Microblog
Next stop was Kilmainham Gaol, which was the jail where many of the people involved in the Easter Uprising of 1916 were jailed and executed. I’ve visited before, and it was just as moving.
Yesterday we continued our tour of Dublin, starting with The Book of Kells and the Long Library at Trinity College. The Book of Kells was impressive as always, but new for this trip is the conservation being undertaken in the Long Library. They’ve removed all the books for conservation, which is a bummer, but they’ve added an art installation titled “Gaia” which takes the form of a huge glowing, high-res, spinning globe. It was more impressive than I expected. #travel #ireland
Today we drove from Ballyvaughan (co. Clare) to Dublin, which took up a big chunk of the day. After returning our car and checking into our hotel, we took a walk around South Dublin, hitting St. Stephen’s Green, Grafton Street, the statue of Molly Malone, Dublin Castle, Christchurch Cathedral, Temple Bar, and Ha’Penny Bridge. #travel #ireland
We pushed on to our B&B, got checked in, and then decided to explore a little by car. Our first discovery was Gleninaugh Castle which lies on the coast of County Clare, down a long dual track road (trail?) that I’m sure would void the insurance we got on our rental car. #travel #ireland
http://www.castlesuncovered.com/ireland/gleninaghcastle.html
After the Cliffs of Moher, we drove through The Burren. It was a little too rainy to hike, but we enjoyed the barren landscape. #travel #ireland
Today we drove to the Cliffs of Moher, via a ferry that crossed the Shannon estuary. Miraculously, the skies cleared just as we arrived and stayed clear for the couple hours that we explored the cliffs. The clouds gathered and the rain started just after we left. We got really lucky. #travel #ireland
Today, it’s been raining all day, so we drove the Slea Head loop on the Dingle peninsula. In addition to feeding some sheep (a highlight for Heather) we saw several “beehive” stone huts, toured the Blasket Island Centre, visited Gallarus Oratory (a highlight for me), stopped at the church ruins at Kilmalkedar, and enjoyed a lot of scenic views. #travel #ireland