10 Days in Ireland (this is a long one)

Our trip to Ireland is probably better understood in pictures, since so much of it was just awe-inspiring natural beauty. We posted photos of our time in Dublin, the Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland on our new online photo album here. For a summary and some thoughts on the trip, read on…

We got into Dublin Friday morning, and spent Saturday by ourselves touring the city some. We saw the Book of Kells which is an amazingly decorated gospel from a monastery in Scotland from the 5th century and went to the Guinness Storehouse. After finding out all about how Guinness is made, shipped, and marketed, they give you a free pint in the Gravity Bar, which is a round bar 7 stories up with glass walls looking out over the whole city. We both liked Dublin, but agreed that it's sort of a low point in Ireland. The country-side is so magnificent that it seems a shame to spend too much time there. The next morning we departed on our bus tour around the coast of Ireland. There were 25 passengers on the bus, most in their mid-20's although we had some in their 30's and 40's. There was one girl from S. Africa, a couple from Italy, a couple fromAustria, several Kiwis (New Zealand), three other Americans, and all of the rest were Ozzies (Australians). Australia seems like the best-traveled country by far! We had such a great time, and made some close friends. We especially bonded with the Austrian couple, and can't wait to go visit them, maybe this winter some time.

The weather while we were in Ireland was, for the most part, exactly what you would expect: cold, raining, windy. At least that was the case every day except the two days we were outside all day, when the weather was warm and sunny all day. The first of those two days was Great Blasket Island. Great Blasket Island is off the coast of the Dingle Peninsula. It is probably about 1 mile across and 3 miles wide (that is a very rough estimate!). It was inhabited, although only by 15 families, until the 1950's when the government made everyone move to the mainland because it was too dangerous. The weather was awful there in the winter, and there was no guarantee the ferry would be able to bring them supplies or that they would get medical attention when they needed it. Now only 1 woman lives out there (I never understood why she was allowed to stay), and the near side of the island is a patchwork of stone ruins. We spent a few hours out there, and Nick and I explored it to the fullest. We climbed to the highest peak and saw the ruins of a lookout tower, we walked along the incongruously beautiful beach and put our feet in the ocean. Most of the island met the ocean in cliffs or rocks, except one beach which could have been straight out of Caribbean. We also played with donkeys, who let us walk right up to them, and sheep, which were a little scared of us. It was Ireland at its most visually stunning.

A day or two after that we spent the night on Inis Mor, the largest of the three Aran Islands. We took the ferry out, then had the day to explore. We rented bikes and biked around almost the entire island. This was no small feat, since the island is about 9 miles long. Like everything in Ireland, the real length is not known. That seems to be the case with all of Irish history and distances – even things that should be clear are not. Inis Mor is a patchwork of stone walls, everywhere you look. I'm not wholly sure of the purpose of all of the walls – each walled-in square is only about ¼ acre. I think maybe they were to put animals in for a little bit, let them eat all the grass, then move them into another area. In some areas, they just built walls to get the stones out of the fields so they could plant. There is a lighthouse at the end of the island, and a lookout tower at the highest peak. The most impressive part of the island, however, is Dun Aengus. This is a fort that they believe was built around the 900's. It is circular in shape, but only goes half of the way around, because it is built on the edge of a huge cliff. The cliffs are similar in height to the Cliffs of Moher, and you are allowed to walk around the fort right up to the edge of the cliff. It is unbelievably dangerous, and I'm surprised people don't die often. It is definitely the most secure fort I've ever seen. In addition to the cliff wall protecting it halfway around, there is an outer and inner wall. Beyond the outer wall there is an acre-wide band around the fort of sharp limestone rocks stuck up in the ground. It would prevent horses or even people from easily getting to the outer wall. After we left the fort, we swam in the ocean on another beautiful beach. It was cold, but not as bad as we expected. Once you got used to the water we could have stayed in for a while.
The days we spent on the islands were some of the highlights of the trip. It was nice to be off of the bus and able to break away from the groups for a while and explore on our own.

The last two days we spent in Northern Ireland. It was amazing to us that almost as soon as we crossed the border, it began to look like England. The road signs were different, there were gigantic supercenter stores instead of village shops, even the houses were different. Instead of the typical single-story homes, there were more row homes of double-story brick. We didn't like it very much, and missed the ol’ Republic. The cities we visited felt more dangerous, were more run-down and had more graffiti. This is a direct result of the Troubles. Derry is smaller and nicer than Belfast. It is the walled city, with an inner wall built into the city to protect it from attackers. The walls were built by London businessmen in, I believe, the 1400's, to protect their interests in the area. It was the home of the Troubles and Bloody Sunday. The city has worked hard since 1998 to reestablish itself, and things are much more peaceful. There were murals all over the city depicting the troubles and the struggle and work towards peace. The city is predominantly Catholic. Our tour guide said that people are much more at peace with each other and in general, and the city is trying to establish itself as a tourist destination. It felt like a city that was changing and healing.

Belfast did not. Belfast has had much more violence and problems over the years than Derry. This is partly because Derry had a natural water barrier between the Catholic and Protestant populations. In Belfast, the populations are more interspersed, and more evenly matched – it is roughly 50% Catholic and 50% Protestant. There are still problems and conflicts in Belfast, and the "peace wall," a wall erected to divide the two sides, is still standing. It is closed at night and during the weekend. I didn't realize something like this still existed, it felt so divisive and it seemed hard to work for peace in such a context. The murals were more belligerent as well. While the murals in Derry seemed aimed at remembering and laying to rest the past, the Belfast murals were designed to bolster up the individual sides. The Protestant murals included murals of sharpshooters who had killed tens of Catholics, and a mural celebrating Cromwell. The Catholic murals, on the other hand, celebrated their own "soldiers" and heroes. I think you'll understand better when we can show you the pictures. It was so disheartening. On the plus side, only a handful of people, 3 or 4, have died in conflict so far this year. The Northern Ireland government is just reforming, so everyone is watching to see what will happen. I'm glad we visited, but I don't especially want to go again.

After Belfast, we headed back to Dublin for a last afternoon and night before flying back (home? Where is home anyway?). Nick insisted on walking up the river Liffey to a bridge done by one of his favorite designers, Santiago Calatrava. After our bridge tour we walked the city and met some people from our tour group for dinner and Guinness. It was a great way to end our wonderful time on the Emerald Isle.