireland there won't be any highways, only local roads so travel will be slower and more difficult to gauge travel times.

Tomorrow we return the motorcycle and rent a car. It looks like Hurricane Lorenzo has followed us and will hit Thursday as a tropical storm with high winds and lots of rain. We had always planned on changing from the bike to a car and the storm just makes the decision easier, plus the car rental is about one-third the cost of renting the motorcycle.

McCartneys in Moira, Ireland

Moira, Ireland

Our travels today

Monday, September 30, 2019

September 30, 2019 - Ballycastle, Northern Ireland

Had a nice omelette this morning at the Salthouse Hotel where we are staying. It was more like a frittata but was very tasty nevertheless.

We jumped on the bike with hiking gear and headed to the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. The day was cool and we warmed up as we hiked to the bridge. The scenery of the rocky shore and cliffs was impressive. Of course there was a fee (9 pounds sterling each) to cross the bridge. I took a video of my crossing, and in the middle of my crossing someone who shall not be named asked me to turn around and take a picture of her while the bridge was swinging a little so I definitely got my money's worth.

We got back on the bike and headed to the Giant's Causeway near Bushmills. It also involved some hiking along cliffs. It was dramatic and we saw some beautiful rocky shoreline. The basalt has formed geometric shapes although we didn't see a lot of them, but it was still pretty impressive.

On the way back to our hotel we detoured to Ballintoy Harbour a small coastal town where part of The Game of Thrones was filmed. The actors must have frozen during filming especially when they had to get in the water.

We grabbed a quick bite at Thyme & Co Cafe in Ballycastle before going back to our hotel. We had a nice conversation with the husband and wife owners without getting too much into politics which was appreciated.