Days Hotel, Castlebar

We watched the clouds gradually lift off Lough Swilly (I just love saying that name!) before we went down to breakfast. We dined alone this morning--I guess the young couple’s hike did them in.

After saying good-bye to Marie, we headed north. We stopped just outside the town of Carndonagh to see the Carndonagh Cross. It and its accompanying pillars are all that remain from a monastery founded by St. Patrick in the seventh century. The markings ...

... 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 ...

... at some point and make it all the way to the peak.

When we got down we stopped at the Irish Famine Memorial which was really interesting. It is a large metal ship, but its covered with skeletons in memory of all the people who died on "the coffin ships" when they were emigrating out of Ireland. It was a pretty moving sight and I am glad that we stopped there....

Alot of these pictures have the same title, but they are different

... and given 7,000 acres. Still a lot, but not nearly as much or as good of land as they had. The Inside was furnished as it would have been in the 1900's (we werent allowed to take pictures inside) and got to see how the landlord would conduct business with his tenants...by hiding behind a secret bookcase and having an agent do everything! The grounds were absolutely beautiful too. There is a large lake ...

... 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.

... the grounds after breakfast. We saw people taking falcon lessons while we wandered up and down the garden paths. Strangely though we did not see any small animals at all.
Eventually we had to check out and get on the road to our next adventure. We stopped by in the village next to the castle, Cong. It's half in Co. Mayo and half in Co. Galway. The river that flows into the lake rises in Cong. Next stop Galway City.

... became our worst enemy as they lined the road so closely, there was absolutely no shoulder whatsoever. Scariest thing so far…cars zooming by you about a foot away…at one point we very nearly got pancaked by a semi. (They shouldn’t be allowed on narrow Irish roads). All in all, by our third mile of walking, we were some very nerve-rattled girls. At that point, we hadn’t seen any road signs reassuring ...

... building, so you can imagine how excited I was. Over to the left I saw a fitness lounge - hooray! Something for us to do tonight. Maybe ½ hr on the cycle after dinner? Hate to get all flabby on our vacation…

A barely warm shower and I’m feeling a bit better. Now we’re on a quest for liquor! Three cheers for the grocery nearby which sells mix-and-match cans of beer and cider

... hill, he told us that the horse wouldn't make it to the top, so if we wanted to see the castle we would have to walk. Big Surprise - ha! He still charged us the same amount though :) Wonderful Tea/Coffee At the end of our day on the island, we stopped to have some refreshments at a cute tea shop that also served coffee. The service was excellent and so was the coffee. As it turns out, the owner is American.