The Baron
Ryan O'Rourke Joined: June 19th 2008
Logged in: October 20th 2011
Logged in: October 20th 2011
Travel Blog Posts
Kelly In Mohill
Friday was another slower-paced day in anticipation of our busy Saturday. We head out early tomorrow morning toward Dublin with as many as four stops along the way to see and experience a few more stellar Irish sights. We decided to head back into deep O'Rourke country today to find one or two things we overlooked when we visited earlier in the week. We learned that just across the River Bonet (pronounced "Bonnet") from the ruins of the Breffni castle in Dormahair lies the Creevelea Abbey. Founded in 1508 by Margaret O'Brien, the wife of Owen O'Rourke, this served as the family chapel for the O'Rourkes of Breffni. It was the last Franciscan friary to be built before the suppression of the monasteries by English king Henry VIII in the middle of the 16th century. Like ... read more
Kelly @ Ross Errilly Friary
A jam-packed day with plenty of driving today. We set out early to the southwest headed for County Galway. We decided it was worth the two hours to check out what seems to be the favorite spot in all of Ireland for many. We learned that Brian Og O'Rourke had been buried in a Ross Errilly Firary, about 30 km north of the city of Galway. This great warrior requested burial here (after he being mortally wounded in The Nine Years War) in what has been the most well-preserved of the abbeys and friaries we have visited. Some pretty amazing stuff, including a large tank in which they held their live catch of fish until they were ready to cook it up. It seems nobody knows exactly where Brian's body is buried, but one of the ... read more
At The Stables
After four straight days of touring at break-neck pace, we decided it was wise to take it a bit easier for one day. Wednesday was deemed the day to take a more leisurely pace. We slept in to a very Irish-like 9:00 a.m. We lounged around the cottage past lunchtime, then headed out to Drumshanbo for some horseback riding! Kelly had a horse named Caesar (who she named "Little Caesar" because of his smaller size), and Ryan had Rusty, a big, strong and more insubordinate beast. Both were just as pretty as can be. After 30-minutes of instruction on the English-style riding, we went out for a 30-minute walk in the countryside. A great experience. This was Ryan's first time on horseback, unless you count the time he was entered into a pageant when he was ... read more
Donegal Town
We experienced a very typical wet Irish day today. It was raining from the time we stepped out of the cottage in the morning until the time we returned (past midnight). A lot of that was nothing more than a mist, but it was just a very wet day. But when you're in a place that gets as much rain as Ireland, there's no way you can let that deter you from seeing what you want to see. We set this day aside as our time to see some of County Donegal (the northernmost county in the Republic Of Ireland). Donegal is known for its unspoiled natural beauty and heavy "Old-Time-Irish" ways. Donegal is one of the three or four main pockets of "Gaeltachts," which are the areas in Ireland that use the Irish language (sometimes ... read more
The Sign Says It All
We spent an amazing day in the former kingdom of the O'Rourke clan (Ryan's ancestors). Everywhere we went there were sites named after the O'Rourkes! We started in Dromahair (The Ridge of the Two Demons) where we could only see the ruins of the first O'Rourke castle through a gate (which Ryan tried unsuccessfully to break down). We did manage to climb around in the ruins of O'Rourke's Hall, an attached building, which was built by later inhabitants. From Dromahair we headed out to the other O'Rourke castle site which is now called Parke's Castle. Tiernan O'Rourke, King of Breifne, built this castle in the 1100's. In the 1600s, when Tiernan's descendant, Brian O'Rourke was hanged for treason against Britain, Queen Elizabeth gave the castle to an Englishman named Robert Parke. Brian was the last hold ... read more
Yeats Statue
We arose this Lord's day morning and spent about 30 minutes in worship -- just the two of us. It is unknown just how far the nearest meeting place of the church of Christ lies from where we are (probably well over 150 miles), so with some planning ahead, we were equipped with even the emblems of the Lord's supper (thanks to the Grahams!). We headed out to County Leitrim's capital city, Carrick-On-Shannon. The beautiful River Shannon meanders through this quaint little town known for its many noted boating activities. From there, it was on to the town of Sligo in County Sligo. This is a fairly large town with plenty to see and do. Irish poet, W.B. Yeats (a favorite son of Sligo), is featured prominently in this town. From there, we moved on to ... read more
Marble Arch Caves
We have arrived in the storied land of the mighty O'Rourke clan! And since you're reading this, you can probably deduce that we do indeed have internet access....high speed wireless even!! After a few hours of driving from Belfast where we picked up our rental car, we pulled into our self-catering cottage -- which sits on a real working dairy farm. This will be our home for the next seven days, and we couldn't be happier! We stopped along the way in the resort town of Enniskillen (right on the Northern Ireland / Republic of Ireland border. We had lunch and stopped by the famous Marble Arch Caves, which is on the exclusive list of European GeoParks. Very cool. One thing we can say for sure is that navigating these roads is very tricky. Once you ... read more
Scrabo w/ Eerie Branches
Today was our last full day here in Northern Ireland. We caught the bus to downtown Bangor for one last breakfast at Ward's. We didn't order the "Ulster Fry," though, as we felt two of these in one week might result in immediate cardiac arrest. We opted for tea & scones. Ryan ate one Treacle & Ginger scone and one date & walnut scone (delicious). Treacle is like molasses. Kelly ate one of the treacle & ginger scones as well. We walked around the streets of dowtown Bangor for a couple of hours. The highlight was the marina on Bangor Harbor. We saw an Irish seal pop his head up as we strolled by. He kept his head up for a good minute or two checking us out and breathing very loudly through his nostrils. We ... read more
Man's Best Friend
Today was the day we selected to head to the town of Carrickfergus, home of the famous Carrickfergus Castle. Like Grey Abbey, the original structure of this castle dates to the 1100's. There were some ideas that were quite revolutionary...including the very brutal "Murder Hole," and the three latrines that emptied right into the sea (see photo)! After returning home, we had a special evening of classes. The ladies class was taught by Kelly, and Bill taught the guys in one final session on personal evangelism. There were 24 people packed into the Grahams' house...the most they can ever remember being here at one time. Afterward, we all gathered for tea & biscuits, and we sat around singing traditional Irish songs (with some of Bill's old country & bluegrass favorites mixed in). Tomorrow will be our ... read more
Grey Abbey Thistle
Wednesday evening was our final night of the gospel meeting, and it turned out to be the high point of the week. It was very well attended with several hearing the gospel for perhaps the first time. It was our most well-attended session of the week, and it was just a great way to end the meeting! Everyone was in agreement that the meeting was an excellent success. Earlier in the day, we had brunch at Ward's in dowtown Bangor. We both had an "Ulster Fry." It consisted of a fried egg on top of potato bread along with some fried Irish Soda Bread, Irish bacon (like our country ham), and Irish sausage. I'm not a big fan of this particular type of Irish sausage, so I asked for double bacon. This was one seriously good ... read more
