From getting our tee times in St. Andrews to having good weather throughout our world tour, we told ourselves that a good luck charm or a leprechaun must be following us (actually, we thank the good Lord above everyday for allowing us to travel). Shannon was a good choice because an Irish couple that we sat next to in the airport even offered to drive us to our hotel in Limerick. It turned out that the hotel was a good 20 miles away from the Shannon Airport, and they went out of their way to drop us off. It all started when Joanne said hello and offered a seat to Mary. When Patrick, who had been in the shoe business, noticed that he and I were wearing the exact same shoes, we immediately bonded thereafter. We are also thankful to Patrick and Mary for giving us the full run-down on their country; an itinerary of what to see and where to go in Ireland. “Céad míle fáilte romhat” (means 100,000 welcomes in Gaelic or Irish) are the words Patrick and Mary said to us as we landed in Ireland.
The ‘Ring of Kerry’ is in the southwestern part of Ireland. It is about a 100 mile loop that takes you to magnificent Irish coastlines with many small towns pearl stringed along the way. If driving on narrow, windy, and bumpy country roads with the speed limit daring you to go 100 Km/hr (when safer limit should be about half that) is your cup of tea, this is the perfect place for you.
We passed the town of Cork and slept in a small town called Lismore. The next morning we passed the town of Waterford where the famous Waterford crystals are made. We stopped when we saw the building, but sadly, the company had filed for Chapter 11 recently and the building was empty.
We didn’t go to some of the better known Irish castles but we drove by many of this type of small churches. This is called Gowan Church.
The river Liffey divides the city of Dublin, north and south. We debated for a while whether to stop or not. When traffic slowed to a crawl during the late afternoon rush- hour, we decided to drive past the city.
After spending the night in a town called Limavady near Derry, we headed to the northwest coast of Ireland where the Giant’s Causeway is located. This picture was taken in a town called Portrush. There were many link style golf courses of this type near by; we saw a few die-hard Irish golfers braving the cold and wind.
What may not be evident from the photo is how hard the wind was blowing. We now know where Padrig Harrington, born & raised in Ireland, got his training for his game; especially for the British Open (where he won the battle vs. Sergio Garcia at Carnoustie).
The Giant’s Causeway is one of the main tourist attractions in Northern Ireland. There were thousands of hexagonal columns of all uniform size standing in the water. We walked about a mile down the road, fighting strong winds that literally swept us above the ground at times. Although we didn’t know that there was a bus that could have taken us down, we made sure to hop on the bus for the ride up.
The explanation of hexagonal basalt columns was that they were formed some millions of years ago by crystallization of lava eruption from an underground fissure.
These are the kids from the nearby Ballyclare High School. They came on a field trip all bundled up and ready for the cold weather. They were the ones who explained to me about how the columns had been formed. Later, this giggly bunch was eager to pose for this picture when I asked.
There were two celebrations that took place in Ireland right before our arrival. One was the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day and the other was the winning of the Grand Prix by their national rugby team (Irish team won the tournament of six nations for the first time in 60 years). We weren’t there for the clanging of Guinness to celebrate but at least we wanted to pay a tribute by visiting the site that is considered ‘Ireland’s holy mountain’ – Croagh Patrick.
St. Patrick is said to have spent 40 days and 40 nights on the summit, fasting, praying, and doing penance during the Lent of 441 AD. The annual pilgrimage takes place during the last Sunday of July.
The National Famine Monument is located just across the street from the visitor center of Croagh Patrick. In commemoration of the Great Famine the government erected this monument in 1997. The figure of bronze ship with skeletal figures symbolizes many people who died in ‘coffin ships’. This is where the enormity of the loss and suffering by the people of Ireland during the Great Famine of mid 1800's is memorialized.
Driving the narrow roads of Ireland was fun but taxing. I don’t know how we managed to get around the entire Ireland without a navigation system. Joanne had her nose glued to several maps (inadequate in some occasions) and I had my eyes firmly fixed on the roads (despite several Guinness the night before).
Our last stop before leaving Ireland was Moher’s Cliffs. We spent a night in Galway and drove about a couple of hours the next morning to reach the cliffs, before flying out from Shannon.
Moher’s Cliffs is one of the Ireland’s most famous natural scenes. It best represents the beauty of rugged and majestic Irish coastlines, with sheer cliffs rising high above the sea.Although at first glance it seemed similar, The Republic of Ireland was different from the UK in many ways: using kilometers vs. miles, the Euro vs. Sterling Pound, narrower and bumpier roads vs. well paved and wider, more rural vs. urbanized, more cows vs. more sheep, nicer & friendlier vs. ‘proper’ and ‘stiff’. In all, we left Ireland with a good impression of the down to earth and warm hearted Irish. Thank you Patrick and Mary.
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