Follow the adventures of Paul Pitzers and Grace Pitzer

Irish Adventure

10/9/2019

It dawns on me that I have not included a map of our trip to Ireland, which would make it a lot easier for you to follow along. Never too late so here is a map. We took the Pre-trip and the main trip parts. Scroll down for our stay in Donegal.

Donegal, Oct. 4-6, 2019

Friday, Oct. 4, was our longest transfer day. We left Clifden Connemara to drive north to Donegal. The first stop was in Westport where we looked at the model “Coffin Ship” at the National Famine Monument. It is a tribute to the “Great Famine” that began in 1845. Around 2 million died at that time and another 2 million emigrated to other countries. Learning about it was very sobering.

The lunch stop was in Sligo. After a “Special” lunch at Hargadon Bros. where we could order three items for 10 Euro. The main reasons for the stop in Sligo was to visit the W.B. Yeats Society building. We had a very interesting talk by a local lady who told us about his life, family. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. We stopped by his grave in the small village of Drumcliff where he was buried in 1939. His body was brought back from France where he had died nine years earlier.

There was one last special stop on the way into Donegal. It was a lovely viewpoint of the ocean near the lovely Mountbatten home, or castle, set out near the cliffs. It was a surprise stop. We pulled into Donegal about 4:00 and settled in for three nights at the Mill Park Hotel. It is a very large, more modern hotel, located a five minute walk outside of town. Our driver did the usual drive through town first. It is a very small central town with three short streets shaped in a triangle. Dinner that night was included and in the hotel. There was a large wedding going on, as well, so the place was vey busy.

Saturday, Oct. 5
This morning was very special. We drove out to St. John’s Point where we visited Cyndi Graham who is a local weaver. She comes from a family of weavers and workers in the fabric trade. She has a lovely little old building where she has her loom and enough room to display products she has made. She explained the whole process she uses to set up her loom and weave. She demonstrated this, and I got some good video of the process. We have a very “shopping” oriented group and they had fun trying on things and made a number of purchases. Our guide said she was “Over the moon” with our purchases.

One of the special things Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) does is find and support local artisans. They make a contribution to each one as we visit. For example, the OAT contribution allowed Tom, the sheep herder, to put a roof on the little building where we went to ask questions.

We next went to Killybegs, the largest fishing port in Ireland. We met with a fisherman to discuss the fishing industry. Not only did we learn about the main kinds of fish they bring in from the seas, out to 200 miles, but the impact of the warming waters, bringing different fish farther north, now. Also, one of the benefits of Ireland joining the EU was that they provided a lot of infrastructure, including their docks. We would have had time to walk around, but it started raining hard, so we headed back to the hotel. That evening we just had a light dinner in the bar and turned in.

Sunday, Oct. 6.
There weren’t enough of us who wanted to take the optional tour out to Glenbeigh National Park, but Melanie and three others hired a car to take them. They enjoyed it, and it turned out to be a lovely sunny day. Paul and I took a cab into town and walked around. It is a very small town with a few shops open. We took the 10:30 guided tour of the Donegal Castle which was fascinating. The guide’s explanation of the three main families who ruled this northern part of Ireland for many years made the history come alive. This castle had belonged to the O’Donnell family who ruled the area from 1200 - 1601. It had been in bad disrepair, but has been restored somewhat. We walked around town, had lunch at the Abbey Hotel, and walked all the way back to the Mill Park Hotel. That night our dinner was included at a pub downtown. This was also our guide, Joan’s, birthday and in conjunction with the driver and some others, we had a card, chocolates, and a small cake for her. She seemed very pleased.

Monday, Oct. 7
We leave Donegal for the drive to Derry, Northern Ireland. More about that in the next post.