Despite getting lost on the way out of Dublin (how pathetic), I made it through the rainy drive to Galway, and further to Rossaveel, where I caught the ferry to Inishmore. The largest of the Aran Islands offered stunning scenery, including Dun Aonghasa, an Iron Age fort that sits on tall, sheer cliffs on the Atlantic. Although there were many folks creeping right up to the edge of the cliffs, I didn’t dare. I walked as far as I could go without getting a physical reaction (pain, oddly enough) and sat on a rock admiring the peaceful scenery. On the way back to the harbor, I saw Kilmurvy Beach, which my bus tour driver says is the ‘cleanest beach in Europe.’ It was nice to see it in the sunshine, which made an appearance as I toured the island.






I took the ferry back to Rossaveel, then drove back toward Galway to the village of Bearna. I somehow ended up in a luxury suite at The Twelve, my hotel for the night. It was a gorgeous room with modern conveniences, a nice big bed, a personal note from reception wishing me a nice stay, and the best part of all – two chocolate covered strawberries and a couple of truffles. Love it!!



I woke up early and hit the road, stopping for gas, coffee and a scone on the way out of Galway. I decided to take a detour off my planned route to Ashford Castle in Cong, the town that was the setting for John Wayne’s movie ‘The Quiet Man,’ which I haven’t seen. I might have to see it now, because MAN, was Cong a cool place. The Ashford Castle was huge and impressive. The Cong Abbey and surrounding ruins in a wooded area near the center of town were amazing. Good detour!






After leaving Cong, I found Tourmakeady and hiked up to a waterfall. It was a lovely walk despite the drizzle, and the waterfall was gorgeous.


Leaving the waterfall, I made my way to Westport, a lovely town on Clew Bay. Westport was lively and crowded with people probably hoping for better weather than what they were getting. The drizzle continued as I drove past Clew Bay to Newport, then up to Sligo. I found my hotel, checked in and dropped my suitcase off and headed off to Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery. Although I totally missed the sign and went the wrong way, I found my way back and saw the tombs just before closing time. Afterwards, I drove around Lough (pronounced LOCK) Gill, the beautiful lake where Yeats took his inspiration for many works. After the drive, I came back into Sligo Town, had some dinner and hit the hotel for the night.






I started Monday with a morning drive to Rosses Point. It was, again, misting rather heavily but I took a short walk to the shore and headed off to Drumcliff to see WB Yeats’ grave. I arrived at the same time as a couple of big tour buses, so I didn’t stay long to reflect. Crowds are annoying. Moving on, I saw a sign for Glencar Waterfall and took a very long detour to see it. It wasn’t a long hike to the waterfall this time, and it was very pretty. As I walked back to my car, I saw a beautiful rainbow. All that mist finally paid off!






Next, a long drive up to Donegal, then further to a place called Carrick to take a look at the Slieve League cliffs. I found the cliffs alright, and parked the car and went through a gate. I began hiking up the hill, and found that the path continued. Over another hill, and the path STILL continued. I saw a car passing, and I thought I’d go back because I didn’t have the time to hike the whole way if driving was an option. I hiked back down the hills and began the drive up to the viewing point. Holy cow. I am so glad I drove. It would have taken me an hour one way. And I hate to say that the view was somewhat disappointing because of the rain. The clouds had come all the way down to cover the tops of the cliffs. I did catch a sheep checking out the view for himself as a drove out.





I found my B&B in Ardara very easily, checked in, dropped off bags again, and was on my way to Glenveagh National Park in the Derryveagh Mountains. There were, not surprisingly, quite a few hairpin turns along the way. Up, down and round and round I went until I arrived at the park, and started walking to the castle. It was a 4k walk, and the weather seemed to finally be clearing. The sun even popped out every now and again. I walked through the gardens to the castle and got attacked by a kazillion little tiny bugs. When I was trying to swat them away I ended up with literally 5 or 6 bug carcasses on my hands. Gnarly!! Anyway, the castle was cool and I sprung for the 1 euro ticket for the bus back to the visitor station. It was almost closing time!






I took the scenic drive back into Ardara, passing many a stray sheep in the road. I stopped at one particularly beachy spot and a little dog whose owner had stopped off at the same spot came running over to me to say hello. He was so cute. I pet his little head and told him how cute he was, then he ran a few steps back toward his owner, grunted, turned around and came back for more of my flattery. After another pat or 2, he was ready to be on his way. Getting back into the Ardara town center, I found a nice place to eat and got back to my B&B to settle in for my last night.




It was my least favorite of the places I stayed, but it wasn’t bad. Just kind of old. The mattress was as bad as the one in my apartment (which is bad. You can feel the springs. HIDEOUS), but I got to sleep okay. Until 1:30 AM, WHEN THE FIRE ALARM WENT OFF!!! I was shocked out of a dead sleep to the screaming, blaring alarm, thinking (stupidly) that my TV being on had caused it to go off. Isn’t that so weird? Hey, I was half asleep. So I got up and tried to figure out how to get the TV off (really sleepy and startled, folks) started to gather my things and put something other than my pajamas on (come on. if there’s a fire am I going to slowly gather my belongings and get dressed for it?). Luckily, the alarm stopped. I tried very hard to go back to sleep after that, thinking all kinds of pleasant thoughts about what could have caused it. Serial killer? Haunty-type ghost? Actual fire? I was awake, heart racing, for about half an hour before my fragile mind settled back into sleep.

It wasn’t until I checked out this morning that the owner said he was “sorry about the fire alarm last night.” He told me that some cupboard had sent the signal to the whole system (which encompasses the entire complex of about five buildings). He says, “It’s a great system, just oversensitive. A fly probably set if off.” Great. Thanks for the information and the TERRIBLE SHOCK TO MY SYSTEM THAT SHAVED VALUABLE DAYS OFF MY LIFE!!!!

Anyway, I drove back to Dublin in nothing but drizzle, rain, and torrential pouring that made driving kind of scary. Fortunately, the roads were mostly big and not too bendy. It did take a very long time, considering I barely stopped along the way. I’d have to say it took about five hours. Didn’t seem like it would be quite that long looking at the map and mileage. I did get stuck behind a few slow-moving vehicles. And a goose in the middle of the road at one point.