The Olde Railway Westport

... town of Castlebar and into Newport where we stopped at Kelly&#8217;s Kitchen for lunch. Breakfast was still being served, so we had omelets and tea. We met a young priest who had gotten his Master&#8217;s degree at Fordham and he wished us safe journey when he left.<br><br>We drove on until we crossed the bridge to Achill (ACK-ill) Island. On our way to the information center we saw a sign for the Atlantic Drive and took that instead. We drove through little towns and on ...

... 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...<br><br>Me and my group ...

2nd on our list was Turlough Park,<br><br>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 ...

... priests of this church have never stopped preaching. They would tell the king that they had shut it down, but every day they still held mass. When The church was in too poor shape to use they held mass in the fields. The priests even had to dress like women at times to go out and bless graves and such in public...now thats perseverance! It was a good first stop on our weekend journey<br> <br> click on the pictures to view captions about them!

Guess who's is here??? The positive thinker...ME..sister Katie...I get clean clothes tonight..although I can honestly say I wish it had been Dad's that had arrived.. I can wear Care's clothes and he looks funny in them.<br><br>Great time today...I am definitely going to look into being adopted by the Irish..Love THEM.<br><br>Got to hear Irish music and see the countryside. Eating an drinking our way...just like the Irish have done for years..all 3 sisters tried ...

... 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.<br>I've informed the hotel of my late arrival.<br>I've got (some) foreign cash.<br>My electrical batteries are charged.<br>My print outs are in a waterproof folder in a waterproof bag.<br><br><br>Agh!<br>

... and ran back to the bus. The next stop was the ruins of Trim Castle, which was quite lovely even in the rain. Ireland is a small country (as you all know) and so the tours of Ireland do not have to drive all day non-stop to arrive at their destination -- the destinations are all along the way. Before lunch we were already making our third stop, which was at Locke's Whiskey Distillery, apparently the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world. We received a tour of the facility ...

(Originally published at http://www.troysgonewalkabout.com)<br>< 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 ...

... village, sitting at the mouth of the harbor with the Maam Turk Mountains forming a spectacular backdrop behind the village, and the Killary Fjord harbor and hills looking into the town's pubs shops and homes. I could spend a few days here. We drive north on 59 stopping for a quick look at Aaslageah Falls, a wide waterfall with ...