A Girl in Tipperary sang my song of Killybegs.

Boats in the harbor at Killybegs.

Thanks to The Chieftans' song we had heard of Killybegs, a thriving seaport, with huge shipbuilding and repair facilities, and lots of fresh fish.  Killybegs supplies fish to Ireland and the UK.  The town is built on a hillside rising out of the bay.  The tide was out when we arrived in mid-morning, with the fishing and tour boats gone for the day.  An abundance of tourists; so very different from the North.  (Maybe it's the random  pipebombs and police station bombings that keep them in the South?)  We walk the main streets and wharf area, then we are on to Slieve League, the highest sea cliffs in Europe.

Boat on the hard getting worked on.  It's a lot bigger than it appears.

Fishing boats and sail boats.

Our map is in kilometers, but we are still thinking in miles from having lived in the North, so we pass the turn and end up at Glencolumbkille.  A quite little village nestled in the glen at the edge of the sea.  What a beautiful place to end up by accident!  As we retrace out route through the bogs, Bill has to stop for a picture of the harvesting of the peat.  Very different from cutting firewood. 

Looking down on Glencolumbkille and out to sea.

 Pile o Peat

This time we don't miss the turn in Carrick.  The road is very narrow, but fortunately the tour busses are parked at a gift shop/cafe along the way.  I always hated dodge ball, and dodge bus is even worse!  We come to a full parking lot with a gate, but discover we are allowed to go through the gate and continue on up the hill for 3k.   Now, this road is really, really narrow, and crooked to boot, with long drops on one side and rocks walls on the other.  So what happens?  We meet a tour bus on a corner, with us on the long drop side of the road!  After gathering our wits, we backup so they can squeeze past.  At the end of the road is another parking lot, also full, so, since we are in an Irish car, we just park, trying not to block the way out for anyone.

The wind is howling, but the sun is shining.  The views are indescribable.  Beautiful! Stunning! Spectacular!  Awe inspiring!  You get the idea, but none of them do it justice.  It's a view I'll carry with me for the rest of my life.

We are amazed at the number of people, many of whom have walked the 3k up.  In the distance, there are hikers on the top edge walking the trail back to Glencolumbkille.  After taking in our fill of the view, we drive back down the road, this time not meeting a bus.  Whew!  At the gate, I hop out to hold it open, then stay to keep it opened for 2 motorcycle riders from France and a couple for The Netherlands.  Then back to Killybegs for lunch before driving on to Ardara, where we planned to spend the night.

Tile front building in Killybegs.

Going to Donegal

Signs in Irish and English.

County Donegal is known for it's Irish speaking population, traditional music in the pubs and the largest population of Protestants in Ireland, complete with their own Loyal Orange Lodge.  I guess these folks didn't vote for separation from England and are still not very happy about it.

Great Hall at Castle Donegal.

Beautiful beamed ceiling, assembled with pegs, not nails.

The town of Donegal is bult around a castle.  There is a diamond in the center of town, but unlike Kilrea's it has more than a monument, it is actually what one would think of as a town square, only diamond shape.  There are an abundance of shops, pubs and cafes, all over run with tourists.  The castle was built by the O'Donnell's in the 900's, then taken over by the English in  the 1690's.  There have been recent restorations, with a roof put on the tower and wooden floors replaced.  The top floor, which was originally sleeping quarters for servants and soldiers, was left out so we could admire the frame work for the new roof, which was done with pegs not nails.

The Diamond of Donegal Town.

When we decided to stay in town for the evening, we visited Failte Ireland, the tourist bureau, where a delightful young man booked us a room in the Island View B&B for the bargain rate of euro 60 per night.

Island View B & B

Our bedroom; this looks grey, but it was really lavender.

The place was clean, pretty, friendly and had a great view.  Our dinner was at a pub, with so-so fish and chips, washed down by a pint of Guinness.

A walk down by the river, which is tidal, brought us to the ruins of an Abbey.  There are a few walls and foundations still standing, but every other square inch of ground is filled with graves.  In one family plot, 14 names were listed on one stone!  Since Catholism was banned from 1690 until 1836, this was one of the previously sanctified places to bury the dead.

This lily was developed by a gentleman we met in Arcata on the northern California coast many years ago.  Here is is growin Ireland!

Breakfast the next morning was delicious bacon, sausage, and eggs with very good coffee.  In the breakfast room we talked to 2 pairs of women from the US.  The older pair were from Chicago and Detroit, while the younger were from Chicago and Iowa.  They were each on the "12 Days in Ireland Run Around Until You Are Exhausted Tour", both self driving and having a great time!  Neither pair had visited the North.

A rainbow from our bedroom window.

We thank our hostess and head off for the day.

The Crown Whiskey Bar

Welcome, come on in!

The best know pub in Belfast is The Crown Liquor Saloon, built in the Victorian era.  It is now owned by The National Trust, who refurbished it in 2007.

The place was packed, with folks waiting at the bar for a table. 

The bar is tiled on the front.

 We had lunch in one of the private dinnig salons, complete with a button on the wall to call our server.  Posh!  The food was good too.

Self portrait while waiting for our lunch.

Belfast At Last

There were a couple of things we wanted to see in Belfast.  We have driven through on the M2 and M3, as well as right through downtown to get to Mount Stewart.  After these experiences, as well as the visit to Derry where parking was a problem, we decided to go on a Sunday.  Less crowds, less cars, more parking.

After finding our parking lot, we walked the mile to the botanic gardens and Ulster Museum.  On the way we passed Queens College, the oldest college in Ireland, north or south.  Beautiful buildings and campus, with alot construction going behind the older buildings.

The Botanic Gardens are famous for their greenhouses.  One was originally built in 1839!  Wow!  The other was built by the workers in the gardens, so the visitors walk around on a cat walk looking down into the gardens.  It was beautiful.  All it needed was an alligator and some colorful birds, as well as a few frogs croaking!

The Ulster Museum building is a wonderful mix of old and new architecture.  The inside is airy and light. The displays are well done with good information on what you are seeing.  We were greeted by a docent who suggested we start at the top and work our way down, as that's how it was set up.  So we did.  Up to the 5th floor where all the art is, then down through time starting with nature, geology, man coming after the ice age until we hit the last gallery, which tried to tell the story of The Troubles, which began in 1969 and finally ended in 1996.  While they tried to have an even hand, using statistics, it still didn't feel right.  We didn't linger.

Two displays really caught out attention.  One was a hedgehog, stuffed, which we were allowed to touch.  Cute little critter, the spines feel alot like porcupine quills.  The second was an Irish Wolfhound who was the grand champion in the 1930's.  Although a different color, with shorter hair, he looked a lot like our Shiva!

They do grow beautiful flowers in Belfast!  The entire area surrounding the museum was in bloom, or at least growing gorgeous trees.

An Irish Garage Sale

In Ireland there aren't garage sales.  They have boot sales, where they load their goods into the boot of the car and drive to a sale area to set up with others, selling out of the boot (trunk).  It is similar to a flea market sale in the US where you can rent a table.  Maria has too much stuff to try and sell it one boot at a time, so we talked her into trying a garage sale.  It was a hit!

There were a few questions though:
Is this going to be a shop with regular hours?  No, just 3 days.  We will do it again in August and September, though.
Do you get breaks?  yes
How much are you  paid?  just helping out
Will you close down for lunch and tea?  no

Some folks came all three days and left their emails so we can let them know when the next one is.  Others have come back during the week to buy some of the larger, construction related items, as well as beautiful Irish art work from the house.  Yep, I think she'll be able to leave in November.

Pretty Puppies!

Morgan showing off for Maria.  Notice the big smile on his face.

Shiva and Morgan visited the doggie salon.  They are clean, beautiful and smell good.  An added plus was the two garbage bags of hair removed from them, maybe now there won't be as much loose hair to sweep every day!

Both dogs were very thirsty after their all day salon treatment.

Shive kept parading around the yard showing off her new style!

Mount Stewart

Life is an adventure, but does it have to be the sort of adventure you would really rather skip?  Driving on the M2 when something under the van started banging around!  Bill pulled off the road (thank goodness it was the M2 as most roads have no shoulder) where we discovered one side of the cover plate for the muffler had rusted through, but was still attached on the other side.  We carefully drove on until we could get off the freeway; didn't wish to have the thing flying out from under the van into the vehicle behind us! 
On the smaller road, we drove until we found a parking area.  Bill gets out and looks at it again, then takes the tire iron and proceeds to beat the cover plate loose while lying on his back, using one arm.  I really should have taken a picture.

Back to the M2 onward to our destination: Mount Stewart House and Gardens, a National Trust Property.

The back of the house.

This is the first house or castle we have visited in Northern Ireland where we both have said, 'WOW!'  The place has been owned by the Stewart family, now known as the 9th Viscount of Londonderry, since the 1700's.  The grand daughter of the 7th Viscount still lives in the house.  The tour of the house was given by a delightful elderly gentleman with a twinkle in his eye at his humorous remarks.  No pictures were allowed.  There were 3 young girls on  the tour, who he tried to impress with the fact that they could have their wedding at Mount Stewart.  With the twinkle in his eye, he continued, 'Start saving your money now!'

While the family has had its share of soldiers, business magnates, and such, they seem to have been very successful breeding race horses.  The beautiful back gardens were built with the winnings from one horse!
The gardens are a wonderful example of the micro climates that exist in this part of Ireland.  They are full of plants that normally don't grow at this far northern latitude, 55*.  There are California redwoods, myrtles, assorted palms and orchids, just for starters.

Standing by an enormous fern tree, not what we expected in Northern Ireland.  Notice my short pants, the first time I felt warm enough to wear them.  It may be the last time, as it has been chilly and  raining every day since!

The Red Hand of Ulster, in flowers instead of blood.

An Irish Harp topiary set in a shamrock shaped garden.

The Spanish Garden, complete with scaffolding being used to prune the hedges.  The gardeners were on lunch break.

These sculptures were set around the garden.  Each is a different head with an orangutan sitting on top holding a pot.

The Dodo Garden, with Noah's ark and a wonderful assortment of animal sculptures both real and imaginary.  A very whimsical feeling place.

Mairi, Mairi, quite contrary how does your garden grow?  A wee garden fountain made for Mairi's Garden, the owner's young daughter. The sculpture caught her expression perfectly, as we saw the picture it was taken from on our tour of the house.  Mairi is the old  Irish Gaelic spelling of Mary. 

The woodland gardens include several acres of trees, lawn, a large lake with a walking path around it, and the family burial ground, known by it's old Irish name of  Tir N'an Og, meaning The Land of Eternal Youth.  Ones soul is carried to this place by a white stag.  This must be a spectacular place earlier in the year when all the rhododendrons are blooming.  We had to be satisfied with the beautiful hydrangias and wildflowers.

A pair of huge old trees in the woodland garden.

The lake.

Locals feeding the ducks.

The entrance to the burial grounds.

We had to peek through the gates see Tir N'an Og.

Oh the suffering; we had to be satified with hydrangeas.

The Viscount of Londonderry's formal coach, last used for the coronation of King George V, in 1937.