So it begins

Let's start with a Guiness

Published Date : May 12, 2001

[Note:  Most of my photos from the ROI went missing in the mail, and some of my journals were damaged.  As a result some of the following entries are light on detail.  Many of the following entries were re-written a couple of years after the trip]

Today was Day 1 of the first tour – so far so good.  There are only 6 of us today, 3 Aussies, a South African and a Quebecer.  We’ll be picking up four more people tomorrow in Galway.  Our tour guide is Pat and he most definitely looks like a leprechaun.  He’s only about 5’5″ tall, rosie cheeks, a beer belly and a twinkle in his eyes!

Our first stop, at 9am was the Guiness Brewery.  Excellent!  It was actually quite a cool tour, and it included a free half-pint in the bar which had a fantastic view of the city.  I’ve never particularly liked Guiness and even after sampling what will probably be the best one I’ll ever taste, I still don’t particularly enjoy it.  Ales and lagers for me!

Heading west, our first stop outside of Dublin was Clanmacnoise.  It’s the home of a sixth century Christian monastery, complete with high celtic crosses.  It was a beautiful site on the banks of the River Shannon.

Tonight we’re in Galway and I love it!  It’s got big city conveniences with a small city feel.  Very quaint and welcoming.   I can’t wait to continue our tour tomorrow.

In other news, it looks like I’ve lined up a job at a hostel in London.  They pay £4/hour, work 40hrs/week and they provide free accommodation.  If I don’t get a reply from the places I tried in Wales, it’s nice to know I have a backup option.

Whirlwind

Published Date : May 14, 2001

We picked up our newbies in Galway yesterday, two more Aussies, a Kiwi and a German.  We drove through the Burren National Park which felt like being on another planet.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a desolate landscape before.

Continuing west we arrived at the Cliffs of Moher.  They were open to the public for the first time in 2 and a half months – excellent timing for us!!  They were suitably impressive.  I would have loved to have spent at least a day or two hiking in the area.  Another place I’ll have to come back to!

As we drove, Pat told us about the history of the British occupation of Ireland and the “famine follies.”  He also told us stories about Tir na Nog and the ancient history of Ireland.  Pat is an incredibly knowledgeable guide and a natural storyteller.  I’m actually finding it difficult to absorb all of the information that he’s passing on to us.

Our stop for the night was Sean Ogs B&B and pub in Tralee.  We enjoyed some quality Irish beers while listening to traditional Irish music.  Great night.

Today we picked up some hitchhikers and headed to the Dingle peninsula.  We stopped at Gallarus Oratory to see some ancient beehive huts that housed priests in the 6^th and 7^th centuries.

Our lunch stop was Dingle Town, home of Fungie the Dolphin.  After seeing a documentary on Fungie a couple of years ago, I was looking forward to visiting this town.  Unfortunately, Fungie didn’t make an appearance for us, but we did meet Harry the Dog in one of the local pubs.  It was a beautiful place to stop.

We spent the afternoon in Killarney National Park before pushing through to Cork.

Time flies

Published Date : May 17, 2001

I’m back in Dublin now.  I haven’t had any time to write and still don’t.  This trip is going by way too fast!  I wish I had more time to stop and enjoy some of the places we’ve been blitzing through.  Not enough time and not enough money – it always seems to be the way of things.

We spent our last night of the trip in Kilkenny which was a pleasant town.  Of course we paid the obligatory visit to the Blarney Stone.  After  applying a liberal amount of lip balm first as a protective barrier a few of us even kissed it.

I leave for the northern tour tomorrow.

Northern Ireland

Published Date : May 20, 2001

Dunluce Castle

Back in Dublin once again.

The northern tour was pretty intense to say the least.  We had two guides for this one: Stuart who was experienced, but had never been to the North, and Gerry who was new to the job, but grew up in Belfast.  It was a good group of people on the tour.  There were 13 of us this time, all Australians apart from one German and me.

Bogside, Londonderry

Our first stop was the Giant’s Causeway.  Like the Cliffs of Moher, I would have loved to spend more time here to explore along the coastline, but alas it wasn’t to be.  Out next stop was just down the road at Dunluce Castle on Lough Foyle.  The ruins of the castle are balanced precariously on the edge of a cliff.  It was a beautiful site.

Next on the agenda was Londonderry, or just Derry.  We were taken on a tour of the city walls as well as the Bogside, site of the Bloody Sunday massacre.  The security presence was high as many protests and demonstrations were taking place to commemorate the 20^th anniversary of the 1981 hunger strikes.  There are also elections taking place as well, just to add to the tension.

From Derry we headed south to Belfast where there was also a notable security presence.  Several of us were stopped by two armoured police vehicles at one point because of concerns about a large group wandering around town.

High tensions in Belfast

The heavy fortifications, military and police presence throughout Northern Ireland was quite striking to see, especially being in such stark contrast to the Republic of Ireland.  I think it would be worth returning here at some point in the future when the tensions are not quite so high.

Our drive back from Belfast to Dublin was a calamity of errors.  We dropped Gerry off just outside of Belfast, so Stuart was on his own.  Without his navigator he quickly got lost and eventually we ran out of diesel on an empty stretch of road in the middle of nowhere.  We finally arrived in Dublin at about 8pm.

After grabbing a quick bite to eat, I headed out to Temple Bar and the river’s edge to enjoy the St Patrick’s Day fireworks.  Yes, you read that right.  St Patty’s day celebrations in May.  Everything was postponed back in March because of the foot & mouth quarantines everywhere, so they had them this weekend instead.

Unfortunately we missed the parade because of our late arrival back in town, but at least we got to enjoy the fireworks.  And now I can say that I was got to experience St Patty’s Day in Ireland…in May!