Advertisement
Published: March 30th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Castle on the way to Giants Causeway
It was in use until a banquet when the kitchen fell away into the sea. For some reason, people were reluctant to live there after that. Leaving Derry, we headed north up to the coast. Our first stop was the Giant’s Causeway where Susie, Brooke, Sam and I took the scenic route along the cliff for some amazing views. The Causeway is actually a set of rocks all shaped hexagonally that originally stretched all the way to Scotland until the seas rose leaving Ireland as an island apart from Britain. This has given rise to several myths about how the Causeway was created. The main one being there were two 'champions'. One of Scotland and one from Ireland. Finn McCool, a 6 foot 2 man from Ireland and a 10 foot giant from Scotland, both who couldn't be defeated by anyone in their own countries. So when the Scottish giant heard of Finn, he built the causeway across to Ireland to find and fight Finn. Finn, seeing the size of the Scottish giant coming across got scared and came up with the plan of wrapping himself in a blanket and a bonnet and pretending to be a baby. When the Scottish giant got over to Ireland he lifted the roof of Finn's house and asked Finn's wife "Where is Finn McCool?" To which she replied, "He is
Cliff Diving
On the Scenic walk down to the Giants Causeway out hunting and won't be back for several days, but if you want to wait, don't wake the baby." The giant looked at the 6 foot 2 baby and thought "If that's the size of the baby, imagine how huge the father is!", and fled back to Scotland tearing up the cause way on the way back. So not the greatest story about Irish courage.
From the Causeway, we headed out to the Carrick-a-rede ropebridge, used by locals for salmon fishing. From there it was down to Belfast for the last night we would be together with the people from the 8 day tour. So just for a change it was down to the local pubs for a few drinks and a pub meal. It was also in Belfast where my illusions were shattered. I was in a room with 3 girls and I thought ‘Sweet, no snoring’. How wrong I was. The girl below me snored like a chainsaw! I’m glad she is the exception, not the rule.
In the morning, we jumped on the Black Cab tours which took us around Belfast and showed us the murals, monuments and the odd peace wall which still remained
Giants Causeway 1
Looking down onto it from on the cliff above. No danger taking this photo at all........ from the days of trouble, of which Belfast was a central point. We also visited the Sinn Fein Headquarters, which now is a little tourist shop run by two little old ladies. How times change! Then we were off out of Belfast, and down to Dublin, via Slane Castle, where I said goodbye to Susie and Brooke who are off to France for some quality skiing. Very nice.
The following morning was a brand new tour, so brand new people. After almost getting on the deluxe version (B&B’s vs hostels), I met my new crowd and for a change the Kiwis far outnumbered the Aussies! Our first day, we first headed to Limerick, also known as ‘Stab City’ for the gang problems there. They have the most amount of stabbings per capita of any city in Europe! Thankfully, we didn’t see any of that though. In fact we didn’t see much of anything as it was Good Friday and almost everywhere was shut. From there, we went around the Dingle Peninsula, which is famous for its fabulous scenery and it didn’t disappoint. It was fantastic to be out near the sea and the views were awesome. We finished up
Giants Causeway 2
From the bottom looking back up towards mainland Ireland the night in a little town of 300 called Annascaul and managed to smuggle a few drinks to celebrate out first day, despite the public holiday.
Saturday, our first stop was Killarney, where we jumped on a horse and cart and got a guided tour around the National Park. It was very picturesque, and we even got to see an otter and a few deer. The guy leading the horse said it was only the 2nd time in 25 years he’d seen an otter there so we were very lucky. After lunch in Killarney, we were treated to more scenic views as we headed to Blarney and the Castle there. There is a big story about the Blarney stone, but if you’re interested google it. Otherwise the myth is that if you kiss the stone you get the ‘Gift of the Gab’ for the next 7 years. I climbed the castle and kissed the stone anyway before doing a bit of exploring around the grounds.
The next day was the last day of this tour and we stopped of at Kilkenny for a few hours before making our way back to Dublin. Kilkenny was a cute little town
Giants Causeway 3
Looking down as the causeway sinks into the sea. Originally it did link all the way to Scotland about 12 miles away a bit to the right. You can actually see Scotland from here on a nice day. made famous by the stout named after it. And you could tell it was a small town with street signs pointing to ‘Local Butcher’ and ‘Stationers’! From there we went via Cashel Rock back to Dublin, where we mostly said goodbye as people disappeared off in different directions. Myself, I headed to the pub with a few of the last remaining members for a couple of farewell drinks. We also managed to catch some Irish dancing before calling it a night.
I had one final day in Ireland which I was really looking forward to because I was heading out to see Bru na Boinne, which is a collection of burial mounds. What makes these special is that they are over 5,200 years old, making them 1,000 years older than the pyramids! Newgrange, the biggest one and the one I visited is made famous for its formation. Despite the obvious lack of transport back then, crystal quartz rocks were transported from over 80 miles away to build this waterproof and lightproof mound. It has one entrance which slopes up slightly leading a chamber in the centre where rituals were carried out. It is completely dark for the whole year
Curious me
On the ropebridge. It was a good 30m drop into the sea/rocks as well. except for one time of the year. The top ‘box’ of the entrance has been perfectly aligned so that on the winter solstice (shortest day of the year), the sun shines directly through, up the passage way and lights up the chamber for 17 minutes. A truly amazing feat back then. Unfortunately that is in December, and only 30 people are picked out of the lottery, so it’s unlikely I’ll get back to witness it.
So that brings my Emerald Isle adventures to an end. And only a week and a bit before my next trip to LA for a week! Ah, the life of a traveller. 😊
Advertisement
Tot: 0.072s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 13; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0416s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Melanie
non-member comment
Thanks for the great pix
Obviously, I don't know you and so I hope this isn't too weird. I just wanted to tell you I really enjoyed looking through your Ireland pics. I spent 4 months in Galway 5 yrs. ago now and traveled to many of the places you did, including Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, I didn't have a digital camera with me and took few pictures :(. Hope you're traveling somewhere now, having good craic! Cheers!