Flying home

Our flights were pretty well on time; it was British Midlands from Dublin to London - you have to buy your coffee, and there was no food as it's a short flight. Heathrow is such a huge airport; we got our exercise walking from Terminal 1 to terminal 3. Our Air Canada plane home was quite new, and each seat had its' own screen with on-demand movies; I watched three, Sally watched four, and the food was good too. We flew over Glasgow, Scotland, Iceland, Greenland and Baffin Island.
So, loyal readers, thanks for following along; until next time!
m.

Photo: CC by Tolka Rover

Heading East

We left Clifton about 0930 and headed east back to Galway, stopping briefly in a place called Recess, where they have a statue of Conn, Man of the Sea, beside the road, the purpose of which seems to be to get you to visit the gift shop (it worked)! My turn to drive then, and we survived the roundabouts of Galway and got the car safely returned. Now we have a lunch break before catching the train back to Dublin, the bus to the airport, and the shuttle to our hotel nearby. We've heard news of trouble with the radar at the Dublin airport; yesterday many flights were cancelled, so cross your fingers that everything is back to normal tomorrow as we need to get to London on time to catch our connecting flight home.

Photo: CC by misoponia

Day long beach ride

Today we joined a group doing a 6 day ride with Willie Leahy, renowned Irish Connemara pony horseman. We were surprised it was such a large group - 25 - divided into those who only wanted to walk and trot, and the rest! I had a small bay named Murphy, who seemed to have two speeds: walk and run. Sally was on Willow, a lovely grey mare. We spent the day on Mannin Bay Beach, and were in the dare-devil group, cantering and galloping on the sand. Just before we had lunch those who wanted to, (yes we did) took the saddles off the horses and rode them into deep water until they were swimming! It was cold, but a lot of fun!
The photo is from Willie's website, and it's exactly what it was like; he's quite a character. It was cloudy and cool in the morning, but luckily when it was time to go in the water the sun had come out.

On to Clifden

Woke to misty rain and drove to Connemara National Park; great exhibits - also walked to the field to see the resident Connemara horses grazing. Then it was on to Clifden (still in Connemara district) where we stay for 2 nights. It's a busy town compared to Cleggan; we visited the museum (history of Connemara horses exhibit). Drove south and turned off when we saw the sign for the Marconi/Alcock and Brown monuments. Despite the fact that it looked like a road into a sheep field, which it was, we did see where Alcock and Brown crashed landed in a bog after the first transatlantic flight. Carried on to Roundstone; after touring the music shop and watching bohdrons (Irish drums) being made, walked around the town and now sit in an internet cafe across the road from the water, and the sun has come out!

Photo: CC by rkeohane

West from Cong to Cleggan

Left Cong about 9 and drove north to Westport, walked around, then drove out to the National Famine monunent, and took pictures of the big bronze statue called the Coffin Ship, which sits on a grassy slope overlooking Clew Bay. Across the road was the visitors centre, with a stand renting walking sticks for people about to start the 3 hour hike up the mountain where St. Patrick fasted for 40 days. We resisted the urge to yell "get a horse," at the hikers; drove on the winding narrow road to Leenane (where the movie The Field was filmed), stopping to wait for sheep to cross the road at times. Leenane is a wide spot in the road at the head of Killary Harbour, a 9 mile long fjord, and has a wool centre and cafe, which required a stop; I decided two toques was enough, but Sally bought a "perfect for paddling" one.
Drove on, past Kylemore Abbey across a lake, and turned down a little used road to Cleggan (in Connemara district, in County Galway), a tiny village on a harbour. After checking into the B&B, we went to the Cleggan Beach Riding Centre (see the link at the bottom of this page) for our 3 hour ride to Omey Island. The island is only accessible when the tide is low, so our ride started at 5 p.m.
After a lot of walking, part way into the village and then on lanes and small roads, we came to the beach, where we cantered. There were cars driving out to the island; guess if you drive out and the tide comes in, you're there until it's out again. On the island we went along a sandy road, then back to the beach. We went by houses with stacks of peat; people still use it in their fireplaces. We were lucky to have sunshine for the ride, and saw a nice sunset later (10 p.m.)

Photo: CC by Dittmeyer

Inis Mor to Cong

Got up very early and hiked downhill 20 minutes from our B&B to the pier, where our ferry left on the dot of 8. Then the bus back to Galway; did a quick tour of the free Galway City Museum, where they have a Galway Hooker (28' wooden sail boat) hanging in the atrium; they were used to fish the local shallow waters and deliver peat to the Aran Islands.
Picked up our rental car, a little black 2008 VW Golf, and managed to get out of the parking garage (1st challenge) then out of Galway with several roundabouts. then we were in the country, where the roads have no shoulders, and sometimes the car brushed the vegetation beside the road but thank heavens not the rock walls. Sally is a good driver, and I'm a bad passenger, alternating between gasping, clutching the seat and hitting my imaginary brake pedal. I was wishing for a blindfold, but had to navigate. In under an hour we were at our destination, Cong, in County Mayo. In 1952 The Quiet Man, with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, was filmed there. See the bottom of this page for a link to some photos of Cong.
Walked to Ashford Castle, which is enormous and on a huge estate; walked around and took photos then went into the opulent lobby for a peek at the inside.

Photo: CC jmenard48

To the Aran Islands

Caught the bus from Galway to the town of Rossaveal; then the ferry to the largest of the Aran Islands, Inis Mor. Our B&B was an uphill walk of about 25 minutes, but the view from our upstairs room is of cows and a horse in little fields with stone walls, a few houses, and the ocean; it's beautiful!
We hopped on a tour van with a great guide/driver; there are 3 churches on the island, and 7 pubs, 3 primary schools, 1 highschool and 14 villages, with a total population of around 800. Everyone speaks Gaelic
We were at Dun Aonghasa for 2 hours (there's a 30 minute walk to the site from the visitors centre) - it's the Iron Age ring fort at the top of a 300' cliff; it's incredible. See the link at the bottom of this page for more info.
Checked out the shops nearby and each bought a toque (wool hat) - never thought I'd be wearing one in July but it's windy!
Back on the tour bus we went to the far end of the island and saw more thatched roof cottages (they grow rye for thatch), and potatoes growing. They have big wild rabbits, and horses, cows and goats, but no sheep (can't keep them in the stone fences) or pigs (tear up the ground). Every family gets some good land and some rocky; no farm has been sold in 30 years - just get passed down in the family. They've had electricity for 30 years; supply boats bring most everything; heat their houses with coal or oil - they used to burn peat brought over from the mainland, and all the cars are diesel. Rainwater is caught and stored for drinking, and every field has a stone slab on a slant to catch rainwater and send it to a trough for the animals.
Photo: CC by roncaglia

Heading West

Terry picked us up at 0845 and drove all of us to Dublin, where Sally and I caught the 11:10 train to Galway; we were on a very smooth modern train and arrived at 2:00.
Walked around and took photos; ducked into a store as the heavens opened and it poured rain, but then there was a rainbow!
I've updated all the posts from last Sunday on so am now up to date. There are also some links at the bottom of this page.

Photo: CC by ithaca09

Last day in County Wicklow

Riding centre: "From the village of Laragh the ride continues through the National Park and the Annamoe Valley, renowned for its beautiful scenery and historic monuments. This is the perfect ending to a memorable week.”
Woke to an amazing sight - is that sunshine? We were without our support team (had our guides; they spent the night in the village as it was too far to go back to Dublin), so carried our tack down the road to the field where the horses had spent the night, caught them without any grain (Sunny Boy likes granola bars!) and tacked them up. Set off into the forest and up a heather covered mountain until we could look back at the tower and across the landscape. Stopped for a break, then headed down a different way. Only a 3 hour ride today; had to ride through busy Laragh to where Anthony was parked with the lorry - took care of the horses and said goodbye to them before they were loaded on the truck. It was a great week of riding despite the rain - we had fun and saw a lot of the countryside! No injuries or mishaps.
Sally says "my beautiful Irish redhead Lacey was reliable and looked after me."
I discovered that Sonny Boy doesn't like anything white (except sheep) and shied at white rocks, white bags, white dogs, but was strong and surefooted.
After a restaurant lunch and goodbyes (our guides and horse wrangler were headed back to the riding centre) we had time for shopping and found an internet place (but no ATM in the village) - there was an old woolen mill shop and a celtic crafts shop we all had to visit!

Photo: CC by hakejam

To the tower

Riding centre info: "After a good nights rest at Glenmalure Lodge, where you will have enjoyed its friendly atmosphere, open fires and traditional Irish music the night before, you and your horse will follow the old military road past the ruins of Drumgoff Barracks. Here many battles were fought in the mountains during the 1798 rebellion. The ride continues through the forests and rugged mountains leading down to the mysterious Glendalough Lakes. Here we overlook the Monastic Valley and the 7th Century Round Tower. This is the symbol of Ireland's Middle Ages reputation as the island of Saints and Scholars around the time when the Vikings attacked Glendalough in 833.”
Well no music or fire last night (as mentioned in the description above); woke up to steady rain. Set off and turned onto a forest road (lots of logging here), and up the side of the valley (longest glaciated valley in Ireland) and saw a huge waterfall across the way - near it a battle scene from Braveheart was filmed. We could see sheep being herded single file up a zigzag path - tiny moving dots. Down the other side of the mountain Anthony was waiting; we tied each horse to a tree, loosened girths, gave them water and grain - our lunch today was in a stone hut with an earthen floor. We were so wet - when I tilted my head water ran off my helmet and I could have wrung out my riding gloves!
We set off after lunch up another mountain and this time at the top, the wind was really blowing, the rain was coming at us sideways, and I was dreaming of wool gloves and wool socks! It was the only time I felt cold. We had to cross a nasty bog, so Tanya, the more experienced guide, who usually is at the back, led us on a circuitous route - the safest way - and we had to keep together so that we could go right behind the horse in front, and not deviate from the path; even so, there were some parts where the horses sunk up to their hocks. Once safely across, Tanya told us a terrible tale of horses falling and others sinking almost to their withers. If we hadn't crossed the bog, it would've added two hours to our ride, and we usually ride about 5 hours a day.
From there we took a forest road and wound our way down; encountered some hikers - once we were at a lower elevation we warmed up and the rain quit. Finally we saw glimpses of the lakes (Glendalough means valley of two lakes) and then from a lookout we saw the tower for the first time (St. Kevin's monastery - the tower was to watch for Viking raiders). What a view - we stopped many times for photo ops - much later in the evening we walked there (after dinner at about 9:00 - it doesn't get really dark here until 11:00) and had the place to ourselves - all the tour buses had gone - and took more photos.
No Anthony waiting for us (we were too far from the riding centre), so we turned the horses out in a field close to the B&B, and carried our tack to a shed at the back.

Photo: CC by gwarcita

Through glen and river

Riding centre description: "Spectacular scenery unfolds all around you as you ride through the Glen of Imaal (the seat of power of Leinster Kings during the Iron Age - 500BC - 700 AD) Here you will be taken through small farms and open moors, crossing the River Slaney and on to Spinnans Hill where you will be able to see Brusselstown Ring - an Iron Age hill fort. This area is steeped in history, and one of the many examples that your experienced guides will share with you is that of Kilranelagh Cemetery known as the Gates of Heaven.“
We saw deer in the sheep-field as we made our way up a mountain. Took photos from the top, as the view was spectacular. We did a lot of cantering and galloping today, a bit of jumping, and crossed a river - the water was about 4 feet deep.
Tanya was kept busy opening and closing gates and her small purebred Icelandic horse Blacker would often trot away and she'd have to chase him. He's named that as his brother Aero is a dark brown colour, but he's blacker!
We've seen SO many sheep; they're raised for the meat as the wool isn't worth much; we saw one that had one side of his face white and the other black. Rode through a little village and found Anthony; didn't unsaddle the horses since we were so wet (raining again) and wanted to get on our way quickly - he had lunch ready in the lorry - lunch in the horsebox! He had the little table and campstools set up in there, and the usual sandwiches, hot tea and chocolate bars! Yeah! In the afternoon it stopped raining and we rode through some farms, at one point herding some cattle ahead of us. The sun came out and we had a great ride down more lanes, with honeysuckle and fuchia hedges.
Met Anthony and loaded the horses in the lorry; Terry drove us 45 minutes over mountains to the Glenmalure lodge; the horses stay in the field across the road overnight.

Photo: CC by Florian

Over mountains to Donard

Riding centre blurb: "From Poulapuca (the lake of the fairies) over Knocknadroosa Mountain to a well deserved picnic lunch in the Hollywood Glen. The trail that follows over Knocknaboley leads to the Church Mountain and then descends via the heather covered Cuckoo Valley, where the silence of the hills is only broken by the sound of the Cuckoo and your horses hoof beats. A welcome drink will be waiting in Donard (Dun Ard, meaning the High Fort, is the site of one of the 3 churches founded by Palladius in Wicklow 431AD).”
Yes, well, we were in full rain-gear all day and had every kind of rain you could think of, from mist to downpour, with wind too, but it wasn't cold.
We rode on small lanes and through the village of Hollywood, past the Inn where we had dinner last night, built in 1792 and used as a stagecoach stop.
Around the corner and up another lane we passed a granite church which U2 used to record their music.
We rode up over a mountain and had a picnic lunch under trees - Anthony was waiting there and had set up a small table with our sandwiches, hot tea and chocolate bars, and we sat on little folding camp stools. We set off again into an uninhabited area where we could look back at the lake - for most of the afternoon there was only the landscape, sheep and us (oh and the wind and rain). We did quite a bit of trotting to get off the mountain earlier, and were glad to arrive at Bolton's farm, where the horses stay in a field for the night. We waited and waited for Terry to arrive to take us to our B&B - turned out he was in a ditch! He had almost made it to the farm, but had to reverse to let another car pass, and slid into the ditch, then had to wait for a local farmer to pull him out with his tractor.
It was the last day for our Kansas rodeo champ and her Grandma, so now we'll be a group of six, or eight with our two guides.

Photo: CC by llja