Tina Belle at the grave of William Butler Yeats

Castle Coole in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland

 Sunset at Castle Murray House Hotel

 Horses at Castle Murray House Hotel

 Breakfast at Castle Murray House Hote

Friday, August 17, 2012

Last night, we had a delicious dinner at Castle Murray House Hotel and Restaurant on St. John’s Point in Dunkineely, County Donegal.  It was the perfect ending to our vacation.

In the morning, we drove south to Sligo, stopping in Drumcliffe to see the grave of William Butler Yeats.  Tina Belle was all excited as she wrote her senior thesis on Yeats. In Sligo after being dumped by Prince Billie, we picked up a Hertz car rental to drive back to Dublin.  Bill and Tina Belle headed to Westport and the wild, remote Connemara for another week (which one person described as “the back end of beyond.”)   

After shopping in Sligo, we went to Castle Coole in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, for one last tourist stop before driving through the middle of Ireland back to Trim for our last night.  Kevin

Thursday, August 16, 2012

 View from Glengesh Pass in Donegal

Slieve League

 Slieve League

Slieve League

 Irish Cows

We continued our trip down the Donegal coast to Slieve League, which is one of the most spectacular sights in all of Ireland.  The sun came out as we approach the cliffs.  We climbed up to the first lookout for beautiful views of the cliffs and coast.  We arrived at our hotel on St. John’s point for our final night with Bill and Tina Bell, who are continuing on to Connemara for another week.  Kevin

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

 Rope Bridge on Causeway Coast

Royal Portrush Golf Club

 Glenveagh National Park

 Glenveagh Castle in Glenveagh National Park

After breakfast at the Bushmills Inn, we stopped at the Rope Bridge.  However, the rope bridge was closed due to high winds.   We then headed towards the wild coast of Donegal.  We drove past the Royal Portrush Golf Club – Prince Billie wanted to play a round, but we did not have time. 

We stopped at Glenveagh National Park in Donegal, which was the former home of John Adair, and took a tour of his home.  We then continued our drive along the coast of Donegal to our hotel.  Kevin

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

After a leisurely breakfast at our hotel in Belfast, we drove north along the scenic Antrim coast through small seaside villages, up narrow winding roads through the numerous glens, and with distant views of the coast of Scotland. 

We stopped at the

 Giant’s Causeway for a hike down to the base of the cliffs to see the 40,000 balast columns driven out of earth by volcanic eruptions some 60 million years ago.

 Ballygully on the Antrim Coast

 

Cushendum Village on the Antrim Coast

One of the narrow roads on the Antrim Coast

 View of Torr Head in the distance on the Antrim Coast

 Bushmills Inn

Toast at the Bushmills Inn

 

 Giant’s Causeway

 Giant’s Causeway

We had lunch and dinner at the Bushmills Inn, where we stayed with Dad 20 years ago. Kevin

 Shankill Road Mural

 Shankill Road Mural

 Shankill Road

 The Peace Wall

 Falls Road - Bombay Road

  Falls Road - Bombay Road

 Falls Road

 Joel our Taxi Driver on Falls Road

 Titanic Belfast Exhibition - Original Drawing for ship

  Titanic Belfast Exhibition - Ship leaving Queenstown

  Titanic Belfast Exhibition- Building

Monday, August 13, 2012

We had our final breakfast in Trim with Pam and Jimmy, who are heading back to Dublin for three days.

After a two hour drive to Northern Ireland, we took a tour of the sectarian neighborhoods in West Belfast.  Joel our taxi driver, who is a Protestant, gave us an excellent overview of both the Protestant area (Shankill Road) and Catholic section (Falls Road).  There were numerous murals.  The tall and long walls separating the two areas are referred to as the “Peace Wall” as the Catholics and the Protestants are more segregated today than 30 years ago.  The roads between the two sections are open during the day, but closed at 6 p.m. and every weekend.  The Catholics and Protestants do not mix at all.  Most of the fighting has stopped, but both sides are extreme emotional about this issue when they talk about the “struggle.”  The Catholics (Nationalist or Republicans) want to combine with Ireland into one country, while the Protestants (Loyalists or Unionist) want to remain part of the UK. 

The Titanic Exhibit, which opened recently, was outstanding.  It gave an excellent overview of the history of Belfast and the building of the Titanic.  It took over 2 hours to go through the exhibit. Kevin

Sunday, August 12, 2012

 Newgrange

 Newgrange

Battle of the Boyne

Battle of the Boyne

 Lost

Visited the Boyne Valley today, including Navan, Newgrange, and the Battle of the Boyne.  Navan is the town where the Owens family came from, but Dad was never able to find many family records.

Newgrange is the large passage grave mound that was built approximate 3,500 BC.  Marjorie was brave enough to venture into the inner chamber for a tour. 

We also visited the site of the Battle of the Boyne, the site of the largest land battle in Irish history.  Here on July 12, 1690 the Protestant King Billie of Orange defeated the forces of the Catholic King James II of England, which changed the history of Ireland for the next 200 years. 

Kevin

 Curraghmore House in Kilcormac

 Ballylevin House in Killeigh

 Home of Cecil and Jacinta Cox in Killeigh

August 11, 2012 - After dropping off the Kinne clan, Sheila, Marcia, Paddy, and Denise at Shannon Airport, the rest of the group headed to Trim for two days.  On the way, we visited the Curraghmore House in Kilcormac, where our Great Great Grandmother Susan Whitfield was born on January 1, 1801.  We met the current owner, Hugh Gleason, who is not related.  He has a dairy farm.  We then visited Ballylevin House that was owned by the Cox family for many years - sold several years ago.  The Cox family are descends of Susan Whitfield.  We stopped at Cecil and Jacinta Cox's home, which is next to Ballylevin House, but there were in London visiting their daughter Tara and attending the Olympics.   Cecil is a fourth cousin.  Kevin