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Published: July 22nd 2014
6 August Our first day on Irish soil since 1980! We were excited at the prospect of revisiting the country many of our ancestors emigrated from. Took an Easyjet flight from Glasgow to Belfast, short flight -30 mins after waiting for them to extract the bird from the engine! Picked up our rental car, nice to get an upgrade from our usual "budget" car to a Hyundai 130, very roomy after our UK Fiat 500! Drove to Antrim town, pottered around the shops then had a sammie picnic lunch in the sun at Lough Neagh. Went to the Antrim Castle Gardens- the castle itself was destroyed by fire, with very little of the buildings remaining but the gardens were lovely and free too! Drove up to Ballyclare near Belfast and checked into Templeton Hotel, OK but not good value at £69 B & B! We usually avoid places at this price, but accommodation was scarce that night, not sure why, as later that afternoon we found the city centre was very quiet, considering it is the big city of NI - where were all the people? Stopped into the highly decorated old Duke of York pub for a Guinness,
tastes much better in Ireland than at home! Surprisingly, despite the troubles, Belfast is full of lovely buildings. Had dinner and another Guinness at the Kitchen Bar, a great old pub complete with Irish jamming music, Blu had liver and bacon on champ (spuds), and I had a traditional beef stew. Did a blog and sent it around, Turkey Part 3, thanks to the Wagamama's free wifi from upstairs! Have given up worrying about the blogs being so out of date, it will be nice to finish them one day though!
7 August Weather fine, sunshine! Drove into town after an Irish Breakfast at base. Spent the morning at PRONI, the centre for historical records in Belfast. Very modern and impressive new building in the new Titanic Quarter but no luck with my NI ancestors, Ferguson or Maguire. Really need to know what parish they came from to get anything from the microfiche records. And the catholic registers are mainly in Latin! Spent the afternoon at the Titanic exhibition, fantastic displays and set up, it was only opened the year before I think. Lots of interactive stuff. Very popular so you need to book a start time which
held us up a bit. Drove to our B &B at Larne, about 25 mins up the coast. Very nice accommodation. Dinner at Wine Bar down the road, Caesar salad, not very Irish but good.
8 August After an excellent breakfast of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. we set off for a drive around the scenic North Coast, lots of nice villages and coastal views. Very green of course! Stopped for a cuppa roadside (carrying a thermos and cups proved invaluable on our British leg of the trip), then lunch at Cushendun, in a very old pub called Mary McBrides, with low ceilings and doors and atmosphere. Had good homemade vege soup and Irish bread, and of course a Guinness too. Went to the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge bridge, I crossed over the narrow gap on the rope bridge to the island. Blu not keen! Originally a rope bridge was used by fishermen to get over to fish for salmon and was pulled up when not in use, it is now a tourist attraction (new bridge of course). Called into Bushmills and sampled a couple of whiskeys and bought some shot glasses. Rained heavily in the evening. Stayed at
the Youth Hostel at Bushmills, had nice cosy lounge with a coal fire which we appreciated as it was pretty cold despite being summer! Had a supermarket curry dinner and chatted to a nice woman from Eire.
9 August Had breakfast at the hostel, then drove back a few km to the Giants Causeway. Took the guided tour which was excellent, and all free with our NT pass! Loved hearing the legend of Finn Macool, the giant who crossed over to Scotland, and the massive "organ" at the end of the park was as impressive as the causeway itself. Drove along the coast road to Derry and a late pub lunch at Wetherspoons, roast beef, what good value at £5 with wine! Walk around the historic city walls (only intact city wall in Ireland) and visited the Guildhall which was beautiful and has just reopened after a 9.5 mil makeover! Great city! The Bogside murals are quite amazing, painted onto the sides of houses and flats, and there is still a lot of evidence around that there is still tension between Brits and Irish. Drove down to Donegal, took quite a while as we got lost en route, our
GPS led us astray big time! Donegal is part of Eire although it sits amongst Northern Irish provinces. Checked into Atlantic Guesthouse, had a soup dinner at the pub then off to the Reel Inn for Guinness and great Irish music. a core group of players with others and their different instruments dipping in and out of what was pretty much an informal jam session, all very casual and a great atmosphere once the "tourists" left! Met a VERY friendly couple, Patricia and Martin from Derry, who took us into their hearts with gusto and lots of Guinness (funny though they drank lager). Check out the photos! Had a great night, got to bed after
1am. We found it interesting at the end of the night that everyone stood solemnly to sing a patriotic song with hands by their sides.
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