Back to my roots - Ireland

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September 12, 2019



I am currently in florida at my home in Wellington getting ready for a 7 week trip to Northern Ireland, Ireland, Wales and Pakistan. It’s a little disconnected, originally the plan was to go horseback riding in Ireland. However sincE my ultimate goal is to visit all of the countries in the world (I am currently at 83. ) I wanted to add a new country, I decided to add Wales. Once this first part of the trip was planned, I was invited to play polo in Lahore Pakistan from October 28 to November 3 As part of an FIP international polo tournament. How could I resist? So of course I said yes. I had 4 weeks to fill between Ireland and polo.



I decided to do a motorcycle trip through pakistan. My polo contacts put me in touch with his friend Moinuddin Khan who runs an adventure motorcycle company. So I agreed to sign up for a trip from sept 29 - October 12. Perfect! So next I had to figure out what to do between October 12 and 28.



My girlfriend cathy is joining me for the Ireland portion. Cathy is a horse person extraordinaire, a dog lover, a world traveler, and basically game for anything. Our flight from Miami was pretty straight forward, Miami to London to Belfast. We arrive on Friday September 13 aroun 3 pm, at the Belfast City. Airport and at our hotel, the MalMaison centrally located in downtown Belfast. After a brief rest, we walked around the Cathedral district, and had dinner at a local Pub, The Kitchen, with a great local Irish band.there deal was that they played for the pub every Friday night in exchange for free beer.a great deal for both parties.



The next day we slept in until 10:30 am...I haven’t done that since I was a teenager!



We met friends (former in-laws) from Ireland, Will and Marg Johnson, there daughter Jennifer, and her two beautiful kids, Robyn and Drew. Will chose the Titanic Hotel, which was very appropriate, since it is where the Titanic was built, one of the most famous landmarks in all of Ireland. It was such a lovely afternoon. I have so many fond memories of Northern Ireland, and of the Johnson Family.



Sunday, Sept 13 - rainy and mid sixties.we decided to get an early start, so we were up at 7:30 and on the road by 9. The weather was forecasted to be rainy and coo (really? In Ireland?) but it didn’t much matter, since it was a travel day, driving our rental vehicle (Renault) to Ballycastle in the north. We took a little detour to Groomsport, about 30 minutes out of our way. This is where I once owned the “Egan Castle”. It wasn’t really a castle, but was built adjacent to athe old Groomsport Hotel on the North Sea. It was great to get back to see it after 10 years. Groomsport is a one-pub, one-restaurant, one-store town a few miles from the coastal resort town of Bangor.



As we took pictures of the old castle, the current owner came out, so I took the opportunity to introduce myself as the previous owner. He was thrilled to meet us, and invited us inside to have a look. We talked about what a special place it was and said our goodbyes.



We retraced our steps back to Belfast and then on to the A2 road on the north side of Belfast Harbour. We drove the coastal 2 lane road stopping in Carrickfergus, where there happened to be a Mini Cooper car rally. Then onwards to Glenarms fCastle for lunch and. A walk through their beautiful garden. Following the Coastal Road north, we got off at Cusheran and took the Torr road scenic route that was recommended by my good friend Jennifer. It was supposed to be a 2 lane road, but it was really only a one lane road with a line painted down the middle of it. Lots of curves...very interesting when a car was coming from the other direction, and I was driving on the left hand side in a standard shift Renault Kadger.



We arrived in the beautiful costal town of Ballycastle in a bed and breakfast, An Caislean (aka Corratavey Guest Accomodation). Our host was Barkley, spelled Berkeley. Our room was on the 3rd floor . We had 4 large suitcases, plus our carry ons. It sounds like a lot of bags, but I had 1 bag solely for the motorcycle portion of the trip, and my other bags was for horseback riding in Ireland and Polo in pakistan. Realistically, all of my cloths would fit into a large backpack. I’m still not exactly sure what Cathy had in her 2 large bags??



At 5 pm, Daniel from Bespoke Equestrian, ( https://www.horsebackridingtoursireland.com) dropped by to go over the plan for the week, which is 5 days of riding in county Antrim. Daniel is in his mid twenties, and is the nephew of the owner, Danny. He is a very bright and knowledgeable individual with his first level law degree, but has chosen to work with his uncle in the family business.



September 16, 2019 - day 1 Riding



After eating a hearty Irish breakfast, our taxi driver, Derek, came by to pick us up and takes us to where the horses wer, at Shean’s Horse Farm. After a short tour, we got our gear on and hoped on the horses that were selected for us. The first horse I tried was Bob, a 16 hand Irish Cobb horse. I walked around the arena , then a short trot, and then into a canter. The horse started accelerating put his head down and kicked up his reare end. I wasn’t too bothered, but I was thinking that I don’t really want to ride a horse like this for 5 days. So when they asked me if I wanted to try another horse, I jumped all over it!



My next horse was Guinness. I liked the sound already! It was a black and white Cobb, and road beautifully in the ring so I was happy and ready to go.



Cathy’s first horse was Blackie, a beautiful 15.1 hand Irish horse. She was very comfortable trotting and cantering, so we were all set.



Our guide for the day was Fergal. Fergal was a local middle aged man who only started riding about 7 years ago. He is now a hard core member of the local Hunt Club. We immediately hit it off.



Day 1 was really just riding in the beautiful hills around the farm. The weather was beautiful. Fergal was riding Bob, the horse I tried out earlier. I immediately noticed that Bob was a little hot, even with Fergal riding Him. We came around a corner and Fergal asked if we were ready for a short walk, and then a canter. We gave the thumbs up. Bob, in the lead, trotted for about 3 steps and then broke into a full gallop. Our horses followed and did the same. I was loving it because Guinness was awesome, and I do have a need for speed. Cathy, not so much. Her horse was a machine, and she was very uncomfortable but handled it well.



After an hour or so, we stopped for lunch in a little shed atop a hill. After lunch we began our “bog” experience. Bogs are hills covered in Peat which absorbs and holds water when it rains.we had to get off our horses and walk them through the bog, as it is too dangerous to ride them. If they get stuck, the cand kick out , fall over, or whatever. This was actually a highlight of the day! Fergal’s horse pushed him into the mud, my horse stepped on the back of my foot, and Fergal got. Kicked in the ankle. We were all fine.



When it was all said and done, we had a fantastic day! Back at the farm, after we cleaned up , we were invited into the family house to have coffe and home made scones with butter and jam....soooo good!! All this while watching a presentation by Daniel about Sorly boy, and the history of the area.





Day 2 - September 17



Last night we stayed at a different B and B called...Hagertys. The owners were recent retirees from England - Phil and Nova.The reason we stayed at a different accommodation is the pat we were going to start our ride in the town of Castle Rock, which was quite a distance west of the Farm and our original B&B. We were going to visit a temple and ride on the beach, and by law we needed to be off the temple grounds by 9:30 and off the beach by 11am.We were picked up at 7:30 and taken into the town of Castle Rock where we met our guide and the truck and trailer with the horses.



We mounted our horses on the side walk , then followed a board walk to the beach. It was cool (55 Fahrenheit) but sunny. We walked along the beach, then up about 30 concrete steps back to the road and followed the road through town to a famous temple. We road around the property, and down to a cliff overlooking the sea. Spectacular views!



We then followed the road back down to another stretch of beach. As I mentioned earlier, Cathy was struggling with her very strong horse, Blackie. Once Blackie got into a gallop, she was very difficult to stop. And since our guide was on crazy Bob, she was a little uncomfortable galloping, so we had a leisurely stroll on our horses along the beach, and back to the trailer. In the afternoon, we were riding in a different location, so the horses were loade up and we had lunch in town. Because Cathy was having trouble with her horse, we asked frugal if he could call and get a horse more suitable for Cathy.



Sure enough, by the time we finished lunch, Danny arrived with a fresh horse, Charlie. It turned out that Charlie was the perfect horse for Cathy, and she rode it for the rest of the week.



After lunch, we jumped in the truck, and trailered up to a park area with a beautiful pond stocked with fresh trout. We rode along the edge of the cliffs running down to the sea, we had spectacular views of Donegal across the bay. Again the weather was sunny and beautiful. On the ride back to the trailer, one of he local fisherman, whom I had said hello to earlier, came over the us and offered us 4 fresh Trought he had just caught. We graciously accepted his offer and thanked him. We really had no use for the fish, so we donated them to the family back at the farm.



We arrived back at our original B&B. While cathy had a little rest, I went scouting out the area. I found this beautiful hotel, the Sea Salt Hotel, and restaurant high up on the hill overlooking Ballycastle. I booked a table for dinner for the following evening.



On the way back to our guest house, I stopped at the Ballycastle Golf course. It was so beautiful, I booked a tee time for the next afternoon at 3pm.



We had a dinner at O’Connor’s pub, a short walk from our place, and then hit the sack, totally exhausted!







Day 3 - September 18



We decide that today, being the middle day of our 5 day riding experience, we would ride from 9 to 1, and take the afternoon off, cathy would go to the spa, and I would go golfing.



We were picked up by Derek, our taxi driver, and taken to an area called the Vanishing Lake. We were back to our orinainla guideFergal 1. However, Danny, the owner of the company decided to come along and ride a green horse, to get him used to the trail riding experience.



We had a beautiful ride through the woods, great trails for cantering and galloping. We saw some very unusual Red mushrooms with white spots, just like the ones in Alice in Wonderland. We never did see the Vanishing Lake...I guess it vanished!



After lunch in the Diamond pub in Ballrock, we walked back to our room. Cathy went off for her massage, followed by shopping. I went to the Golf Course. Danny pulled a fast one and paid for these activities that were not included in the deal. Very nice of him.

At the golf course, I Gord talking to the pro, Damien McEvoy. His son, Ollie is 9 years old. For the past 3 years, he has gone to the US to compete inn the Junior World Golf Chapionship. He finished 12th in the world under 12 age category...and he just turned 9!!! Keep an eye out for this young man!



The pro gave me a new set of Taylor Made M6 clubs. I wanted to buy them at the end of the round. I had one of my best round ever, finishing 18 holes in 2 hours. I was almost the only one on the golf course. On the 18 th par 5, I hit a great drive, followed by a solid 3 wood. I misjudged the approach shot and hit the ball over the green in too the parking lot. Oops!



I met up with Cathy and we had an amazing dinner with a fantastic view at the Sea Salt hotel.



Day 4



Today, we had 2 new guests join us, Anna, originally from Trinidad living in London and Antrim, and Martha from California.



It was back to the beach. This time we were all on comfortable horses and did some serious riding. At one point I was doing a full gallop along the beach in the water. What a rush! We stopped for lunch at the Red Barn Pub, where Martha’s husband joined us for lunch. Beautiful ride through the hills in the afternoon.





Day 5 -



Our last day of riding. Both Cathy and I held up very well. We were joined by a young woman, Heather from the uS. It was her first year anniversary, so her and her husband decided they woul go on separate vacations. He went to the Patagonias in An Chili and Argentina to go kayaking and fishing, and she came to Ireland to go horseback riding. Interesting....



This was probably one of our best rides. We started on the beach again. After a few good runs in the hard sand, Fergal decided we would do something different.We rode up very steep sand dons, reaching the fescue at the top , and then down a very steep hill, then back u the other side. To my surprise, we came out overlooking the Royal Port Rush Golf course, on the the finest golf course in the world! In fact this past summer, the British Open was played there. What a sight!





Trip to the south of Ireland



We left Ballycastle about 10 am to go to our next stop, Cavan. Cavan is where my friends that I met in Florida last season are from. Ailbhe, a 16 year old girl was working at our barn in Wellington, helping to take care of our polo horses. She was in the care of her uncle, Binsley who has a house in palm beach and is partners with Carlton Varney, a very famous interior designer. They hav done projects including the White House, Buckingham palace, and the Greenbriar in Virginia.So while in florida, I became good friends with Ailbhe and her uncle. We went horseback riding in the Everglades, deep sea fishing for sharks, sailin on a catamaran, polo games, Saturday night under the lights , and so on. Also, just before Ailbhe left, Another uncle, Maurice, and his wife, Mairead, came to visit in Florida. We also became close friends.



My new Irish friends insisted I come to Ireland to visit them in Ireland, so I took them up on their invitation. So we planne to visit them for 2 nights in Cavan. I had never met Ailbhes parents, Ron and ...,but had talked to then on the phone and by email. Ron insisted that on the drive to there home that we take a small detour to the magic mountain. I had no idea what he was referring to, but we followed his directions, which were as follows:

”Harbour lodge, Crover

Mountnugent,kells,co Meath

”Pass hotel on your left,just a short distance you will pass a petrol (gas station) on your right,as you pass the station there is a small road on your left ,keep driving then you take the next left,continue on the road will veer to right and you will pass a small petrol station on your right,keep driving,you get to a T junction turn right and immediately left,( you are almost there) drive slowly up a hill,there should be a long stone wall on your left,as you are getting close to the top of hill you will see some old black plastic grow house on your right, you should now be almost on top of the hill,now drive very slowly,as you are now going down the hill ,put your hazard lights on move over to the right lane on you right you will see an old water storage tank ,stop just before this tank at the bottom of the hill,now turn the car off,put in neutral and handbrake off ,let me know when you have done this”



So we did this. Cathy and I werent sure what we were looking for, but we finally figured it out. I was an optical illusion, whereby it appeared that we were coasting uphill. We had a great laugh about this whole experience, and then headed back on track to Rons Place at

Harbour lodge,crover

Mountnugent,kells,co Meath

We arrived there around 5 pm. We were greeted by Ailbhe, and finally met Ron and his son, .Rons wife was away at a girls weekend, so unfortunately, we did not get a chance to meet her. Ron had arranged a bbq dinner and a social gathering for us. We had a fantastic dinner with a small group of 10 people, with about 20 people arriving later fo the party. Well, much to our surprise, the guest list including an incredible array of entertainers, incding singers, musicians storytellers, and poets. The biggest celebrity was John Sheehan, the last serving members of the Dubliners, a world renowned Irish Folk band that I was very familiar with. John was quit a gentleman and fascinating person to talk to. Other enertainers were:



Rom himself was a very talented singer, guitarist a story teller. One of the highlights of the evening was Ron perking whit his daughter, Ailbhe, who has a voice like and angel. We partied until 3 in the morning. Cathy and I were very tired, but we didnt want to miss anything.



We woke up about 9:30, and were treated to a traditional Irish Breakfast. Ailbhe had arrounged for us to go horseback riding in the Mount Nugent Park. It had rained all morning, but by the time we got on the horses, it had stopped, and the sun came out. We rode for about 2 hours on amazing horses, through beautiful trails in the hills. Cathy was in heaven, riding calmer horses than in Antrim, and at a much smoother canter.



After riding we went to the Crover House hotel for lunch. The property was gorgeous. I was previously the home of the Matthews family. They sold it about 20 years ago. The new owners had converted it to a hotel and added a 9 hole golf course.



Ron arranged for us to stay in the Ross Castle for the night. He was going out of town for business and his kids were going back to school in Dublin.



The castle was beautiful. If you are ever going to Ireland and want to stay in a 500 year old castle that has been converted into a 6 room hotel, I would highly recommend it. It even has a Harry Potter bedroom for the kids!



The next morning we drove to my friend, Tom McGuinesss factory and world Headquarters in Dundalk about an hour outside of Dublin. Tom is a polo player that I met in Florida. He has a house on the same street as me. Tom is also one of the top 100 mile endurance horse racers in the world. He started a company making horse blankets. He is the largest manufacturer in the world , making 500,00 blankets a year. Tom gave us a factory tour, and treated us to lunch.



Next stop, Dublin. Ann Marie from the Ross Castle recommended the Grafton Hotel in downtown, walking distancce to everything. It had only been opened for 2 weeks, but other than a few glitches, it was magnificent. We only stayed 2 nights, so we really didn’t have a lot off time. We did the hop on, hop offf bus which was very interesting, giving us a great view of the city from the open air top section of a double decker bus, followed by dinner at the Hairy Lemon pub. The next day we went to Trinity College, and saw the Book of Kelly’s exhibit.



Later in the afternoon, we went to the O’connel Pub where the Dubliners, and our friend John Sheehan gon their start.



The next morning we took a taxi to the Dublin Port and boarded a ferry to Holyhead, Wales. The ride was 3 hours and forty five minutes, but we upgraded to a suite and had a nice relaxing and scenic ride.



Upon arrival in Holyhead, we had to wait about 30 minutes to get a taxi to our accommodation, The Treabadour Hotel, set beautifully on the edge of the North Sea. Holyhead was just as you might expect, windy, cool and rugged. I book a train to London the next day at 4:15. I checked my confirmation several times to confirm the booking. Just before going to bed, I checked one more time. It was 4:15 am, not pm! So I talk to the girl at the front desk and she confirmed that I had made an error, and she kindly booked us for a train the next day at 1:30 PM! It was a 4 hour train rail that got us to our hotel at Heathrow Airport at a reasonable time.



The next morning I caught my flight to Pakistan, and cathy caught he flight back to Florida.

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Photos

The Egan Castle
(Only the little attached house on the left)