And in the end- Day trip to the Cliffs of Moher

Great things are done when men and mountains meet. This is not done by jostling in the street. ~William Blake


One afternoon in Galway we made the trip South West to the Cliffs of Moher, making a few stop-offs along the way. This was one of the many times we visited during down time and had the cliffs pretty much to ourselves by the time we got there around 6:30-7. In June is was staying light until around 9:30, so this gave us plenty of time to explore!

Although the roads were scary, the weather was beautiful and obviously the company was too! One of my favorite Ireland days.


Dungaire castle. It looked so pretty we had to stop and see what the rest of it looked like!


Queens of the castle!


Dungaire castle crest.


Annie hanging in the stairwell.


This castle is 16th-century, but was completely revamped in the 1960s for a Lady who wanted to use it as her residence. Here's her sitting room. It's said that Celtic revival enthusiasts like Yeats would meet here.


View from the top!


Mom and Joan sneaking around the castle.


After castle time, we stopped off to explore the Mars-like landscape of the Burren.


We happened upon Lisdoonvarna, a town that hosts a HUGE match-making festival every year. We knew about it from a Gaelic Storm song, and we just had to stop and see what the fuss is all about. It's pretty calm during non-match making season.


Mom trying to figure out where we are.


Hanging by the Cliffs! Like I said the crowds were sparse, a lot less crowded than last time I was there even though the weather this time was perfect! I may have even gotten a bit of sun.


You can never take enough pictures.




A Moo Cow coming down the walk.


Beyond the "No Passing Beyond This Point" sign.




Ready for a cliff-side nap.



I was very excited to share the cliffs with Mom, one of those places you just have to see to believe! (Especially if you're a big fan of the Harry Potter movies.)

And in the end- staking out land for my Alpaca farm on Inish Mor

"It's well you know what call I have. It's well you know it's a lonesome thing to be passing small towns with the lights shining sideways when the night is down, or going in strange places with a dog noising before you and a dog noising behind, or drawn to the cities where you'd hear a voice kissing and talking deep love in every shadow of the ditch, and you passing on with an empty, hungry stomach failing from your heart." — Christy

From J.M. Synge's Playboy of the Western World

Don't think that I think of Inis Mor as an inhospitable and negative place, this is just a rather beautiful quote from the Synge play that takes place on the island. To say that I'm obsessed with Inis Mor would be an understatement. Returning to Inis Mor is motivation enough to get back to Ireland.

This post is pretty picture heavy as a result, but I still feel like I didn't capture some key moments, most likely because I was having too much fun to remember a camera.


Upon arrival we checked into the Kilronan Hostel (just as great the second time around), and then got hooked up with a jaunty car ride. We were lucky enough to have Patrick who was born and raised on the island, and his horse Grace who I'm sure is a native resident. Here Joan is chatting with Patrick.


Beautiful day, beautiful island.


Connemara pony, Annie and I pet some that came up to the fence.


Goats chained together so they can't escape.


The road runs along the ocean.


Mom jauntying along.


On the way up to Dun Aengus, it's worth the hike I promise!


Overview of the fort. I know I ranted about its ancient beauty in my last Inis Mor post. We went later in the day and in June so it was even better this time! No crowds, more sun which made the chilly ocean air a lot more pleasant.


Surrounding fields.


View from the altar atop Dun Aengus.


Mom realizing how close she is to a cliff face.


Taking a break on the way down from the fort, didn't want to keep Patrick waiting too long. He did seem pretty comfortable with his cup of tea and paper in the cafe.


Annie in the window of an old church at the foot of the hill. Not sure on the history of the church, I think its around 300-400 years old.


Carving over the altar.






Outside view of the church.


Patrick and Grace! We even recommended him the next day to the fresh batch of tourists.


German beer I got at Joe Watty's, probably in my top three favorite pubs in Ireland! After this I just stuck to Guinness because, as Joan and Mom pointed out, this fancy shmancy beer kind of tasted like Pabst.


Elvis stag party on Inish Mor. Nothing out of the ordinary here.


Mom and Joan loving Joe Watty's.


Goodmorning! Waking up early, enjoying tea on the patio before heading off on the next adventure. Unfortunately, this involved saying goodbye to Inish Mor.

And in the end- the rocky road to Dingle

Ireland. Great for the spirit - very bad for the body.
-Hugh Dancy

By this point we were feeling pretty tired, just in time for our big trek from the Aran Islands to Dingle! Yes, many locals called us crazy but we made it to the Captain's House in time for dinner after crossing hill and dale, even fording a river (it was a surprise). Poor Joan, our fearless driver, I think it just felt like a great accomplishment when we finally arrived after almost 6 hours of travel!


Right before our surprise crossing of the Shannon River (yeah, we didn't look at the directions too carefully) we passed through Knock where there was some sort of miracle involving the Virgin Mary. I'm not sure of the details, but I know the ballad!


View from the ferry.


The Shannon Dolphin! When all was said and done the ferry ride only took about 20 minutes whereas driving around would have cost us another hour and a half.


Tired but happy! We must have stopped off for a picture and a good leg stretch.


Murphy's Pub! It was the first pub we came to, but we were too tired to give ourselves choices. We were staying just a couple streets down.


Four lads playing us some tunes at Murphy's. We made it an early night though, we had to rest up for more exploring!


Breakfast! Mary, one of the owners of The Captain's House, just had twins! So, they had switched everyone to self-service breakfast which was perfectly fine with us! I was more than happy to sleep in and pour my own bowl of cereal.


Interior of the church in Dingle, Joanie found it early in the morning during Irish mass. By the time Mom and I made it over we heard English mass, but it was just as much a cultural experience.


Candles in the sacristy.


Street view of Dingle from the church.


Spying on our own room!




Dingle harbor.


Unfortunately we did not encounter Fungie, the lone dolphin that lives in Dingle Harbor and has boat tours dedicated to him. I'm starting to think he's completely made up.


After a day of browsing in downtown Dingle, we started heading over to Killarney. Lucky for us, our route passed The South Pole Inn, a pub that Joan and Anna had eaten at on their last Ireland trip.


The pub is actually the former home of Thomas Crean, one of the men who accompanied Shackleton on his arctic expedition. Although here I think Mom and Joan are more excited about food than history.


Halfway through the DELISH South Pole burger and a much needed Irish Coffee. I don't completely remember what was on the burger (hopefully I have it written in my journal) but there was definitely rashers and pineapple. Trust me, it works.


Inside the South Pole Inn. We were just in time to see County Kerry win some big match. The lads were happy.

All fueled up on good food and ready for more venturing.