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Photos Bridge over the Boyne. Newgrange from the visitor centre. Ir was do good to see these famous sites en route to Drogheda - so the exploration continues! Now in Drogheda, a town we expected to investigate looking at the Cromwellian times and this museum will, be our last visit tomorrow as we wait for our car to the airport. Today we returned the car to the airport and then took the bus into the city for the day. We walked around the familiar area of Trinity college and Gravton Street to St Stephens green, a beautiful park in the heart of a busy city. It has an interesting history for its role in the 1916 rising, all carefully told in story boards along the paths. For lunch we found Marco Pierre White's restaurant. What a great find, such a beautiful interior and delicious meal. Afterwards, we had a quick visit to the new Irish Immigration museum - so interesting. The overriding message that out of oppression, famne, poverty and misery there were remarka...
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The Boyne Valley

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On the way to Drogheda we travelled through the famous valley with its history, starting from Newgrange archaeological site to the site if the famous battle. Some pics!
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More photos!

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Walking through Enniskillen we saw this enterprising initiative.  What a clever idea! The following day, we walked to Castle Coole a NT property along the lake. The family history told by the guide covered the period when the merchants from Ayreshire were given the Maguire lands, acquired thousands of acres over the centuries and established themselves as a ruling family in the area. One of them was actually govenor of NSW Lord Somerset Belmore!!  Castle and park.. When we returned to our cottage we met the farm carer from the farm up the road and asked her about the amazing goats we saw at times roaming around the land beside the cottage. She invited us yo visit the farm and see her 'babies" - geese, goats and rare breed sheep.
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Continuing the last week - site is playing up again with the photos!

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On Tuesday we visited the porcelain factory at Belleek, some beautiful pieces both traditional and modern. We continued our drive along the djores of Loughborough Erne into Enniskillen where we visited the Castle and museum. This is the home of the Enniskilling fusiliers and there was an extensive presentation of the history of the regiment. There were tableaux detailing the social and political history not ignoring the dispossession of the Gaelic families in the late 16th century and their lands granted to Presbyterian merchants from Scotland, followed by the eradication of the old Gaelic order and the Flight of the Earls' from Ireland to Spain and France in 1608! And of course, the lead up to the Battle of the Boyne.  Enniskillen castle and river Erne below.
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Last Week July 14 -19!

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We rather intended this week to be a wind down after almost 10 weeks of a very active trip, but it was not so as each new area visited presented more possibilities to explore and enjoy.  The warm weather ended on the day we left Kilcolgan and we encountered heavy rain during the drive north towards Sligo.  We still managed to see pretty villages and landscapes and the sun finally came our as we left Sligo and drove past Benbulben towards the lake at Glencar, features in the Yeats Country literary tours, We crossed the border to NI at Belcoo 15 minutes drive west of Enniskillen.  Our Airbnb cottage was delightful, located in a pretty garden, it was spacious and beautifully presented.
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More photos!

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The site is playing up so there will be separate posts - maybe! On the way to the big top- Claddagh basin and Spanish walk behind. Moon rise over Galway Bay from our apartment.  Coole Park Lake- no wild swans to write a poem about!! The Autograph tree at Coole. Took the dog for a walk and swim and we needed some cooling too - at Moran's on the Weir, started coming here in my later Uni days and it's still as popular as ever with a famous restaurant too. Walking on the south side of the weir on Sunday morning.   Kilcolgan castle, now a luxury accommodation and wedding venue. The ruins of the home of the St George family, wealthy and unpopular land owners of the area in the 18th and 19th centuries.  The house was burnt down by the IRA in 1922 as it was believed to be housing Black and Tans after the family left. Apparently, this ruin has featured in a nu ber of feature films....
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Final days in Galway - 9th - 14th July.

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Over the last 5 days in Salthill and Galway, the weather got steadily warmer peaking at 31 on the day before we left. The promised rains thunder storms came over night on Sunday and the 'normal' Irish summer weather prevailed,  We made the most of the warmth with many long walks through the city, along the shore,  and into the countryside.  We even went swimming in relatively warm water, my first time in the bay in over 50 years!! Mattie took us to a screening of Irish short films made in and  pertaining to Galway and the West. It was a very 'arty' affair as it was the premier screening and a number of the writers and film makers introduced their work. We thoroughly enjoyed the films, very skilful cinematography and some provoking and topical issues. The film festival is quite famous in Ireland and beyond with over a hundred films being shown in many venues in the city over the week - all heavily subscribed. The Arts festival started on the Friday so Mattie took us t...
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