EUROPE TRIP 2010: Republic of Ireland

Leaving Londerry, we drove south through scenic countryside into the Republic of Ireland (henceforth "Ireland"). We stopped overnight in Sligo, an old Norman town with remains of a 13th century abbey, and hometown of poet W B Yeats. Sligo has many historic pubs. Hargadon's Public House interior has probably not changed since 1868 when it first opened and is typical of the iconic Irish pub (we are becoming very familiar with Irish pubs). We ate dinner in a snug. These booths were once used to keep ladies out of view of the masses.

Near Sligo town we visited Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery, the largest cemetery of Megalithic tombs in Ireland. It has over 60 tombs, ranging from 5500 to 6500 years old. The pics show Don in front of a cairn (a pile of rocks covering a burial) and Gail at one of the grave sites.

We continued south to the Galway Bay area, passing many meadows with stone fence boundaries.

We followed the narrow winding road through the Burren National Park, characterised by bare rocky limestone mountains and wildflowers in bloom at this time of the year.

We passed pretty little villages like Lisdoonvarna, the home of the September Matchmaking Festival. It is supposedly Europe's biggest singles event, said to involve 40000 people over 6 weeks. Doing what, one wonders.

After stopping overnight in Doolin on the Atlantic coast, called capital of Irish traditional music, we visited the dramatic Cliffs of Moher, 8 km of sheer cliffs rising as much as 200m up from the pounding Atlantic.

Next stop was the medieval Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. The castle was built in 1425 and has 15th and 16th century furnishings. The Folk Park creates rural and urban life in 19th century Ireland. The pics show the castle, Gail at the school and Don at the hardware store in the Folk Park.