Blogs from County Sligo, Ireland, Europe - page 3

The Lake Isle of Innisfree We weren't up so spritely this morning funnily enough but another big breakfast had us fired up soon enough. First stop on the Lough Gill drive was Dooney Rock quickly followed by the fabled Lake Isle of Innisfree. The closest point to it is up a small lane so no coach parties get here but it looked like not many others were heading that way either. The Millennium Sculpture is falling down and the paths are starting to get overgrown. However we persevered and managed to take a longer walk through the heather to get an impressive view of the whole Lough (although noon it was the wrong time of year for the purple glow). Looking over to Parke's Castle and the Sleeping Giant on a warm sunny day was great. ... read more

Off to Yeat's Country After many months of hints that pampering after her exam finished on the 15th June would be desirable, Angela got her wish as I booked a few days away. After ensuring she had nothing planned for 6 weeks (except a few post exam Coronas at Cutters), I got Lisa & Paul to agree to take in the childer and got booking. With the 16th as a night out to celebrate the end of exams for Angela, Shannon and Leanne with a Mexican feast; and the 20th as Angela's 100km cycle race around the Peninsula; it left the 17th-19th as the perfect time for the funbus tour. Some googlering and a few phonecalls resulted in booking two nights at the Radisson in Ballincar (Sligo) with tickets to see Tommy Tiernan and a seaweed ... read more

Sunday, June 21st Country Sligo is a wonderful introduction to Ireland. It’s not as touristed as the rest of the country but still just as beautiful with mountains, megalithic ruins, the ocean and a countryside full of farms. Most importantly, it is also the ancestral home of the Gilmore family before they emigrated to the United States over 126 years ago. Ancient Gilmore Family My brother Stefan and I were fortunate to have a written account of the Gilmore’s in Ireland handed down to us by our father’s Aunt Margaret that we used to do genealogy research on another trip 2 years ago. We were able to find the hometown of Tubbercurry, the townland where they lived (similar to a street or neighborhood) called Cashel South, and even a few cemeteries with Gilmore’s. Sadly, too many ... read more

Sunday 7th June Sligo and back via the northwest coast. The tour plan for today was to trek around the northwest coast and then south to Westport before returning inland to Sligo. The weather continues to favour us and although a little overcast and cool it remains dry which makes travel and sightseeing so much more enjoyable. The fully equipped kitchen in the apartment we are staying in meant we can prepare a full breakfast for ourselves which also continues to prove an advantage as it keeps us going for the day.Gretchens cold has developed into a full blown job so that will make her miserable for the next week!! Being a Sunday we didn’t expect the road out of town to be busy and we weren’t wrong,in fact it was deserted. The area we first ... read more

An early morning start in the bus into the green countryside, first stop at the legendary Hill of Tara, seat of the High Kings of Ireland. Once a thriving community, now just mounds and standing stones. Lunch stop at Carrick-on-Shannon, at the head of the Shannon River. Past Lough Key to Sligo, our overnight stop. We had an afternoon excursion out to Parkes Castle on Lough Gill , once a Plantation Estate of the early 17th Century. On the way home we had a stop at a Holy Well. ... read more