Ireland

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Well as you may or may not know, my parents recently came over to visit giving us the perfect chance to travel around Ireland and hence, finally giving me some blog-worthy material.
Yes yes, I know, I've been living here since October, but it has been relatively quiet compared to my previous travels (you know- work work) ...until now.

On with it then,
Mum and Dad arrived on the 8th of April into Cork Airport where I met them and we got the run down on the campervan we would be cruising around in for the next week or so. We brought the beast home and Jeanne and I surprised Mum and Dad by setting them up in our new appartment in Killarney, Jeanne had even cooked a big meal and the fridge was about 90% alcohol, 10% food. These figures had changed by morning.

The next morning we left Jeanne at home to work on her university thesis, while I took the folks out to see the sights of Killarney. The main points were Muckross House, Ross Castle and Torc Waterfall, with a quick stop-off at our local for lunch. It's at this point that I should say that it rained on this day, however, surprisingly we had near perfect weather for the rest of the trip and I hadn't seen so much sunshine in this country since I got here!
Unfortunately we had to leave Jeanne at home again the following day while we drove out on the Dingle Penninsula all the way out to Dunquin, before finally coming back to pick Jeanne up and racing off to our first campsite in the Southwest corner of Ireland.

The next day was another coastal drive (infact most of them were) as we headed along the south coast making our way past Mizen Head to Clonakilty where my parents got to meet Jeanne's parents for the first time over dinner and drinks. A rather successful night. After a massive Irish Fry (breakfast) we said our goodbye's to the Hughes's and hit the road up to Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney stone. For those who don't know, by hanging backwards over the top of the castle and kissing this particular stone you're supposed to get the 'gift of the gab.' Rumour has it that it was once a medieval toilet- who cares, we all kissed it, accept for Dad who had a crook back for a couple of days there.

Moving through county Cork we made a quick stop in at Cobh (pronounced Cove) to see where the Titanic made its' last stop before setting out to it's doom. After this was lunch at Youghal before hitting up the next campsite just south of Kilkenny. Now the following night we were staying at a campsite with a bar, tennis courts, and golf course so we got up early that morning with our only stop being Kilkenny itself. We toured Kilkenny Castle and had a relatively early lunch in a medieval bar from about the 13th century or something silly like that, and then it was a cross country bash to get to the campsite in time to make use of all the facilities. Dad and I went out for some Par3 golf and some putt putt while Mum and Jeanne drank wine and talked about feelings...or whatever girls do when they are alone. That night we hit up the pub and found ourselves a traditional, real life story telling Paddy Doyle. An old alcoholic Irishman who may very well be a complulsive liar. Needless to say when his wife came to pick him up she wasn't too impressed when I asked her if Paddy's first wife, a Nigerian woman, was stoned to death in her own village for cheating on Paddy. To which she looked at me stunned and said, "I am Paddy's first and ONLY wife!" Ooops

Well that was the end of the first week and also the end of the campervan, as we swapped it in Dublin for a hire car to complete the last half of the tour. Dublin was brilliant, we only had one night there but we managed to meet up with two Aussie friends who came over from Wales for a drink, Nathan and Jess. We took some good advice and met at the Arlington Hotel for dinner, drinks, Irish music, and traditional Irish dancing. Yes that's right- Michael Flatley style!

Next stop Belfast, and on the way a Neolithic tomb built by the Irish farmers BEFORE the pyramids at Giza and Stonehenge. Now that is old! It's basically a man-made hill with a stone passageway into it where they buried their dead. Also it has astronomical importance because it is particularly designed so that the sun enters the rear chamber at the spring equinox (possibly to signal the harvest, or for spiritual purposes). Anywho, Belfast. We stayed at an amazing old B+B for two nights and managed to get on a hop on/hop off bus tour around the city. We jumped off at Shankill Rd to take a look at all the IRA and UVF murals on the walls in the streets. It is an amazing place to see, the Catholics and Prodestants are still divided by walls and tall rocket fences, seperated by only a street in most cases. Jeanne looked scared and I can't blame her, I wouldn't want to be an Irish Catholic walking those streets either. It's safe enough to walk down now but you can still see the scars from years of fighting. We also saw the shipyard where the Titanic was built and the spillway where it was launched. The Irish deny any blame for the fate of the Titanic voyage, claiming that the captain was English, the navigator Scottish, and the Iceburg Canadian!

On a happier note, the sunshine continued as we travelled along the north coast to see the Rope Bride and the Giants Causeway. The Giants Causeway is probably the most famous place in Ireland, and it's basically a field of volcanic rock leading into the ocean, which has shrunk and split into hexagonal towers, due to the cold. Could possibly be a let down to some, but I thought it was cool.
We stayed in a farmhouse that night and the next morning we saw Derry (or Londonderry, depending on your roots) and I'm glad we did. Derry is (I think) the last 'walled' city in Europe, and what that means is that a medieval fortified wall still surrounds the city center and has survived through an intense amount of battles, sieges, and warfare. The guns have been restored and stand pointing into the distance and the whole thing is wide enough to drive two cars on it. Again you see the religious/loyalty divide with the outskirts of the wall split in two with the loyalist in one area painted in British colours, and the Irish area with IRA murals and Irish flags flying; the city wall on one side and the border at their retreat. Intense but calm.

Next stop Galway for dinner on the esplanade and two rediculously high taxi fares. 2.5km and 5min in the cab was 12euro (AUD$24) - each way. Crazy money.
The next leg was possibly the shortest leg but so action packed that it took all day. More castles and also Ailwee Cave where we saw a preditory bird demonstration and also checked out a cave into a mountainside in an area know as the Burren- a rugged and rocky area of county Clare. Also along the way were more Neolithic structures and RingForts. Finally we saw the Cliffs of Moher, which have been nominated for the updated natural 7 wonders of the world. Apparently fathers used to lower their young sons down by rope to collect seagull eggs from the cliff face and weren't allowed to come up until they had some. Makes Michael Jackson look like father of the year.

The last day of our travels took us from Ennis (county Clare) home to Killarney via Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. The castle has been restored and the folk park below has been created with interactive shops- you can even get a pint in a medieval bar. Also the castle holds medieval banquetts where everyone gets dressed up in costume and feast in the castle dining hall with entertainment and traditional music. I will have to check that out before I head home to Oz.

Well that in a big nutshell was our 2 weeks travelling Ireland. We managed to find old pubs to eat and drink in most days and the weather made it perfect. Unfortunately we had to drop Mum and Dad to the airport the following morning and they spent a few more days seeing Southern England before their trip home. It's not the end of Ireland for myself and Jeanne though, and if you're good we'll post some more photos later.
That's enough typing now, check out the photos.

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Photos

Beehive huts
Built in 500BC using no mortar and still standing.

Paddy Doyle and Wife
(notice she's not Nigerian)