Bawnboy

Trip Start Jul 25, 2008
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23
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Trip End Sep 18, 2008


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Saturday, August 16, 2008

Still in inclement weather we drove to Londonderry also known as Derry.  We were told last night that you reveal your religion depending on what name you call the city.  Derry is from old Irish Doire a reference to the oak grove, whereas Londonderry is the name granted during the seventeenth century Plantation of Ulster (Protestant King James worried about the catholic influences all around him, decided to plant protestants from Scotland in Ulster - "The Troubles" go back a long time!!! - and even further).  Built to defend the Plantation city from marauding Irish chieftains, Derry's walls were completed in 1618.   Fought over and besieged many times by the Irish and the English, the city's four hundred year old walls complete with 24 cannons are among the best preserved in Europe.  They are a mile in circumference and 26 feet high.  Like Belfast, this city has seen more than its fair share of turmoil - shaped by events both ancient and contemporary, but unlike Belfast it seemed more depressing - that could have been the rain Thank Heavens
Thank Heavens
 .   However we saw the symbolic "Hands Across the Divide" Statue a reminder to both communities to reach out the hand of friendship.  We followed the River Foyle and down through Ormagh - a lot of potatoes growing here but fields are boggy because of the rain, continued on to Ballyconnell and then to Bawnboy to our accommodation "The Keepers Arms" formerly a stone coaching house, that has been restored. It too was a real treasure of a country pub - friendly and plenty of locals willing to have a chat.   Bawnboy is situated in the heart of West Cavan, a Lakeland area of unspoilt natural beauty, steeped in ancient history and renowned for its superb coarse fishing, peace and tranquility.   Bawn derives from "cattle -fort" in Irish.  The Shannon River begins its 400 kilometer journey to the Atlantic Ocean here and we drove to where the Shannon- Erne waterway winds its path close to Bawnboy.  There seemed to be a lot of local equestrian centres.  We enjoyed dinner talking to another farmer and watching the antics of a "stag party" - same all over the world!! 
 
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