Our Eyes are on Ireland

We planned a clockwise two-week driving tour of Ireland – an overview to be sure, but we’ve tried to make the most of our limited time.

We began with 4 days in Dublin, and there was plenty to keep us occupied. We had an Airbnb in the newly developed (and still developing) Docklands area that was an easy walk to everything we wanted to see in the city.  (We’ll pick up the car as we leave Dublin…)
We did a lot of walking, first taking our own (Rick Steves) tour up O’Connell Street, appreciating the old part of Dublin north of the River,

and then signing on for a Historical Walk led by Grace, a PhD historian from Trinity College.

She covered everything from the Vikings (whose ancient village has been cemented over to make way for a City Council building) to the Temple Bar pub scene (which is very much alive!) 
The Book of Kells, a 1200-year-old manuscript of the four gospels, meticulously written & illustrated by monks, is a must see in Dublin…long lines unless you book ahead on line (we did). It’s actually quite difficult to see the actual manuscript – it’s under glass in a case with lots of people crowding around it – but there are good explanations, illustrations and even videos demonstrating the process of making the vellum, writing the manuscript and binding it together in an exhibit before you get to the real thing.

After viewing the Book, you’re led upstairs to the Trinity College Library.  This was, to me, the real treat!

The stacks were reminiscent of those in the Peabody Library in Baltimore.  Just look at how they are are alphabetized…

There were lots of water sports on the Docklands canal, which we could view from our window…standup paddleboards, kayaks, skulls, and a clever setup where a skier or wake boarder was propelled along a zip line over jumps between two piers. Fun!

Dublin boasts a mix of traditional and very modern architecture.

and sculptures like “The Linesman” that evoke an earlier era of ships in this once-busy harbor.

We read and heard a lot about the Irish Civil War. One moving visit was to the Garden of Remembrance

where there is a fountain with mosaics depicting weapons thrown into the water (in keeping with a Viking post-conflict tradition).

On our last full day in Dublin, we visited Epic: The Irish Emigration Museum.  The tag line here is “Discover how the Irish influenced and shaped the world.”  This fascinating, high tech, interactive museum traces why so many Irish left Ireland (famine, religion, politics, opportunity) and the contributions they made around the world after they left. What an exhibit!

The museum is housed in a reclaimed warehouse, the old CHQ (Custom House Quay) building – that once provided storage for whiskey, wine & tobacco.

We picked up our rental car, a diesel VW Passat with a navigation system and sensors around ALL parts of the car, and headed south to Kinsale (County Cork).  On the way, we stopped at Charles Fort, Britain’s largest star-shaped fort which became the model for many other forts in Europe and elsewhere (including Fort McHenry in Baltimore). We got there just in time for the last guided tour of the day.

Kinsale is a charming and colorful town

that was once a very important trading port for Ireland.

We learned much about the town’s history from a tour guide named Barry who, with his partner, Don, leads Don and Barry’s Historic Stroll. In addition to the history lesson, we were treated to lots of Irish humor.

There is a really pretty harbor here, which is now filled mostly with pleasure boats.

We’re staying in a B&B (I had trouble finding Airbnb accommodations in much of Ireland), a small room at the top of the town with many steps. Fortunately, our hosts were very helpful getting suitcases up and down.

Our next stop was Kenmare (County Kerry). In this lively town, our room was above a bar on one of the town’s two main streets.

Irish music wafted up the stairs, and it was easy to stop by after dinner for a pint and some music.
As we left Kenmare on our way to Dingle, we drove the Ring of Kerry, which is one of the must-do scenic drives in Ireland. Unfortunately, our drive was done in fog and rain, which didn’t allow for much scenic viewing, or picture-taking…

We arrived in Dingle (County Kerry) in the rain and were distressed to find that our B&B was a 15 minute walk outside of town, but it did have a lovely view out the back.

By dinnertime, the weather had cleared and we made the walk to a very nice restaurant.
I’ve decided, though, that B&Bs don’t suit us. I want a kitchen of my own, and more space, the privacy of having the place to ourselves, and the freedom to have breakfast whenever we please! (There, I got that off my chest!)
On our second day in Dingle, we went on a Scuird (Gaelic for ‘excursion’) Archeology Tour. Our guide, Michael Collins

drove a group of 12 (all Americans, and all from the Northeast!) around the Dingle Peninsula in a minivan, stopping at key archeological sites. The area is filled with stones that have been used for centuries to build fences

and ‘beehive huts’ that were both lived in and used to house animals and store food. This tour was especially enjoyable for Rick because he was able to really appreciate the surroundings since he wasn’t driving!The Dingle loop was a good consolation prize for having missed the Ring of Kerry.We’d been advised to seek out O’Sullivan’s Courthouse Pub, while in Dingle.So, after dinner on our second night, we did just that.  We were not disappointed. Tommy O’Sullivan, on accordion, and a lovely lass on fiddle played wonderful Irish music to a packed house.

We loved our time Galway. It is a lively city with more street musicians (some accompanied by step dancers) than we’ve seen anywhere.

Sunday, Sept 3, is the All Ireland Hurling final and the Galway team is playing. Flags in the team colors are everywhere in town and the locals are very excited.  This is like the Super Bowl for the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association)!

One of our recent tour guides described the sport of hurling as “a combination of field hockey, ballet and murder.” And I’ve heard it referred to as the ‘national sport of Ireland.’
NOTE: It’s now Sunday afternoon, and I’m happy to report that Galway won the match, taking the title for the first time since 1998!! If you want to read about the game, click here.  It’s worth a read just to note the names of the players and the technical descriptions of a sport that I don’t really understand, but that ignites such passion in its fans…

Derry to the Nationalists (Catholics/loyal to Ireland) or Londonderry (to the Unionists (Protestants/loyal to Britain) was much contested during the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland. The British sent loyalists – mostly Scots, and Protestant – decades ago to this historically Catholic town to establish British primacy. They moved into the high ground and relegated the local Catholics to the boggy low ground.  Then they built a wall around the British part of the town. Derry is one of few cities whose 17th century walls are still completely intact, although the city extends well outside the walls today. It is easy to walk the walls (20 feet high and nearly as thick)

to get a birds-eye view of the city.

Our Airbnb was in Bogside, the Catholic neighborhood that was a tinderbox during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. There we viewed more than a dozen murals, painted on the ends of buildings,

that depict people and scenes from the difficult times here 45 years ago.

There is also a Bloody Sunday memorial to the 13 men murdered by British paratroopers on January 30, 1972.

It was not until 2010, after a 12-year investigation, that Britain apologized to the people of Derry and admitted that the killings were unjustifiable. While all seems peaceful now, and most people agree that Derry has come together, especially since 2010, there is still evidence of distrust of Britain and a sense of unrest that lingers.

We seem to have a propensity for ‘happening onto’ festivals and events of which we were unaware when we planned our trip.  Portrush, on the Antrim Coast (northeastern) of Ireland, was another of these.  It turns out that Sept 2-3 is the annual Portrush Airshow! Who knew? Our first clue was the almost standstill traffic we encountered as we approached our destination B&B. Fortunately, it’s a bit out of town so, once we got there, we parked and then walked 25 minutes into town.  What a scene!

Thousands of people, lots of families, lined the beach and anywhere in town with a clear view of the sky to watch all sorts of aircraft do arial acrobatics and formation flying.

Portrush reminds me of an East Coast ocean town – arcades, beaches, fast food, and lots of people out for a summer holiday.
The Antrim Coast provided us with more dramatic Irish scenery.

Most notable is the Giant’s Causeway, a geologic wonder with over 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns, formed by successive lava flows 60 million years ago!
Legend has it that a giant named Finn McCool built the causeway to reach another giant’s territory in Scotland…the Irish have lots of great stories…

On the walk down to the Causeway, we encountered a rock-strewn cove that we were told is the windiest place in all of Ireland.  I believe it!

We were only overnight in Belfast before flying to Paris, where we’ll settle in for 16 days (what a relief after a month of frantic travel!). We dropped our stuff at the Airbnb apartment around 11, then returned our rental car and set out to explore the city. After getting a good map at the TI, we went across the street to City Hall, an impressive building for this modest-sized city.

There we went through an exhibit on the history of Belfast. My greatest take-away from this is that this country has been in turmoil for millennia! We remember the Troubles best because they were within our lifetime, but that certainly was not the beginning of sectarian conflict.
We then signed onto a walking tour of the city led by Lyn, an enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide.

She took us to many quarters of the city and showed us historic buildings,

classic bars,

and interesting alleys.

Although we’ve enjoyed our time in Scotland & Ireland, we’re happily off to Paris! Can’t wait to be back in familiar surroundings where we can settle in and not feel like tourists.