Pontoon Bridge Hotel Foxford

... place is the wi-fi. We’ve been away from the internet since Sunday.

We drove into town for a dinner and found a nice place by the harbor. John tried something new--chili chicken (kind of like a stir fry with veggies, noodles and a slightly sweet spicy sauce) and I had fish and a few chips. We shared a small bottle of wine and toasted our conquest of the bridge.

On our way back to the b&b, we saw a sign for Kinbane Head and decided to ...

... bare feet and let me tell you it is not a smooth walk. Hundreds of people even go so far as to walk 21 miles from Ballintubber Abbey where St. Patrick baptized the people all the way to the mountain and then climb it... IN ONE DAY....crazy. One of my roommates says that she and her dad climb the mountain at least 2 times a year and she has seen old woman upwards of 80 climbing the mountain in just their bare feet...

Me and my group ...

... 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 ...

1st stop Ballintubber Abbey...

This Abbey has been around for a while to say the least....It is here that St. Patrick baptized the people of the area in 441 A.D.. There is a bit of lore to how it came to be
in the modern state it is now. It was said that the clergy of the church took in the prince of Turloch because he was fleeing the vengeance of Turloch's queen who wanted her own son to sit the throne. The clergy of the ...

... 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 ...

... s pub. The owner of the pub plays the flute for "The Chieftans." We lucked out and found a table before the music started. We even got a treat that a girl in the audience was an Irish dancer. She danced a Jig for us. The music was fantastic. Around 11:30 we headed back to our room. The streets were crazy with drunk people because the music fest had just ended. We saw one guy get arrested! All in all a great day in Ireland.

Thursday, June 25
We slept a bit later than usual and got on the road headed south.

I have visited Glencar Lake I believe every time I have gone to Ireland, but never tire of it and especially the waterfall. This was the first time I had taken the footpath back down instead of the steps and we found a rag tree. With permission from the workers, the ...

... town. It was so cute and the idea that everyone knows everyone and relatives are nearby I find endearing. We visited Ashford Castle from 1200 AD which was just spectacular and exactly what I imagined. Huge, roaming parts of dark stone looking over gardens and a lake. It reminded me of the Castle I visited in Versailles, where I attended a wedding when I was 12. Even in the rain, we meandered arround and I was informed that many, many famous ...

... it approaching mid afternoon we had to concede defeat. We decided to escape the cities hustle and bustle this Friday afternoon, and set off along the coastal road with Galway Bay and the Aran Islands on our left, and the rolling hills of the Connemara with its wonderful farms and villages with their endless limestone walls on our right. We pass through the villages of Spiddal (An Spideal), Inverin (Indreabhan), and Rossaveal (Ros a Mhil) before we turn left ...

... 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 ...