After leaving
Northern Ireland we headed across country to
Dublin, Ireland's capital city.
 |
| Frieze on Sunlight Chambers, Parliament Street |
I was interested to visit
Fishamble Street as (1) it's the oldest street in Dublin, dating back to Viking times, and (2) it's the place where
Handel's '
Messiah' (one of my favourite pieces of music) was first performed in 1742.
 |
statue of CS Parnell (Home Rule advocate),
northern end of O'Connell Street |
After two nights in Dublin we headed over to the west coast and
Connemara. This was the lovely view from our B&B in
Spiddal.
I was mad on horses when I was growing up, and at the time Connemara was familiar to me only as the name of a breed of ponies.
 |
| windswept Connemara ponies |
'Conamara' actually means 'Inlets of the Sea' in Irish.
 |
| an isolated cottage in Connemara |
 |
| locals have an abundant supply of peat to heat their homes with |
We then headed to the city of Galway.
 |
Galway Cathedral, with Salmon Weir Bridge to the left,
crossing the Corrib River (Europe's shortest river).
|
 |
| Spanish Arch, Galway, a remnant of the town's medieval walls |
 |
Lynch's Castle, Galway, an example of a town castle
|
Ireland is littered with old castles!
 |
Dunguaire Castle, south of Galway, built around 1520
|
 |
| Muckinish West Tower House, Galway county |
In the northern-western part of County Clare is the rocky and windswept limestone
Burren region.
 |
| at the Burren |
 |
Lighthouse, Inisheer, Aran islands (seen from the Burren)
|
Further south along the coast are the 200m-high
Cliffs of Moher, one of Ireland's most popular sights.
 |
| Cliffs of Moher |
 |
| Cliffs of Moher |
 |
| ruined castle keep at the Cliffs of Moher |
The region is home to an abundance of wildflowers.
 |
| wildflowers |
 |
| wildflowers |
 |
| wildflowers |
 |
| wildflowers |
 |
| wildflowers |
We spent a night in
Ennis and then visited the town of
Limerick, which for me until then had just been the name of a type of
rhyme! You can visit King John's castle there, built by the eponymous English king between 1200 and 1212 on the banks of the River Shannon.
 |
King John's castle, Limerick (12th century)
|
We also visited the very interesting
Hunt Museum, which has fine collections of Bronze Age, Iron Age and medieval treasures.
 |
Roman bronze dodecahedron whose use remains a mystery.
The circles are symmetric on each side.Hunt Museum, Limerick |
 |
Greek water jar, 4th century BC, Hunt Museum, Limerick
|
 |
Horus, 7th to 4th century BCE, Hunt Museum, Limerick
|
If you enjoyed this post you might also like:
No comments:
Post a Comment