We wanted to dabble in a little family
history research while there, and Ireland is a place very geared to doing this,
almost everywhere we went local history museums had a genealogist available to
talk to, or contacts for you. We spent
the first day walking around Dublin viewing all the sights and soaking up the
atmosphere. A walk through the old
Dublin area is a step back in time. We visited the Dubliner Museum which has
four floors: Prehistoric, Viking (they founded Dublin), and Medieval. The top floor was devoted to the methods and practices
of archeology.
Ireland maybe poor, but they know how to
eat well; as we traveled we found the lovely pubs with their warm and welcoming
atmosphere the best place for an evening meal.
Breakfasts, usually in the hotel or B&B of the night, were equally awesome. I fell in love with the wonderful black bread
served everywhere, with butter naturally, bad for the cholestoral and the
waistline, but very satisfying. I bought
the recipe home as a souvenir. Also
impressive as we traveled the length of Ireland, was the cleanliness, and
prettiness everywhere. The Irish are
obviously very house-proud. There were
civic flowers everywhere, but also every shop and business had hanging baskets,
private homes put tubs of flowers out on the footpath, and they weren’t stolen!
Our drive took us in a huge circle. Up through John’s ancestral area, where we
combed records and cemeteries, into Northern Ireland. No border control but different money,
language, road signs and probably rules if we did but know. We reached the
Giants Causeway,. The causeway is made up of many columns of basalt formed in
hexagonal shaped blocks piled in columns, the result of slowly cooling lava
flow. We turned left towards the Atlantic. (A wonderful overnight pub here “The
Smugglers Rest”), and drove along the coast. This drive is all picturesque, suffices to say we reached Derry,(still quite
Partisan if you know what I mean) then turned south making our way down the
west of Ireland viewing history in a parade of castles and stone circles,
churches, battle sites, and fishing villages, stone crosses and stunning scenery
all the way. I do mean stunning. We made our way around in a large circle to
end as we had set out, in Dublin. I
must mention the National Irish Horse Stud at Kildare, some of the world’s best are foaled here. We saw Vintage Crop, among others. This is worth a visit even if you aren’t into
horse breeding. There is a wonderful Japanese
Garden, and a replica of a Monastic hermitage in the Irish garden.
We also visited “Bru Na Boinne” which has a
magnificent visitor center as prelude to visiting New Grange prehistoric burial
mound (restored). This is a must see attraction, a huge burial mound with a
very narrow entrance passage, into which, once a year, the sun shines down and
into the chamber. This was thought to be a bone or ash depository, more for
worship than burial. In Kildare we based
ourselves at the Trim Castle Hotel, the dining room looked straight out at the
Castle. We added to our bulging luggage here with a few more souvenirs. We also recommend the Immigrant Museum in
Ross, and the site of the Battle of the Boynne; don’ bother with the Whisky
tour, or the Guinness Tour. View the
Book of Kells at Trinity College in Dublin but get there first thing in the morning.
Ireland is just so beautiful, hospitable, historic, and welcoming. It’s impossible to mention everything or even some of what we saw. You just have to go, see for yourself.
John and Kay Mooney
