Donegal to Westport and back to Dublin

May 25, 2014

Leaving Donegal, we drove a beautiful shoreline and stopped for photos across from a lovely gift shop and tea room in the middle of nowhere. Gaele, Glenda and Kathy – the three sisters- had announced early that they wanted to shop today and to arrive back in Westport, where we stay for a second night, in time to do that.  We spent time at the gift shop and every other one we spotted all day.  Lovely woolens including a hoodie zip up Aran sweater for Emma and a little black faced sheep. I’m tempted to buy Aran sweaters for the boys too, but they are too expensive if they won’t wear them.

We stopped at Kylemore Abbey, a castle like structure built by a rich man for his wife complete with Victorian gardens. A friendly calico cat inhabited is now an Abbey, purchased by Benedictine nuns in the early 1920’s after their convent was destroyed in WWW I in France.  They ran a prestigious girls school until 2010.

Furnishings inside were opulent.  I was especially impressed with the fireplaces, hand carved stone with inlaid painted tiles on the hearths. Lace making in the parlour with musical instruments and lots of windows overlooking the pond. Stop for lunch was Clifden, near the original Marconi site for the first transatlantic transmissions of Morse code.  The Wright brothers landed there on the first transatlantic flight, in the bog.  Lots of conflict in Clifden in the past century. 

We’ve had two nights in Westport at a lovely B&B Brook Lodge.  Hosts are friendly and helpful. Michael has driven us downtown for supper both nights.  

On the road again to Cong where The Quiet Man was filmed, very picturesque.  On to Galway and lunch in an old stone pub.  Didn’t see much of the city.  We said goodbye to most of our fellow travellers, Justin and Kaylee to rent a car and tour on their own, the three sisters, Michael and Jody and Steven and Pam are continuing the tour for another six days.  We’re ready for a break. Overcast intermittent rain.  I think the four of us left, Margaret and Marita along with John our lovely driver, are anxious for Dublin.  

We stopped at Distillery Kilbeggan on the road to Dublin and a fun self-tour tromping up and down and through the old distillery fixings. Tony’s got a cold so he bought some samples for ‘medicinal purposes’!  Irish whiskey is more palatable than scotch.  They distill it three times instead of two for Scotch and it tastes smoother.  According to the Irish, they taught the Scots to make whiskey but they never got it right!

Dublin at last and goodbye to the last of our new friends. We’ll be in touch again when the photo book on Ireland is ready.  

We’re at the Staycity apartments on Augustine Street, in the heart of the city and a block from the Brazen Head.  We met our friends Rossann and Chris from the Dingle painting crew, for a beer and light supper at the Brazen Head. It was great fun to see them again and compare adventures.  They were driving and found it a bit stressful I think, but there was lots to tell. 

We’re taking a day off in Dublin, so Tony can recover from his cold a bit. We can catch up on laundry and get ready for our next adventure in Scotland, starting with a short flight to Edinburgh tomorrow morning, Tuesday. Stay tuned.