End of the Ireland Trip

Our final day in Dublin was a bit warmer than our first day there, thankfully. We spent part of the day doing our last-minute souvenir shopping. Aside from that, we visited both Christ Church and St. Patrick's cathedrals. Both have a lot of historical and architectural significance. We had a nice lunch at a bistro near the Jameson's visitors center, and then spent the early evening packing.

That evening we walked to the Temple Bar area for dinner, crossing the Ha'penny Bridge over the Liffey on the way (pictured). After dinner, we went to the Friends Meeting House for a rehearsal of Gloria, Dublin's lesbian and gay choir. This group is larger and much better established than the men's chorus we visited Monday. The sounded great as they prepared for a very busy week. After rehearsal we went next door to the Ireland Film Institute for drinks with some of the members, and we had a great time getting to know them.

We had a fairly short night, as the cab for the airport came at 5:45. That was about 1/2 hour earlier than we needed, but we had plenty of time at the airport to check in, get breakfast, clear security, request our tax refunds, and go through customs.

We boarded the plane and left a few minutes early, taking off just after the sun came up. I watched the patchwork fields and lakes get smaller as we rose in altitude until we finally passed the west coast. Then the captain told us there was a problem with a redundant safety monitor of some sort, which didn't cause any problems, but they didn't want to cross the Atlantic without it. So we headed back to Dublin, landing an hour and 45 minutes after we left. Once on the ground, we learned that a replacement part was en-route from Amsterdam. About three hours later, the new part was installed and we were ready to go again.

We were re-booked on a flight out of Atlanta, about four hours later than our original connection. We landed at O'Hare just before 9:00 Central time. By the time we got the bags, picked up the car, and drove home it was 3:45 am, 27 hour after we began the journey.

It was a long and exhausting journey, but we saw and experienced a lot, met some great people, and had a wonderful time. We haven't been able to identify our favorite part of the trip, but we have discussed places we would visit again if we ever get a chance to go back. This trip  was a life-long dream for Barry, and we're so glad we got to make the trip together.

And we've already started discussing ideas for our next trip together!

Finally in Dublin

We've had a busy couple of days. Woke up yesterday in Larne and headed out for Islandmagee, once the seat of the Magee clan. It was a beautiful morning, so the drive was great and we took our time exploring some cemeteries and coastal areas on the peninsula. Interestingly enough, we found no Magees in the cemeteries - only a McGee ans some McKees  - but we found many graves with Jim and Gywen's family names.

Leaving Islandmagee, we took a beautiful drive through Carrickfergus amd Belfast toward Dublin. Unfortunately, the weather got worse the farther south we went. We stopped along the way and caught the last tour of the day at Newgrange, a 5200 year-old Neolithic burial site. It was pretty cool, and it's amazing to imagine how the people moved all of the rocks to the area and built these massive strictures.

After Newgrange, it was of to Dublin and the home of our good friend Orla, who cooled a wonderful Irish meal for is. It was great catching up with her and learning more about her life here in Dublin. After dinner, we spent a good amount of time returning the car to the airport and finding the eight bus to take back to our guesthouse.

This morning we took the complete 90 minute bus tour of Dublin, then jumped back on the bus to go to Trinity College. There, we had a nice, colorful tour before seeing the Book of Kells and the long room in the library. After a quick lunch in the student union, we hopped on the bus to the Guinness Storehouse for the tour and complimentary pints at the amazing Gravity Bar, which features 360 degree views of the city. It was a great place to relax and watch the sunset.

After catching the bus back to the area of our guesthouse, we headed out to a rehearsal of the newly formed Dublin Gay Men's Chorus. It was fun listening to them prepare for their Christmas concert, and after rehearsal we joined about 10 of them for drinks in a nearby pub, The Flowing Tide.

It's difficult to believe we only have one more dull day here.

Belfast Update

We've had a good time in Belfast. Yesterday began with a taxi tour of the city, which wasn't quite what we expected. Rather than a comprehensive tour of the city and its key sites, we got a tour of only the working-class  neighborhoods and murals. We learned a lot about the history of the political troubles, but the story seemed a little one-sided. I still have a difficult time understanding the depth and passions behind the different factions and why there hasn't been more progress to unify the city.

After the tour we went to the Public Records Office to do genealogy research.

Very interesting, although we didn't find much. From there we went to the Ulster Historical Foundation where Barry had an appointment with a researcher. Again, we didn't find much. While he was there, Jim explored part of Queen's University on foot.

Yesterday evening we headed to Ulster Hall for the annual Belfast Beer and Cider Festival. Dozens of drinks on tap to try, with live music and lots of people. As we drank, we met and chatted with a new friend Alan and his wife.

After that, we met Gywen for supper. We wanted to eat at the famous Crown Bar, but they didn't have room to seat us. We found a nice French restaurant instead.

This morning we spent nearly three hours at the Titanic Experience. The museum opened earlier this year, and it's fantastic. Very high tech and high touch, it covers the early industrial history of Belfast, the ships construction, its launch, fittings, maiden voyage, sinking, aftermath, pop culture references, 1985 discovery, and underwater exploration. We certainly could have spent more time there.

Soon we're off to Island Magee and Larne!

Ireland, Thanksgiving Edition

This morning we were up early to visit Giant's Causeway on the Antrim coast. There is a nice new visitor's center which explains the geologic feature and some of the surrounding mythology (Finn built it, you know.) The weather was cool and breezy, but dry so we enjoyed walking around the site.

Soon we were off to Belfast. We arrived in time for Barry to spend about an hour and a half looking into family history at the Presbyterian Historical Society. We didn't find much, but we got some leads on things to look for during our research tomorrow.

The historical society is around the corner from our hotel, so we checked in, and them we had a few hour to explore. We're in the neighborhood of Queen's University so we walked past some of the university buildings to the botanical garden. Also nearby is the very nice Ulster Museum, so we got to spend about an hour there.

After changing at the hotel, we went to dinner at the Grand Opera House (yum) followed by a very funny show "One Man, Two Guvnors." It is a big farce, with elements of a minstrel show and some improv. Quite a good time. Tonight we stayed in the hotel and made plans for tomorrow. There is a lot to do here, and we've got to cram a lot into a day!

First Day in Northern Ireland

The Derry Travelodge wasn't the best accommodation in the world, but we weren't there long and it was cheap. Following a basic and rather plain breakfast, we set out to walk around the city for a couple of hours. We went to the Bogside, the traditional Catholic neighborhood just west of the original walled city of Derry. The Bogside was, during the civil rights struggle, known for a time as Free Derry. We went to the Free Derry museum to learn more about the oppression of the working class people, the civil rights movement, and the Bloody Sundy massacre which happened at this site. Here along the street there is a series of murals commemorating those times and other similar struggles for civil rights.

From the museum we walked up the hill to the city wall (built in the 1600s) and into the city centre. We saw the Diamond, billed as the only square roundabout in the world. I don't want to tell the locals that we have at least one in Indiana (see: Paoli). We grabbed a takeaway lunch and soon headed up the coast to Bushmills.

In Bushmills, we took a tour of Bushmills Distillery, the oldest licensed distillery in the world. The King granted its charter in 1608. Unlike at Jameson, here we toured the working distillery so it was interesting to see the bro duct being jaded and the bottling line. Today, they were actually bottling Jameson's. Jameson's doesn't have a bottling facility, so they send their whiskey to Bushmills for bottling. Of course, we got a sample at the end of the tour.

After the tour, we headed toward our B&B in Portrush, passing the remains of Dunluce Castle along the way. The sun was already beginning to set, but the site was open for another 1/2 hour so Barry and Jim took the time to exploe the ruins as dusk fell. It's a very dramatic site, to be sure. I would have enjoyed a little more time there to explore more, read some history as we walked, and hike down to the cave and the shore. Unfortunately, you can only do so much when the sun sets before 5:00.

The town of Portrush is a delightful seaside resort village. Of course, in November it's mostly closed. We found a wonderful bistro for dinner, and lots of other people were there enjoying it, too. Only later did we discover the place listed in our guidebook. We came back to our spacious room to read more about the history of Northern Ireleand and post to the blog before turning in.

Sunset from Dunluce Castle, Antrim Coast, Northern Ireland

Along the coast is the town of Portrush, where we've stopped for the night.

An Adventurous Day

Yesterday we drove 30 km from Galway to a tiny airport where we boarded an 8-passenger plane to fly to Inis Mor. It was a beautiful drive a lot the shore (in spite of a slight mishap with the car) and a nice, quick flight. Once we got to the island, we found a driver who offered to take us on an island tour, which was good because we weren't sure how we were going to get around the island.

The island is 9 miles long and 3 miles wide at its widest point. Originally all limestone, the people have built stone walls all over the island, and filled the plots with seaweed and sand to make soil so they can farm and raise livestock. The main draw to the island is the prehistoric fort, dun aengus, 2500 years old, on the top of a 300 ft cliff. We walked up to the fort, which I think ins the windiest place on the planet. When Barry peeked over the ledge, hits hat blew off with amazing force and flew way outside the fort and down the hill. I thought we would never see not again, but Barry actually found it on the way back down!

We had some lunch at a small cafe and then went on to see and old, ruined monastic site before heading back to the village. We went to a pub to wait for our return flight, only to learn that the flight was cancelled due to the gale-force winds. Fortunately, there was a ferry returning about 1 1/2 hours later, and the seas were calm enough for the ferry to run. We got back on shore about 2 hours later than anticipated, and then had to go back to Galway to pick up our laundry. Finally we were on the road for our 3 1/2 hour drive to Kerry, arriving at 11 pm. The Kerry Travelodge isn't fancy, but it felt good to get in the beds.