Drove the North Coast of Northern Ireland, arriving in Londonderry. Can you say “lost in Derry?“ Within it’s walled city we walked and were moved by the many sites of the more recent conflicts in Northern Ireland (“the troubles”). A side trip was had to the Bushmills distillery, the oldest licensed distillery in the world, making Whiskey continuously for 400 years. Had a nice sample of the ‘water of life’. Wonderful hike along the Giants Causeway, beautiful cliff trail, in the sun no less!
Then on to Galway Bay with a beautiful drive through County Donegal and down the west coast of Ireland. Stumbled upon the magical Shrine of Knock which was the site where 15 people shared a vision of the Virgin Mary, Joseph and St John the Baptist, in1879. Today one and a half million people make a pilgrimage here every year. A Prayer for Lynda.
Galway was beautiful; oceanside walks, strolls by the River Corrig, a boat on the shore named ‘Annie’, and wonderful food and Irish music everywhere, including the divine experience of a harpist.
Doug did a side trip to the Aran Islands to explore the amazing cliff top rock fortress Dun Aonghasa.
Next we drove through the scenic County Clare and on to the mystical Cliffs of Moher, towering 214 meters above the Atlantic Ocean.
Then on to the market town of Ennis, where within ten minutes of arriving we had rounded up a stay at a wonderful hotel called the Old Ground Hotel. Not long after we were sitting in The Poet’s Corner enjoying our dinner.