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AugustaFW is studying art at a small (38 students) college south of Galway. She came up to meet us and show us around Galway
In 1997, Justine and I were in Galway, and I took this photo because we live in Powell Wyoming:
And then again in 2025. Justine's all done up because the Macnas Parade is coming up... not really Halloween or Samhain, it's just a big event that arts group Macnas puts on.
Then we headed down to Ballyvaughan, where the Burren College of Art is. Actually the college is at Newtown Castle:
The Burren is a limestone plateau, weathered and barren for the most part. 6000 years ago there were trees and people living there, but now there are remnants and ring forts and stone circles, and a lot more buried under the peat.
Northern Ireland:
After our flat tire event, we drove straight to our B&B in Bangor, about 12 miles from Belfast, on the coast. Home of Snow Patrol!
Belfast is a lovely town. The sun broke through a couple of times for a minute or two, but it's nevertheless very walkable and there are amazing buildings downtown, including City Hall, a palace with famous stained glass throughout.
After a second night in Bangor/Belfast, we pushed north to the town of Bushmills and the Giants' Causeway. Look that up for the legendâit's funâbut know that it's columnar basalt, the same as Devils Tower in Wyoming! Only here it makes a "bridge" out into the sea and comes up over in Scotland. I thought it was a giant Qâ¢Bert game :-p
Masters Tournament Champion Rory McIlroy was there with his trophies, doing a video shoot for something. At first they tried to keep everyone away but we all traveled a lot further to be there at sunset than he did, so his crew was pretty much ignored...
One of our "goals" was to go out into the countryside and not get sucked into hopping from town to town. To facilitate that, we spent a day hunting Trolls!
From the Sperrin Mountain Trolls, we went into Derry, a beautiful and famously troubled/partitioned ancient walled city. They made a TV show about it!
Derry is famous for the intact wall, and even more famous for its murals (murals are a Very Big Thing throughout Ireland but the ones in Derry and Belfast are funny or tragic or heroic, maybe all 3 at once. Here's JFW on the wall, it's about a mile around the whole thing, still with only a few ways in.
In Derry, the Guild Hall has a monument to Peace, including John Hume's Nobel Peace Prize.
After a couple of nights, we left our B&B outside Derry and headed for the wilds of Donegal. It was a beautiful drive through Glenveagh National Park, and fun fact if you tell the Maps app to avoid highways in Ireland, well almost everything is considered a highway so it will send you down some bicycle paths, dirt roads, one-lane-for-20-miles roads, and if you're not in a hurry, you'll have a great time! But you might not make it to the coastal village you'd planned on. So we wound up in a town called Dungloe, for no other reason than it was coming on 5pm and we hadn't booked a place to stay yet, and the B&B here was less expensive than anything else around. We got checked in before going to dinner, so I asked her "anyplace with food and live music?" She said this time of year there's not much open, but 20 minutes back toward Crolly, Leo's has food and music on Wednesdays. So off to Leo's we went! Turns out they don't serve food anymore but the music was cookin'!
A guy on accordion and another guy on a Casio, but the locals come out to dance every week. Justine joined in...
Later, a group came into the bar and as I noted in another post, Justine ID'd Moglai Bap from the Belfast band Kneecap! Watch the film.
Later, the bartender leaned over and told us "Come back Friday." He said his sister, Moya, hosts an "open mic" sort of event once a month, and this month she would be leading her own band's final concert ever. Leo's Tavern is literally home to Enya and Clannad, the bartender is a brother. Clannad means "family" in Irish and Leo would have the family perform at the pub! So plans were made, and we stayed at that obscure B&B in Dungloe for 3 nights. Note to anyone thinking of going to Ireland: Do this. Pick a place to make your home base for a few nights, rather than jump from town to town every single night.
Then it was a day for sightseeing! Ireland's Cliffs of Moher are famous but Slieve League are higher and less touristed. It's a mile or two hike from the parking area unless you take the shuttle but we missed the shuttle. Winds and rain were howling and I got soaked because I didn't wear my rain pants but hey there's whiskey for that.
At some point, I began to miss my passport. It wasn't obvious for a day or two, but I got up and emptied everything and checked the car and just when I resolved that I'd left it at the previous B&B, the owner there called me to let me know he'd found it! So we were only 40 miles away (despite it being a full day's drive) so we hopped in the car on Friday, buzzed back to there, grabbed my passport and several hundred Euros & Pounds, and went back to explore Derry some more since we were in the area.
A local encouraged us to check out the cathedral, so we trekked up there. Closed! But a workman was there doing some fire alarm installs, so he let us in on the QT.
and then back to Leo's for the big show! I didn't get many/any photos but it was a full house with equipment everywhere.
Here's a video that Clannad shared:
This duo from Derry was one of the "ClubEO" acts that Moya introduced. Tessio. Lots of fun and I hope they hang together and tour someday.
I notice that I failed to put in a link to The Forty Foot: totally tourist-heavy but also a locals-only thing that was choppy seas so we didn't let go of the railing for long but yeah it was cold and yeah it was great. Follow it up with a sauna if you want; we opted to walk to a pub instead.
Location: At the dude ranch / above the sea Gender:
Posted:
Nov 7, 2025 - 5:56am
ScottFromWyoming wrote:
Justine and I just got back from our second trip to Ireland... we went in 1997 too. A lot has changed, of course. In 97, there were signs everywhere talking about the infrastructure improvements that the EU was funding. Now, 30 years later, people can telecommute or just commute, the towns are all wired up and on modern services everywhere we went. And so people in their late 30s to 40s have little or no memory of what things were like before, so there's a bit of a MIGA attitude as though those things were A) Financed by Irish workers and 2) not really improving the economy. It's expensive there now, definitely. Because everywhere you turn, you see an EU success story. I really think the 30-year interval helped me see things that the locals really can't.
Anyway, here are a few highlights:
Swimming at the Forty Foot
Had lunch in Skerries, met up with RP's BasketCase & family almost entirely by accident (small town so it was decent odds). I fell in love with European Starlings, which are the same as the ones we have in the US now, but in their winter plumage they're fantastic!
Then we had a flat tire. Two, almost. Driving on the left, in the dark, in the rain, right-hand drive, stick shift, and the motorways have curb and gutter made out of granite with square corners. No soft shoulders here! I hit one of those at 80KPH in a 100 zone and so we spent 5 hours upgrading our e-SIMs to handle phone calls in Northern Ireland because the ones our daughter set us up with only did data (apparently also voice calling via WhatsApp but that wasn't helpful). This was about 5pm on a Saturday night, and we were an hour south of Belfast. We'd hoped to get to see The ORB that night but when we finally got it all sorted out, we'd missed that show. So we went directly to our B&B in Bangor, where the people were lovely and the bed was warm and soft.
Next day, we took the train 12 miles into Belfast and toured the city in the rain and semi-rain. The Titanic museum is cool and the history of Belfast is overshadowed by the Troubles. It's lovely. Visited the old pubs and new pubs, visited with a local at the Crown, but the next night we ran into him again at a pub in Bangor. That was funny. So our "schedule" was bumped off by a half a day with the flat tire so we stayed at the B&B another night and then drove north along the "Antrim Coast," a scenic drive up to the very north of NI.
...and I'm still jet laggy so off to bed. I'll add to this later. Tune in tomorrow to learn how the flat tire led to an amazing night in Donegal!
Thanks for this! Weâre headed there (Scotland in Sept and Ireland in October) and just starting our planning.
Justine and I just got back from our second trip to Ireland... we went in 1997 too. A lot has changed, of course. In 97, there were signs everywhere talking about the infrastructure improvements that the EU was funding. Now, 30 years later, people can telecommute or just commute, the towns are all wired up and on modern services everywhere we went. And so people in their late 30s to 40s have little or no memory of what things were like before, so there's a bit of a MIGA attitude as though those things were A) Financed by Irish workers and 2) not really improving the economy. It's expensive there now, definitely. Because everywhere you turn, you see an EU success story. I really think the 30-year interval helped me see things that the locals really can't. Anyway, here are a few highlights: Swimming at the Forty Foot Had lunch in Skerries, met up with RP's BasketCase & family almost entirely by accident (small town so it was decent odds). I fell in love with European Starlings, which are the same as the ones we have in the US now, but in their winter plumage they're fantastic! Then we had a flat tire. Two, almost. Driving on the left, in the dark, in the rain, right-hand drive, stick shift, and the motorways have curb and gutter made out of granite with square corners. No soft shoulders here! I hit one of those at 80KPH in a 100 zone and so we spent 5 hours upgrading our e-SIMs to handle phone calls in Northern Ireland because the ones our daughter set us up with only did data (apparently also voice calling via WhatsApp but that wasn't helpful). This was about 5pm on a Saturday night, and we were an hour south of Belfast. We'd hoped to get to see The ORB that night but when we finally got it all sorted out, we'd missed that show. So we went directly to our B&B in Bangor, where the people were lovely and the bed was warm and soft. Next day, we took the train 12 miles into Belfast and toured the city in the rain and semi-rain. The Titanic museum is cool and the history of Belfast is overshadowed by the Troubles. It's lovely. Visited the old pubs and new pubs, visited with a local at the Crown, but the next night we ran into him again at a pub in Bangor. That was funny. So our "schedule" was bumped off by a half a day with the flat tire so we stayed at the B&B another night and then drove north along the "Antrim Coast," a scenic drive up to the very north of NI. ...and I'm still jet laggy so off to bed. I'll add to this later. Tune in tomorrow to learn how the flat tire led to an amazing night in Donegal!
Justine and I just got back from our second trip to Ireland... we went in 1997 too. A lot has changed, of course. In 97, there were signs everywhere talking about the infrastructure improvements that the EU was funding. Now, 30 years later, people can telecommute or just commute, the towns are all wired up and on modern services everywhere we went. And so people in their late 30s to 40s have little or no memory of what things were like before, so there's a bit of a MIGA attitude as though those things were A) Financed by Irish workers and 2) not really improving the economy. It's expensive there now, definitely. Because everywhere you turn, you see an EU success story. I really think the 30-year interval helped me see things that the locals really can't.
Anyway, here are a few highlights:
Swimming at the Forty Foot
Had lunch in Skerries, met up with RP's BasketCase & family almost entirely by accident (small town so it was decent odds). I fell in love with European Starlings, which are the same as the ones we have in the US now, but in their winter plumage they're fantastic!
Then we had a flat tire. Two, almost. Driving on the left, in the dark, in the rain, right-hand drive, stick shift, and the motorways have curb and gutter made out of granite with square corners. No soft shoulders here! I hit one of those at 80KPH in a 100 zone and so we spent 5 hours upgrading our e-SIMs to handle phone calls in Northern Ireland because the ones our daughter set us up with only did data (apparently also voice calling via WhatsApp but that wasn't helpful). This was about 5pm on a Saturday night, and we were an hour south of Belfast. We'd hoped to get to see The ORB that night but when we finally got it all sorted out, we'd missed that show. So we went directly to our B&B in Bangor, where the people were lovely and the bed was warm and soft.
Next day, we took the train 12 miles into Belfast and toured the city in the rain and semi-rain. The Titanic museum is cool and the history of Belfast is overshadowed by the Troubles. It's lovely. Visited the old pubs and new pubs, visited with a local at the Crown, but the next night we ran into him again at a pub in Bangor. That was funny. So our "schedule" was bumped off by a half a day with the flat tire so we stayed at the B&B another night and then drove north along the "Antrim Coast," a scenic drive up to the very north of NI.
...and I'm still jet laggy so off to bed. I'll add to this later. Tune in tomorrow to learn how the flat tire led to an amazing night in Donegal!
very cool. well apart from the granite curb thing, but kudos on swimming at this time of year!
oh and our starlings don't like quite so piebald as that.. must be the wild Atlantic doing its thing..
RP's basketcase & family?
Justine and I just got back from our second trip to Ireland... we went in 1997 too. A lot has changed, of course. In 97, there were signs everywhere talking about the infrastructure improvements that the EU was funding. Now, 30 years later, people can telecommute or just commute, the towns are all wired up and on modern services everywhere we went. And so people in their late 30s to 40s have little or no memory of what things were like before, so there's a bit of a MIGA attitude as though those things were A) Financed by Irish workers and 2) not really improving the economy. It's expensive there now, definitely. Because everywhere you turn, you see an EU success story. I really think the 30-year interval helped me see things that the locals really can't.
Anyway, here are a few highlights:
Swimming at the Forty Foot
Had lunch in Skerries, met up with RP's BasketCase & family almost entirely by accident (small town so it was decent odds). I fell in love with European Starlings, which are the same as the ones we have in the US now, but in their winter plumage they're fantastic!
Then we had a flat tire. Two, almost. Driving on the left, in the dark, in the rain, right-hand drive, stick shift, and the motorways have curb and gutter made out of granite with square corners. No soft shoulders here! I hit one of those at 80KPH in a 100 zone and so we spent 5 hours upgrading our e-SIMs to handle phone calls in Northern Ireland because the ones our daughter set us up with only did data (apparently also voice calling via WhatsApp but that wasn't helpful). This was about 5pm on a Saturday night, and we were an hour south of Belfast. We'd hoped to get to see The ORB that night but when we finally got it all sorted out, we'd missed that show. So we went directly to our B&B in Bangor, where the people were lovely and the bed was warm and soft.
Next day, we took the train 12 miles into Belfast and toured the city in the rain and semi-rain. The Titanic museum is cool and the history of Belfast is overshadowed by the Troubles. It's lovely. Visited the old pubs and new pubs, visited with a local at the Crown, but the next night we ran into him again at a pub in Bangor. That was funny. So our "schedule" was bumped off by a half a day with the flat tire so we stayed at the B&B another night and then drove north along the "Antrim Coast," a scenic drive up to the very north of NI.
...and I'm still jet laggy so off to bed. I'll add to this later. Tune in tomorrow to learn how the flat tire led to an amazing night in Donegal!
My family in Ireland has never been better. Their economy is stable. They travel anywhere in safety at home and abroad.
The women have choices. Not a one of them pines for 'the old days'.
It's an ironic twist... the Irish Catholics now provide a destination where roughly 23 Million US women can exercise a right they were born with and lost.
My family in Ireland has never been better. Their economy is stable. They travel anywhere in safety at home and abroad.
The women have choices. Not a one of them pines for 'the old days'.
I have gave her a spin and then saw the ocean. Gorgeous.
My bedroom was the one on the right below the dormer windows.
Can't remember ever going upstairs...
At the time we were the only occupants apart from the farmers.
My mom sent me over to farmer tom's dairy to get our great big
ceramic jug filled with warm milk freshly strained. When it was
stormy I had to time my walk back as the waves sometimes crashed
up as high as the old dirt road and splashed into the jug. Now it's
become a lousy tourist trap.
Bad, sad, times for a lonely teenage alcoholic.
I did make some pretty far out installation art along the beaches
when I would skip school. Freaked out the locals.
Manbird's brother!
