West Republic of Ireland 180710

Sunday 18th July

On the advice of a bloke (surname Moore) who we met in the pub in Tullamore, we were heading west to Ballyvaughn. We had no set plans for Ireland once we had been to Blarney, so we figured we may as well take the advice of a local.

Of course you will never guess what they have in Ireland?????

Well - of course - they have drystone walls!!!
But what a contrast - compared to those in the north of England, and even in Wales these walls seem quite haphazard. That said, they have obviously been there for quite some time.
One thing that was very noticeable (not really evident in this picture) was that the walls had a lot of white on them. When you get closer, it appears to be lichen, or maybe dead lichen).
Ok enough walls for now. Ray was keen to call in at Athenry on our way. There is a song called (?) "The Fields of Athenry", which had been played for him on request on his birthday, so it seemed appropriate enough.
There was not too much of note in Athenry.....

An arch..............

An unusual sculpture in the car park (of all places), with nothing telling you why it was there. May it was just 'cos they could!

Ray has a new tradition of having a beer in every place we stop, so we went into a pub. The only other patron in the place was Big John. Big John regaled us with a couple of songs (very well sung), announced that he hated the song "The Fields of Athenry" and then told us a joke or two. I understood one or two of them - the rest passed me by as I couldn't understand his accent.

A woman went into the butcher's where he had advertised two rabbits for $5.00. She asked him "How much for one?". He replied $2.60. She said "I'll have the other one." Boom! Boom!

Athenry also had the obligatory ruined building - in this case a church.

We were beginning to wonder where all the beautiful scenery and quaintness was when we came across Dunguaire. A lovely lough.........(with swans)

Some very quaint thatched cottages....................

And an Irish Castle.....................

After a stop at a craft market and the Visitor Info Centre in Ballyvaughn, we headed for the Burren. We had seen these hills from the road on the way down and couldn't decide from a distance if what we would see was heather or rock. It turned out to be rock - and lots and lots of it! Hillsides covered in it!
Note the hint of a drystone wall in this picture - sorry couldn't help myself.

The highlight of the day was a megalithic tomb. That's stone age - 5,000 years ago!! The whole area really defies description - you kinda had to be there............ We wandered around for ages.

And just to dive you as as mad as I am...................... ta da!!.....