It's a long way to Tipperary...

Thursday 06 October

Happy birthday to our niece Megan. We didn't blow away overnight but occasionally it felt like we would. The strong scuds of rain also keep coming and 5 minutes later it stops and all is calm. It is very disconcerting to be woken up to find your bed and the whole motor home rocking violently in the wind! During the morning the sun even came out but just as quickly disappeared. And it's a very cold 6 degrees.

Not long after leaving Derry/Londonderry we crossed into County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland and back into the Euro and metric zone and into some roadworks which we hadn't seen since Europe. Saying that the roads seem to be better then Northern Ireland - so far anyway.

We are on the road to Tipperary, travelling down the West Coast of the Republic of Ireland, where we are looking forward to meeting up with distant relatives on Bill's father's side.

Stopping in the town of Donegal for morning tea we were amused to see people double parking in the town centre as they rush into shops on errands. In the UK people park on either side of the road in whatever direction they're travelling in, which shocks us, but we've not seen double parking before.

The countryside is obviously very green but not many forests which might explain why strong winds just sweep through. This afternoon certain areas are expecting 120km/h winds resulting from a cyclone/hurricane event off the coast – a gale 9 storm. The motor home was certainly being pushed around today on the road and Bill had a tough time keeping it steady.

It is so cold, wet and windy, that even the stop/go man has to take shelter in his car, only dashing out to change the sign over when he gets a call on the radio.

Again in the countryside we see many abandoned houses/cottages falling into disrepair and assume, like in country Scotland, tenants may have left and the land owner doesn't then maintain the premises. But in contrast we also see many beautiful, large houses with stone forming part, if not all of the structure of the house and fencing. Really love that look. Of course accompanying large properties with farms comes the delicate aroma of cow poo fertiliser which sometimes overpowers as we drove through.


The other amazing things here is the stone walls everywhere.  The land was so stony, that they had to be cleared, and with great effort and skill, these excess stones have been used throughout the country to build stone walls to delineate fields and keep stock apart.

When we arrived in Sligo we wanted to visit the Tourist Information Centre as well as organise a new sim card now that we are back in the Euro zone, but we found no motor home friendly parking so continued to our camp site – Lough Arrow Touring Park, County Sligo. We picked the most sheltered spot we could find and hope to have a quiet, gust free night.

It was mid afternoon and we could have gone for a walk but the weather is cold, windy and rainy so we decided to stay in and plan more of what we want to see whilst here in Ireland. Tonight we've got no internet and no TV as reception is bad so we're back to how things were a lot of the time in Europe.

Friday 07 October

We've been kept awake by a multitude of things at camp sites over these past months – church bells, aeroplanes, partying Swedes – but this one is definitely new. The neighbouring farmers have just separated the calves from their mothers and one of the two kept bellowing at regular intervals most of the night. If this wasn't bad enough, an exterior dripping noise coming from the motor home which Sylvi first noticed at Fort William became ten times worse overnight with the heavy rain, so not much sleep was had.

As a result of all that we weren't up as early as we'd planned but set off anyway back into Sligo to sort out a new sim card and visit the Tourist Information Centre. There is more blue sky then grey but we don our wet weather gear anyway. We found parking by the quay and did the short walk back into town and were deliriously happy to find a Costa in the same shopping centre as the mobile phone company we needed.

An interesting fact about Sligo is that this is where the boy band West Life (featuring Brian McFadden) members grew up and from where the band took off. They are currently making a comeback tour.

Once the Tourist Information Centre had comfirmed our choice of things to visit in the area we set off for the Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery which houses around 60 cairns (tombs) dating back to the Stone Age. 

With a field map we had to leave a refundable deposit for, we set off to explore. Unlike the cairns we saw near Culloden in Scotland, much of these were covered in dirt and grass with only the top boulders exposed but you definitely got the idea of their scale. 

Most of the tombs had been opened a long time ago with bones and other objects removed and carbon dated. The largest tomb had basically been rebuilt following removal of much of the exterior stones but walking into it we couldn't imagine how a civilisation back then could have transported the 6 massive boulders placed in the centre of the chamber.

Just for good measure we got drenched and blown about for awhile and had to do the moon walk to get to the next tomb because facing front on would have resulted in our flesh being peeled off from the force. Anyone observing us would have wondered what we were doing walking backwards in a field. This is why you pay a refundable deposit for the field map. Many must have been lost in the past.

After lunch we drove to the car park below the Knocknarea Cairn, said to be the tomb of Queen Meabh - you need to follow the link if you want her story. There is no indication anywhere about what the terrain you are about to travel upon is like or how you should be dressed, but we expert mountaineers :) are all decked out. The climb is steep, rocky and slippery and took us a good 45 minutes to ascend. At first it's cold but you soon work up a sweat only to be colded down again once at the top with the strong winds.

This cairn has not been excavated, though some can't help but climb the 40,000 tonnes of rock which make up the tomb, even though asked not to. The photo may not show it but this cairn is 55 metres wide and 10 metres high.  There used to be 9 other graves beside this massive one but they seem to have become part of a stone wall separating the now owner's pastures.

Even though the climb was only to around 330 meters, we were very pleased with our effort given the conditions. And to be able to reach this totally amazing historical object was very gratifying. The view below is pretty spectacular from this height too. Some areas were bathed in sunlight and we saw some beautiful rainbows.

And there were many farm animals out enjoying the day too as we made our way back down the track.

Not a bad day in all and we were pretty exhausted by the time we drove into our camp site – Belleek Caravan and Camping Park, Ballina – where you have to pay one euro extra for a hot shower but it was most welcome to cleanse our stinky, tired bodies.

Saturday 08 October

Although Wales beat Ireland in the rugby this morning we're feeling bright as the sun is out and the temps relatively warm. It turns out we're lucky to be in this area at this particular time as one of our gas cylindars needs changing/refilling and most suppliers here in the Republic stock an uncompatable brand - so you can't just do a swap. But here there is a stockist who can refill for us so we do that first up.

Next to find a supermarket which is proving difficult in these small country towns. There are lots of small independents but no large chains like we've become used to. We have nothing against the small independents but parking is always a problem unless it's a large store like Tesco or Morrisons.

Leaving that for later, we head for Ceide Fields (pronounced Cage-er Fields) near Ballycastle, the world's most extensive Stone Age monument consisting of stone-walled fields, houses and tombs initially found in 1930 by a farmer digging in the bog. The site is situated close to a stunning coastal view where Bill only had time to take a couple of photos before the heavens opened up and the fog rolled in.

Not to worry because what we are about to see is housed in an Interpretive Centre. Well at least the 20 minute film and explanatory exhibition is. Could it be we've found those responsible for the strength of the winds that blast through Ireland? The earliest farmers of 3000AD cut down or burnt a lot of the forests to plant their crops. They also used the tonnes of rock available to them as building material. It is thought that when the ground became too sodden, they moved on thus allowing the peat moss growing in the area to grow, rot and compact in layers which thousands of years later was dug up by today's farmers to dry and burn for fuel (as there were no trees).

The Centre has a glass pyramid into which you climb to overlook the exterior site but if you want to see the excavations you have to go outside where the forces of nature are presently on full display. Having had our fill of that yesterday we make a disappointed retreat.

Having to retrace our road back to Ballina to then head for Cong in County Mayo, we were frustrated with the narrow roads and lack of anywhere to pull off to the side of the road if needed. We also continue to be frustrated by not finding a supermarket and by constantly seeing low barriers in parks or car parks, preventing us from accessing with the motor home.

Arriving at our camp site, the Cong Caravan and Camping Park, to find the reception closed we set up anyway and waited for the managers to return as they said they would in half an hour – which they didn't. This place is so average it reminds us of some of the worst European sites we've been to. We won't be leaving them a positive review on Tripadvisor that's for sure.

Funny enough, Cong is famous for the filming of the 1951 film The Quiet Man starring John Wayne, and this camp site is supposed to show the film every night of the year.

Sunday 09 October

The Kiwis beat Argentina in the rugby and Australia vanquished South Africa, so the two rivals from across the pacific will meet in a semi-final clash. France will play Wales in the other semi. Lets hope for an Australia vs Wales final.

After trying to point out all the bad things about the camp site to the manager who wouldn't have a bar of it, and feeling totally ripped off at having to pay 25 euros for this dive (on par with the really good UK sites), we set off as quickly as possible on the two hour drive towards Tipperary.

But first we returned to get a photo of the front gates to the AshfordCastle first built in 1228 and once the home of Arthur Guinness the famous beer maker. This place wasn't far from the dive/camp site and you can actually dine and/or stay there like a king. The prices reflect this of course with a night's stay costing between 350 and 700 euro.

Arriving at Galway within an hour with rain and wind, we just did a quick loop of the city mall area, had a coffee and took off again. One interesting thing is that the Claddagh ring, the famous Irish ring consisting of two hands holding a heart topped with a crown, has been made here since the 1700s. We remember our sister-in-law, Cathy, getting herself one on her trip here with her husband several years ago. 

Another hour on the road brought us to Limmerick, a much larger town and the rain had eased considerably. St John's Cathedral was closed which we have found to be the case with most churches in Ireland when a service is not underway. St Mary's, a medieval church which was opened a bit further down the road, but wanted 3 euros per person for a visit. 

A small section of the original town wall backs onto this church's cemetery as we walked to find King John's Castle built in the early 13^th century and housing excavations from the Vikings and Normans.

Walking along the River Shannon back towards the city we came upon the Treaty Stone where the Treaty of Limmerick was signed 1691. After the Irish Jacobites were deafeated the treaty was signed giving, amongst other things, religious freedom to Catholics. However the English soon reneged and created anti-Catholic laws.

Just before we got back to our motor home we came upon St Michael's church with our old friend St George perched atop the spire slaying the dragon. This guy has followed us around everywhere on our travels and we always smile when we see him.

On closer inspection, we realised this was actually Archangel Michael, taking on the Dragon.  But our favourite is George, so we assume the dragon escaped from Michael, only to meet his match with Saint George. 

As we drove in to Tipperary, we noticed an immediate change in the countryside. Gone was the desolate bog country to be replaced by lush canopies of trees over the road and houses with pretty flowered gardens, something country folk can't really have due to the sodden grounds.

Something that is similar though is the smell of burning peat which many use for heating rather then wood or coal. And of course the unmistakable aroma of cow poo which is liquified and spread over the fields.

Our camp site, Glen of Aherlow just outside of Tipperary belongs to the Caravan Club so we know we're getting good quality facilities. Currently we're the only guests here though the camp was apparently full over week-end due to a nearby rally.

There are many nature walks we can do in this area and the weather is brighter though the strong winds continue.

Bill made contact with his distant cousin, Patrick whom we will visit Tuesday afternoon.


When you drive into Tipperary, the Welcome Sign says "You come a long way".  This refers to the famous WWI tune, It's a Long Way to Tipperary which you can listen to if you follow the link.

Monday 10 October

Drove back into Tipperary to shop at the Tesco but more importantly leave our rig there as we explored the town. This is another typical country town with the usual small independent shops and dozen pubs but then we came upon the Excel Arts & Culture Centre which combines as a cinema, events centre and cafe. It was a great find for lunch.

Sadely next door they have let run down the Council Chambers built in 1876 and are attempting to sell the land.  Otherwise, Tipperary is similar to many small country towns in Ireland.

We had quick peak at St Mary's church (1831) with its run down cemetery, headstones falling every which way, and church not receiving visitors, before returning to our vehicle.

As the weather was behaving itself – overcast with some wind but no rain and temp around 17 degrees – we decided on a 6km walk in the Glen of Aherlow commencing at the Christ the King Statue.  It is fairly rocky terrain with some steep climbs but you're rewarded with magical views of the valley below towards Tipperary.

In the first section there are a lot of pine trees, heather and bracken and an enormous rock known as Thorabh (the bull). 

The ridge is mainly red sandstone formed over 300 million years ago and some other interesting rock formations grabbed our attention. Heading down to the second section we were in a lush wooded area crossing the River Aherlow. This was a very enjoyable walk.

Tuesday 11 October

Drove to Cashel to visit the ruins of the Rock of Cashel, a 12^th century Romanesque fortress containing round tower, abbey, and cathedral. Since the 4^th century, this location was the seat of power of kings and saw much turmoil before being handed over to the church.

The ruined cathedral still houses several tombs and many works of decorative plaster are still in good condtion. Some restoration is being carried out in a small side chapel which once contained beautiful wall frescos and intricate plaster work which is still visible. Obviously with the roof gone, much damage has been caused by the elements.

One well maintained building is where the male choristers rehearsed before signing in the cathedral. The colourful wooden wall decorations make you think that the other buildings and their interiors would have once also been as bright and attractive.

From the outer perimeter you can see the ruins of a 13^th century abbey on flat farmland about 1km north. It once housed Benedictine monks.

As seems to be the norm, once the buildings started needing repairs which could probably not be afforded, the residents departed and the buildings slowly became ruins.

After a “pub lunch” and a quick look around the town centre we headed back to Tipperary for our meeting with the Delaney relatives. The narrow lane leading to the property wasn't built for motor homes but luckily we found a park up the road from the house. We found out later that the front gate to the property was only widened a couple of years ago to allow vehicles through as it was originally only built large enough to accommodate a horse and trap. The original iron gates still remain though have been cleverly added to.

So we met Bill's great-great aunt Sadi, great cousins Joe and Patrick and Patrick's wife Sinade and their 3 young children. Sadi has lived in this house all her married life which has belonged to the Delaney's for around 200 years. Beef Cattle are still run on the 40 acres from time to time.

It was great to meet up with distant relatives, and to visit an ancestral house, especially one that retains much of its original character. We really enjoyed the visit and thankful for their wonderful hospitality.

More photos here.