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<\/a><\/p>\nWe rushed them into the car and drove three hours to a pub 30 mins outside of Sligo, called the Beach Bar.\u00a0 It was dark by the time we got there, but the beer was cold.\u00a0 We woke up to a beautiful beach view and a full Irish breakfast (eggs, sausage, bacon, beans, grilled tomato, sauteed mushrooms, and all you can eat toast).\u00a0 We got a walk in on the beach, then spent the day exploring Fermanagh (the land of Ramona’s grandfather). We found some good Irish weather (rainy and sunny all at once), and an Irish traffic jam.<\/p>\n
We visited Castle Caldwell then went out to Boa Island and explored a cemetery and had a picnic near the ferry to Lusty Beg Island.\u00a0 I took a selfie with a cool stone man at the cemetery.<\/p>\n After a visit to a stone circle, we were off to our destination in Donegal, Glencolumbkille.\u00a0 We stayed two nights at Roarty’s Bar<\/a>.\u00a0 We filled the time with beautiful beach walks, a hike at the Slieve League cliffs, and perhaps a few pints and games of Quirkle.\u00a0 There is an Irish folk music school in town, so there was wonderful traditional music both nights at Roarty’s.\u00a0 Ramona might have even gotten her dance on.<\/p>\n Next, we drove up the coast and east across the heart of Donegal to Rathmullen.\u00a0 Bret and my favorite Irish craft Brewery, Kinnegar<\/a>, is in Rathmullen.\u00a0 We were hoping to visit the brewery and sample some of their goods, but we missed the visiting days and hours.\u00a0 We stayed a really lovely B and B, the Glenalla Lodge<\/a>.\u00a0 It was in the middle of The next day, we took the scenic route back toward Glenveagh National Park and had a hike out to the Astaleen waterfall in the Derryveagh mountains and visited the lovely Glenveagh Castle.<\/p>\n That night, we stayed at the Lagoon<\/a> outside of Kilmacrenan.\u00a0 It was an interesting place…\u00a0 a loud, swearing drunk caused a bit of a scene and we chatted up with a family of Americans who were celebrating Dad’s birthday.\u00a0 Not our favorite spot, but it was a place to stay with good food, cheap red wine, and eventually a warm shower.<\/p>\n At the suggestion of our new American friends, we ventured north to Dunfanaghy before we started the long haul south.\u00a0 It was a cute town with a lovely harbor and a spectacular beach.<\/p>\n We stopped at a really neat megolithic cemetery outside of Sligo called Carrowmore.\u00a0 There are close to 50 tombs at the site that are almost 5000 years old, with a large central passage tomb that all the others are directed towards.\u00a0 Luckily, the site was saved from becoming a dump in the late 1980s by some concerned citizens and it is now a historic site with a visitor’s center and everything.<\/p>\n Our stop for the evening was Fallon’s b&b<\/a> in Kinvarra.\u00a0 This was my second trip to Kinvarra, no room at the strange Rowen’s this time though.\u00a0 Fallon’s was a nice substitute though and the breakfast was yummy.\u00a0 Kinvarra is a cute town with a well kept castle.\u00a0 We explored the castle the following morning, then headed on towards the Burren.<\/p>\n After we visited the only bean to bar chocolate factory<\/a> in the Burren area, we had a nice hike in the windy, cloudy weather and managed to avoid more than a sprinkle.\u00a0 The Burren is a small area (250 sq km) of Karst landscape (made up mostly of carbonate rocks, limestone and dolomite).\u00a0 The area was a tropical reef 350 million years ago and now supports a grassland with an incredible diversity of plants and animals.\u00a0 Over 70% of Ireland 900 native plant species can be found in this small area!\u00a0 In addition, the area has a long history of human settlement and there are still many megolithic structures, celtic high crosses, stone forts, and an early 13th century monastery.\u00a0 Wow, it was pretty incredible.<\/p>\n The day was just getting started, however!\u00a0 Next stop was the Cliffs of Moher (the Cliffs of Insanity from the Princess Bride).\u00a0 I forgot to bring my camera, but I am sure Bret will add some great photos!\u00a0 We had a nice time walking the cliffs, but we couldn’t avoid the rain this go around and the wind was very strong.\u00a0 The cliff are pretty awe-inspiring.\u00a0 From there, we hit the road back to Cork City for a few days in the home town.<\/p>\n Bret had to head back to work the next morning, but the rest of us took it easy for the next two days.\u00a0 We did a little exploring and forest walking and perhaps some shopping.\u00a0 Friday night we watched a hurling match in the rain at the local St. Finbarr’s Gaelic Sports Club.<\/p>\n By the weekend, we were ready to hit the road again.\u00a0 We drove out to the Beara peninsula.\u00a0 First stop, a little shopping at the woolen mills in Glengariff.\u00a0 Then we checked in at the hostel, The Hungry Hill Lodge, and found a delicious lunch in Castletownbere at the Copper Kettle.\u00a0 In the afternoon, we took a cable car over to Dursey island off the tip of the peninsula. Dursey island is currently inhabited by only 6 full-time residents, although the summer population is a bit larger.\u00a0 It was once home to a much larger population. 300 people were massacred there in 1603 after the English defeat of the Irish in Kinsale, along with many more from the Beara penisula as they fled to Leitrim. The cable car that connects the island to the mainland over the Dursey sound can apparently hold six people, 2 heifers, or 4 sheep.\u00a0 We had a beautiful sun-shiney day hike up to the Signal tower.\u00a0 The dwarf gorse was in full bloom and the sheep were pretty friendly.<\/p>\n We also had beautiful views of the Iveragh peninsula in the distance.<\/p>\n We loved the Hungry Hill Lodge.\u00a0 The host, Owen, was an incredibly friendly Brit and the hostel had great facilities.<\/p>\n The next day, we were not quite as lucky with the weather, but we found another lovely hike on the Beara.\u00a0 We had spotted the Mare’s Tail waterfall from the main road and hoped to get to it, but the road was cut off by private land that we were unsure about crossing on one side and very cliffy landscape on the other.\u00a0 The Mare’s Tail, may or may not be Ireland’s tallest waterfall according to local sources.\u00a0 It’s other claim to fame was being dyed red for a scene in the vampire movie Byzantium.\u00a0 Although we did not make it to the Mare’s Tail, we did find another pretty spectacular waterfall and got drench in the rain in the process.<\/p>\n The rest of the day found us slowly making our way back to Cork City, with only a few delays for views and sheep traffic.<\/p>\n and yes, that is a two-way road.<\/p>\n It was very sad to part ways with Ramona and Tracy the next day, but we had another excellent adventure to add to the list (we visited them when they lived in Ethiopia<\/a> and worked as Peace Corp volunteers)!<\/p>\n And, my sweet husband cheered me up a surprise bouquet of flowers.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\nnowhere<\/del> scenic Irish farmland, but the hosts were lovely and the full Irish breakfast was enormous and delicious.<\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n