B is for a Bodhran: a bog and a bicycle

Irish bog scenery.

Time for Plan B.

1st September and we woke up to low clouds, cold, wind, rain threatening, and lumpy seas in Galway Bay, so a ferry trip to the Aran Islands was ruled out.

We headed for Roundstone, to search out a Master Bodhran maker – these framedrums, made from goatskins and played with a double headed stick, have underpinned Irish music for centuries! Not without incident though. Di had found her ideal size and sound, so we then ambled back after lunch – a perfect lamb curry made by a Sri Lankan chef - to see the workshop in action. The assistant Master Bodhran maker, instead of being welcoming told all to feck off!

Despite the rain, we headed to the site near Clifden where Marconi had set up his wireless communication transmitting facility and where famously Alcock and Brown crash-landed after being the first pair to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

The vast bog here in Connemara has taken back the site; peat lies piled up, hardy sheep graze and it is hard to imagine all the life that happened here a century ago. I wonder if the bicycle is new or old and what its story would be.

Roundstone, Connemara.

"You know it's summer in Ireland when the rain gets warmer." Hal Roach.

H is for Heritage: a long past Irish history

Next stop in our quest for Ireland’s history was 12thC Irish High Crosses and the fine example of the ‘Doorty’ Cross in the village of Kilfenora on the southern fringes of the Burren.

We then headed for the stone heritage monuments just off the R480, the 5000-year-old Poulnabrone Dolmen. It is a portal tomb (reminds me, looking forward to season 2 of Outlander!) and a dramatic abstract scene.  The stones of the dolmen seem elegant and timeless on their raised mound above the karst.

Poulnabrone Dolmen

T is for a Tower House: Dunguaire Castle, Kinvara.

Kinvara from the top of Dunguaire Castle.

 

Tower Houses dot the landscape here in the west of Ireland and the well-preserved Dunguaire Castle, built in 1520, was our first stop in County Clare. 

The setting looking out over Kinvara and Galway Bay is so lovely particularly in the sun shine  and I could see why it is one of the most photographed places in Ireland.

And we add our photos too.

W is for Wild Atlantic Way: road tripping in northwest County Clare

Fascinating erratics 

Beauty of a limestone wall.

 A day out, touring the Wild Atlantic Way in County Clare.

Wild beauty indeed of the limestone mountain scenery of The Burren and Corkscrew Hill, to Murrooght with its limestone pavements dotted with erratic’s, and the constant backdrop of the restless Atlantic Ocean.

By the time we got to the Cliffs of Moher, the weather we has seen coming over the Aran Islands enveloped the cliffs in a blanket of cloud and rain was threatening. We had had a glimpse, started out to walk but sanity prevailed and we made our way back home.

Limestone pavement

View from Corkscrew Hill.

"In every land, hardness is in the north of it, softens in the south, industry in the east, and fire and inspiration in the west."

P is for Peninsula: "An Cheathru Rua" Peninsula

A renovators dream! 

The lads, route finding with success - mostly. Signs make it harder not easier!

We have rented a house on the An Cheathru Rua Peninsula, a Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) area on the coast of Galway Bay and a rugged corner of Ireland. There is an old world atmosphere here except for all the new bungalow style houses built during the Irish boom times, some which blend in well but others can be an eyesore.

Stonewalls crisscross the undulating fern hills, rocky countryside, with bogs and the heather adding colour among all the greens. It is a cool, overcast day and good for a long walk so we headed out with Tra an Doilin as our destination – the Coral Beach. It is a rather unusual beach made up of red coralline algae, washed up from the bay, which has dried and hardened.

Ireland walking.

Winston Churchill: "We have always found the Irish a bit odd. They refuse to be English."