Week 5 - Ireland

We've all wanted to see Ireland for a long time. Now that we're here, I'm not sure quite what to think of it. I definitely like it, it's beautiful beyond words. So beautiful one can hardly believe it's real. It's so different from Scotland, which I hadn't anticipated, and the ways in which it's different are surprising. The roads are definitely better, driving is easier, it's more casual. Sites are less advertised and harder to find out about, but we've stumbled on to some really fun stuff without pre-booking, or booking just a day out. We've also found things closed when Google said they were open, or simply not there anymore. I'm sure, like the need to pre-book in Scotland/Northumberland, this due is in part to COVID, and because we're at the tail end of the tourist season. It's warmer, generally, than up in Scotland. We are a bit south, but the weather can change quickly or just change as you move from just a bit inland to right on the coast. So after Scotland, which was scheduled and predictable, it's quite a change. Not only do we not need to plan, but we need to be flexible with plans. It's an adjustment, but in a good way. It hasn't rained at all since we've been here, but rain is in the forecast, so we've been trying to make the most of the weather while it lasts.

We started with a beach day.

We visited some historical sites, on our way we accidentally found Rahinnane castle. It seems to be on private property. Just a farmhouse where the farmer was eating lunch. He came out barefooted and apologetically told us there was a charge, 2 euro, just for the adults, not the kids. That's about $2.40. Everywhere we went in Scotland or Northumberland was in the 20 pound range ($28) for an adult, and not free for kids, so that's a huge difference. Iceland was pretty expensive too. So while the historical sites here on Ireland are less organized and maintained, they're certainly accessable financially. It's also kind of fun to just discoverer things and explore on your own.

We could have stayed longer, but some people were trying to have a wedding there, so we left. We continued on to the Fahan beehive houses, which was our original destination. These are houses made from stone corbelling, no mortar, just stones stacked to create a dome shape. Pretty amazing work.

Dunbeg Fort was next. Similar, but not as fun because it's on the edge of a cliff and fenced off for safety, so you can't really get into it, or even get a picture without a lot of fence. There is a place called the Famine Cottage right beside it, which we tried to go to for a taste of more recent (19th century) history, but it was closed. We did have a nice chat with an Irish couple from the Dublin area who were visiting down here though.

The next day we planned a fishing trip, but it was too rough, so we went to Gallurus Oratory. We almost skipped this, and really just did it to fill an afternoon, but I'm glad we did, and wish we'd done it first. Not because of the building itself, but because unlike the other sites, it offered an informative 10 minute video about the archeology of the region, which really helped get everything in perspective. It's another corbelled building, a monastic site from around 1000 AD, still watertight all these years later. The neat thing, though, is that between what we knew from the video and from Google satellite images, we saw a couple unexcavated ring forts around there. Then, knowing what we're looking for, we started spotting them all over the place. Lots of lives have been lived here.

The boys were done with history, so we had a science day. The weather was better, the fishing trip was on, but first we learned about falcons, hawks and owls and got to hold them on our arms.

Then, fishing. I admit, it’s not my thing, but the boys loved it and the scenery was spectacular.

Sean put his back, but Collin caught two big ones for dinner.

Just a random castle seen from the boat on the way back.

Finally a PE day, though we've had plenty of exercise, we finished the week with a horseback ride along the beach. The kids learned to post!

Then more playing on the beach, with a geology lesson.

So it was a wonderful week and we all learned a lot. We have a few more places to go, but next week is supposed to be cool and rainy so I think there will be a lot of mastering the art burning sod in the cottage fireplace and being quiet and cozy, which after the past two weeks will feel just right.