Augusta Lodge Westport

... her son who was away. She showed us to a lovely room and took us upstairs to the sitting and dining area. She told me to use the kitchen to make coffee or tea and gave us the run of the place. As we were the only guests, it was wonderful.

We went back to the Atlantic Drive and clambered over a stone wall to go inside Grace O’Malley’s castle, which was more of a tower than a castle. Then we went back to another cemetery that I had read about.

In the ...

... up. All along the way we'd see Irish parents practically dunking their children in the stream and blessing them, much to the dismay of most of the kids but it kept us entertained for sure. Just being up on the mountain looking out over Ireland with sheep grazing all around felt right. I connected a little with the homeland when I was up there which was very cool. However we had things to do and see so we had to climb down, but I want to go ...

2nd on our list was Turlough Park,

This was a place where we got to see how landlords lived in the 19th century while taxing their people into poverty. This one was a bit different than most English landlords because this house belonged to the Fitzgerald family who were Irish. They were removed by the english from their home in wexford Ireland where they held 70,000 acres of great land and moved to ...

... in Baile tobair Bhrighde, Roscommon, instead of Baile tobair Phadraig, Mayo. A town that is miles and miles away! Soooo the king promised to build a much grander one for the Abbey and thats how it came to be... pretty neat huh?

This Abbey is also very important because it is the Abbey that never gave in. Since it was built in 1216 it has held mass every single day! Even through invasion and coersion, burnings and death threats ...

... them....taught us all a lesson that day...castle tomorrow night. saw our first peat bog today very strange...lots of fat livestock, sheep and cows....not me and kt....saw a church where an appariton appeared 100 years ago, mary, joseph and sheep, church deemed it true, now evrone comes there to pray. we prayed someone was reading this blog and for the suitcases to arrive. saw a 200 year old farm house, hasn't changed at all everything the same as is was back then ...

Ok so we drove about two hours in the pouring rain to get to Ashford Castle. The roads were narrow and lined with stone walls. Quite a harrowing ride. We gasped at all the cars coming towards us at top speed. I kept thinking they were in our lane. We stopped in a little village for a break and to have a pint of Guinness. We tucked into a little place that was so quaint and old world. The little old lady behind the bar was ...

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!

... guida ha risposto che è vero, il pesce c'era, ma i contadini non avevano diritto a pescarlo, i signorotti erano padroni della costa ed il pesce pescato apparteneva a loro. Signorotti....
Usciamo dall'umidità del bog, e saliamo nel percorso che dovrebbe portarci in cima. Ci fermiamo prima perchè il tempo non promette granchè, ma la vista è comunque imperdibile. Vento fortissimo.
Torniamo a valle, picnic al parco giochi, caffè e in ...

... ran around the ferry in cliques, yelling and screeching with each heave of the ferry. I thankfully went back down the hill to the smaller Artist's Hostel with a cheery woman with a forward manner as proprietor. I was shown a bed and made my temporary home immediately by unpacking my things. After cooking lunch and enjoying a hot cup of tea out on the benches outside, I jumped on my bike with map in hand to explore the island. It was after 4PM and the island was blissfully ...

... attempt to find a park to eat our lunch, this time in Galway, we continued on northwards through the Connemarra Mountains. Of all the Irish landscapes we had taken in on this road-trip, the coastline of County Mayo was to me at once the most dramatic and pathetic. In parts the countryside solely comprised of fields of grey rocks, each one fenced by dry walls built from same kind of rock, running right down from the ...