Over our first cup of coffee in bed on
August 1, 2015, Diane and I decided that we had enough comings and goings for a
while. Diane complained about back pain
and started physical therapy. In
mid-August, we went to the local Barnes and Noble store where Senator Claire
McCaskill was appearing for a book signing.
When she saw us, she jumped up and gave us both a big hug. We thoroughly enjoyed reading her book, Plenty
Ladylike: A Memoir. The book gave a
good description of the problems women have when they enter politics in
Missouri. I bought a copy to send to my
sister. Later in the month, we flew to
Denver for a long weekend visit with Joe and Karen. While there, they drove us
to Golden for some Southwestern cuisine at the Table Mountain Grill &
Cantina. Then it was time to once again pack
for an international trip.
Book cover
Our first talk the next morning was about the murals of Belfast that depict the city's past and present political and religious divisions. We then boarded our motor coach for a trip to the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont. The Parliament was not in session, so we were able to enter and sit in their seats while being addressed by a Member of Parliament. After our first taste of Irish lunch at Molly's Yard, we drove through the city to see the murals first hand as well as the areas where the dividing lines still exist between the Protestant and Catholic parts of the city. We also drove by the Titanic Museum. The ship was built in Belfast.
Stormont
Inside the Assembly
Through the bar to the kitchen in Molly’s Yard
Mural on climate change
A quote by the Dalai Lama over closed doors between parts of the city
Titanic Museum
Our next morning’s lecture was on "The Legend of St. Patrick." This was followed by a trip to Armagh, a site of historical importance for both Celtic paganism and Christianity. It is the seat for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland. We had guided tours of the Armagh St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Church of Ireland and Protestant) and the Catholic St. Patrick's Cathedral. After lunch, we returned to Belfast for free time in the afternoon. We had identified a restaurant where we wanted to have dinner, Mourne Seafood. We walked from the hotel to make sure we could find it, as well as to find an ATM to get more British pounds. We accomplished both tasks.
Catholic St. Patrick's Cathedral
Church of Ireland St. Patrick’s Cathedral
We boarded the motor coach the next morning
for the drive up north to the Bushmills Whiskey distillery. As I am not a whiskey drinker, particularly
first thing in the morning, Diane got two samples of the blended Irish whiskey. She didn’t mind. After the trip through the gift shop, we
drove to a viewpoint to see the ruins of the Dunluce Castle. It is a medieval Irish castle and was
inhabited by both the feuding McQuillan and MacDonnell clans.
Dunluce Castle
After lunch in the village of Bushmills, we went to see the Giant's Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From the top of basalt cliffs along the North Atlantic seacoast, we walked down a paved path to get a closeup view. There were some 40,000 massive black basalt columns sticking out of the sea, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. The dramatic sight has inspired legends of giants striding over the sea to Scotland. After some free time on our own, we reboarded the motor coach and continued to the city of Derry, also known as Londonderry.
Always time for a little gelato with a
fellow traveler
And time to enjoy looking at old Irish cars
The next morning, we had a guided walk
along the famous intact 17th-century Derry Walls which had seven gates and
several bastions. We went inside the
city Guildhall where we saw dazzling-stained glass windows depicting historical
events.
Walk along the Derry Walls
We boarded our motor coach for the field trip to the Inishowen Peninsula, County Donegal. The countryside was as lush and green as I had always heard Ireland would look like. We stopped at the stone fort of Grianán Aileach. It sat high on a hilltop overlooking the surrounding countryside and provided breathtaking views of the area and the sea coast. It was difficult to believe that its origins dated back to 1700 BC.
View from the stone fort of Grianán Aileach
We stopped for a pub lunch at McGrory’s of
Culdaff which had some nice art work and music.
Before heading back, we drove out to Malin Head on the tip of the
peninsula, Ireland’s very scenic most northerly point. A watch tower was first built there to look
for an invasion from France by Napoleon, then used by Lloyd’s of London to
communicate with ships and finally used as a lookout for aircraft during both
World Wars. More recently, the area was
used in the filming of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Malin Head observation tower
We made an early start from Derry,
viewing its dramatic Peace Bridge along the way. The day was dedicated to W.B. Yeats with
readings by our guide along the way. We
stopped at Creevykeel, a large and well-preserved megalithic monument in County
Sligo. It is considered one of the
largest and best examples of a court cairn in Ireland. A court cairn is a tomb consisting of two
sections: 1) a gallery that would originally have been covered and 2) a
courtyard. Next was a visit to Yeats' and
his wife’s final resting place in the graveyard at St. Columba’s Parish Church at
Drumcliff, County Sligo. Nearby were the
remains of a monastery with its magnificent high cross. The over 10-foot-tall
sandstone pillar was beautifully carved with some unusual animals and the cross
was etched with biblical scenes. After
lunch, we continued to Galway.
Court cairn
Yates grave
Celtic cross
We spent a full day touring through
Connemara, a broad peninsula between Killary Harbour and Kilkieran Bay in the
west of County Galway. We passed by many
black-faced sheep on our way to visit the museum in Cong dedicated to the 1952
movie The Quiet Man with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. Diane could watch that movie again and again. Next was a visit to Kylemore Abbey, home to a
Benedictine order of nuns for the past 100 years. We walked the grounds of the magnificent
Victorian walled garden and were served lunch in the Abbey.
Irish sheep
Kylemore Abbey
Flower garden at the Abbey
We then continued along the sea before stopping
in the village of Recess for Irish coffee at the Lough Inagh Lodge situated on
the shore of the lake. Our last stop of
the day was at Cnoc Suain, an eco-cultural hill village of thatched stone
cottages which dated back to 1691. At the Heritage Center we were told about the
early lives of rural Irish people, its folklore, music, traditions and the way
of life in the west of Ireland. We
stopped for dinner at An Cruiscin Lan in the village of Spiddal and then
returned to Galway.
Diane and I in front of the lake at the
lodge
Peat bricks on display at Cnoc Suain
Tour group members being taught Irish dance
at Cnoc Suain
The next day started with a lecture,
"The Celts and the West of Ireland," followed by a guided walking
orientation of Galway City with a local historian. He told us about the city walls, towers and
bastions, Lynch’s Castle, a medieval fortified house and other historic sites. After lunch, we had free time. Diane and I toured the city museum, then
picked up quiche and a bottle of wine for dinner and a quiet night in the
hotel.
Spanish arch in the Galway City wall
Leaving the hotel and the city the next day, we came to a vastly different landscape. The Burren’s cool grey rock was etched with crevices and cracks, a huge rocky surface dotted with rock formations, caves and fossils. Our local guide described an incredible array of flowers, from native species to Arctic, Alpine and Mediterranean plants. Nearby we saw the Poulnabrone dolmen, an unusually large portal tomb. We stopped for lunch in the village of Kilfenora where our female guide posed for us in front of a sign saying “I’m Voting Yes Equality 2015.” The November election in Ireland included a constitutional amendment to permit marriage contracts by two persons without distinction as to their sex. We suspected that she was helping organize votes for the amendment in the cities we traveled through. The amendment later passed.
The Barren’s
Portal tomb
Our guide with sign
After lunch we went to the Cliffs of Moher
that rise over 700 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. Diane and I struggled to go up the stairs leading
to a path along the coast line. Between
the support of the wall and our walking sticks, we finally made it up to the
paved path going north but not as far as O’Brien’s Tower. Even though we didn’t make it to the top of
the Tower, it was a beautiful clear day, and the views were magnificent, all
the way to the Aran Islands. Other
members of our group took a long hike on the other side going south. Leaving,
we continued to Kilarney, bypassing the large city of Shannon.
Cliffs of Moher
O’Brien’s Tower
Walk along the cliffs
The following day started with a talk
and slideshow, "A Ramble Down the ol Botharin." In the past, the phrase referred to an old
road or cow path. Now the very scenic
drive around the Iveragh Peninsula is called the Ring of Kerry. In our motor coach, the sights were described
by a local farmer and story-teller. We
first visited Muckross House, a Victorian mansion. We
drove by the Eightercua Stone Row, believed to be the boundary of a larger archaeological
complex which has now disappeared. After
lunch in Iln Cahersiveen, we completed the trip along the ring driving through
the town of Killorglin. It has a
festival each year to celebrate its goat king, King Puck, who is said to be a pagan
fertility symbol. We returned to
Kilarney in time for a guided walk in the old city. I was thrilled to see the unusual painted
organ pipes at the St. Mary’s Church and to pet the cat lying on a pew in the
church.
Eightercua Stone Row
King Puck
Painted organ pipes
On the way to Cork the next day, we stopped
for a visit at Blarney Castle. The story
goes that Queen Elizabeth I wanted the Castle.
The Earl of Leicester was supposed to have its ownership transferred
from the MacCarthy clan, but it took
so long that she remarked his progress reports were all “Blarney.” The gardens of Blarney Castle cover 60 acres
of parklands which include gardens, avenues, arboretums and waterways. That’s where Diane and I spent our time. We were not tempted to enter and go up and
through the Castle to kiss the Blarney Stone upon which so many other people
had pressed their lips. After lunch in
Blarney, we continued to Cork City, Ireland's second largest city. We had a short walking orientation of Cork
and then enjoyed an Irish coffee demonstration at the hotel.
Blarney Castle
Lying on back to kiss the stone
The next morning our motor coach took
us over a bridge to Cobh on an island in Cork City’s harbor. Until 1920, it was
known as Queenstown. We walked by the
memorial to those lost in the sinking of the Lusitania, the John F. Kennedy
Park as well as the statues of the first Irish immigrant through Ellis Island, Annie
Moore, and the fastest Irish runner, Sonia O’Sullivan. At the Heritage Center we heard the story of
mass emigration from Ireland as told in The Queenstown Story. It was an exhibition housed in the old
Victorian Railway Station, through which huge numbers of emigrants passed. Queenstown was also the Titanic’s last port of
call in 1912. We visited the beautiful
Cobh Cathedral and saw the lovely stained-glass rose windows. After lunch, we returned to Cork. We stopped at O’Mahony’s Grocery where I saw
something new to me, corned crubeens. It
is an Irish dish made of boiled pigs' feet traditionally eaten by hand, like
corn on the cob.
Lusitania memorial
Statue of The Navigator holding a boat
in the JFK Park
Annie Moore and her two brothers
Rose window above the organ pipes in
the Cobh Cathedral
Corned crubeens
Diane and I did not have any pigs’ feet at
the home-hosted dinner by a divorced woman and her adolescent children in the
suburb of Carrigaline. It was
interesting to hear her describe the everyday struggles of Irish families. The stories were not that different from ones
we heard at home.
On the way to Dublin, we visited the
new Waterford Crystal Visitor Center. We
were shown each step in the production of a glass blown product, starting with
blowing the glass. After the exit
through the gift shop, we drove to a community hosted lunch at the Coastguard
Cultural Center in the seaside town of Tramore, County Waterford. We
then continued to Dublin, the largest city and capital of the Republic of
Ireland.
Shaping a vase at the Waterford
Crystal factory
A local guide took us on a tour of
Dublin City. We visited St. Patrick's,
the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland. It has thousands of stained-glass windows,
and the organ is one of the largest in Ireland with over 4,000 pipes. The next stop was at Dublin Castle. It was constructed in the early thirteenth
century on the site of a Viking settlement and served for centuries as the
headquarters of the English, and later British, administration in Ireland. In 1922, following Ireland’s independence, it
was handed over to the new Irish government and is now a major government
complex. While there, we learned that
the Republic of Ireland had already had a female President.
Stained glass in St. Patrick’s
Mary
McAleese’s second inauguration as President of Ireland in 2004
During our free time before dinner, we
walked to Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells. It is a 9th century manuscript, featuring an
exquisite combination of ornate Latin text and intricate illuminations housed
in the "Long Room." It is one of the world’s most beautiful libraries
and home to 250,000 of Trinity College’s most ancient books. I’m sure it is one of the most photographed
libraries in the world, but, no, it was not shown in either a Harry Potter or
Star Wars movie, although look-alikes were.
We enjoyed lunch at the Bank restaurant and then walked to the tram for a
return to our hotel. During the dessert
at our hotel, a man on a guitar and a woman on an accordion played Irish music
(jigs, reels and so forth).
Book of Kells poster
The “Long Room”
Repurposed vaults for use as restrooms at
the Bank Restaurant
Diane and I on a bridge over the River
Liffey
The next day, our motor coach took us on
a visit to Bru Na Boinne in nearby County Meath. We toured Newgrange, one of the several Stone
Age (Neolithic) burial chambers at the location. It was constructed about 5,200 years ago
(3,200 B.C.) which makes it older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids of
Giza. Newgrange is a large circular
mound 279 feet in diameter and 43 feet high with a 63-foot stone passageway
leading to chambers inside. I found it very interesting that the passage and
chamber inside the Newgrange mound was illuminated by the winter solstice
sunrise. A shaft of sunlight shines
through the roof-box over the entrance and penetrates the passage to light up
the chamber. This dramatic event only lasts for 17 minutes at dawn on the
Winter Solstice and a few mornings before and after. The mound was ringed by 97
large kerb stones, some of which were engraved with symbols called megalithic
art. We had lunch at Causey Farm, a
family farm in County Meath where we met the family and learned how to bake
Irish soda bread and scones.
Newgrange
Entrance with roof-box above it
Kerb stone
Our last day started with a lecture,
"Christian & Monastic Ireland."
We then left on a field trip to Glendalough, a sixth century Christian
Monastic site in County Wicklow located in a glacial valley between two
lakes. St. Peter and St. Paul's
Cathedral is an old cathedral there, in use until 1643. Because of its age, the graveyard is one of
the most important in Ireland. After
lunch in Wicklow, we continued visiting sites in the area. Back in Dublin, we had our farewell dinner
at Le Bon Crubeen (no pigs feet). Then we
went to the Gate Theatre to see Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge.
Graveyard
It was an easy trip back to Columbia
from Dublin through Toronto and St. Louis.
We saw and learned so much on this trip to Ireland with Road Scholar,
and we really enjoyed our friendly fellow travelers.