Wednesday turned out mostly cloudy, a little hazy sun, and no rain. We’ll take that. We decided to drive a little more of the Wild Atlantic Way (WAW). As an aside, the WAW runs the whole west coast of Ireland, starting in about Kinsale in the SW and going all the way to Greencastle in the NW (1,600 miles). It runs right through Dingle on the way. And it follows the Donegal coast all the way around. Key sights are marked with the traditional WAW signpost that you’ve seen in many of the pictures, perhaps without noticing them:
We started off backtracking to our day one visit, going through Burtonport and going on to the Airport. That’s where we turned around on the previous day. Today it is the starting point for the blog. Donegal Airport, the only airport in County Donegal, is a one runway affair with one terminal/admin building. The only scheduled flights are on Emerald Air, a subsidiary of Aer Lingus, with daily flights to Dublin and Loganair with daily flights to Glasgow during the summer. We saw one Emerald Air plane there in our various trips past. A private plane flew by today but didn’t land. Because of the adjacent beach, the airport was voted the world’s most scenic landing spot in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Near the airport we drove down a VERY narrow road for a couple of miles and didn’t see much (nothing ventured, nothin gained) except for an oyster farming operation and a cow. Oysters are big business in Donegal.
Click on the galleries below to bring up scrollable windows with full size pictures – the gallery previews may show just thumbnails of the pictures.
Practically next to the airport is Carrickfin Beach (Trá na Carraige Finne), a blue flag beach. There were lots of live snails crawling around. Escargot for dinner, anyone?
We drove a long way along the coast, stopping here and there, before heading back to our house. The scenery is just breathtaking. Here are the photo results of the rest of the drive including a stop for lunch, a visit to a church to light candles, a sighting of a strange license plate, and the ocean views.
To wind up today, here are some pictures of the inside of our now messy house/cottage. Also included is a picture (or two) of tonight’s peat fire. And there is Elaine’s picture of fat me reposing after dinner. And another picture of another sunset. Dinner was at home: leftovers from our last meal. See you tomorrow.
Lots of pictures again. Enjoy. Also lots of links to interesting history. (Yeah, I know. You are only here for the pictures. No problem. You don’t have to click links. Smiley Face!)
We had a quiet morning at home. It was overcast, but we’ve got to do something, right? So we decided to return to Burtonport and take the ferry to Aranmore Island. There are actually two ferry companies. We chose one by chance and booked online. (€45 round trip for car and two passengers) These are small ferries as you will see in the pictures. The ride to Aranmore is only 20 minutes. We left at 12:45 and were scheduled to return on the 3:20. We really didn’t have time to grab lunch on Aranmore. If we had had time, we still wouldn’t have had lunch – nothing was open. The things to do on Aranmore, which is only about five miles long, are to drive to see the Aranmore Lighthouse, to visit a monument in a lake on the way to the lighthouse, and to savor the magnificent views. That’s Eion, our car (license plate 231-D-6260), on the left front in the ferry photo. You have to back onto the ferry, and the cars are inches apart. Fortunately a ferry attendant backs the car on for you. Can you spot cows on the beach? Do cows swim or are they just getting a tan?
Click on the galleries below to bring up scrollable windows with full size pictures – the gallery previews may show just thumbnails of the pictures.
ON THE FERRY (with videos)
It was cold and chilly, but at least the sun had come out.
AT THE LIGHTHOUSE
One notable feature of the lighthouse, located on a bluff, is a set of stone steps down to the sea which were used in rescue missions. You can see them on this link. I was never in a good position to get a photo of them. The road to the lighthouse is a freaky narrow strip of asphalt.
AT THE BEAVER ISLAND MONUMENT
Remember the Blasket Island people who relocated to West Springfield, MA that I mentioned in an earlier post? Beaver Island is a similar situation. Many people from this area relocated to Beaver Island, MI during the Irish Potato Famine. The story is told here.
AT THE FERRYPORT ON THE ISLAND
The red ferry shown is the one from the other ferry company. Our ferry was blue. They are almost identical ships though. The monument is about a famous shipwreck (of the Dutch SS Stolwijk) and the lifeboat rescue mission. If you are reading this on a computer, you can read the story. On a mobile device, it’s probably too small. The whole story is here. There is another memorial to another shipwreck, but we didn’t come across it. The sad story about that one is here.
RANDOM PANORAMA
We got back to Burtonport at about 3:40 and we were starving. Unfortunately, the Lobster Pot, where we ate on Sunday, is closed on Tuesday. So we drove back to Dungloe and had a late lunch / early dinner at McCaferty’s Pub. Chowder (wonderful) and Roast Beef Special (OK) for me. Cheesy Garlic Bread (Very Good) and Chicken Curry (Very Good) for Elaine. The usual Smithwick’s and Guinness to drink. Elaine was so impressed with the ladies room that she took two pictures. (See her in the mirror taking the picture?) I should have checked out the men’s room, but I didn’t. Oddly enough, McCaferty’s is a chain with branches in London, Oxford, Donegal Town, two in Spain, and four in the United Arab Emirates (of all places).
Then it was home for a cocktail outside to start and inside to finish. We had a real peat fire in the fireplace. It was grand and smelled great. Tourists rarely see real peat anymore. Peat extraction is tightly controlled by the government (Bord na Móna). You can buy processed peat logs pretty much everywhere, but raw peat is hard to find. I guess that is not so true in County Donegal. We have a good supply in the house. I didn’t take a picture of the fire. Next time maybe. Long day and early to bed.
This will be long with LOTS of pictures. Fair warning. Feel free to scroll.
Forecast was iffy and the morning wasn’t promising. There was some sun, but also intermittent showers. But the day turned out to be beautiful. Cool (low 50’s) but lots of sun. There is a lot to tell you and a lot of pictures.
In the morning we watched the oystermen arrive for work early. There were lots of them – a dozen at least. Alas, we didn’t get to chat them up. Maybe tomorrow. They were moving crates of oysters up the road for delivery to customers. You can see their little boat checking the oyster bed crates in the bay.
Click on the galleries below to bring up scrollable windows with full size pictures – the gallery previews may show just thumbnails of the pictures.
Hoping for the best weather-wise, we headed out on a road trip. First stop on the trip was an overlook that viewed Narin-Portnoo Beach in the far distance.
Then we actually arrived at Narin-Portnoo Beaches. It’s a beautiful setting, and we had a nice walk on the beach. One woman was swimming. 52º!! Interesting beach concepts in the last two pictures. Kudos to the beach admins for that. (Two pictures are darker than they should be because I had accidently changed a camera setting. I could have brightened them up, but I didn’t bother.)
The town is above the beaches, and it provides another spectacular view looking back down. Below the normal pics is a panorama. (Sue: the graveyard pic is not the Val Brady you knew well!)
Some random pics along the drive:
Next stop was in Ardara, a pretty town in Donegal. We visited the church to light candles, and we stopped in the Donegal Tweed Center. 25+ years ago we stopped in Ardara to visit Eddie Doherty’s Pub & Weaving Shop where we bought two woolen throws that he weaved in the back room of the pub. We still have them and use them all winter at home. Now he is a world famous weaver. The throws are exponentially more expensive than when we got them. We drove by the pub/shop, but we didn’t stop.
Next stop – Glengesh Pass (Malaidh Ghleann Gheis), a beautiful mountain pass on the road. Pictures are all that’s necessary. Tried a selfie which worked but didn’t show the background well.
On then to Malin Beg and it’s beautiful Silver Strand, often called the most beautiful beach in the world. We chatted with a nice couple from Massachusetts (Cape Cod and Jamaica Plain). We lamented the Bruins, celebrated the Celtic’s advance to the East finals, and applauded the Red Sox who seem to be doing better than expected. There are stairs down to the beach – 174 steps. We skipped that and enjoyed it from above. That was a good decision because of some walking coming up later. Anyway, here are the Silver Strand pictures. The greens and the blues are beautiful.
Next we started looking for a place for a late lunch. There are a few scenes along the roads including one of a lighthouse on an island (using telephoto lens). Also, there’s a panorama below the gallery. We stopped in An Charraig (Carrick) for lunch at Kelly’s KitchenPub. It was good – Elaine had open faced prawn and smoked salmon sandwiches; I had fish and chips. Elaine had a Smithwick’s. I had Coke Zero – lots more driving to do. Guinness tends to encourage a nap.
As you can see from the Kelly’s menu cover above, Carrick is the town nearest the famous Slieve League cliffs. It was getting late (3 pm), but the cliffs were only five kilometers away, so . . . Well, when you get there, there is a lower parking lot right off the road and an upper parking lot well up the mountain. We didn’t know any better, so we opted to park at the lower lot and walk up. (It turns out the upper lot was full and there was a wait to drive up to it.) But exercise is good! Well, the lower lot is MUCH lower. It’s a long, steep uphill slog (well over a mile) to get to the upper level. We barely made it, and several times considered turning around. I’m glad we didn’t. From the upper level, you can climb even higher to the top of the mountain. Maybe fifteen years ago we might have. We got good enough pictures from where we had struggled up to with our Sherpa guide. The Cliffs of Moher are more famous and more visited and easier to get to, but the Slieve League is fantastically beautiful. Note our photo that a nice man took for us – you may see it again on our Christmas card. Also note the “Eire” in stone on the side of the mountain. And those sheep have a great view. Do sheep (or cows) look at the view?
The climb down was much easier but still tough on the knees. I brought my elastic knee braces with me to Ireland, but I haven’t needed them. The old joints are holding out. From there it was straight home. There were a couple of views along the trip.
Dinner consisted of Magnum Bars at home after outdoor cocktails. We got another great (for Ireland) sunset. Note Elaine taking her own picture.
We woke to sunshine, always a good sign. It remained sunny for much of the day, but there were intermittent showers (and even a rainbow).
It’s too far to walk to town in the mornings, but we can walk around our area. and we did. First up, some pictures of the outside of the Sea House, the official VRBO name of our cottage. The last picture is a reflection in the door to the cottage.
Click on the galleries below to bring up scrollable windows with full size pictures – the gallery previews may show just thumbnails of the pictures.
Just 100 yards or so down the path toward the ocean is a working oyster operation. On the way down, you pass some old stone ruins. No oystermen in sight today, probably because it’s Sunday. Maybe we’ll meet some of them some day this week and get some free oysters. You’ll see bags of oysters ready for market in the pictures. And there’s no one around, so I suppose could help ourselves (and maybe spent more time in Ireland – in a prison) . In these pictures, it’s low tide. And there are LOTS of oyster shells. (Find Elaine waving in the distance in one picture.)
Then we took a ride to nearby Marghery Beach. It’s only about 2 miles away.
Next we drove a bit north to Burtonport (Ailt an Chorráin in Irish). It’s named after Burton Conyngham. It’s home to a 20 minute ferry ride to Aranmore Island (which is not part of the Aran Islands near Galway). We could have gone over, but didn’t. Maybe we’ll take the ferry trip sometime this week. Burtonport is also the home of the Lobster Pot Restaurant.
We drove on a bit, but after awhile we decided to return to Burtonport for lunch at the Lobster Pot. It was a nice meal, and we had a good chat with a couple at the next table from northern Donegal. Beers were good – usual Smithwick’s for Elaine and Guinness for me. Elaine had fish and chips again – it’s so good here in Ireland that it’s hard not to get it. I had the Fisherman’s Special – a cup of delicious chowder and an open faced prawn sandwich with salad.
Then it was home for relaxation and naps. We had a brief downpour followed by more sun. And we got a rainbow. Not a great picture, but it was better than it looked.
Dinner was at home. Spaghetti with meat sauce. With a salad and garlic bread.
You don’t get sunsets in Ireland very often with all the clouds, but we had a decent one tonight.
Congratulations in Flagstaff to Faith and Grace Stehle who are now both graduates on Northern Arizona University! Well done!
First, a couple of leftover pictures from our stop in Harrison’s Bar (including a better shot of the Finck’s overalls ad poster). That’s a young Derek (the owner) with a young Bill Clinton. He also has a picture of himself with Joe Biden from Biden’s last visit.
We had a great breakfast Saturday morning at the Ice House. Full Irish for me – black pudding, white pudding, rashers of bacon, sausages, mushrooms, tomato, and scrambled eggs. Elaine had scrambled eggs on smoked salmon. All good. You know you want some of that pudding!
Then it was off to Donegal and our new house for a week. We took our time, stopping at various points along the way to enjoy the scenery.
First stop was in Inishcrone (or sometimes spelled Enniscrone in English), a popular family vacation spot. As you can tell from the crowd, vacations haven’t started yet.
Next stop was at Easkey Pier which just happens to be the surfing capital of Ireland. The waves weren’t huge today, but there was no shortage of surfers in the water.
A little further on we stopped at another spot where lots of women were going into or coming out of the water. Hearty souls, the Irish. One woman reported the water as “cold but invigorating”.
We had a brief stop at Aughris Point where there was a great pub for lunch, but it was too early. More surfers in the water.
We whisked right through a busy Sligo to get on to County Donegal. We hadn’t planned on stopping at all in Donegal Town, the capital of County Donegal, but we did stop to have lunch at 2:00 pm. We ate at the Harbour Restaurant and Bar. We chose it because it was close to the parking spot we found. They were getting busy to host several confirmation parties, but we managed to get a great fish and chips lunch (with mushy peas). It was perfectly cooked. Elaine had her usual Smithwick’s (full pint, Kris!) and I opted for a Rockport Lager. Guinness and driving long distances don’t mix.
It was close to another hour before we approached Dungloe. Finding our house took some doing. I had the exact coordinates for the house, and Fiona on the GPS (SatNav) found it without fail, but we sure went down some minor roads to get there. House pictures will be forthcoming in a future post. We found the keys, unloaded the car, and then headed into Dungloe, about a six minute drive, to get some groceries. Then we had cocktails sitting outside followed by a small dinner of crackers and cheese. We were still full from the fish and chips.
The remainder of Thursday after I left off was spent packing, returning library books, dropping off glass recyclables at the recycle bins, and filling up with petrol. I have managed to remember to buy only unleaded gas and not diesel. (One time in France I filled up our diesel car with unleaded gas – the result is decidedly not good!) I said final goodbyes at the Dingle Pub and at Curran’s.
Our last meal Thursday night at the Chart House was excellent. Lamb for me; chicken for Elaine. We said farewells to proprietors Jim and Susan, and told them we would see them at Christmas.
We left bright and early (8:30) Friday morning for Ballina. It was a beautiful sunny day for the whole ride. We made a few stops along the way since we couldn’t check in until 4:00 pm at the Ice House Hotel in Ballina. We stopped for lunch at the Supermax in Tuam (where we had lunched last year). It is sort of an Irish version of a combined MacDonalds and Subway. We both had huge subs (which would be our only meal of the day – they were that big).
ATTENTION MIANNE! Next stop was at an old ruined abbey, the Carmelite Abbey of Ballinasmale or Ballinasmaul(a) in County Mayo. The Abbey was surrounded by an old graveyard. We found two graves side by side, one for a Hanley and the other for a Fallon. See the last two pictures. We thought that was kind of weird.
Carrying on, we next stopped at the Michael Davitt Museum in Straide, County Mayo. We never heard of Michael Davitt, a nineteenth century Irish activist for both home rule and land reform, but we now know almost everything there is to know. We saw a film about his life and had a guided tour by a delightful tour guide of the museum. And we visited his grave. His story is a long and colorful one that we can read about (should you wish) at the two links provided. We were the only visitors at the Museum.
Then it was on the very nice Ice House Hotel in Ballina. We checked in and then took the 35 minute walk downtown to visit Harrison’s Pub where old friend from Boston, Derek Leonard, is the proprietor. We had a pre-arranged visit with him last year. This year we decided to just surprise him. The surprise was, however, on us. He was off to England for a football match for his favorite team, Leeds. It wasn’t all bad news though as we had a delightful couple of house (and beers) with his wife, Eithne, who I had met years ago in Boston. Views from our room of the River Moy and of our walk into town:
It’s Thursday morning as I write this. Normally I post early in the morning with yesterday’s adventures (such as they are). This post is for yesterday and today. Tomorrow is a travel day, and I won’t make a post. So the next post will be either Saturday morning (depending on the wi-fi in our hotel in Ballina) or on Sunday from our new home for a week in Dungloe. We check in there Saturday night.
Click on the galleries below to bring up scrollable windows with full size pictures – the gallery previews may show just thumbnails of the pictures.
We took early morning walks under cloudy and threatening skies, but no rain. Here’s some shots and commentary from along the way
I told you there was a walk of fame at Dick Mack’s Pub. Sort of like the Stars in Hollywood. Dick Mack’s is probably Dingle’s most famous pub. When we first started coming here, you could still buy a pair of boots in the pub. It was very small and very popular with local characters. No food. Since the sons took it over, it has changed drastically. It still has some leather goods, but no one really buys them. The pub inside has expanded and now has a large rear bar. And they have tables outside and serve food. And they brew their own beer which is available at almost all the local pubs on the peninsula. The locals have abandoned it for other venues. It does a large tourist trade. We haven’t been inside in years. But we walk by it every day. Some of the names on the stars you will recognize (Robert Mitchum, Dolly Parton). Others you will not. Tom Crean is the famous Antarctic explorer from nearby Anascual. Christy Moore is a famous Irish folk singer that you may have heard. Páidí Ó Sé (Paddie O’Shea) is a famous Irish footballer. We (and some of you) have been to his pub in Ventry. We met him one time (very drunk – him, not us) in the Dingle Pub. Although he has passed away, the family still runs the pub. You can Google the other names (if you want).
Home for the Aged – do they lock them in?
A barber shop and the Siopa Fin Chúinne (Corner Shop) and the dental practice. The corner store is closing after 29 years there. Sort of sad. It was not 2:30 when I walked by the dental office. (Laugh if you get the joke – Shake your head if you don’t)
Glamping in Dingle? Well, not yet. But someone wants to build eight glamping pods in a field overlooking the harbor. In 10-20 years he MAY get permission. Those workers in the field are not installing glamping pods. Those are ESB (Electricity Board) workers upgrading the local grid. Across the street from the field are two very nice B&B’s. This is all just above from where we live.
Dinner on Wednesday night was lamb sausage with potatoes and veg. Very nice! I love lamb sausages. The bottle on the table contains scrumptious, locally made tomato & apple chutney. Those flowers on the table have lasted three weeks – amazing. Dinner Thursday night, our last night in town, will be at the Chart House (our fourth visit). I will most definitely get rack of West Kerry lamb. With no post tomorrow, there will be no pictures. But the food there has been excessively pictured in previous posts.
I cannot tell you how nice it has been to listen to Irish and local Kerry news and not hear anything about mass shootings in theaters, malls, school, workplaces, dance halls, or at holiday parades. And no chatter about abortion rights – even in an overwhelming Catholic country, it’s legal here – case closed. Biden had a warm welcome here (in County Mayo) when we first arrived. Trump was also here to visit his golf club (in County Clare, I think) and was essentially ignored. Other than them (and us), the other notable visitor to Ireland this month was Bruce Springsteen (no link necessary) who did three sellout concerts at Croke Park in Dublin. Our friend Susan from the Chart House went to the Monday night concert – we’ll hear about it tonight at dinner.
I visited Curran’s for a pint on Wednesday afternoon. The locals in there have a tradition. If a race on the tv racing channel (featuring races from Ireland and the UK) has a scheduled post time of exactly 4:00 pm, then they bet the five horse. (Don’t ask about the logic – that’s just what they do.) There is a bookie shop almost directly across the street. So I joined in today. It would have been a much better story if the horse had won. He went off 9-1 with a good jockey on board, but he was nowhere in sight at the finish line.
Power was put at our house from 9 AM on. Not back on until 6 PM. No big deal. But we mostly stayed home anyway and just did some reading. A real low-key day. We went into town early to buy some bread and deliver our Arizona gift (a Solari bell) to Grainne, our gracious landlady. We have one for her mother as well. And I visited Curran’s later in the afternoon for a pint.
You can see we are powering down in Dingle and getting ready for our sojourn to Donegal which begins on Friday. I loaded some key addresses into my GPS (SatNav). On the way we have to stop at Shannon Airport and re-up our car. They don’t let you rent for more than 30 days at a time. Since we would be going right by Shannon on the way to Donegal, it’s really no inconvenience at all.
Dinner was at Fenton’s Restaurant. This was our only stop there this year. It’s run by yet another fishing family. We started with kir royales. Then I had oysters (of course). Elaine had the vegetable soup. We both had scallops for the main. And we shared a large pavlova for dessert. The wine was a French pinot noir.
After dinner we were off to the Dingle Pub for our last chance to see Richie O’Brien and Dreams of Freedom. We usually stay for an hour or so. Good music. David Geaney danced. Other people danced. (We did not!) But we hung in and closed the place. It was fun. And the crowd was lively and enjoying itself. It was especially nice because, while busy enough, the bar wasn’t jammed pack full. Here are some videos of the action including Richie singing Sean South, one of my favorite Irish rebel songs.
So it was midnight before we got home. It’s been a long time since we were out that late. Bed never looked so good.
Monday was a dull rainy day although we saw the sun late. I am posting this early Tuesday morning, and it will be very brief. We lose power for the day in an hour as ESB continues upgrading the local grid. Elaine did some shopping yesterday for Irish items that she wants to take home. Meanwhile, I had a pint or two. Dinner was at Out of the Blue. Elaine had fish chowder while I slurped down some oysters. Then we both had delicious chargrilled sea bass. Lemon posset for me for dessert; pear tart for Elaine. No picture of the mains – i forgot.
All good as usual. That’s about it. Dinner out again on Tuesday. More on that tomorrow.
Very Irish weather. Very windy. Lots of rain. A stay at home day mostly. The rain let up a bit around lunch, so we ventured to Ventry (play on words!) for lunch at Quinn’s Pub. Funny story about Quinn’s. Many years ago we stayed in Ventry in a rented house for four weeks. We invited Bill & Mianne over to stay for a week with us. They had friends, who we had never met, staying in Dingle for a month (or more). Anyway, well before Bill and Mianne arrived in Dingle, we stopped in Quinn’s Pub for a pint. As I was at the bar ordering, an American couple came in, and I struck up a conversation. “Where are you guys from?”, I asked. “Massachusetts”, they responded. “Where”? “Scituate”. So I asked, “do you happen to know Bill and Mianne from Scituate?” They looked stunned. “Yes, we know them and they going to have lunch with us here in a couple of weeks.” So, by pure circumstance, we met Paul and Joan Green well before Bill and Mianne had a chance to introduce us. We all later had lunch together in Ballyferriter. And, in future years, we met up again with Paul and Joan for drinks as they often were here at the same time we were.
Anyway, lunch today was good. Guinness for me; Beal Ban IPA (local brew from the West Kerry brewery at Bric’s Pub) for Elaine. We split a scallop starter that might have been the best scallops EVER. Elaine had a chicken sandwich with chips and I had lamb stew with mashed for our mains. It was all delicious. You can barely see Ventry Beach in the background in the last picture. The weather only got worse from this point forward on Sunday.
I did venture out later for a pint at Curren’s, but otherwise we hunkered down at home for the rest of the day and night. Not much else to say about the day.
The Republic of Ireland vs. Northern Ireland
The Republic of Ireland (26 counties) is completely independent from the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland, made up of six counties (Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Derry/Londonderry and Tyrone) remains part of the United Kingdom. The name Northern Ireland is a bit of a misnomer. It should rather be called Northeast Ireland. The northernmost point on the island (Malin Head) is in County Donegal which is part of the Republic of Ireland.
Now, since Brexit, Northern Ireland (part of the UK) remains, oddly enough, in the European Union Customs Zone but is not part the European Union (EU) itself. That was done as part of Brexit to prevent the establishment of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic (which remains a full member of the EU). This fact causes no end of problems between the UK and the EU and between the UK and Northern Ireland.
Will Northern Ireland ever be reunited with the rest of Ireland in the Republic? Of this, I have no doubt, although it may not be within my lifetime. The six counties were once predominantly Protestant and Unionist. That’s no longer true. Catholics (better breeders) now outnumber Protestants. And the majority (but not absolute majority) political party in Northern Ireland is now Sinn Fein (fully pro-Republic and nationalist). Since Brexit, however, the DUP (the main Unionist Party) has refused to participate in government. The devolved Northern Irish Parliament (at Stormont) is, therefore, at a standstill at the moment. The civil service continues function as normal. It’s all a mess really.
A little more history will be in another post . . . maybe.
