Deserted Village at Slievemore

The Deserted Village on Achill Island contains ruins of about 100 stone buildings that line both sides of a pathway about 1 mile long. The abandoned settlement dates at least to the 1100's, with the last known use of the buildings in the early 1900's, when locals used the cottages as booley (or boley) houses.

Booleying is a tradition of moving cattle to summer pastures on higher ground and living nearby in temporary quarters. After the summer, the houses were left vacant when the residents returned to their homes for the winter months.

Atlantic Coast Drive on Achill Island

These cliffs were my favorite part of the Atlantic Coast Drive. Although some people only got out of their cars just long enough to snap a few pictures, I recommend spending more time exploring the cliffs. A few people were laying on blankets, or the bare ground, enjoying the beautiful day. Slow travel at it's best, no rushing on to the next site. Of course, that can be difficult for people who like to stay busy and keep moving.

Granuaile's Tower at Kildownet

A popular stop on Achill Island, the Kildavnet Tower once belonged to the 16th century Pirate Queen, Grace O'Malley. The tower is also called Kildownet castle and is located on the south easter corner of the island. In the picture below, you can see Doug standing in the doorway. I was surprised at how small the inside was, and wonder how many people would have stayed in the tower.

View from the gate

View from the beach

Pictures of Westport in County Mayo

Bridge Street

Bridge over Carrowbeg River

Carrowbeg River at Newport Street

Castle Ruins at Clonmacnois

After exploring Clonmacnois, Doug and I walked across a field to see these castle ruins. You can walk all around the outside of the ruins, but there is a fence to keep people from getting closer.


According to a guide book on the monastic site, the Anglo-Norman castle was built in the early 1200's to protect the monastery. When, how or why the castle was abandoned or destroyed is unknown.

The Monastic Site of Clonmacnois

The Cathedral

Temple Connor

Temple Connor

Temple Doulin

MacCarthy's Tower and Temple Connor

We decided to extend Doug's work trip a few days and go back to Ireland. After a quick flight to Dublin and a stop at the car rental counter to pick up our car, we were off to Westport in County Mayo. Our first stop was at the ruins of the monastery of Clonmacnois on the River Shannon, near Athlone.

Friday Photo Post: Ashford Castle

Ashford Castle in County Mayo, Ireland

Photo by Ian Cashman

Related post on Rambling Traveler: Hawk Walk at Ashford Castle

Going Back to Ireland

In just a few months, Doug and I will be going to London for Doug's work and we decided to extend our trip a few days for some personal travel. I had hoped to visit the Highlands in Scotland, but I need more than just a few days for that trip. Doug suggested flying to Paris or Dublin instead. My eyes lit up. Ireland. I've wanted to go back to Ireland ever since we returned from there in 2006. Because it would be our second trip, I wouldn't feel the pressure to see as much as possible. We could pick a town and stay there for a relaxing few days. My decision was made in seconds.

Some of Doug's Irish ancestors came from Westport and the surrounding area, so I thought it would be fun to check it out. I went back to the good people on Trip Advisor's Ireland forum who were such a big help with our first trip and asked for recommendations of things to do.

Our plan is to fly into Dublin, take a leisurely drive across Ireland with a stop at Clonmacnois, then spend three nights at a B&B in Westport. During the day, we'll drive around, exploring the area, and at night, we'll enjoy some of the pubs. On our last full day, we'll drive back to Dublin and reacquaint ourselves with the city before we fly out the next day. Not as much time as I would like, but with three active boys at home, we can't be gone too long. It's going to be great, though, and I can't wait.

Friday Photo Post: Ireland

View of Hore Abbey from the Rock of Cashel

Hay bales in a field near Bunratty Castle

Galway's Saturday Market

I created a puzzle from this photograph on Rambling Puzzles this morning and realized that I didn't have a post about the Galway Market on Rambling Traveler. We had such a good time the day we visited, I decided to share some of our experience.

Every Saturday morning, there is a market in Galway, next to St. Nicholas Church. The day we went, it was crowded with locals buying fresh flowers, produce and a nice variety of breads. There were tourists as well, looking at jewelry, purses, scarves and pictures.

It was fun to walk around and see everything, inhaling the tempting smells from food stands and listening to locals greeting each other and catching up on news. We had fun lunches that day, an olive/cheese/red pepper salad from one food stand stuffed into a warm pita from another, a fresh sausage, and a falafel sandwich. We also bought some of that wonderful bread to enjoy as we walked around.

If you are planning a visit to Galway, I definitely recommend a visit to the Saturday morning market.

St. Kevin's Monastery in the Wicklow Mountains

Celtic Cross at Glendalough

Photo by Connor Cashman

In the Wicklow Mountains, Glendalough is the site of a monastery founded in the 6th century by St. Kevin. The monastery was a center of learning for over 600 years, surviving several raids by the Vikings.

There are two sets of ruins you can visit; one in the lower valley, close to the visitors center, and one near the Upper Lake. In the lower valley, you can see the Gateway, the Cathedral, St. Kevin's Church and the Round Tower, as well as several other buildings and the cemetery. The ruins near the Upper Lake include the Caher, Reefert Church, St. Kevin's Cell, St. Kevin's Bed, and Temple-na-Skellig.

Round Tower

If you have time, consider taking advantage of the many walking paths in Glendalough. From the visitor center, you can take a 20 minute walk to the Upper Lake. When you get there, stop in the Wicklow Mountains National Park Office for information about the different hiking trails in Glendalough. You can also check out the website Walking in Ireland for some great information about walking in Glendalough.

Glendalough is always open and free to the public. The visitor center opens at 9:30 am and does charge a fee that includes a guided tour of the ruins. The site is a popular tourist destination and fills up with bus tours after noon. Plan to arrive early to miss the crowds.

If you are wondering how to pronounce Glendalough, the "lough" sounds like the Scottish "loch".

See more pictures of Glendalough.

Glendalough Monastic Site

St. Kevin's Church

Related post: St. Kevin's Monastery in the Wicklow Mountains.

*I also recommend the Glendalough page at Walking in Ireland.

A Ramble about Roadside Montbresia in Ireland

In the past four months, I've had several people find my site through a google search for "montbresia" or "picture of montbresia". Although I mentioned montbresia in my post on the Dingle Peninsula, I didn't include a photograph. I was going to suggest trying the image search function of google, but when I did the image search, there were very few pictures of montbresia in the results.

I couldn't do anything less than post some of my pictures of the montbresia we found growing all along the roadsides in Ireland, especially on the Dingle Peninsula.

From other Travel Blogs...

Photo of Cahir Castle by Connor Cashman

It's time to share more travel articles from other blogs. Since last Thursday, these are some of my favorites:

1. 5 Reasons Not to Trust Your Guidebook by Paul at TravMonkey
2. Two Bits by Conor Grennan at How Conor is Spending All His Money
3. At the Great Wall(s) of China by Mark at Around the World in 80 days
4. Better than Stonehenge, Hadrian's Wall is England's Top Ancient Monument by Josh Roberts on Smarter Travel
5. Have You Found That Perfect Beach Yet? by Chris at Nomad4Ever
6. Enhance your adventures in Ireland with a guide by Erica Silverstein on Smarter Travel
7. Travel Photography- Getting More Variety in Your Shots by Darren Rowse at Digital Photography School
8. How to Protect your Travel Funds by Kevin Allgood at Brave New Traveler

There are more articles in the section labeled "From other blogs..." in my sidebar.

A fun blog called Shenanigans

I found a new blog this weekend, and started reading it from the beginning. I knew I was going to like Shenanigans when I read about a very funny conversation between two boys, one American, the other Irish. The blog is written by Beth Morrissey, an American who married an Irishman and now lives in Dublin.

Beth has a great sense of humor, and if I'm not laughing out loud, I'm grinning when I read her posts. She also likes to do quizzes, one of my favorites is "What American accent do you have?" My results were right on.

Friday Photo Post: Views from a Dublin bus

This is one of my favorite pictures from our trip to Ireland, although I wish I had turned the flash off. It was taken from the front seat on the top level of a city bus.

I remembered to turn the flash off for this picture. It was taken on O'Connell Street, right before the bridge.

Books set in Ireland

If you have an interest in Ireland, I recommend reading McCarthy's Bar, written by the late Pete McCarthy.In the book, he describes visiting Ireland, always following his rule, “never pass a bar that has your name on it.” He has a way with words, with vivid and humorous descriptions of the people he meets and the places he sees. It's one of my favorite books.

I also like the books by Niall Williams and Christine Breen about moving from New York to a small town in County Clare. O Come Ye Back to Ireland: Our First Year in the County Clare is the first of four books about their life at Kiltumper Cottage.They include such interesting stories that I was sad to reach the end of the last book.

If you know about other books set in Ireland that you can recommend, please add them to the comments section.

Dingle Peninsula, Ireland...

***UPDATE*** June 1, 2007- After several google searches for pictures of montbresia led people to this article, I decided to post photographs of the montbresia I mentioned below.

There are many places to visit on the Dingle Peninsula, but our favorites were Anascaul Lake and Connor Pass. A winding single lane road from the town of Anascaul took us up to the lake. The drive itself is beautiful, with fuscia and montbresia growing all over, but the area at the top was incredible.

We were the only people there, and it seemed like our own private lake. Our sons, ages 14, 12 and 10, had a great time climbing up the steep, rocky hill. If you go, bring a picnic lunch and blanket. I wish we had! You should also bring good hiking boots.

Many people only spend a day or two on the Dingle Peninsula, wanting to see many different places in Ireland, but so much is missed when you only get a brief taste of an area. I wish we had spent more time at Anascaul Lake, walking and exploring the Slieve Mish Mountains.

Connor Pass was an adventure, too. A narrow, winding road that deserves care and patience while driving has amazing views for you to enjoy. We stopped near the top where there were some parking spots by a very small waterfall and a view of the lakes below.

The best part of this stop was the opportunity for more rock climbing for the boys. We climbed up, scrambling over the rocky hill, to a small lake. We had a great time, staying for awhile to explore the area. This would be another good spot for a picnic.

You can see a slide show of our day on the Dingle Peninsula on YouTube.

Hawk Walk at Ashford Castle School of Falconry

Ashford Castle, located in Cong, County Mayo, has a falconry school on its grounds. As a surprise for our sons, we arranged for them to go on a Hawk Walk. It was an amazing experience.

We had one instructor and two Harris Hawks for the three boys. They wore heavy gloves called gauntlets, and took turns holding the birds. The instructor told us about the hawks, and we saw other birds of prey, including falcons. They use the falcons for hunting crows around the garbage dumps.

As we walked, the hawks would take off, fly around, then come back and land on the boys’ fists. When they flew through the woods, it was like watching an air force jet doing maneuvers. They glided side to side through branches and flew just over our heads.

We passed a large family with several dogs walked down the path the path we were on. The hawks perched on tree branches above us, making all kinds of noise. The instructor said the hawks think the dogs are coyotes, the hawk's biggest predator. The hawks were not happy, and you could hear them up in the trees, hissing and growling quite loudly. Once the dogs were gone, and the hawks calmed down, they flew back to the boys.

This was one of the best parts of our trip. If you go, remember to bring backup batteries for your camera to record this great experience.

A Ramble about Guinness...

If you like Guinness, World Hum has an interesting article by Cheryl Donahue on how to pour a pint. I also found (and enjoyed) some Thirsty Traveler videos on Travelistic. One is a tour of the Guinness Warehouse in Dublin, another goes to Waterford to watch a beer glass being made, and a third goes to Kinsale for a stout meal.