Leaving the U.S. behind us, we set out on our overnight flight to Shannon, Ireland, arriving at Shannon International Airport early in the morning. Ron and Karen are waiting for us and, after all the members of the group have arrived, we board the tour van, and begin our travels through this ancient land.
From Shannon we drive north through Galway to the town of Westport, set on the shores of Clew Bay in County Mayo. Hillcrest House, our home base, is set among rolling green fields at the mouth of the bay, just north of town. This afternoon we’ll relax and settle in. Later we can sit on the terrace and watch the clouds scuttle around Croagh Patrick, Ireland’s holy mountain, or if we’re feeling more energetic, walk down to the bay.
Our itinerary will be relaxed and flexible, as are the Irish, so we can make the most of the opportunities that come our way.
A good place to begin is Ballintubber Abbey. In Irish, it’s Baile Tobair Padraig, or Patrick’s Well, named for the natural spring nearby where St. Patrick baptized his first Irish converts. The present structure was built in the 15th century. Amazingly, despite its being almost completely destroyed by Cromwell’s soldiers in 1653, Mass has been celebrated here continuously for more than 750 years.
For contrast, we’ll walk the length of a long corridor of dark, quiet trees, at the end of which lie the ruins of Moore Hall, a stately Georgian mansion. Vines curl around stylish portals, trees grow in a once-elegant parlor, rain falls through roofs open to the sky. Time has taken the trimmings, but the dignity remains.
We'll spend one day in and around the picturesque village of Cong, the setting of the film The Quiet Man. The ruins of Cong Abbey, set in a druid woods, are here. Also known as the Royal Abbey, Cong was founded in the 12th century by Turlough Mor O’Conor, King of Connacht. Rory O’Conor, the last ard-ri, or High King of Ireland died in the abbey in 1198. Nearby is Ashford Castle, built on the silver shores of Lough Corrib in 1228. Today it is an impeccable, five-star hotel set in several hundred acres of Connemara countryside. We will have lunch in these elegant surroundings. Following lunch, we will take a short cruise out on Lough Corrib to Inchagoil Island. A 5th Century historic ruin, it is said to be the final resting place of St. Patrick’s nephew.
Murrisk Abbey, founded in 1457, lies at the foot of Croagh Patrick, Ireland’s holy mountain. After exploring the abbey we’ll have lunch in Louisburgh, then head for Barnabawn, a forgotten point of land on the edge of the ocean. Here we’ll find deserted farms and homesteads, and some of the most diverse oceanscapes in Ireland, from gleaming sand beaches to softly sculpted rocks, and tiny fjords where the waves crash like thunder.
Ceide Fields (pronounced cay-juh), the largest Megalithic site in all of Europe, holds a secret that is gradually being revealed. Archaeologists are at work here recovering the remains of a prehistoric farm buried under the bogs of Mayo. Built over 5000 years ago, these vestiges of early life are older than the pyramids. A vast network of stone walls, hearths, houses, and fields has been uncovered, edged by cliffs rising hundreds of feet above the sea. After lunch we can spend the afternoon at Downpatrick Head, with its immense sea stack offshore, just a stone’s throw away. Here, legend has it, St. Patrick fought with the devil and threw him into the sea, where he turned into the huge rock tower that stands alone, divided from the precipitous cliffs of the mainland.
Our day in the fine old city of Galway will start with a walking tour through winding streets of antique shops and art galleries. At Kenney’s Book Shop you’ll find five floors of books, some of them treasures, piled in every corner. (They also specialize in hand-crafted bindings, using designs by Irish artists.) There are shops full of Irish music, where you can also find a tin whistle or bodhran to take home with you. We’ll have lunch at the historic Spanish Arch, set on the harbor. If the weather is good, we may find dancers and musicians performing in the streets and alleyways. The river nearby is lined with colorful boats to photograph, with dozens of swans gliding gracefully among them. There will be time this afternoon for you to explore on your own before we head back to Hillcrest House.
North of Newport Bay is the Nephin Beg range. We’ll have opportunities to photograph the lovely lakes of Srahmore, said to be more beautiful than the famous Lakes of Killarny. The Nephins are also home to Letterkeen Wood, and we’ll walk through Letterkeen Forest Park, where a succession of panoramic views of the Nephin Beg Mountains will unfold before us. In Letterkeen we’ll come upon a dramatic gorge, which has been hewn from the rock by wind, weather and water over many thousands of years.
A day in the northern reaches of Connemara will take us through deep glens and tiny villages hidden among the mountains of this quiet corner of Ireland. These are some of the most stunning landscapes in all of Ireland. We’ll follow a road north from Delphi that circles the edge of Doo Lough, a lake of tranquil beauty surrounded by windworn trees and mountain peaks. We will visit Kylemore Abbey, a newly restored Gothic church with exquisitely vaulted ceilings. Delving deeper into Connemara we’ll find ruins of old fishing boats tied to a dock — a poignant scene to photograph. At nearby Avoca Handweavers we’ll have lunch and see examples of Ireland’s best handcrafts, weavings and pottery.
Achill Island’s link to the mainland is the bridge that spans Achill Sound. This, the largest island off the Irish coast, is a study in wind and water, a compelling prospect of rock and cloud and cliffs falling off to the sea. We’ll traverse a dilapidated village, abandoned during the Famine. Hundreds of small, ruined stone cottages convey the image of what life must have been like during that tragic few years when the population of Ireland plummeted from twelve million to three million, through starvation, disease, and emigration. From higher ground, we’ll get breathtaking views of the Atlantic, magnificent seascapes of pounding surf and towering spires of rock.
Heading south from Westport we come to the Sheeffry Hills, which are clothed with an old forest of oaks, a place inhabited only by the spirit of ancient Ireland. Some call it a fairy forest (Sheeffry means “mountains of the fairy mansion”), for with its moss-covered rocks that look like little seats, its winding streams, gentle waterfalls and trees hung with vines, it has a mysterious, captivating other-worldliness.
We’ll visit the fifteenth-century Dominican friary of Burrishoole, set on the shores of Newport Bay. On a quiet inlet nearby is Carrigahowley Castle, which dates from the same era. The four-story castle was once home to Grace O’Malley, the famous Pirate Queen of Connacht. We’ll visit the corner turret where she used to sit and plan her strategies against Queen Elizabeth of England. Later we’ll drive the short distance to Westport, where we’ll spend the afternoon strolling around the town, with its colorful shops, tree-lined canal, clock towers, and stone bridges. The townspeople are delightful to photograph: children, shopkeepers, farmers, fishermen and housewives. Along the quays are boats of all shapes and sizes, some bright and new, others long abandoned and haunting in their lonely decay.
At Turlough we’ll find one of Ireland’s unique round towers, standing amid ancient carved gravestones beside a ruined church. Designed as bell towers to call worshippers to prayer, they were later used to protect Irish monks and their libraries from Norman invaders. Today they have become a symbol of the early flourishing of Irish culture. Near Turlough is Lough Cullin, a quiet lake strewn with boulders left by the glaciers. Their shapes and reflections in the still waters create wonderful images to photograph. Later we’ll visit the Irish Heritage Centre, in an old woolen mill in Foxford. Here we’ll learn about the ancient Irish art of weaving, and the part it has played in the history and culture of Ireland.
These are typical of the places we’ll visit from our base at Hillcrest House. Though there's no possible way to visit all of them, Ron and Karen will choose the best location for each day’s outing, taking into consideration the interests of the group, making changes or substitutions.