Castles and Cliffs

This weekend we took off to the west side of Ireland to see the Cliffs of Moher. We started bright and early in Saturday morning at 5:30am and headed to Heuston station where we boarded a train to Limerick. It was a nice ride but we all nodded off for most of the trip. We loaded onto a coach and briefly toured Limerick. Limerck is on the river Shannon and was officially chartered as a city in 1197. From Limerick we headed out into the countryside and headed for Bunratty Castle. Bunratty Castle was built in approximately 1425 and was the stronghold of the O’Briens – kings and later Earls of Thomond. The castle has been nicely restored complete with 15^th and 16^th century furnishings. We were able to tour the entire castle from the towers to the dungeon. It was a very impressive place.

Outside the castle was a Folk village which gave us a real understanding of how common people (farmers, blacksmiths etc.) lived in 18^th century. All the buildings were relocated but are original. With thatch roofs, turf in the fire place and working farms with pigs and chickens it felt like we stepped back in time. We really enjoyed the area but wished we had much more time to investigate all there was to see.

After Bunratty we jumped back on the bus and drove out to the Cliffs of Moher. These cliffs tower 850 feet over the Atlantic and are an impressive site. From Moher it was on to lunch in the tiny costal town of Dolin, we ate in the Gus O’Conner Pub which was established in 1832. We continued along the Atlantic coast and past Galway Bay. Along the way the land was crisscrossed with rock fences that have stood for centuries. The walls were created with the rocks that were dug out of the ground so that the land could be prepared for grazing. The countryside was dotted with the remains of many castles and famine houses (old rock houses left as a reminder of the great potato famine of the 1800’s)

Back in Galway we boarded back onto the train for the long trip back to Dublin, as we passed through the countryside it’s easy to see why Ireland is called the Emerald Island, it’s green as far as you can see with stone walls, sheep and castles everywhere you look. Between signal problems and track work it took a few hours longer to get back so we ended a very long day at 11:30pm.

On Sunday we continued our search for a place to live and ended up in Malahide. What would we do there, well tour a castle of course. This castle one of the oldest in Ireland has a completely different look that Bunratty. Rather than cold stone walls Malahide castle is richly appointed with painted plaster walls, interesting paintings and ornate furnishings. Malahide castle has been occupied by the same family for 800 years and was only recently vacated (1975). Outside the castle is a huge park and the kids appreciated the time to run around after a weekend of site seeing. See a little more here.