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