Monday of our second week in Ireland was our last day in Derry. Another beautiful fine day.
After breakfast we walked into the City and found the Tourist Information Centre. We booked into a walking tour around the city walls.  We were a group of about a dozen or so, not too big. We did about half of the wall perimeter (all the rubbish had been cleared away which was good to see) which took in the main sights such as St Columb's Cathedral, First Derry Presbyterian Church, Apprentice Boys' Memorial Hall and the Bogside.
John McNulty was our guide and he was very good. Lots of interesting information and anecdotes about Derry's history. His explanation of the Troubles was balanced and informative. Before completing the full lap of the perimeter, we left the wall and finished up at The Diamond in the city centre. Looked at the Guiildhall with its beautiful stained glass windows.
We had lunch at Badger's which had a good atmosphere and food, then walked back into the Bogside. Spent some time looking at all the murals then visited the Free Derry Museum. We certainly came away from both the walking tour and the museum with a greater understanding and appreciation of Northern Ireland's history. It has been sad to see and hear of the recent violence there. Many of the shop fronts in Derry still have shutters down at night which makes the City look guarded and defensive.
We had a quiet evening back at our room, after all the walking we had done, we were glad to put our feet up!
Steve's pub ratings for Derry were as follows: Tracy's 2*, Sister Sarah's 2 1/2*, Badger's 3*, The River Inn 3* At this stage we still hadn't listened to any music in the pubs. We discovered early on that music sessions don't generally start until around 9-10pm. Too late for us after our full days. We were ready for sleep by that time.

Tuesday morning we left Derry with the rain threatening, and it came down most of the way as we headed south-west, passing through Raphoe, Convoy, Stranorlar to Donegal. By the time we reached Donegal town it was pouring rain. We parked at the tourist information centre, then walked up to Donegal Castle. It was well worth seeing. and we spent the better part of an hour there, before having a hot drink at the Blueberry Cafe. Had a little walk around the shops, the rain had eased off by then, then back in the car and heading out of Donegal. The scenery around Donegal is quite striking and beautiful, craggy, treeless slopes and tussocky fields.

From Donegal, we continued on through Ballyshannon (bypassed) and Bundoran. We sidetracked to Mullaghmore on the coast but there was nothing much there. An old protected stone wharf and fishing boats, and two or three pubs. The weather was very wet and misty by then. We saw a castle we tried to get to, but apparently it was a private residence, once owned by Lord Mountbatten.
We had lunch at Wheeler's Restaurant at Grange back on the main road-I had lovely homemade vegie soup and wheaten bread, Steve had a ham and salad panini and chips.

Onto Sligo, went to Lissadell House, a wet weather option! We took the tour through the house, and also walked through its alpine garden which had beautiful views looking out over Sligo Bay with its dramatic slopes and coastline.
That night we stayed at Iorras B & B, on Rosses Point Road, which you turn off to before Sligo. It was easy to find. Ita the hostess was very warm and welcoming. She served us tea and something to eat in the guest lounge, very cosy with the gas fire going.
Iorras is a lovely modern B & B. Our room upstairs was nicely decorated, a good size, plenty of cupboard space, although the small tv up in the cupboard was a bit awkward. The ensuite was the largest we'd had so far, with a stylish black and white colour scheme, but the shower was fairly poor and I don't remember there being any towel racks or hooks. (That was the case in a few places we stayed at) It was very clean.
Breakfast was good, we had to let Ita know what time we were coming down and what we wanted. The dining room was very pleasant.
We drove into Sligo for dinner, with me driving for the first time. Walked around checking out the restaurants, then chose The Fiddler's pub for our meal. I had a steak on ciabatta with fried onions  and salad, and Steve had chicken curry and rice.
Pub rating for Tavern Inn at Rosses Point 1*

Wednesday-wet, wet, wet! Woke to a dismal morning, our worst yet, and it hardly stopped all day, ranging from a drizzle to driving wind and rain. After a lovely breakfast we set off about 9-30. Drove out to Rosses Point. lovely coastal scenery, what we could see of it!
Then onto Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery on Strandhill. This was on my must-see list, so the rain wasn't going to stand in our way. It was pouring down, so we conceded to looking through the exhibition first, which explained the history of the site. Very interesting. By the time we were ready to explore, the rain had eased off a little, but we were prepared with waterproof jackets and umbrellas. Spent quite some time there, exploring the stone circles, dolmens and a cairn that had been reconstructed after excavation, a passage tomb with a dolmen at the centre. From the highest point we could see across to Knocknarea with the cairn on the top which apparently is Queen Maeve's resting place.
We got back into the car wet from the knees down and drove with the heater blasting on full to dry off. The rain continued as we headed north and west of the Ox Mountains, through Ballina, Crossmolina, and Bellacorrick, and into Co Mayo. The country changed dramatically. Desolate, craggy slopes, peat bogs, wind turbines, power transmission poles and lines, moors of heather and tussocks, pine plantations and houses few and far between. We grabbed some lunch in Bangor, and kept driving.
We crossed rivers that were fast flowing and rising, water was pouring in streams down the sides of Claggan Mountain on our left. On our right was a stretch of water with oyster beds.
When we got to Mallaranny, we doubled back up the other side of the water and headed towards Achill Island. Very low cloud and misty rain obscured most of the scenery. Drove onto the island, lot of roadworks, very atmospheric with the mist but we couldn't see anything much at all, so headed back towards Westport via Newport.

Didn't have any trouble finding our B & B, Boffin Lodge. Good location, 5 minutes walk from Quayside, about 15 minutes into town.  Big room, plus big bathroom, not just a tacked on ensuite, with heated towel rungs, but we found the shower was poor.
Tea and coffee, biscuits and water were provided which were very welcome. There was also free internet access. Big dining room, with a generous buffet for breakfast, looking out onto a pretty garden.
We were ready to stretch our legs, so donned the waterproofs again, and walked to Quayside to see what was there. Restaurants, pubs, a few shops which we looked over. Had a drink at The Helm Pub (2 1/2*) and dinner at The Tower. I had cod goujons (pieces of breaded fish) in a wrap which was yummy, and Steve had pork and seaweed sausages on mash in gravy which he enjoyed.
Pub rating for O'Grady's in Westport 3 1/2*

Thursday was another wet day. We drove into the city centre to find the Tourist information centre (these had become our first port of call in most places) to get maps and ideas. The woman behind the desk suggested the Museum of Irish Life near Castlebar so we went there. Very, very interesting-also dry and free! Managed to spend a couple fo hours there. On the way back to Westport, we sidetracked to Ballintubber Abbey, still in use after 700 years. Magnificant old church. By this time the rain was easing a little, but showers were still coming across all afternoon.
Back in Westport, we had a late lunch at a little bakery/tearooms, then back to Boffin Lodge. Late that afternoon Steve walked into the city centre for a pint, while I took it easy, writing postcards, checking emails and reading.
We had dinner at the Avguard restaurant on Quayside. We both had the roast beef on mash with vegies-huge meal, neither of us could finish it!
When we left it was raining quite heavily again, so we stopped in at the Helm for a drink. Back to the room and another early night.

After two nights in Westport, we checked out of the B & B and headed south down the N59 towards Galway. Dramatic scenery as we passed between the Sheefry Hills to the west and the Partry Mountains to the east. At Leenaun was the eastern most point of Killary Harbour, which is like a fjord. We stopped to absorb the beautiful scenery and take more photos.
We stopped at Kylemore Abbey (also on my must see list) It was such a familiar sight from all the pictures I had seen of it, nestled at the foot of the hills like a fairytale castle, but seeing it for real was wonderful. Beautiful gardens, a gothic church which was like a miniature cathedral. Managed to spend enough time there before the tourist buses started to arrive with large groups of people and we left.
From there we drove to Clifden. Near the coast the Connemara slopes and plains were a mass of rocks and stones, wild looking and dotted sparsely with houses and a few sheep. We stopped at Roundstone, a pretty little fishing village, and had lunch in a cafe overlooking the water.

We completed the round trip by linking up with the N59 again. Through Maam Cross and Maum, onto Cong, and the scenery became lush and green again. The road wound around the northern end of Lough Corrib.
We parked in Cong and went for a walk, what a gorgeous little town. We looked over Cong Abbey and through its grounds. The Monk's fishing house on the river was a lovely spot to just sit and soak in the surroundings.

That night we stayed at Ashford Castle. Found it easily enough, at the end of a long drive through the golf course just out of Cong. My first sight of it took my breath away. It is magnificent. At just over 300 euro for room and breakfast, it was an indulgence, but boy, was it worth it. Guests are treated like royalty and we lapped it up!!
Our room was beautiful and big, with views out over the lake. The bathroom was luxurious, with a fantastic shower, lots of hot water and big fluffy bath sheets were provided. The room was serviced and towels changed twice daily. Great hairdryer. Very comfortable bed and pillows. It was absolutely perfect.
We took our time walking around the grounds, taking heaps of photos, then Steve walked into Cong for a beer. (Pat O'Grady's Bar 2 1/2*)
We spent the evening in the Drawing Room, had a couple of drinks then a casual meal. We were going to catch the entertainment in the Dungeon, but when we checked, the room was full, and it sounded like an oldies' sing-a-long, which wasn't quite our style (we're only middle-aged!) so we headed back to our room.


Saturday morning we didn't wake up until 8am, having slept really well, no interruptions or noise.
We had breakfast in the beautiful dining room-gorgeous furniture, cutlery, crockery and glassware. The buffet provided plenty of options, including a yummy fresh fruit salad/ strawberries and pineapple chunks. That went nicely with my home made muesli. Steve had a full Irish breakfast as usual.
After breakfast, we went for another walk in the grounds. Checkout wasn't until midday, we were quite happy with the leisurely start to the day. We were making the most out of  our castle stay. Checked out reluctantly, then headed into Cong for a few purchases.

Galway was our next destination, heading down the eastern side of Lough Corrib. We were in Galway by early afternoon.
On the way, we could see large ruins off to our right (I think!) found the turn-off to Ross Errily Friary, along a narrow lane. We were the only people there. I'm guessing tour buses wouldn't have a hope of getting in there. We had no idea it existed, just one of those great discoveries. We were rapt to find it. It was built around the 12-1300's, and is the largest, best-preserved of its kind in Ireland. Very extensive, with some very old tombstones and plaques. Rain sent us back to the car.
From there into Galway, no idea where we were going, we always look for an information centre for maps or directions, but luckily we found the signs to Salthill, then suddenly we were in Threadneedle Road, and there was our B & B, Marless House.
Marless House is ideally situated in Salthill, just a few house blocks from the waters of Galway Bay and a comfortable walk to restaurants and pubs.
Hostess Mary was very nice, easy to talk to.
Our room was lovely and clean,nicely furnished, narrow bathroom, shower was okay. Comfortable bed and pillows.
By this time, the rain had really set in again, and it was miserable. We drove around into the Promenade, and had lunch at the Galleon, soup and sandwiches for the both of us. Later that afternoon Steve walked back along the promenade for a drink at Lohan's (4*), I drove around later and we met for tea at Restaurante da Roberta's. It was about 7pm, family time, so it was quite crowded. Luckily we had booked a table. I had veal in mushrooom sauce, which I enjoyed, and Steve had a pizza.

Not quite the second week completed but will finish up there. You did say detail welcome Michele!! Off to Inishmor tomorrow.

Regards, Meredith




-- Edited by meredith on Friday 27th of March 2009 02:04:59 AM