Old Ireland - November 2005

This was our third trip to Ireland, and one that we were really looking forward to. We flew into cork, and spent friday night in a B&B overlooking Blarney. After waking up on saturday morning to a home cooked traditional irish breakfast (including black pudding), we headed off to the castle, where we did the touristy thing, and kissed the stone. Basically this means that we now have bulls******* superpowers. We drove along the Ring of Kerry, up the west coast, and were treated to some great sights of peace and tranquility. We arrived at the Cliffs of Moher just after sunset (and after all the other visitors had left), and had great views of the huge, sheer cliffs in the dwindling light. Our long drive ended at our B&B in Spiddal, just west of Galway City. We treated ourselves to some great fresh seafood (incl. oysters - yes please), and had an early night.

Then for the unexpected highlight of the weekend, and possibly the year. We had originally planned to spend sunday exploring Connemara, but our host at the B&B changed our minds. Early sunday morning we caught a ferry to Inishmore, one of the Aran Islands. We hired bicycles, and explored the 9x2 mile island. It is like a jigsaw puzzle of small stone walls, with a desolate, rocky landscape (somewhat lunar). Definately the setting for the cadbury's glass and a half advert. There are old houses, churches, and some of the oldest forts in Europe. We visited Dun Aengus, which dates back 4000 years, and is 3 half circles of stone, built right up to the edge of a sheer cliff. The island has 800 inhabitants, all of whom speak Celtic as a first language. It is one of the most peaceful places we have ever seen, and we were treated to a perfectly clear, crisp, winters day. The beaches were beautiful, and we saw a seal colony, and later, a group of cignets in a tidal pool. We were told that in summer the island can have up to 2000 day visitors, mainly italian. On our visit, there can't have been more than 100 tourists, and most of the day we were alone. At one point Jacks and I stopped and tried our hardest to hear something, but couldn't. When you haven't heard silence in a while, it can be unbelievably overpowering.