Not “Craggy Island from Father Ted” but Fenit

We caught the ferry from Cairnryan in Scotland to Belfast, Northern Ireland on 17 August 2018.

This was our fourth ferry journey of the trip and we had really found our sea legs.

These party bikes can be found in many European cities. Thought this one in Northern Ireland had the right bit of “craic”? (2nd from left)

It was a drizzly Belfast day, Rob still recovering from a cold, which meant we didn’t feel up to our usual “walking tour” so we opted for “Paddy Campbell’s Famous Belfast Black Cab Tour”. Again this was recommended by the concierge at our hotel. There are real pluses to staying in hotels rather than Airbnb. Often if you are only in a city for a short time the concierge is the best source of local information and sometimes the only local you get to meet.

Matthew was our cab driver and tour guide. Lovely man with the classic Belfast accent i.e. the rising terminal at at the end of sentences. This tour takes you to see the murals on both the Catholic and Protestant sides of The Wall. It is deeply sad and disturbing. Especially when you realise that school children walk past these portraits every day just reinforcing old wounds and a tragic recent history.

Murals of men in Balaclavas with machine guns part of day to day life. There is a primary school nearby.

“The Wall” dividing Catholics and Protestants. The gate is still locked every night at 6.30 and reopened in the morning.

It is 20 years since the Good Friday Peace Agreement. Now Brexit is throwing long-standing assumptions into doubt.

Derry

We picked up our hire care and drove to Londonderry or Derry depending on your politics.

Again there is no escaping politics and religion in Derry. More murals.

We also arrived the day after a firebomb attack in the Bogside area of Derry which came as part of the bonfires marking the Catholic Feast of the Assumption. Here’s a news report of the event:

POLITICAL LEADERS HAVE have condemned a bonfire in the Bogside area of Derry City on Wednesday night which displayed the names of several murdered policemen.

The police service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) says that it is treating the incident as a hate crime.

Political leaders this afternoon have condemned the act.

Rob in particular was pretty keen to head south to the Republic of Ireland.

It really is that green.

But we were not far away from another site of tragedy at Mullaghmore

Classiebawn Castle Mullaghmore County Sligo The former Mountbatten Summer residence. It was in these waters that Lord Mountbatten, his 14 year old grandson and 2 others were murdered by an IRA bomb in August 1979

We’re in Yeats country Strandhill on the Wild Atlantic Way

**The wind has bundled up the clouds high over Knocknarea,**
**And thrown the thunder on the stones for all that Maeve can say.**
**Angers that are like noisy clouds have set our hearts abeat;**
**But we have all bent low and low and kissed the quiet feet**
**Of Cathleen, the daughter of Houlihan.** W. B Yeats

Some light relief, a dollop of Irish philosophy?

Galway

This pub has a plaque “A grateful Cromwell bestowed this building 1649” . The story goes Cromwell asked for volunteers to wield the axe to behead Charles I of England and the executioner came from Galway.

Galway is a beautiful Irish city on the West Coast. The town centre is bustling and full of pubs with music. The streets are also filled with world class buskers, but it poured the night we were there so we missed a great Saturday night.

As left Galway we were told it was a big day in Sport as it was the All Ireland National Hurling Championship being fought between Galway and Limerick.

As we arrived in Limerick you could feel the vibe.

**King John’s Castle** (Irish: *Caisleán Luimnigh*) is a 13th-century castle located on King’s Island in Limerick, Ireland, next to the River Shannon.^[1] Although the site dates back to 922 when the Vikings lived on the Island, the castle itself was built on the orders of King John in 1200. One of the best preserved Norman castles in Europe, The remains of a Vikingsettlement were uncovered during archaeological excavations at the site in 1900.

Tralee

We had booked a couple of nights at Barrow Lodge near Tralee.

When we arrived the gorgeous family who ran the Bed and Breakfast asked if it was okay that we watched the final minutes of the game. Limerick WON – first time since 1973 and was described as one of the best championships ever.

Hurling is described as the fastest game in the world.

Niall and Clodagh (who runs Barrow Lodge, highly recommended) warning Rob about Harley’s slobber action. We loved Harley, we loved the whole family.

Rose of Tralee

We also arrived during the Rose of Tralee Festival.

The Rose of Tralee is an annual festival that sees women of Irish descent from all over the world compete for a chance to be crowned Rose of Tralee.

Cities from across Ireland, Europe, Australia, North America and Asia select representatives and these young women then travel to Ireland for the competition, which is televised over two nights on RTÉ One.

Rule number one: you must never call it a beauty pageant. Rose of Tralee organisers go to great pains every year to emphasise that it’s not a beauty pageant, preferring instead to market it as a “celebration of women”.

In some ways, they are correct. It’s not quite a beauty pageant, although participants are often conventionally good-looking and expected to wear glamorous dresses and heels. (Nothing too revealing, though. Certainly no cleavage.) But it’s not the case that the most beautiful girl wins. Instead it’s usually the loveliest, most high-achieving non-drinker that reaps the rewards.

Imagine a Debs without the alcohol or if Miss World was run by Daniel O’Donnell. Now you’re on the right track.

There’s a Melbourne and Sydney Rose, none from Canberra?

Waterford

Rob’s great grandfather Clampett came from Waterford. He was a protestant who went to study Medicine at Kings College in Dublin and later became a Anglican rector in Adelaide.

Waterford is one of Ireland’s oldest cities and was founded by the Vikings in the 9th century. It was taken over by the Anglo-Norman invaders of the 12th century and was one of the most important Old English centres in medieval Ireland. Since then it has seen sieges, invasions, famine and economic highs and lows. It remains the foremost city in Ireland’s south-east.