Donegal to Belleek

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Geo: 54.4821, -8.08822

Belleek, Republic of Ireland

We traveled about another 30 minutes south until we stopped at the Belleek Pottery company. We took a personal guided tour of this 150 year old company through all the stages of production. We were able to watch and chat with a few people as they apply their creativity to each handmade piece. Being the weekend, only a handful of workers were there. Normally this place has 80 workers (some have to train 3-4 years before being allowed to produce their work). Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed except in one room. Afterwards we had time in their gift shop/showroom. I bought a few things and had them ship it to America. It was very interesting and although very large in size, it was similar in the process to the little clay shop I visited during a Meetup group back in May in Long Beach. When we went into the tour it was clouding up, so when we finished the 30 minute tour, it was not surprising to find it raining. We headed for our next stop, the gravesite of William Butler Yeats. I fell asleep for a short time before getting there at 4:00. Still raining, we took about 10 minutes for a photo op of the grave and inside of the church. A statue of an old naked man squatting over a grave is near the entrance into the cemetery. It represents one of Yeats poems about coming into the world with nothing and leaving the world with nothing.

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