Day
1
Saturday, September 1, 2001
Tom
and Sandy Howell’s
vacation began from Denver International Airport with a 4 hour
Continental airline flight to Newark International Airport across from
Manhattan.
In
Newark, we met up with our traveling companions, Mark and Mary Ruhlman,
from Surprise, Arizona. We departed at dusk on a 6 ½ hour flight to Shannon,
County Clare, Ireland.
As our
aircraft took off from the Newark Airport, I remember pointing out the Manhattan
skyline to Sandy as she had never been to New York City.
We could see the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and the
World Trade Center Towers, which dominated the skyline of the city.
They
served dinner on the plane at about 9pm, Colorado time. I think this would be
about 3 am Sunday morning, Ireland time. We put on our Lone Ranger masks at got
a few winks as we were only a few hours away from Ireland.
Day
2
Sunday, September 2, 2001
We
arrived at about 6:30 am Sunday morning at the Shannon Airport in County
Clare. This would have been around midnight, Saturday night in Colorado. We
just had to forget the time warp and adjust to the jet lag. A light rain
welcomed us in the early dawn hours. We
arranged for a rental car. After stuffing the back our rental station wagon with
our luggage, I made a couple circles in the airport parking lot to get
accustomed to driving on the left hand side of the road. The steering wheel was
on the right side and it had a 5 speed stick so I became rather ambidextrous.
We
then headed north on N18 bound for County Galway.
We
stopped along the way for a traditional Irish breakfast of fried eggs,
sausage (known in Ireland as “Bangers”), bacon (which is unlike our
fat-laden bacon here in the US. It was more like our ham), grilled tomatoes,
“white pudding”, “black
pudding” and potato cakes. It is
a good thing we did not know what was in the “pudding” as we had it almost
every day.
When I
got back to the states I looked up
the recipes for some of these Irish dishes on the internet.
Irish
Black Pudding
Ingredients:
1 lb Pig's liver, 1 1/2 lb Unrendered lard, chopped, 120 fl Pig's blood,
2 lb Breadcrumbs,
4 oz Oatmeal, Medium onion, chopped, 1 ts Salt, 1/2 ts Allspice, Beef casings.
Irish
White Pudding Sausage
Ingredients:
2 1/2 lbs. medium ground pork butt, 2 1/2 lbs. fine ground pork putt, 5 cups
plain bread crumbs,4,eggs lightly beaten,8 cloves pressed garlic,1 tbsp. salt,3
tsp thyme,3 tsp.basil,3 tsp marjoram, 3 tsp black pepper,2 cups ice water.
Irish
Bangers
Ingredients:
2 tsp. ground white pepper,1 tsp ground ginger,1 tsp sage,1 tsp mace,3 oz salt,6
oz bread crumbs -plain,10 lbs. fat pork butt (if lean add 1 lb fat back,2 cups
ice water.
We continued on north to Galway. This is a fast
growing university city and with its population now reaching over 50,000 it is
set to become the third largest city of the Irish Republic.
Traditional Irish Music Session, Galway City
We
started looking for a currency exchange so we could convert our US dollars to
Irish Pounds (or Punts as they call them).
The exchange rate was about .85 punts on the US dollar. Being Sunday, we
were unsuccessful. We then headed back for our hotel in Bunratty.
Along
the way we spotted occasional ruins of what appeared to be ancient abbeys and
castles. We also noticed the vast
miles of stone fences that separated the farms.
Countryside
I began
to encounter the “round-a-bouts” and quickly learned how to navigate
them. It gets a bit tricky as you have to be in the correct lane depending on if
you want to go left, straight or right. I
think the Irish motorists notice American tourist right away and gave us a
break. Most of them would smile at me when I goofed up.
For the
most part, the Irish are very courteous drivers. However, there was an instance
where we were passed on a curve and the person passing us swerved to the far
right lane and the oncoming car went between us at about 60 miles an hour. We
then started noticing the signs that kept count of the number of traffic deaths
on that stretch of the road.
We
also learned that Ireland has two
official languages in
Ireland: Irish, which is the national language, and English which
is the language of the majority of the population.
Irish is a Celtic language, closely related to Scottish Gaelic, Welsh and
Breton. It was the language of the vast majority of the population until the
early 19th century. The shift to English happened quickly and by 1891 it was
being spoken by over 85% of the population.
The
early 20th century saw a national cultural revival as well as the establishment
of an independent Irish State. Subsequent promotion of the Irish language by the
state has preserved existing usage and increased bilingualism. Latest figures
available show that 32% of adults claim a knowledge of the language.
Irish
is the principle language in areas known as Gaeltachts, situated mainly
along the western seaboard. A State authority, Udaras na Gaeltachta,
promotes industrial development in these areas. Bord na Gaeilge (the Irish
Language Board), also a State agency, promotes the use of Irish throughout the
country and as a core school subject up to secondary.
Small communities do exist where
Irish is the spoken language; these are mostly restricted to the western side of
the country we explored.
We
backtracked from Galway and returned to Limerick Country. We checked in and got
settled in our hotel, the Fitzpatrick Hotel Bunratty.
Fitzpatrick
Hotel at Bunratty
We
took a quick cat nap to repair the jet lag damage. In the afternoon, we toured
the
Bunratty
(Bun Raite) Castle and Folk Park,
which overlooks the River Shannon. As
it was just next door to our hotel, so we were able to walk directly to it.
Bunratty Castle in County Clare is the most
complete and authentic medieval castle in Ireland. Built
in 1425, it is a cross between earlier Norman Castles and the later Gaelic tower
houses. The Normans frequently built "motte and bailey" type
structures - a watchtower on an artificial hill and surrounded by a stockade and
designed with defense in mind. Later, Irish chieftains copied this defensive
structure and in the 15th Century many of these castles sprung up around the
Bunratty area.
Mary
& Sandy, Bunratty Castle
Bunratty
Castle consists of a rectangular tower with three main floors and four six-story
corner turrets and it was destroyed and rebuilt after battles on at least eight
occasions. In 1954 it was perfectly restored to its original state and is now
furnished with authentic medieval furniture, armorial stained glass, magnificent
tapestries and fine works of art.
The
world famous Bunratty Medieval Banquets take place nightly in the Castle,
but we decided to go to a nearby restaurant & pub for some authentic Irish
Stew and a pint of Guinness.
Bunratty Castle Banquet Hall
Streets of Folk Park at Bunratty.
Adjoining the castle is the Bunratty Folk
Park - a recreation of a 19th Century Irish village covering 26 acres. The
park is a living museum where you can watch someone bake bread, a blacksmith fit
a horseshoe or someone thatch a roof. In an attempt to make the village as real
as possible the streets are lined with thatched cottages, farmhouses, school,
pub, post office, Church, shops and a hotel.. It is truly a step back in time.
Sandy & Mary, Bunratty Folk Park
Bunratty Village Street
Bunratty Village
Mary & Mark, Bunratty Folk Park
The pleasant streets of Folk Park, Bunratty.
Tom & Sandy, Bunratty Folk Park
Day
3
Monday, September 3, 2001
After
at traditional Irish breakfast, we checked out of our hotel and set north to Innis.
We stopped at an antique store as Sandy was showing signs of withdrawal from
“antique hunting”. Right away we
noticed how "old" the antiques were. Most were from the 18th and 19th
century. We continued west to the coastline and the Cliffs of Moher.
Cliffs of Moher
The most famous of Ireland's attractions
certainly lives up to its reputation for spectacular beauty. The cliffs drop
about 700 feet to the Atlantic Ocean, are 5 miles long and offer breathtaking
scenic views that highlight the ruggedness and wildness of the western
coastline. It is here that one can most easily get a feel for the wildness of
the terrain over which the Celts wandered, for although they built imposing
castles, very often they preferred the outdoor nomadic life and enjoyed the
hunt.
O'Brien's Tower
O'Brien's
Tower is the best location
from which to view the Cliffs, from this vantage point one can see the Aran
Islands, Galway Bay, as well as The Twelve Pins and the Maum Turk Mountains to
the north in Connemara and Loop Head to the South.
The tower was built in 1835 by Cornelius O'Brien, a descendant of Brian
Boru. The High King of Ireland, and the O'Brien's of Bunratty Castle, Kings of
Thomond, as an observation point for the hundreds of tourists who even then
visited the Cliffs.
Mary
& Mark, O'Brien's Tower
Four story O'Brien's Tower on
top shows scale of the cliffs of Moher.
Mary,
Mark, Sandy & Tom - Near
O’Brien’s Tower
After
our tour of the Cliffs of Moher, we stopped in a village nearby for a
mid-afternoon lunch of stew and seafood.
Along
the County Clare Coast
We then
continued southward. Along the way we stopped and visited an old graveyard.
Ancient graveyard
Ancient Graveyard
We then
journeyed south to Kilrush.
Kilrush - "the church on the wooded promontory" - is the capital of
West Clare. Kilrush as a town was planned and owned by the Vandelour family in
the 18th century. In its heyday during the late nineteenth century Kilrush was a
busy trading post. Steamers from Limerick linked with the West Clare Railway to
bring passengers to the seaside town of Kilkee. The Market Town is now the town
hall. Today Kilrush is a pleasant market town on the Shannon Estuary. It has an
excellent modern marina and associated maritime activities and facilities.
Not far
past Kilrush, we hopped a ferry across the Shannon Bay inlet and found ourselves
in County Kerry. We then headed towards
the southwest part of Ireland. Our
next destination, Killarney.
Mark & Sandy on ferry over Shannon Bay to Tarbert
We
arrived at Killarney in the early evening. We checked in to the Randles
Court Clarion Hotel. This manor type house was built in 1906 and
later developed into a 39 superior bedroom hotel. Rich tapestries, paintings,
antiques are displayed throughout. It
was situated on the main road to the famous National Park and Killarney Lakes.
We decided to make this home for the next three days. We called Dublin and
canceled our stay there at the Gresham Hotel for September 6th.
Randles Court Clarion Hotel
Our rooms were on the second floor to the right
of the entryway, overlooking the street below.
The scenery here was absolutely breathtaking.
That
evening we dined at a restaurant next door and had a splendid dinner.
We then
drove downtown to the world famous singing pub, The Danny Mann, for some
traditional Irish music and pint of Guinness.
The
Danny Mann, Killarney
Back to top
Tom's Genealogy Site
| Home | History | Family
Tree | Military | Photo
Album |
| Research | Links | Newsletter
| Directory | Site
Map | Contact Me
|
Sandy's Genealogy Site
| K-D Home | Keenan
| Dettinger | Hauser
| Hare
| Sullivan |
Howell
Family History©
©2000-2007. This site created &
maintained by Tom Howell
This site is best viewed with browsers of version 4 or higher.
This website is embedded with background music.