Sleepzone Connemara Leenane

... and saw a man and woman walking to their car from the end of a steep and narrow trail. John asked them if it was worth the walk, and they said it was if “you’re really into megalithic tombs.” We decided that we really weren’t into them that much. The couple asked where we were from, and when we told them, they said we had to go to Lavelle’s bar to see the sign that said, “Cleveland, 3300 miles”. We learned that Cleveland is ...

3rd stop Croagh Patrick,

The mountain of Croagh Patrick is supposed to be where St. Patrick climbed and fasted for 40 days and 40 nights like Jesus. There is a church on the summit and hundreds of people a day climb to its peak. It has become a pilgramige to the people of Ireland and it is an especially big ordeal to the people in Mayo. Every year on one day in July about 30,000 people climb to its summit! Many of these people do it in ...

... turlough (which is a shallow limestone lake that fills in the fall and dries up in the spring/summer) that the house overlooks and expansive lawns and gardens.

There was also a museum that showed us how the people who lived on their land would have lived and how they survived. Definately nowhere close to how the Fitzgerald lived... these are just some of the pictures that I took of the grounds....

... took the man in and kept him safe until it was his time to ascend the thrown. To repay the clergy for their kindness he vowed to build them a brand new church, but when he returned years later and asked the priests how they liked their new church he found that it had never been built. this is because the stone masons didnt have things like map quest or a tom tom, so instead of building the church where Ballintubbers Abbey is they built ...

... The water was delightfully misty and mysterious. We did get a wonderful view of the castle from the water too. The water was rough so we did not stay out long. Everyone enjoyed the stories of the lake and the castle, the spirits served by Jack and the accordion music supplied by Martin.We had dinner in the bar and then enjoyed piano and singing in the drawing room in the evening.
The next day dawned fairly clear so we ...

My bag has been packed. And re-packed. And unpacked. And squished.
I've informed the hotel of my late arrival.
I've got (some) foreign cash.
My electrical batteries are charged.
My print outs are in a waterproof folder in a waterproof bag.


Agh!

After touring around Clifden we travelled back to Leenane to be attacked by the midges for one more night. We again had a CCCOOOOOLLLLLLDDDDDDshower in the morning and headed off to ....we don't know. We have travelled so extensively we are now at the stage where we are forgetting where we have been and where we are going next... Thank goodness for the itinery.

First things first. Before we get into the amazing trip to the Westcoast of Ireland let me fill you about our day trip to Howth. Howth is a small fishing village in the outskirts of Dublin. We jumped on the Dart early in the morning. We were told that the walk along the cliffs of Howth would take most of the day. The cliffs of Howth were incredible. Howth has everything cliffs, nice lighthouse shooting out into the peninsula ...

(Originally published at http://www.troysgonewalkabout.com)
< br>Another grey and rainy morning beckoned, but it hardly dampened our mood as we drove by the dramatic cliffs and beach-side town of Kilkee, and kept on going north until a little later in the morning we stopped at the incredibly popular Cliffs of Moher. Along the lookouts there we were buffeted around in the wind almost as much as we were buffeted ...