Our travels in Ireland revealed an ancient and sometimes rugged land.
From Cork, we went to Killarny for a couple of nights as we travelled around the Ring of Kerry and Dingle. The Ring of Kerry is a famous circular scenic route around the Iveragh Peninsula. Mountain and maritime scenery is a constant companion. The land appears harsher to make a living from.
At Killorglin entrance is a monument of a goat. Our bus driver guide explains the people have a yearly festival, parade and coronation ceremony of King Puck, the goat. They go up the mountain to catch a goat, perhaps as part of a contest. Our guide commented it doesn't take much for the Irish to find an excuse for a party.
We saw remains of houses that had been abandoned during the 1850s famine. A couple of people were cutting up the turf and drying it for fuel, which is illegal. When I saw it up close, it reminded me of dried wood, but also dark like used oil. We met three trucks hauling lumber that I think was from evergreen trees that have been previously planted. Other deciduous trees that grow in Ireland are birch, alder, beech, ash, willow, yew and oak. There are miles and miles of beautiful fuchsia hedges. Poverty was a little more obvious than where we had been so far.
The roof of the Skellig Tour Centre has four convex shaped lengths covered in grass. Here we were finally served lamb stew for lunch at the Skellig Island Monastery Tour Centre.
This monastery island ruin is miles from the mainland, so we saw only a video of it. The sheer cliff rising out of the ocean with a little settlement on top made me wonder if women didn't have more common sense. The stone steps climbing to the top would have been dangerous and slippery to make. It's estimated 12 monks lived there, living off of duck eggs, birds and whatever vegetation they could grow. It is amazing to me what the monks of the previous centuries did to get closer to God and away from the lures of the world, doing without material goods, suffering and isolation.
The next day we drove around the Dingle peninsula. Kilarney has many trees in the scattered valleys, but depending on which side of the peninsula you were on made a difference. There is more vegetation on the Dingle than the Ring of Kerry. Dingle also looks better economically.
On the north side of the peninsula there are hardly any trees. We visited the beehive monastery at Gallarus Oratory. These stone monasteries are over 1,000 years old, perfectly smooth both inside and outside in the shape of a beehive with only one door and a window. Each one is designed for a single person's isolation.
We also see white sandy beaches, more sheep and larger farms. In the morning we attended mass in Kilarney. The priest in welcoming visitors comments, "Ireland has no solar eclipses, but we enjoy 'solar revelations' once in a while." This comment was a reaction to the cloudy rainy weather Ireland had been experiencing. Apparently they received as much rain in June's average rainfall in the first two weeks of June.
The Cliffs of Moher extend five miles. Because of climate change, these cliffs are greatly affected. The power of wind and water causes extensive erosion. The day we were there, the wind was so strong at the top of the cliff that it nearly blew me away. Because of the limestone, rivers can disappear in the cracks of rocks, some even wash out tunnels and caves. The top may be unstable especially beside the edge. Some tough little plants grow on the top despite the limestone, which is often barren. Where there is sandstone there is tree cover vegetation.
There are many stone and hawthorne hedges in this area. I wondered what kept the cattle and sheep from crossing through the hedges. I assume that over the centuries plants have completely covered the stone: vines. It didn't look like the cattle had eaten up along the stone wall either.
We arrived at Galway early enough to check out the 'high' (main) street. It is filled with shops, pubs and restaurants. I have yet to see a grocery store as we know them. In a confectionary store, a half dozen eggs sold for $2.60 E (about $3).
From Galway we visit the Aran Islands which is composed of three islands. The largest, six by nine miles, has a population of 800 with the main industries being tourism, sheep raising and fishing. Our bus driver/guide drove us to the ferry crossing. This boat was small in that it carried only 200 passengers. The waves were big enough to make me somewhat seasick.
We were told there was 30,000 miles of stone fences - whether this was all of Ireland or just the Aran Island was never clarified. Also 3,000 cattle are sold over a year.
Our first stop was a local pub for coffee and scones. Apparently the Irish eat at 1 p.m. rather than noon. The roads were so narrow a large bus could not have attempted travelling. I certainly wouldn't want to meet anyone driving on these roads either as there are the low stone walls on both sides. They looked like one-way streets. When we did meet a vehicle, the 12-passenger van would stop and pullover.
We stopped at the Seven Churches monastery ruins, but due to rain, stayed in the van. Many of the little fields appear empty, which made me think the farmers are getting larger or abandoning their land for tourism jobs. How can you tell I was missing the farm? We saw two to three mid-size horses, donkeys and one rooster at the pub. We saw two shrines in passing the countryside. The beach we saw was white-grey sand.
On a Sunday we travelled to Knock, which boasts of an international airport. The reason is the presence of the Knock Shrine which attracts 1.5 million visitors each year. It is the equivalent of Lourdes in France, Fatima of Portugal or Medjegorie of Yugoslavia. An apparition of the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and St. John was witnessed on the south gable of the parish church of St. John the Baptist on Aug. 21, 1879 by 15 local people. Ever since, Knock as been a place of pilgrimage.
Nearby is the Basilica of Our Lady built in 1976 and is the largest church in Ireland. The grounds surrounding the church have developed to include museum, book stores and hotel. Despite all the people in attendance that day, it was a quiet, restful holy place. The Irish are devoted people.
Over our travels throughout Ireland, I only saw four wind turbines, two of which were inland. Our driver guide says there are a lot more in Northern Ireland.
We saw few potato fields. Apparently potatoes are imported from Greece. I saw one flax crop and a few corn fields planted in rows with plastic strips.
Simon tells us a three-bedroom house was selling at $235,000 E to $270,000 E. Some people got mortgages as much as $300,000E. Then the market depression set in and people can't sell those houses now for $150,000. Many people are suffering. When I asked Simon about the suicide rate since, he only knows that there have been more, and added, "You saw the Cliffs of Moher, right?" One fellow abandoned his house and went to Australia. That day the gas was $1.59 and $1.48 for diesel.
Our last day in Ireland, we travelled from Galway to Kingscourt, cutting across country to be closer to Dublin Airport. The fields are larger (double or triple size) than what we have seen so far. The fences have changed from stone to vines, trees and shrubs. We see more cattle and round bales in black plastic. The farmers appear wealthier. I saw one small blue tractor and one large tractor like a Cat.
En route we visited an old distillery. I'm not sure when it started up, but its boiler blew up in 1866. John Locke, the owner, was devastated. Because the workers had been treated so well, they decided to buy a boiler for him. From 1900 to 1954, there was a decline in sales except during the First and Second World Wars. The number of distilleries dropped from 26 in 1924 to vie in 1937 indicating a stark inter-war trend. Locke produced 190,000 gallons per year. Not modernized, high taxation, and market forces hastened the decline. Economic depression reduced demand and it closed in 1957.
We travelled 3,700 kilometres, with much of the scenery covered in fuchsia hedges. We learned a little of the Irish language- balley means town, lee is river, Kil means castle and coraigh is cork.
Cabra is a castle converted to a hotel and golf course out in the country three miles from Kingscourt town. The interior of the castle is somewhat modernized. It has bathrooms, but most was kept in the castle style, even the old style keys. There was no elevator, but many stairs and hallways.
All in all, it was a lovely trip, but the Congress and Knock Shrine were the highlights for me.
