there is an Irish song made popular during the fight against the genocide imposed by England called “the men of the west“ and popularized by the Clancy Brothers. The other song I remember clearly is “the hills of Connemara“ which is well known by my generation in the area around Galway and to the west. The song is about making moonshine and trying to avoid the tax man. You will enjoy the hospitality of the people here. The weather is a little rough but the beauty of the place is incredible and the landscape is very diverse and some very amazing. And of course you can visit the cottage of Patrick Pearse, one of the great heroes of Ireland who was hanged by England for opposing English oppression.
Achill
They came to say hello
It looks fairly baren in this area. It’s very windy and I expect to difficult to grow very much. Carrickkildavnet castleA rescue boat practicingThe local church graveyard
Westport
This was the pub in Westport and I found the music to be heartwarming, taking me back to my childhood. The young musicians
Buncrana
He was a famous hunger striker who died in opposition to British oppression Obviously the same owner A funeral processionThere is one not only in San Francisco A view of the beach but a little cold to go swimming this time of year though there are a few who do A memorial bench obviously of someone who people respected for her kind volunteer work Irish humor Obviously an agrarian area I’m not sure if this is just for tourists or if this is something that local people enjoy as well This is the axe throwing areaThe chasin bull pub
Conemara
You have to visit this area of Ireland. It’s just incredible scenery A small café with delicious lemon pie A fierce warning It shows you how to travel along the Atlantic way from Westport down to GalwayIf you have kids this is probably one place you would like to go since the children have a lot of things to do at this estate and Castle. Anyway it’s a beautiful place to visit This is the estate house It’s beautiful water texture and reflection Aughnanure castleGowlan east road
These beautiful yellow flowers are blooming everywhere
Patrick Pearse
Patrick was enamored with the Irish language, wrote an Irish and established to school to teach in Irish which were sometimes referred to as Irish Gaelic. He was very much opposed to a British control of Ireland and so eventually joined the Irish brotherhood which became the IRA. Below you will see a speech he wrote at the funeral of a great Irish patriot of the late 1800s. The speech launched him on his political career. He helped write the declaration of freedom from Britain and helped to organize the Easter rebellion in 1916. He was one of the few who was hanged by the English government in Dublin for his part in the Easter rebellion, the effects which sparked the Countrywide rebellion against British control of Ireland.
This is Patrick’s cottage which he built in Rosmuck, not far from Galway.These needles are sharp These are photos of the cottage after being builtThe flag of Galway This is the cottage where he came as often as he could to be with local peopleThe things in the cottage were contributed by the family
Aughnanure castle
The short history is that in the 12th century the Normans arrived and pretty much integrated with the local people, mostly Irish speaking. Henry VIII started the “protestant“ Church of England which worshiped him instead of the pope and so he didn’t want the popes people coming in from Ireland and that’s what started the great increase in oppression by Britain.Ireland was very clan oriented, divided up into all these different Lord ships in the 1500s.
I tried eating with a fork, this Chinese food, but I finally got chopsticks since it was so much easier eating with them.
This is Irish moonshine and it seems to be the most famous brand. I had moonshine made in Oklahoma many years ago and this has a very similar taste, like a whiskey without the smoky flavor.
in order to see Ireland in a detailed perspective you really need to rent a car and drive around. Every time you stop in a town you need to go to a pub and talk with people. People are very welcoming and you will get a good glass of Guinness wherever you go.
Listowel and John B. Keane
I didn’t know who Keane was but when I got into town and went to the pub people explained his literary creations.
Portumna castle
Ennis
The vertical lines indicate the corner of a stone. So a letter written on the left side of the corner is a different letter from the one written on the right side of the corner or one which goes through the corner.This is a member of the OPW (office of public works) showing me one of the stones with an example of the alphabet on the stone. OPW is the nationwide government organization dedicated to restoring and maintaining historical sites. You can get one of their cards which allows you to visit all of the sites for one year and it’s a very reasonable price. If you’re going to stay more than two weeks then I really recommend getting one of those cards to save some money if you intend to visit historical sites. Eamon was Prime Minister for many years but he was also one of the members of the 1916 uprising. This is the story of the Buick he brought from the US and used for official occasions after he became Prime Minister.
on to Limerick
A perfect pour every time. I spilled a little on the way back to the tableA harp recital to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day Outside King John’s Castle a group of dancers gathered A fellow in the pub indicated I needed to listen to this song
two days before St. Patrick’s Day in Limerick
Of course the Pipers were there Daniel O’Connell statue people lining the streetIn Ireland people like to buy small cars for economy and to fit the narrow roads. In Thailand everybody wants to have a big truck or SUV even if they can’t afford it The cleaning crew after the parade A restaurant called Wokking had some fairly good noodles since it’s a Chinese restaurant, basically. However they had no sauces at all which is very strange for a Chinese restaurant so I could not give it a really high rating.And of course you need to have gelato every day
The still house. The place to come for music in LimerickJust approve I was here This is an interesting solution. Since Covid it’s difficult to get people to work in hospitality especially in cleaning. This hotel, the George, gives you five euro a day each day you do not use the cleaning for the room. This can be used in the restaurant downstairs. This benefits the hotel since it cuts down on the need for cleaning crew, it benefits the customer and it also benefits the restaurant since a large number of Hotel customers don’t use the hotel restaurant. The hotel restaurant was all decked out in St. Patrick’s Day decorations Saint Mary’s The pre-Latin written language, Ogham, a clever series of strokesI thought this was interesting since after Henry VIII the churches were modified for the protestant Bent, the Church of England and they were called “the Church of Ireland“.King John’s Castle This castle was built after King John’s reign but named for him Excavating the Norman portion of the castle This fellow is named Ocean. He plays the harp and he explains the traditions and so forth of Ireland.
Ocean explained the Ogham system of writing which is a series of strokes or lines. In the very north of Ireland, in Donegal, there is a standing stone with this old writing on it. It was deciphered. He explained it has the traces of the Irish sarcastic humor. It says, “turn around“.
The old Norman portion of the cast The festivities begin in Arthur’s Quay Park She is Patricia to celebrate Paddy’s day I met some interesting people to chat with hereAnd of course another perfect PourAll lined up and ready to be topped offIt’s nice to see English is taught properly An old store, green grocer and news agent At Doolan’s pub the Kilkennys were playingAnd then a small group of experienced musicians and singers playing for the pub goers How do you spell day? It doesn’t really matter. It’s not a language clock, it’s a time clock. I guess somewhere you punch your time card.The deep diving outfitA very skillful man Take me back to my childhood The shopping District in Limerick A little humor If you want a clean undertaking this place looks very spic and spanBeautiful graffiti It is this organization that Frank McCourt’s mother used to get charity from as you will find from reading the book “Angela’s ashes“.
““Angela’s ashes”. This book is an accounting of Frank McCourt’s childhood in Limerick and his house is a tourist attraction but it’s not really his house it’s just a museum. If you happen to be interested in this book which some describe as dark and dismal”Angela’s ashes“. This book is an accounting of Frank McCourt’s childhood in Limerick and his house is a tourist attraction but it’s not really his house it’s just a museum. If you happen to be interested in this book which some describe as dark and dismal. Get the audiobook version in which Frank McCourt himself does the reading, narration. If you do that you will encounter Irish humor as he reads it and understand that part of the culture and why he words it the way he does but it must be through his reading that you get this humor.
This was the pizza that only cost me €3.50 because of my five eurocoupons for not requesting the room cleaningAdd to now you can see the “Codfather”. Go to the Still house pub at about seven or 8 PM and you might bump into the 87-year-old Paddy Fish.
Nengha
The birds started nesting
Terryglass
Some of these boats at the harbor needed some repair A beautiful swan on the lake The garden at the church with some religious flexibility Look at these decorations. I would never expect to see gremlins or fairies here
Portumna
This is the castle which is fairly interesting but has been greatly renovated since most of the large large houses in castles fell into repair at different times in the past eight centuries. Many large estate homes after the revolution were burned by the army in order to discourage the England affiliated wealthy from continuing their power in the country.
the roads from Galway to Kilkee are narrow so you have to be careful but they are very beautiful areas to visit so I highly recommend driving these roads. The people are extremely friendly, expecting a lot of tourists from the US, some which they understand are looking for their ancestors. Go into the pubs and talk to people. They are very interested in striking up a conversation and they have a lot of interesting things to say. Galway is very close to Connemara were the people still speak Irish (Irish Gaelic) and the song that came to mind was one of the Clancy Brothers about the hills of Conmemara where people made moonshine and had to keep away from the taxman.
Doolin to Kilkee
Doonagore CastleDoonagore Castle. Don’t expect to be visiting this castle. Signs say it’s private property so I’m not sure if it’s available to visitLooking down on Liscannor from Moher cafeSpanish point
This cave was more than €17 (senior price) and it is something to do but I have been to many caves that are 10 times more interesting since this is just one stalactite as the main attraction. We go down this man-made shaft which took two years to build. One of the kids got an adult size heart hat which kept falling off.Hard hats were necessary since some of the pathway was very lowThis is it. I think it’s worth five euro but not more than that. The estimate is this has been growing for about 500,000 yearsYou can see the two different colors on the stalactite. The dark part on the left is not growing anymore possibly because the water started dripping off to the right and starting a new stalactite. There is a stalagmite below but underneath is slippery clay so it keeps breaking off and falling to the side and so probably will never join the stalactiteIt’s about 6 km to the ocean from here. The light is artificial. Small straw like stalactites forming but they keep falling offHere you can see some ancient coral petrified on the side of the cave. This is millions of years oldThe kids were having fun and asking very good questions
Galway to Doolin
Kinvara
in this little town I stopped for coffee at the wild beans coffee shop
This is a cute little town to visit for a cup of coffee and to look at the port and relax Explanation of the town and some of the history Look how the name Connelly it’s spelled. There are many Connellys in this area and many of them have different spellings for the name. On the photo below you can see another version of the name spelling even on the same building.The local church (Saint Joseph’s) was closed so I did not go in I stopped to see this ancient Abbey which is in complete ruinsBalyvaughan St. John’s Baptist ChurchYou will notice that this heart symbol is the same as the one in the statue above. I’m not sure what the significance or deep meaning is but it obviously has some story to tell. This is what the hills look like around here. It is many miles of layered limestone Hills at limestone rubble everywhere. BurrenYou might think I got a little carried away with the photos of this amazing geologic site but I study geology and I find it fascinating. There is almost an endless supply here of limestone rock for fences around Ireland. And as you travel around Ireland you will see most of the fences are made of stone.The drive was not exactly like a corkscrew but it was a very twisty road up the hill You can probably get more information from this QR codeLooking down along the corkscrew road McGann’s pub in DoolinLocal musicians in the pub playing traditional music
Galway
This harp is from the 15th century and it’s called the Brian Boru harp but he was in the 12th century so obviously had nothing to do with him. But it is the symbol of Ireland and also of GuinnessThe explanation of the people who controlled this area before the Normans invadedThe effort to increase the Irish language A view from the museum in Galway
Of course everybody has a story including hamburgers but if you look carefully at the sign it includes birds and snakes which I did not know were customers of this burger shop
I needed to stop for some gelato, cherry chocolate with mango sherbet on topMy two favorite whiskeys were a specific bourbon and then also Jamison Irish whiskey. But the fellow eye was talking to at the pub recommended this one and it is extremely smooth and a little sweet, definitely my new favorite. This was recommended to taste which I did not and it is said to be fairly expensive. I will try it at some time
