Breaffy Woods Hotel Castlebar

... No words were spoken, but the apparition remained for two hours. At the scene of the apparition is a beautiful shrine, a chapel, and a large church.

We went into the shrine while a Mass was being said, and were able to receive Holy Communion. We walked out when Mass was over and we were followed by a woman who stopped us. She had noticed the jacket I was wearing, which our son had bought at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC. She had ...

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....

... 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 ...

... mistress of the house threw the menu down to the staff from a balcony above so that she did not have to step foot into the kitchen....wow...now i know how im going to remodel the kitchen,,,,all for now please read and tell your friends about this great travel blog so we can get some advertisers to sponsor for clothes for our poor shoeless father.....love you all....Sister Carolyn.

Nothing from Sister Leigh tonight - he's in bed in his really dirty clothes.

... We walked the grounds, in the rain. We saw a tour boat and decided to tour Lough Corrib. It's 43 miles long and full of islands. We arrived at the boat just before it was due to launch to find we were the only people interested in a tour. We hung around talking to Captain Patrick and a couple from Zurich arrived. Well Captain Patrick liked our spirit and took us out even though he would have liked more passengers ...

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!

... Queen Victoria’s ladies in waiting who stopped at this location in 1861. From there, it was another 15 km to the quaint village of Kenmare, where we arrived at Rockcrest B&B to find a truly beautiful place to stay that will accommodate us for our last three nights in the land of Erin. Now, we venture out to explore the town and grab a bite to eat before starting an early day tomorrow exploring the famous Ring of Kerry.

Slainte!

... I had a great drive to here yesterday - a total of 6 1/2 hrs as I did a detour around part of Connemara. I had the company of my niece all the way which was great. Last night I went out with Liam and Evelyn and we watched the awful performance of the England team against the French - we better improve for the World Cup or I shall be sorely disappointed. Take Care Ronnie

... of the hills on our right to the waterline on our left. There was next to no greenery in sight, no way for the barren and windswept terrain to be used to grow crops or for grazing livestock. That people were desperate enough to even try to farm here was real proof to me of the reality of the struggles and desperation to survive on the land during the potato famine.

We stopped for the night in Westport, the ...