Galway/Connemara trip - February, 2010

On Friday, Feb. 26 we drove to Kilkolgan, south of Galway, where I had a meeting. During my meeting, Dana explored the area and below are shots of Kinvarra bay, Dungaire Castle, and a ruin near my meeting venue. The duck is in Kinvarra bay and Dana is pretty sure it is a Wigeon.

 

After the meeting we drove to Spiddal, on the coast, and visited Sliding Rock Pottery - the potter is Rob D'Eath, cousin of Michael. We had visited them in October, 07 when Michael and Brenda were here and were glad to see them again. He and Maureen picked us up at our B&B that evening and we had a very nice visit and seafood dinner. Maureen hates having her picture taken, and if she sees this she will not be happy, but I like it!

Saturday morning was bright and sunny but cold, as you can see in the shot above on Spiddal pier (where apparently John Wayne and other cast members of The Quiet Man spent some time).  All of these shots are on the drive from Spiddal, curving north through Connemara and returning to Galway via Clifden. The weather fluctuated from sun to rain to hail and back again - the bonus of this was that we saw a LOT of rainbows. All of the pictures below are of the drive and the rainbows. As you can see, we were incredibly close to some of them! . The lead shot of this blog post, and one of the shots below is Kylemore Abby, which is very beautiful. We did not tour it or its gardens, but enjoyed the view. There are still Benedictine nuns living there. And, we have included this sheep because we thought she was so pretty - almost dainty - and she was so interested in having her picture taken!

And now the rainbows:

Closer to home - miscellaneous shots

After we returned from Galway, we had a nice week. On the following Friday we went to Cahersiveen - it was just like old times with MFE covering Kate's therapy sessions and Dana chauffeuring, assisting, and exploring. There were lots of breaks in between therapy sessions, so we rested at Rossbeigh beach, had lunch at Daniel O'Connell Park, and walked through town centre. These 2 shots are from the city park below the old barracks. The water was so beautiful and blue that day! This is the same mountain that many of you have seen as our screensaver - just Spring now instead of Fall! On the way home we stopped in for a visit and tea with Patricia and Kevin in Glenbeigh.

On that Sunday, it was again bright and sunny, but very cold. We took Joe for a walk on the beach at Fenit. Again, the water was so beautiful and you can see the remnants of snow on the mountaintop across the bay.

And, the final entry for this post:  on Tuesday Dana drove Gerard and me to a meeting in Ballyvourny - the 1st Co. Cork town as you leave Kerry. Again it was a nice day and Dana had time to explore.He found the highest pub in Ireland! (Although we understand that Wicklow also has a pub that makes this claim!), some interested sheep, and some turbines (there are many such wind farms around Ireland)