Road Trip, Part 2
Trip Start
Jun 26, 2007
1
9
12
Trip End
Aug 01, 2007
County Mayo,
Ireland
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Welcome sign
We sat out Sunday with goals of driving through Connemara and County Mayo (it is the county directly north of County Galway). We didn't realize that we would first hit County Mayo, then Connemara, then County Mayo again, and back to County Galway. What a time! Our first stop was the city of Cong, which its claim to fame is where John Ford filmed the iconic film, The Quiet Man. The town takes pride in this fact: there is a Quiet Man heritage center, Quiet Man cafe, and many more. It was a cute little village. Our next stop was right outside of Cong and it was the Ballymacgibbon Cairn.
Ballymacgibbon Cairn
A cairn is an artifical pile of stones, stacked in a cone shape, usually noting a burial site or monument to something significant. We were expecting a small one, but it was huge! Off a beaten, single track road it was hidden behind overgrown trees and big stone walls. According to legend, it was the site of the Celtic battle of Moytura. We hopped the stone wall, keeping our eye out for a farmer or his cow, and climbed over moss covered stones to get to the top, where we proceded to get rained on! Luckly, we had our rain jackets. Not to far away in another field was a ruined house we went to explore. Much to my dismay, we had to "hop" two fences. For someone who never would (or couldn't) climb fences as a kid, I am sure getting my fill of them now! But climb them I did--without injuring myself! And the ruins, were really neat to explore. It looked like the ruins of an old farm, complete with the large house and smaller houses and barns.
Ruin farm
On one side of the site was plowed land, the other sheep grazing. I don't think the sheep were very happy --they kept yelling at us. We got back to the car, (it is still raining, by the way) and proceeded to back our way out to the main road. But, the car got stuck in the mud! We kept calm (maybe) and between my pushing and Allison's driving, we finally got it out. Although, I thought that we were going to have to get a farmer to help us, a tow truck, or go tromping for leaves to make a platform of some sort! Back on the road, we set out for Croagh Patrick. It is a very large pilgrammage mountain, that is according to legend is where St. Patrick where he fasted for 40 days and where he drove out Ireland's snakes. Every year at the end of July, tons of pilgrams climb the steep mountain to the top.
Croagh Patrick
A true pilgram does it barefoot, too! It really was beautiful. Directly across that was the sea and Clare Island. Clare Island is where the famous pirate queen, Grace O'Malley lived. She is a really fascinating historical figure and the Irish love her! Mayo is beautiful: gorgeous coast lines, remote loughs, green hills, and charming villages.
Coast
Coming home we got lost several times. A major bridge had collapsed last week (a huge controversary and has been in the news a lot) and this caused us to take an alternate route through the mountains and tiny, tiny roads. But it was worth it! All in all, this weekend has been an amazing experience for me. I really got to experience the Ireland I have always wanted, on my own time, and in a car. Also, I am so proud of Allison and me. We did great following a road map for a country that is not known for their accurate or detailed road signs!
80 mph! Just kidding
Danielle the Navigator! I have made some memories that will last a lifetime! 
