There wasn’t much of a plan. We got a car and a map and we knew where to be each night. The routes we took were spontaneous.

I must say, driving in Ireland is a unique adventure (although not nearly as adventurous as downtown Chicago during rush hour). The driver is on the right side of the car and you drive in the left lane. There are roundabouts at just about every intersection.

One of my favourite sights were the rock walls – everywhere. They followed the lines of the hills. One gentleman told us that after the invasion of Cromwell, they needed to distract the people. There were plenty of rocks; enough to keep everyone busy for a long time. So, Cromwell had them build walls.

As much as I loved the walls in the fields, I wasn’t as fond of the ones lining the roads.

 

The roads are narrow and generally have either a stone wall or hedge on at least one side of it. It made driving even more of an adventure!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everywhere we went, there was a picture waiting to be taken: hills and cliffs, rock walls and narrow streets, churches and cemeteries,  the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea. We traveled through dozens of quaint villages, and spent time in Dublin and Galway. Every moment was a wonderful memory!

We stopped in Dromin (north of Dublin) to visit St. Finnian’s Church and cemetery. Early headstones dating back to 1776.

Kingscourt, County Cavan, is a quaint town with dog poop on all of the sidewalks on main street. I know it sounds bad, but for some reason, I found it really charming. It made me think of (and love) their priorities. Don’t ask!

Another surprise on main street (this one pleasant) was Cartlan’s, a traditional, thatched pub.

I even smiled when I saw the trashcans and fire hydrants.

You can’t drive in Ireland without seeing sheep, right? We noticed a farmer herding his sheep into stone pens and stopped to chat. He said the sheep were going to market and would fetch 100 Euros a head.

Surprises like Nugent Castle and St. Mary’s in Delvin are common when driving through Ireland. There’s a little history everywhere!

We crawled around the building remains and wandered the cemetery.  The headstones were amazing! Some I’ve never seen the likes of before. Large slabs laying flat on the ground. Graves of Kings and commoners.

Although they speak English, there are still differences. A sign in front of a local store advertised Washed Roosters. We wondered what they were and if dirty roosters were cheaper. (Just a note, we found out later that roosters are Irish potatoes.)

We came upon a small town, Rathowen, and stopped. Buildings were quaint with moss on the roofs and we noticed, again, it’s not uncommon for the doorknobs to be in the center of the door.

We continued towards Carrick-on-Shannon, and passed a huge, wonderful building, St. Lorman Psychiatric Hospital. We chatted with Ray Noble, the patient advocate at St. Lorman’s. He told us that the hospital had been condemned but 15 patients remain. St. Lorman’s, built in 1855, was Victorian and “listed” so it couldn’t be torn down. If someone were to renovate, they would have to use materials exactly like the original.

“In 1963, Roscommon veterans of the Black and Tan and Free State Wars erected a memorial monument … dedicated to the memory of their comrades who fell…” — excerpt from 11sixtynine, An award-nominated Irish blog

In Ballyfarnon, we visited the graves of Charles McManus, M James Ly, Edward King-Tenison and the famous Turlough O’Carolan, a blind Irish harpist, composer and singer. He loved Irish whiskey, and as he lay dying, he called for one last drink. It’s said his dying words were “the drink and I have been friends for so long, it would be a pity for me to leave without one last kiss.” His grave is covered in coins, as if people are still paying him for his songs.

We said our prayers and crawled under the healing stone at St. Lassiers. All of our backs were great the whole trip!

Our walks surprised us even more then our car rides. We’d find scenes that are probably featured on postcards!

Hidden behind these quaint treasures, we found a circle of stones. It’s interesting that at the center of the circle, you could feel vibrations from the ground, coming up through your feet. Even more interesting was the fact that in the center of the circle, there were hundreds of frogs but none outside of the circle.

Next stop, the pyramid. No, we’re not confused. There really is a pyramid in Kinnitty. In the 1800’s, Lt. Col Richard Wesley Bernard returned from a trip to Egypt and had the pyramid built as a tomb for his family. It’s an exact replica of the Pyramid of Cheop in Egypt.

Rich with history, beautiful beyond imagining, the trip was filled with surprises, beauty and welcoming smiles all along the way.