Our trip to Ireland (fences)

There's very little I can say about the video below. It speaks for itself. It is a compilation of some of my fence pictures from Lahinch, Kilfenora and the Burren. Mostly stone fences.

There is also a picture of a fairy tree in one of the pictures. According to Irish folklore, it was bad luck to take these trees down, so they are frequently seen in the middle of grazing fields.

I was rather surprised with the lack of trees I saw in Ireland. I never received a clear answer as to why there seem to be so few of them, at least in West Clare where we were. One of the musicians at the Fleadh Nua in Ennis said that the EU wanted the Irish to plant more trees, and he didn't seem too happy about that. Most of the land does seem to be used for grazing of farm animals and he said something to that effect as the reason.

Or maybe the Irish don't like someone else telling them what to do. I get that. I don't like someone telling me what to do either. Like when someone tells me I've already taken enough pictures of stone fences, and why do I need to take more? How could anyone possibly ever have enough pictures of stone fences?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4I6JPuTXbs

Our Trip to Ireland (Cliffs of Moher, Doolin, The Burren etc.)

(Updated May 14)

On May 6, our neighbour Michael popped over and started to chat with me. He and his wife were in their summer home for the weekend. Michael is the brother-in-law of Helen, the woman we had rented from. He was very chatty and invited me to come over and meet his wife Eileen which I did. Before I knew it I was drinking wine with them.

I had just run over to their house with my slippers on (not expecting to stay long), when Fred came downstairs shortly thereafter and I was no where to be found. He saw that my shoes were still at the door and puzzled over that. Where had I gone in my slippers? Hopefully not too far. He finally figured out where I had run off to, and before he knew it, he had joined us for a lively conversation with our new friends in their big kitchen.

Before we said good-bye, Michael had invited us over the following morning for an Irish breakfast and promised to drive us about the area before their return to Dublin that afternoon.

It was an offer we couldn't refuse. It was especially appreciated, since we didn't have a car of our own to drive and we would get to see some of the area.

Breakfast the next morning was wonderful (Irish bacon, eggs, sausages, coffee, juice, grilled tomatoes and bread. I said no thanks to the blood pudding; Fred said yes thanks.) and off we went on our little tour.

Doolin, Liscannor (where Pope Francis is the Parish Priest. I kid you not.), the Rock Shop in the Burren, St. Brigid's Well (many miracles have been attributed to St. Brigid here). Michael also pointed out to us where the famous Cliffs of Moher were, although we didn't actually see them that day.

It was a fun morning and gave us a better idea of where we were going to return to later. We had already decided that we would visit these same spots again via taxi or bus hire.

And we did return on May 22 after our daughters had arrived.

We hired Pete McNamara to take us out on his bus to do the tour that day. He took us to all of the same places and it was a full day event this time.

Pete was a wonderful guide, explaining all the sites with lots of stories along the way and leaving us to explore the places for as long as we needed. The day included the Cliffs of Moher which were awesome. We were also very taken with the Burren and it's rocky beauty.

Naturally I took a ton of pictures.

We bought a few gifts at the Cliffs, had lunch in O'Connor's Pub in Doolin (very yummy) and bought rocky road chocolate (and other varieties of chocolate) at the chocolate store on Pete's recommendation.

And the sun shone the entire day. Praise Jesus.

Michael, Fred and Eileen on our foray into Clare country  

The Burren 

Purple flower in the Burren whose name I don't know (a friend let me know it is a purple orchid)

 O'Connor's pub in Doolin 

St. Brigid's well. The grotto is on the left. The graveyard is behind. And the pub is on the right. Of course there's a pub.

Inside St. Brigid's well. People leave all kinds of things here.

The Cliffs of Moher

The Cliffs of Moher looking the other way

 The Burren and a lovely stone fence

The Burren and another lovely stone fence

Maude, Pete, Johanna and Fred. A good time was had by all.

And one more lovely stone fence. I know you wanted one.

Our journey to Ireland

We recently returned from a month long trip to Ireland. I had been there in 2004 on a bus tour with my sister and her husband--of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. The 2004 trip was great, but I knew I needed to return and spend more time in Ireland itself, the country where my ancestors come from. And I wanted Fred to come too.

Neither of us are world travellers, and in fact don't really like travelling that much. We decided we wanted to settle down in one place, and preferably not drive while there--you know the wrong side of the road and all that? So wherever we chose to go to, it had to have all amenities within walking distance of where we stayed. I also wanted to have the choice to be able to cook, and not have to eat out all the time. It also had to be in County Clare where my great-great-grandfather John Maloney was born. I was hoping to find out more about John who was born in Ennis, County Clare.

I started searching for a place to stay, and we ended up deciding on the small village of Lahinch on the West Coast of Ireland. Lahinch is a lovely place known for its surfing, it's beach and its (apparently) fantastic golf course. A lot of Irish families have summer homes there. We were not disappointed with our choice.

We rented a beautiful home from a lovely family. We were about a 10 minute walk from numerous pubs, restaurants, and a small grocery store where we were able to buy all the food we needed. And a fantastic gift shop.

It rained a fair amount, but it never rained for the entire day. It is also very windy in Lahinch, much windier than we are used to. It was apparently cooler than normal for the time of year, with temperatures ranging from about 8 decrees Celsius to about 13 degrees. The weather did not deter us though. We brought our raincoats which we used almost every day, and umbrellas that we never used because of the wind. If we had used the umbrellas, we would have done a Mary Poppins across the bay.

I think this vacation was the best we have ever had. I knew as our time there unfolded that I would have to write about it upon our return. Nothing out of the ordinary happened there really. Other than enjoying every minute; talking to many lovely people and trying to understand what they were saying with that Irish accent that makes one want to weep it's so beautiful; seeing some of the most gorgeous countryside in the world; eating great food; listening to awesome traditional Irish music and singing; watching the set dancing in the barn in Kilfenora; meeting an Irish artist; attending a Gathering concert in Ennis; drinking the best beer in the world; eating lots of potatoes and scones--yum; seeing so many stone fences and sheep that I managed to take nearly 1,500 pictures of it all; visiting all the churches in every town we went to, some of which date back to the 12th century; and knowing when I left that I wanted to return again with my sisters in tow. That's all. Nothing too special really.

I hope to write more about the trip in the coming weeks. A trip that was truly, a gift from God.

Notice the different spellings of Lahinch: Lehinch and An Leacht, its Irish name. Most, if not all signs provide the Irish names as well.

This was probably a house at one point but appeared to be converted to a barn



Cows taking shelter behind a stone fence from some pretty ferocious winds. We couldn't see the cows until we made it to that side of the fence. This was taken up on the School Road overlooking the village and bay.