Ireland

15-25th June

This was an action packed 11 days. We landed in Dublin, travelled by train to Belfast and on to Larne where we were picked up by Nigel’s parents, Eric and Christine, who had travelled by ferry from Cairnryan – all in time for lunch.

We spent three days exploring the Causeway Coast and Glens before leaving Northern Ireland to enjoy the wonders of the Wild Atlantic Way through the counties of Donegal, Clare, Mayo, Leitrim and Galway for the next six.

From Galway we took the direct route back to Dublin to meet Nigel’s sister and husband, Sue and John, for an all-too-short, one night reunion before we all took separate routes home.

Game of Thrones’ film locations cropped up everywhere we went throughout Northern Island (and we weren’t even looking!) It’s clearly been a huge success there.

Our first three nights were spent in a cottage at Downhill. The Downhill beach featured in several episodes some of which included the distinctive Mussenden Temple seen on the clifftop. No film crew, just race horses while we were there.

Dunluce Castle – a 5* resort in its day, but a little renovation is needed and the heating needs special attention.

The Giant’s Causeway has been on our must see list for some time, sadly Finn McCool wasn’t at home.

Just a stone’s throw from the Finn McCool’s Causeway is Ballintoy Harbour, a G.O.T. location that we did know about – the Iron Islands and Pyke. It’s astonishing how unlike the Iron Islands it really seemed – so small! We met a local who caught lobsters in a pot that he set at the harbour entrance – he just threw it from the rocks. A beautiful spot.

The original Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, first erected 350 years ago by salmon fishermen, was a little less sturdy that this one – it was simple roped wooden ladder with a single rope to hold onto (and at 34m in the air it must have been terrifying in the storms).

Today this beautiful National Trust site is a must see attraction, not just for the rope bridge, but the birds, the remaining salmon fishermen’s cottage, and the sheer ruggedness of the place.

Larrybane Quarry – While we trekked along the clifftops to the rope bridge, Eric and Christine moved the car to get a better view and ended up in a former chalk quarry that was yet another G.O.T. location – Renly Baratheon’s war camp in the Stormlands to be exact.

Murlough Bay – Taking the ‘road less travelled’ often meant we were on routes with grass down the centre of the road instead of white lines. The consequence was that we frequently came across hidden gems such as Murlough Bay. Naturally the G.O.T. film crew had beaten us to the area – again. Scouting for G.O.T film locations would be a wonderful job!

In one guide book we came across ‘The Magnificant Seven’ – seven must see attractions in Northern Ireland. By the time we read the book we had seen most of them.

The Dark Hedges (and naturally another G.O.T. location) completed the set – Giant’s Causeway, Carrick-A-Rede, Downhill Demesne (well we saw Mussenden Temple from the beach), Dunluce Castle, Old Bushmills Distillery and the Nine Glens of Antrim (OK so it was only one – Glenshesk).

We managed to time our arrival into Ireland to coincide with the 2016 Donegal International Rally. This meant queues of traffic in Letterkenny and several detours to avoid road closures en route to Fanad Head Lighthouse. It was worth the effort and we were still able to travel the beautiful Lough Swilly coastal route once the rally had finished late in the afternoon.

Dromore Cottage was our luxury home from which to explore County Donegal.

The AirBnB description had completely undersold this beautiful cottage, renovated by an architect and furnished by an interior designer. The nearby Smugglers’ Inn was recommended by the cottage owner and did not disappoint with either the food or the views.

A rainy day left us with few options but to explore Donegal Castle.

This gave us a story to dine out on for a while to come: Eric and Christine asked the young woman at the entrance if there were many steps in the castle. She took one look at them, took pity on them and decided they deserved special treatment. She admitted them for free thus saving them each the grand sum of €2, whereupon they clambered all over the castle like they owned the place!

We then crossed the street for a well deserved pub lunch during which Nigel finally got to sample a genuine Irish draught Guinness and declared it to be as good as had been promised, praise indeed!

Better weather the next day meant that we could venture further afield. At 601m, Slieve League’s cliffs reach almost three times higher than the more famous Cliffs of Moher in County Clare. The Irish claim that they are ‘probably’ the highest sea cliffs in Europe.

Our route to Galway took us through Mullaghmore reputed to be one of the best big wave surfing locations in the world. We resisted the urge to leap into the Atlantic and enjoyed the scenery instead.

We enjoyed more picturesque views as we followed Glencar Lough to its famous waterfall and then drove across country to Westport – and back onto the Wild Atlantic Way and more roads with grass down the middle as Nigel insisted on taking us to just ‘one more bay’. The result was beautiful scenery as we rounded Croagh Patrick and travelled along the shores of Killary Fiord, and a very long days drive!

A chilled-out day in Galway, appreciating the many buskers, and meeting Oscar Wilde, but chiefly to avoid more time in the car!

Our final day on the Wild Atlantic Way had numerous detours which always rewarded us with picturesque harbours, beaches and viewpoints. We returned by heading inland to see Kylemore Abbey and the pretty village of Cong. Its claim to fame is as the principal location for John Ford’s 1952 movie “The Quiet Man” starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. Since it is Eric’s all time favourite we just had to visit.

They couldn’t quite strike the Wayne/O’Hara pose. Maybe in 1952!

On our last night in Galway we were rewarded with some traditional entertainment at the local pub – Irish folk singers and dancers

Sue and John flew to Dublin to spend just one night. Traffic jams caused by the visit of US vice-president Joe Biden, meant that their bus ride from the airport took longer than the flight. The visit also meant that Trinity College and Dublin Castle were both closed to tourists. So our cultural tour of Dublin soon degenerated into a mini pub crawl of Temple Bar culminating in a pub dinner accompanied by more Irish folk music from an entertaining singer who appreciated the support from the Durham and New Zealand group. We did manage to see both the College and the Castle as well as a few other sights the following day.