So how was I to know that there are two Irelands? I quickly learned there are: The Republic of Ireland and its nearest neighbor, Northern Ireland. We visited the larger Republic of Ireland, an independent state covering the lower 80% of the island and not the six counties comprising Northern Ireland that surround Belfast and remain a part of England. The most important tourist sites are in the lower part, The Republic of Ireland.
We began our tour in the port city of Galway on the west coast at the base of the famed Galway Bay, that expanse of water forever immortalized by Bing Crosby. From there we circumnavigated the island ending our visit in the largest of its cities, Dublin. We liked the smaller cities and the beautiful countryside best, especially the never-ending parade of small farms and expansive pasture fields. There are surely more sheep and cows in Ireland than people.
Galway was an engaging small city that seemed big with its hundreds of tiny shops and historical venues. Many of the storefronts were original, medieval buildings made from stone. The most interesting was the front of a house owned by a Lord Mayor of the city several hundred years ago. The Lord Mayor gained renown after he used the upper window of his house as a gallows to hang a criminal accused of murdering a Spanish sailor. Since the Spanish were the most important trading partners of the Galway Irish, the Lord Mayor was not about to let anything interfere with continued success in trade. Besides, he said, he loved justice and the Spanish demanded retribution.
The problem was that Galway’s executioner refused to carry out the hanging. The reason: the criminal was the Lord Mayor’s son. The Lord Mayor decided that if the Public Executioner wouldn’t do his job, he would perform the task himself. He did and the deed was forever recorded in history. The name of the dedicated politician who executed his own son by hanging – Lord Mayor Lynch.
Galway’s Cathedral (in a town of 15,000 people)
After Galway we visited the region of Connemara to the north and learned about the Irish potato famine of 1845. The potato blight and the actions of the wealthy landowners resulted in the deaths of a million Irish people and the immigration of another million. A large share of the immigrants came to the U.S. in their desperate search for food. One of the moving sites that we saw was a monument to U.S. citizens who collected money to support the Irish during the famine and emigration. The U. S. citizens who helped were identified, they were Choctaw Indians who had endured similar, unspeakable hardships as a result of eviction from their native lands some years earlier.
Sculpture Commemorating Irish Famine
One of the most beautiful spots we visited was Kylemore Abbey, a former castle owned by a wealthy Irishman who spent a fortune for his wife. Sadly, she died at age 46 shortly after the castle was completed. The castle was fronted by a lake and surrounded by beautiful gardens. Interestingly, the construction of the castle was one of the few projects completed during the famine and the owner helped provide work for many hungry Irish during the several years of its construction.
Kylemore Abbey
Of course, no visit to Ireland would be complete without a visit to Blarney Castle. I decided not to kiss the Blarney stone as I preferred to avoid the slobber, lipstick and drool from the thousand or who bent over backwards to kiss the stone for its gift of blarney. Marjorie said I have enough already.
Blarney Castle
One of the best things about our tour was our tour director who gave us a running commentary on Ireland during our bus rides. He explained current events and noted that Ireland has the best government money could buy. He said the Irish are easily confused. For instance, you can confuse an Irishman by leaning two shovels against a wall and telling him to take his pick. He made our tour convenient also. He directed the bus driver to park anywhere after turning on his “park-anywhere flashers.”
The Dingle Peninsula in the southwest of the island offers the most attractive scenery anywhere as the tall cliffs and rolling hillsides frame the ocean with all its colors.
Pasture lands along the coastal area of Dingle
Another beautiful spot on the island is the famed county and national park named Kilarney. (Numerous sites in North America have been named after Kilarney.) Kilarney hosts three lakes and a river and is surrounded by mountains. It is not nearly as large as some of our national parks but it is impressive for a small island nation that is the approximate size of Indiana.
Looking Down at one of Kilarney’s Lakes
U.S. history is inextricable linked to Ireland’s past because of the huge numbers of Irish immigrants to our shores. Many of our political leaders, sports figures, entertainers and other notorious folks are of Irish descent. Many Irish expressions and place names have come into our language. When we visited the village of Cove (the last port of call of Titanic and Lusitania) we learned that a famous warrior, Strongbow, traveled there to provide support during a rebellion. Strongbow told his Irish hosts that he would arrive by sea at one of two nearby landing sites. “I’ll land either by Hook or by Crook,” he said, referring to nearby landing sites.
Memorial to Titanic Passengers at Cove
One of the noted Irish sites that we didn’t visit were the Aran Islands off the coast. (One of our party was a man who writes for a fishing magazine. He visited the islands during our tour to go fishing.) The islands are noted for fishing and for the wonderful wool sweaters that originated from there. The story of the sweaters is worth repeating.The islanders who lived on the islands have always been ocean-going fishermen who ventured out in small boats. Like many coastal areas, the sea can become rough in a matter of minutes and being caught out in small boats can be life threatening. Bodies lost at sea were sometimes recovered months later with only a vestige of the original flesh remaining. The wives solved the problem of identifying remains by sending their husbands out with distinctive sweaters that were knitted with unique designs. Nowadays, the sweaters are knitted for tourists like me that show off the skills of the knitters.
Our tour ended at Dublin, capital city of The Republic of Ireland. Dublin had less to offer me than the other towns since it is like other modern cities around the globe with the possible exception that it seems to have more pubs per square mile than other places.
And of course they are all wonderful with their emphasis on old furnishings, old buildings and old music played by musicians who seem to enjoy playing. The beer isn’t bad either.
And of course they are all wonderful with their emphasis on old furnishings, old buildings and old music played by musicians who seem to enjoy playing. The beer isn’t bad either.
Guinness Tanker Heading into the Brewery for a Refill – we were following.
We liked Ireland and the folks there seemed to like us. We recommend it as a vacation spot.Grandpa Bill
