Hello All,
We have been in Ireland now for 6 days and it has been a wonderful trip. Mommy asked that I write a post about some of the things I did on my runs through the countryside, and since she planned this trip with me in mind and since I have been wanting to go to Ireland for years, especially since I went through my terrible time, I am glad to do it.
Literally, since my terrible time, I have wanted to go on a trip to Ireland. Going there has been on the top of my list of things I would like to do to feel peace and see some natural and ancient beauty and this trip we have taken has been exactly what I was hoping for.
What have we done you might ask...what have we not done? We got off the plane in Dublin and since it was an all night flight we went to our hotel, called the Ariel House Hotel. it was right down the street from a rugby stadium that had a match at 3:30 pm and we were arriving at around 12. Since I had had a pretty good rest on the plane I went running. I left our hotel and there were lots of people already preparing for the match, policemen setting up barriers and preparing for the onslaught of Rugby match watchers. I ran from our hotel to a Main Street in the town we were in and turned left and then just ran. I ran down a great sidewalk past lots of houses and eventually got to the ocean where the tide was out and a nice path started. I went over a walkway to the ocean and as the tide was out some guys were out digging clams. The path on the ocean side of the walkway was pretty short so I went back to the other path and kept running and it was a very peaceful path that led to a park next to the ocean. I got to my 3.5 mile mark running around the park and then ran around the park some more and then ran back home. Unfortunately since I was kind of tired and in a new place I got a little lost at the end and ran by the street our hotel was on but with the help of a policeman I got back to the hotel. That night we had dinner and a show at the Merry Ploughboy which was great! I will not go into about that as mommy will in her post, but it was a great show and dinner.
The next day we went to church which was nice but with a very small congregation. It was sad because literally it was all older men, some immigrants from other countries and women. There was a younger man on the stand who was a counselor in the bishopric and that was it for adults, and the only other younger guys were from Portugal and Africa. I think in Ireland the young guys are probably too interested in rugby and football and drinking and girls to stay active in the church. But the older lady who gave a talk about crosses we bear and the older guy who spoke about blessings from God as we keep the commandments were excellent talks.
That afternoon we went to Castle Trim in Trim and it was a very interesting building built in three stages over hundreds of years and though the interior of the castle was not intact it was protected by a roof and had walkways and gantries over the large open rooms. The tour guide showed us around the castle and we got to go to the top and up the left spiraling stairs designed to inhibit attackers and help defenders. Then we spent time in the grounds and went along a path through a field for a while where we found a 7 story bell tower from medieval times. It turns out the bell tower was the highest standing medieval structure in Ireland. Someone told me there was a castle and a monastery near by but it was too far to walk that day so we ended up going to our hotel, called the Castle Arch Hotel and after dinner and some relaxation we went to bed.
The next day we got up had our breakfast and I went...you guessed it running. Mommy planned this trip so I could go running in the morning without feeling super pressure to get going somewhere early, so I went running down through this little town and to the castle grounds and along the river near Trim Castle. The river served as a natural barrier to the castle defenses in its time and then I went to the 7 story bell tower and then began running to find the monastery and the castle. Did I find them? You bet! Within my 3.5 mile out run I ran along a pretty path through the field near the bell tower and saw in the distance the monastery. Like many monasteries in Ireland it was ruinous with lots of graves and Celtic crosses in the ruinous church and around it. I had to run around the cool graveyard a few times just to see it well and I went into the church and looked out the window over the alter and there sitting on a gravestone was an old irishman in a black hat, black coat and a pair of Adidas black sweat pants. When I first looked through the window I kind of did not see him well and did a double take, to make sure I was seeing what I thought I saw, a Celtic cross over a large gravestone with the person sitting with his back agains the cross in black hat/coat and pants. Does this sound a little strange, yes it was, but when I saw the Adidas stripe down the side of his pants I was a little less freaked out. I ran around the graveyard and the ruinous monastery and continued on my path towards my next running objective, the castle. it turns out it was not a castle, it was a ruinous hospital. That was super interesting to see, the patient rooms that were intact were like caves with arch shaped ceilings and very low. It made me thankful for the hospitals I have worked in. I continued on my run till I hit 3.5 miles and the ran back basically the way I had come but around the other side of the beautiful field leading to the bell tower.
The plan this day was to go see Loughcrew megalithic tombs which is a high hill in Ireland with ancient 5000 year old passage tombs which was nearby where we were staying in Trim. Once we arrived Mommy and I hiked up the super high hill to the top where there was an intact passage tomb with a metal gate guarding the entrance. We walked around it and it was such a beautiful place with multiple other passage tombs nearby in different states of ruin overlooking all of the land of Ireland nearby with such a beautiful green vista. Some were smaller and the tops had been removed and only the interior chamber and the doorway were left with a pile of rocks around them. So a passage tomb is built by making a hole in the ground and making a doorway and then a passage leading into a cruciform chamber and covering this cross shaped passage with a roof. Then a huge pile of rocks is built over the passage tomb and over the many years it naturally gets covered with earth and grass. Almost like a pyramid but without the cut stones covering up the tomb. On the hill we had walked up we could see 2 other hills and both looked like they could have passage tombs on them as well. One had an obvious passage tomb with the doorway visible from our hill and I wanted to go see it. So at that point mommy was done hiking so I asked her and she was glad to let me go try to get to the passage tomb on the other hill. Once we came down the hill and we got to our parking lot and I walked up the little Irish road to a sheep gate, I was on my way to find the other passage tombs. I proceeded to walk across a sheep field up and up and over smaller hills for a mile and a half up till I got to the other hill and sure enough there were multiple passage tombs on this hill. One was intact and others were unroofed and one still had the huge pile of stones around it but the actual passage tomb part was destroyed. I will never forget walking through the sheep field up higher and higher to the top of the other megalithic hill.
Something funny that happened too was that we tried to visit the Megalithic center which mommy thought was a visitor center. It turned out to be a campground and because it was so early in the year, there was no one and no center open.
Once we were done, we drove to Galway and our bed and breakfast in Galway. We had a pretty good dinner that night at an Italian restaurant but mommy burned her mouth on her burger. I however had some good chicken and a nice salad and no burned mouth. Afterwards we had ice cream bars - magnum and went back to our bed and breakfast. Even though it was just a nice Irish Lady's house, it had the nicest bed and a very nice bathroom.
Tuesday began our Aran Island Adventure. We drove to the docks after breakfast and took a very smooth ferry to Inishmore Island, the largest of the Aran Islands. It was a 2 hour ferry ride to the island and once we got there we rented bikes to use the 3 days we were going to be there. Then since we had not had lunch we went to the one store - SPAR to get some lunchmeat and bread and some drinks and had sandwiches for lunch. Our next task was to find our lodging. It was a one bedroom apartment on the other side of the island. There were two ways to get there, the long but costal way which was supposed to be easier biking and the shorter but straight over the hill of the island way. We took the longer way, Unfortunately it turned out we had to go longer and then up the back side of the hill in the center of the island to get to the rental. But bike we did and make it to our house we did. It was a cute little one bedroom apartment and it served us well for the three days we were there. So, one problem was food. We had some leftovers from lunch, and our host Sinead left us some rice, pasta, eggs, butter and condiments but before we knew it the only store on the island had closed and the only restaurant in our area of the island had also closed. So that first night we ate another sandwich for Mommy and I had pasta with butter and salt.
Wednesday we got up and I went running. There were all these sights to see on the island, some of which were on a map, others were just hinted at by the descriptions of the island. One was called the 7 churches and I was determined to find it. So, I went running down the hill we had come up the night before and followed one of the few roads along the coast by some houses. As I passed some houses I saw a stone sign with an Irish name and an arrow, so I figured it must be something cool so I followed the arrows to Cleoghan. I kept following the poorly marked path through fields and stone fences till I found Cleoghan - a small passage tomb. It was in good shape and I took a video of me walking into it and around the inside and then out the other side. It was a cool find.
I went back to the main road and continued down it till I saw another sign Dun Eoganacht leading up the side of a steep hill. Unfortunately the path led up and around and up and around corners bordered on both sides by rock wall. I started to wonder if this was going anywhere but I wanted to see Dun Eoganacht so I kept going and finally at the top of the island I found some fields with an indentation in the field and that was it. I do no know if that was Dun Eoganacht but I was done looking and hiking so I went back down and ran back home. Mommy has said if the kids were here they could come on these adventures but I know the kids would have said to stop earlier in the walled road progress, but I just could not give up on Dun Eoganacht. I don't know if I found it or not but that was the last time I tried to find it.
I was bound and determined to find the 7 churches so I went down the hill, left out of the road to Dun Eoganacht and finally found the 7 churches around the 3.5 mile mark. It was super cool! 7 churches in different states of ruin with lots of graves around and in the ruins of the churches and all of them were different sizes and in different states of existence. I took pictures of them and the graveyard and I was glad to have found them. The red haired Irish lady who owned the good cafe near our house said she grew up near that area and the 7 churches were her playground. I am not surprised because it would have been a great place to play hide and seek.
Later that day we went to see a ring fort nearby but by the time we got there we thought it would close, so we had linner at a great little cafe near the visitor center and then shopped for aran island sweaters, of which we bought 6. The cool thing about the sweaters is that they are made of very complicated knitting stitches and they have names and patterns - lobster claw, trinity, the tree of life, Fishermans rope and each stitch looks like those things.
In the afternoon we were hungry and so I went riding my bike the short hilly way to town around 6 pm. I got to a pub that was still open and it was so busy and full of drinking people that I got overwhelmed and left without food. I road a little further to SPAR and it was closed. So I went home. One other note, that day I had looked at Aran Island real estate and found that they were selling a lighthouse on top of the island and I road past it on my way to town, so I determined the next day to go see the lighthouse.
I woke up the next day and went to see the lighthouse. It was about 2 miles down the road towards town and up a giant hill to the top of the hill where I found the lighthouse. It was on 2 acres and it was selling for 550000 euros. The lighthouse was intact but it had a dirt floor and a spiral staircase and all around it ruined buildings, cool looking but completely ruined buildings.
However to the side of the lighthouse tower complex there was a ring of stone walls and I had to investigate. I walked through the fields and sure enough, found the coolest ring fort on the island. the walls were 6 feel thick and there was one opening into the inside. Inside there was a large rock pedestal, circular in shape. Leading up to the wall from the inside there were six stone staircases that led to the top of the wall. It reminded me of Weathertop in the Fellowship of the Ring when the Ring Wraithes come over the side of the circular courtyard and they attack from all different sides. Then below the ring fort on the other side of the island you could see this huge set of circles of stones, each one getting smaller as they got higher, not rings of stones but actual circles, and I have no idea what that was.
That morning we went to lunch at the cafe near our place and when we went it was raining. We got there and had lunch and when we got done, all the tourists were leaving and the sun came out. So we went to Dun Aohngosa, another ring fort and walked up the hill to the summit where the cliff ring fort was and it was interesting and beautiful. The sun was shining and it was just us and a few other people because of th time of day and the weather.
Today was our last day on the island. I got up early and went running for the last time on the Aran Islands. I ran to try and find a place called the wormhole. I ran for about 3 miles through roads and fields and small paths and following signs to the Wormhole, but I never found it as it was poorly marked and not super obvious, but as always I enjoyed the journey and got my miles in and had a great time. I also met a guy hoeing in a little potato garden who had two golden retrievers and said hello and I asked him how he was doing. We had a good chat and then I went home to Aris.
This blog may not sound like much fun. There is something about Ireland and running and exploring Ireland. Seeing the green fields, the rock walls, the ocean nearby, the ancient church and towers and castles and hospitals and tombs
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