On to Dublin, Ireland from Barcelona, Spain for our next adventure....again change of plans! We had an old country home lined up to stay in for 10 days but it didn't work out. The house was too rural and in need of care after being essentually unused during Covid lockdown. So off we go with "PLAN B"....or was it C, D, or E?
On our last visit to Ireland in 2017 we spent 3 weeks exploring the Wild Atlantic Way, a winding connection of 2500 km (1,600 miles) of roads along the Irish west coast. We had complered 4 of the 14 stages of the route and decided to finish it. Starting in Sligo, while we didn't drive every single little two- and one-land road, we did experience some spectacular coastal cliffs, hills covered with varieties of sheep with lambs, bogs and ancient castle ruins.
Donegal Castle Original home-turned-castle was the base for the mighty O'Donnell clan in 1500. It was expanded by the English when they defeated the Irish in the Nine-Year War (1594-1603)
Amazingly this is the original stone floor!
We drove on along the coast in County Donegal and were enthralled about the story of Father McDyer's Folk Village in Glencolmcile. Father McDyer came to the area in the 1950's to the impoverished community that had suffered 60% loss of population due to emmigration. He vowed to stem that trend and spent 35 years bringing electricity, industry, education, jobs and tourism to improve the people's lives. The Folk Village was built in 1965 to bring in tourists and share the historical culture.
this stone home demonstrated the farmimg and fishing life in the 1500's
the peat chimneys were just carved into the wall & open to cook and heat but created a lot of smoke inside
old rope thatched roof with straw
here's a short video about County Donegal craftmen thatching a cottage/pub They are beautiful works of art that are still around in smaller villages. Enjoy the accents!
Hedge schools" (Irish: scoil chois claí) were small informal secret and illegal schools, particularly in 18th- and 19th-century Ireland, designed to secretly provide the rudiments of primary education in Irish to children of 'non-conforming' faiths (Catholic and Presbyterian) during British occupation. Those caught teaching could be arrested and executed.
little spots carved into hedges
In Killybegs we took a 3 hour walking tour offered by the Tourism Center and it turned out just to be us. It was supposed to be less than 2 hrs but I was still walking slowly. Many Irish towns & cities have nonsensical names which were anglicized from the Gaelic. Killybegs comes from the Gaelic "Na Cealla Beaga" that translates to "small cells"-referring to the early settlement of monks in the area who lived in little stone "cell" dwellings.
Sometimes the monks "hid" in these cells to write and translate religious writings. They would use a rope to climb into the window then pull it up to protect the inhabitants..
Killybegs is the largest fishing and processing port on the island. However the industry is reducing drastically and these million dollar boats go out only a few months a year. Like many production communities, the locals can't buy fresh fish caugh by their fishing boats.
ruins of the church of St Catherine (of Egypt) started in the 1400s
The historical timeline of Killybegs even includes the Spanish Armada when the ship La Girona, a galleass merchant ship developed for military purpose, docked in 1588 for repairs and they picked up survivors from other wrecked ships… but it overloaded the ship.
see the castle ruins on the cliff
The most northern Antrim Coast is loaded with unique sites. The rugged cliffsides and beaches provide many seaside resorts such as Portrush where we stayed. This town looks very much like an old-fashioned seashore resort like we see in British television and has been filled with holiday makers since the 1800's.
the kitschy rides at Portrush
Dunlace Castle
Dunlace Castle, perched on the cliff edge, was built in the Middle Ages in several stages and housed several Irish Chieftain families. Remember the La Girona, the Spanish Armada ship? It wrecked against the rocks here just after leaving Killybegs in October 1588 and 1300 sailors perished leaving only 9 survivors. Wreckage from the ship was used in the castle. Dunlace was lived in until mid 1600's until the stormy weather began chopping away stone walls and they fell into the sea below. The REAL stories of the constant flighting, killing and vicicious chieftain lords certainly leant reality to the series "Game of Thrones" which was filmed in many sites around here, including this castle.
A tour with tasting at the oldest licensed distillary in Ireland.
I had heard about the Giant's Causeway but couldn't imagine the unique geological rock formations. The local myth tells of the mighty giant, Finn MacCool, who built the stone bridge to cross over to Scotland to fight his rival giant. But there are also other plausible theories of origin put forth by Neptunists (rocks cryatallized under the ocean) and Volcanologists (basalt columns formed from lava and cracked as they cooled). Not too many years ago scientists calculated the temperature that lava turns to rocks in volcanic Iceland and related this to the causeway pillars- so I guess the volcanology won out over the giant.
the "steps" and columns have 5 or 6 regular sides
most are regular hexagons
We stayed in a many unique bed 'n breakfasts, old Irish guest houses, small hotels and rooms in private homes. Our last night was on a farm in the centuries old stone house that was the original farmhome. We were treated to fresh chicken and duck eggs for our breakfast.
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