Brothers in Ireland
The Journal
This is the diary of the quest... as recorded by brother
Scott...
Introduction
This is the travel journel I
kept while we were on the trip. It contains a few observations, but mostly it is
to document the things we saw and did on the trip. My memory is not what is used
to be (and it was never great for this type of detail), so I wanted something a
little more permanent.
Travel Day - Friday, 9/7/2001
Departed LAX 10:30 (PST).
Routed south because of weather. Arrived Newark 7:30 (EST) about 30 minutes
late. Met Brad and Jeff (Cal is already in Dublin on business) and waited for
the flight to Dublin. An air-traffic delay caused us to wait three additional
hours so we departed 11:30 (EST) and arrived Dublin 10:30a on 9/8.
Cal picked us up at the
airport and we got our car, a black Volvo wagon). Ireland is right-hand
drive and Cal had the most experience so he was appointed the designated driver.
Brad was chief navigator. Drove 20 minutes to the Lusk
Heritage Center (a Church). Lunch and ale in our first
pub. The pub was empty when we arrived, but a wedding party arrived near the
end of our meal. They were meeting at the pub between the ceremony and the
reception which sounds like a lot better idea than hanging around watching them
take pictures. At this first pub we established our drinking preferences for the
trip. For Brad it was Coke before 3p and Vodka and Lime after 3p. For Cal it was
Bulmers Cider. For Scott it was Smithwicks ale. For Jeff nothing but Guinness
would do.
After lunch we heard bagpipes
and headed for the sound. We found a bag pipe
competition hosted by the Black Ravens, a local band. The competition was
held in a large field and we arrived as the bands were marshalling and tuning
their pipes. We stayed to talk to the judges and watch them judge one of the
bands. Visited Trim Castle and Church.
Arrived at Alan Johnson's house in Dublin. Alan
is a friend and business associate of Cal and Brad's from their earlier trip to
Ireland. Dumped our bags at Alan's house and drove up the hill to Fox House for
dinner. Fox House was busy so we drove back down to a local pub and hotel. The
security guys at the door did not like our "runners" (tennis/hiking
shoes) so we almost did not get in. Who would have thought that a pub would
care? A first and only for Ireland. We stayed at Alan's house that night.
Moderate snoring all around, but serious snoring from Jeff.
Rothfarnum Castle visit
with Alan. The castle was not open when we arrived so we found a shop that sold
us rolls with eggs, Irish bacon, and sausage. Alan calls them Cardiac-F---ers,
but they are very good. We ate on the steps of the castle and waited for the it
to open. We had a very detailed tour of the castle (the first and last detailed
tour we took on the trip). Drove to a village
("flower town") that was representing
Ireland in an international flower competition. Awesome flower baskets on all of
the businesses in the village. Afternoon warm-up pub visit. Kilkenney Castle
next. Elected to skip the tour and took pictures of the outside. Lunch at deli
(VERY hot mustard). St. Mary's Cathedral built in 1850. Still active with people
praying inside. St. Candices. Climbed round tower and took pictures of Kilkenney
Castle and St. Mary's Cathedral. Bought Celtic cross for Margie. Watched hurling
match at pub in Killkenney. Detour to Burnchurch Castle and Chapel
ruin where we
climbed the remaining tower and visited the church. Boys on bikes herding milk
cows. Rock of Cashel. Ancient fortress that became church seat. Now a ruin. Lots
of crows overhead and great views of the plain below and Hore Abbey. Awesome
site. Visited Hore Abbey in cow field. Pizza in Cahir. We didn't like the town
much so we did not stay. Too many young people and some dirty looks from some of
the young guys. We tried a number of B&B's without success and then found
the Peahill Guess house in Ballylooby. It was nice and comfortable for 20
pounds.
Large breakfast at Peahill
Guest house (Helen was host). Cahir Castle famous for seige by the Earl of
Sussex on behalf of Elizabeth I. Tour of Middleton caves
discovered in 1840's.
Owned by private family. Concert by the three Irish Tenors held in cave earlier
in the month. Scenic port city of Cobh. Cathedral on hill modeled after Notre
Dame (St. Coleman's). Ate in pub. Brad cut his fingers on barnacles near the
water. Old head at Kinsale (south-most Ireland). Views and Lusitania memorial.
Dinner and many drinks in Kinsale. Stayed at the Waterview B&B.
Another huge Irish breakfast at
the Waterview B&B. Charles Fort outside Kinsale built in 1610 to defend
against French. Used until 1920 when Irish republicans burned during civil war
after independence. Timoleague Abbey ruin.
Skibereen pub for lunch where we
heard the news about the terrorist attacks in the US a few minutes after the
second plane hit the world trade center. An Irish man in the pub told us to look
at the news playing on the television in the back. We watched for some time in
anger, frustration, sadness, and disgust. As we left the pub, Cal noticed that
the Pentagon had been attacked as well so we returned to the pub to watch again
for some time. Bantry House in Bantry. Beautiful home on the water built in the
early 1700’s. White family purchased in mid 1700’s and still occupies the
property. Beautiful drive to Kilarney. Ross Castle was closed so we took
pictures of the lake at sunset. Drove to Fenit to stay at the West End pub and
inn. Many drinks at the pub with more news coverage.
Breakfast at the West End Inn
in Fenit. More eggs, bacon, sausage, and muesli (ready for something a little
lighter). Ardfert Cathedral and Friary. Drove to Tarbert and took the ferry
across to Clare county. The weather has been beautiful the entire trip until
now. It has been in the mid 60’s during the day. Today it is drizzling
steadily. Last night the wind was blowing and you could hear the waves crashing.
Lunch at Kenny’s in Lahinch. Cliffs of
Moher. Beautiful cliffs as high as
700ft. O’Brian castle ruins. Desmond Castle closed. Drove through Galway.
Seafood dinner at newer inn outside of Galway. Stayed at Loistin at the Ard
Mhuirbhi B&B. All of the signs in the area are in Gaelic as this is the
first language for most of the residents. Bert and Rita were hosts.
Aran
Islands. 40 minute ferry
ride to Inish More Island. Rode in very small horse coach to Dun Aoghasa
fortification on cliffs. John, and old former-fisherman with very long nose hair
was the driver. The islands are beautiful and very rugged. It was very green,
but there were few trees. Rock walls are everywhere as the rocks are a plentiful
building material. We joked that the fields are actually rock farms where
the rocks are grown. We found a gravel pit that we thought must be rock seeds
waiting to be planted. Returned on ferry. Dinner at pub in Spiddal. Stayed with
Bert and Rida again.
Spent the morning trying to
find out about our flights home. The airports in the US were shut down for
several days and, although they have reopened, only a small percentage of
flights have resumed operation. We were unable to reach the airlines, but Bert
had a friend that was a marketing official at Shannon airport. She claimed that
it was unlikely that we would be able to fly before Monday. Drove through some
beautiful and rugged country to a castle/home that is now
an abbey and school
for girls. The girls passed us on their way to the chapel for a service for the
victims of the attacks in the US. All day Friday was a national day of mourning
in Ireland. (Also visited the ruins of an abbey
and church.) All of the stores closed early and the pubs were closed all day.
Alan was to meet us near Limerick. We connected with him by phone while we were
in Cong where the movie the Quiet Man was filmed. Cong should be called Quiet
Man Village as many of the businesses there carry the name. We stumbled onto the
Auburn Lodge Hotel in Ennis where Alan had setup camp waiting for us. Alan
stayed at the hotel (with his little dog “Bear”) and we stayed at the
Glencar Guest House a short walk away. We saved enough by staying at the B&B
that we picked up Alan’s room.
Return Day - Saturday,
9/15/2001
Today we left at 6:30 (with my
camera charger still in the bathroom) so that we could arrive at Shannon
airport well in advance of our 11:40 schedule departure time. We did not expect
our flight to actually leave, but we were surprised to find it scheduled and
on-time. The flight to Newark was fairly uneventful until we saw the New York
skyline. The plane watched quietly as the smoke rose from the empty space where
the world trade towers had stood. An older man took pictures through the window
and a younger woman was in tears. Customs in Newark was uneventful, but when we
went to check our bags we found that Cal flight to Kansas City and Brad and
Jeff’s flight to Austin had been cancelled. My flight to LA was scheduled to
leave on time. Newark airport was a zoo as people were arriving many hours
before their scheduled departure and others were there trying to find a flight
home. Cal ended up finding a flight to St. Louis and Brad and Jeff flew to
Austin. On arrival in LA, passenger cars were not allowed into the airport so I
had to take a bus to parking lot B to meet Margie.
Observations
I can see why Brad and Cal
wanted to repeat a longer version of a trip they took two years ago. As I look
back on the trip, I find that I want to repeat it. I want to take my wife or my
mother and show it to them (or let them see it on their own). Ireland is a
really beautiful country, but more important, it feels very homey. The style of
travel was unstressful and the people were gracious. Aside from the car and the
air travel, it was comparatively inexpensive to eat, see the sights and stay at
night. It would be untruthful to say that we enjoyed ourselves the entire time.
After Tuesday, we were depressed, angry and anxious about returning home. I want
to return to Ireland during happier times.
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