Ireland, Week 2.
In which I chronicle the second week of my Irish travels.
Tuesday, September 6, 2022
Today we visited the Loughcrew Fairy Gardens as well as the Loughcrew Cairn. Between upset stomachs and not knowing where, exactly, we were supposed to be there was a lot of back and forth driving happening. In between trips to the bathroom, and getting lost on byroads we managed to enjoy a lovely nature walk and fairy trail through the Loughcrew Gardens. The smell of the fresh greenery and the cute, if dilapidated, fairy decor really stirred my imagination. This was one of my favorite experiences thus far. After the gardens we stopped for lunch at a wonderful little cafe called The Happy Cup in the village of Old Castle. Without a doubt, The Happy Cup is the best food and hot chocolate we have had all trip. We were both very pleased!
After lunch we climbed our way to Loughcrew Cairn. Dodging sheep droppings left and right, we huffed and puffed our way up an extremely steep pair of hills to reach the burial ground. The sheep seemed to have the run of the place so we tried not to disturb them while we took our pictures. The climb paid off because the view from the top was spectacular! After shambling around the various burial mounds we had to then scramble our way back down the muddy hillside. No easy task. Once we made it back to the car we returned to Trim for dinner at the Castle Arch Hotel where we were staying, and then time for bed.
Wednesday, September 7, 2022
On the move again! we loaded up the car and made our way to Clonmacnoise, on our way to the next hotel. The round tower overlooking the river Shannon was just like something out of a fairytale, and the standing church buildings were truly impressive. Mom spent a chunk of time navigating her way around Italian tourists in the visitor center and I took off my shoes for a walk around the grass.
Once we had our fill of breathing in all that historical air we continued on our journey, crossing through Shannonbridge on our way, and taking a pitstop at The River Cafe there. The cafe itself has some interesting history, as it served as a fort during the Napoleonic War. After lunch we climbed back into the car for some more driving, stopping again at the Lough Inn to pet the ponies, and have some tea and brownies. While we were there we also decided to purchase some takeaway curry for dinner once we arrived at our new rental. Then it was back into the car one last time to finish our day of driving. We arrived at the new homestead exhausted and turned in pretty early.
Thursday, September 8, 2022
Disaster! I suppose it was only a matter of time. I may never have experienced international travel myself before this, but I’ve heard many a story from those who have, and almost all of them involve one or more members of the travel party falling ill. Well, now it was my turn. I woke up with a terrible sore throat. Every moment was painful and scratchy, and swallowing hurt particularly. So I stayed in. If I had to be laid up anywhere, I’m glad for where I was. The view from our rental was awe-inspiring. We are spending several nights at this location, and I have enjoyed many hours of staring out the living room window at the hills, imagining adventurers or hobbits or fairyfolk traversing the misty horizon.
Mom took the opportunity to stretch her legs and go for a several hour long walk. By the end of which, I was a nervous wreck thinking perhaps she’d gotten lost or hurt or something worse, I don’t mind telling you. But she returned a few hours later, and regaled me with the story of her journey to Crough Patrick. She made it as fare as the first lookout point before stopping at the local cafe for coffee and sandwiches. She brought the sandwiches home for lunch before setting forth again to the famine memorial sculpture and the abbey. After dinner we sat down and watched a documentary on Grace O’Malley, the Pirate Queen of Clew Bay. I cannot wait to visit her domain on Clare Island!
Friday, September 9, 2022
By this point my sinus infection, or head cold, or whatever it is was in full swing. Mom wasn’t feeling terribly hot either, her walk the previous day had proved more taxing than she anticipated. Still, we didn’t want to waste our precious days here, and we needed food. So, after spending the morning convalescing, we tottered our way into the car and drove into town. The town in question was Westport. Of all the places we’ve been so far Westport is the one I would most like to live in. It’s a small town by urban standards, but still fully kitted out with the essentials, and all the architecture is so charming. It reminds me of Koriko, the town from Kiki’s Delivery Service. If I were feeling better, and if we had more time, I could have spent days there, just eating my way through all the little cafes and restaurants. It’s the perfect picture of what a town SHOULD be. We took our lunch at Hoban’s and then popped into the Supervalu for some provisions. On our way out of town we attempted to visit Westport House, but after inadvertently driving to the camp grounds and getting completely turned around we gave up and returned home for an evening of scrapbooking and an early to-bed.
Saturday, September 10, 2022
Feeling some improvement, and not wanting to waste more time, we set forth for the next point of adventure, our destination: Ashford Castle. We started out a bit later than planned (a regular occurrence by now) but still made it to the Castle an hour early for our lunch reservation at Cullen’s At the Cottage. With time to spare, we poked around Mrs. Tea’s gift shop where we purchased some delicious hot chocolate and cookies. We were then encouraged by the staff to explore the Castle Gardens, so we did- they were lovely. Apparently Ashford Castle is currently operating as a hotel and I highly encourage anyone coming to Ireland to stay there. A part of me wishes that we had. The whole thing was so ancient and manicured and magical.
Lunch a Cullen’s did not impress, but afterward we took a boat tour from the Castle across Lough Corrib to Inchagoill Island. The lake was beautiful, dotted with hundreds of tiny islands, and Inchagoill had some beautiful ancient church ruins as well as the stone remains of a homestead that was used up until the 1930s. I’m surprised there are no homes there nowadays. The views from the island are all absolutely beautiful.
The tour was wonderful, and we both enjoyed it immensely, but we ended up returning home much later than we’d planned, stopping back at the Lough Inn for dinner a second time. By the time we made it back to our rental it was time for bed, as we were both wiped out from the day’s activities.
Sunday, September 11, 2022
We definitely overdid it yesterday. I woke up much later than I’d planned and have absolutely no energy to function. As such, we’ve opted to make today a day for chores. Laundry is spinning, mom is assembling the scrapbook, and I am taking some time to get caught up on my blog entry. Mom is planning another of her walks in the afternoon, and we will have to step out in the evening for some dinner, but our plan is to lie low today and conserve energy. Tomorrow we sail to Clare Island, to see the home of Grace O’Malley herself. This is the one piece of our journey I have been most looking forward to and I want to make sure I’m as energized as possible to take it all in. Fingers crossed.
