Republic of Ireland

It had long been on our list to visit Ireland and we were lucky to spend the last couple of weeks of our overseas adventure in that green land, flying into Dublin Airport but then heading straight out to the regions.

For most of our travel, we used public transport, but we hired a car for this stage, and it was wonderful to have the freedom to explore. Thank goodness for Google Maps, although they took us on some convoluted journeys at times when a more straightforward option would have sufficed. But Bruce has a mantra “no journey’s wasted” and we quoted those words numerous times over those few months away overseas!

Our first week was spent in County Clare, in the most gorgeous 200-year-old cottage (the more compact right-hand side of it) out in the countryside near the town of Ennis. Our Airbnb hosts loaned Bruce a bike and he really enjoyed getting out and about each morning along the winding country roads while Nicola kept up with her work!

We were acclimatising back to New Zealand weather during our time in Ireland - they should have been getting lovely hot late summer weather such as New Zealand gets in February but instead, it

felt like our late autumn! But everywhere was so very green, after the wettest July on record - an intensely Emerald Isle.

After County Clare, we ventured north along the stunning western Atlantic coastline, through County Galway and stayed a few nights in a renovated granary in a wee town called Easky in County Sligo. We explored west to Enniscrone and east to Queen Maeve's Cairn on Knocknarea Mountain, one of County Sligo's most conspicuous landmarks.

From Easkey, we drove south through the centre of the country to the south-east, to our stay in the lush rural countryside of rolling green hills and hedgerows, golden wheat fields ripe and ready for harvest, near the town of New Ross on the border of Counties Kilkenny and Wexford.

We took a quick trip through to Cork and met with members of the Irish counterpart of our organisation, also service providers to Boston-based Road Scholar, running educational and active programs for over 60-year-old Americans to countries across the world. It was a great opportunity to chat and share ideas and issues common to us all.

Our last stop was up to an Airbnb on the outskirts of Dublin for four nights. We seemed to be running out of steam somewhat in Dublin and had several quite slow days, one of which rained all day, so Nicola used the time to keep up with her workload before the disruption of the journey home.

Highlights of Ireland:
All the pubs seem to regularly offer traditional Irish music and we really enjoyed that vibe, along with the obligatory pint of Guinness, although Nicola opted for some additional blackcurrant juice to sweeten hers - sacrilege, for sure.

We were continually fascinated by the vast network of narrow, winding roads ranging in every direction, lined with high hedges and bushes trimmed right to the road edge and with no verge whatsoever.

Also fascinating were the size and quality of the homes in the rural areas – huge stately, new-looking, extremely well-kept and maintained, two- and

sometimes three-storeyed homes with immaculate and expansive lawns. Rather than gardens around their homes, many have pretty flowers in pots dotted around their property, and also out on the roadside at their gates. I’m sure, in New Zealand, they would not remain in place for long!

The Wild Atlantic Way is a trail to follow by road around the (mostly) western coastline of Ireland, and it is stunning, with huge towering cliffs, raging surf and wild seas, and cute villages dotted along its length. We couldn’t cover it all but soaked up all that we could in the time available.

We loved the picturesque dry-stone walls dividing the fields in every direction along the west coast. We learned that many are “famine walls” when, sadly, during the period of the two great famines in the west of Ireland, the government put the downtrodden and often starving peasants to work building the walls in return for food or remuneration.

A bog is a freshwater wetland of soft, spongy ground consisting mainly of partially decayed plant matter called peat. Peat is a fossil fuel and has been

harvested for thousands of years to be used as a source of energy for heating, insulation and electricity. It was fascinating to drive through the peatlands and see the trenches from where the blocks of turf have been cut, and the stacks or rows of peat logs laid out to dry. Peatlands cover more than 17% of the area of the Republic and in 2022, one in seven Irish households still burned peat for heat, although there is a considerable official push to restrict cutting on protected bogs. Interestingly, the soaring costs of energy bills had recently reinvigorated the ancient practice of cutting and burning peat for fuel, as it was significantly cheaper for a household than more climate-friendly sources of energy.

Loop Head and Lighthouse, where the Shannon Estuary meets the Atlantic Ocean

Cliffs of Moher: Spectacular limestone sea cliffs running for 14 kilometres with the highest point rising to 214 metres above the ocean. One of the most popular tourist attractions in Ireland. We were lucky to strike a still day with a flat calm sea, blue sky and sunshine. However, that meant the Irish midges were out in their full swarming and annoying fury!

The Burren: A huge area of karst limestone rocky uplands extending right down to the sea in parts of western Clare. The “pavements”, consisting of a flat incised surface of exposed limestone, with slabs (clints) isolated by deep

fissures (grikes), the surface patterning bearing a striking resemblance to man-made paving stones. We walked the Lough Avalla Farm Loop, which took us through mossy forest, lush open meadows, and up onto this fascinating landscape, a stark contrast.

Queen Maeve’s Cairn: An ancient cairn (passage tomb) built atop the circular limestone Knocknarea Mountain, County Sligo, in Neolithic times. In Irish mythology the cairn marks the burial place of the beautiful warrior Queen Maeve of Connaught, is 55 metres across, 10 metres in height, and was probably built around 3,400 BC. Incredible! In respect to the sacred burial site, it is forbidden to climb on the cairn itself, although it was obvious by the well-trodden paths on its sides that many have done so in the past. But it was a lovely walk around the base of the mountain then up to the summit with 360-degree panoramic views over the deeply green picturesque countryside.

Downpatrick Head: Another stunning set of cliffs in County Mayo, on a wind-swept day with squalls of horizontal rain coming through.

St Mullins: Named after Saint Moling, who founded a monastery there in the early seventh century. A tiny but ancient settlement on the picturesque River Barrow, which is part of Ireland's inland waterway network. It is still navigable by pleasure boats and barges, but was a hugely important link for the transportation of goods up and down river in earlier times.

On a visit to EPIC, The Irish Emigration Museum in Dublin, it was fascinating to learn that, since 1700 around 9 or 10 million people born in Ireland have emigrated. A huge number considering that in the 1840s the population was at its peak of around 8.5 million people, and now there are approximately two million people in Northen Ireland and just over five million in the Republic of Ireland. It's estimated that the Irish diaspora population, referring to ethnic Irish people and their descendants who live outside the island of Ireland, is around 70 million people!

The Famine 'Black 47', as a result of a blight which decimated the potato crop over two years, caused about one million deaths from starvation or hunger-related disease between 1845 and 1851, and a further one million people emigrated at that time. So, Ireland lost 25% of its population during that dreadful period, and some counties in the west of the country lost more

than 50% of their population. Terribly sobering statistics.

Walking tour of Dublin
Our delightful guide Dan, regaled us with tales of Ireland in general and Dublin in particular, including the following:

'Craic' is the the word that encompasses all that we love about the Irish - their sense of humour and fun, but it's also just an experience, sensation, or feeling, an Irish expression of a great time, despite their horrendous history of poverty, suppression, famine, loss and death.

Moly Malone, the famous bronze statue depicting a beautiful fishmonger and prostitute, is probably just an urban myth. But we all know and love the song of Molly Malone, which was sung to us by Dan, our guide. In an awesome finale, at the end of his song, the cutest little white dog appeared high above us on the balcony of a local apartment, summoned by the sound of the name, Molly being her name also.

The Ha'penny Bridge, colloquially named for the toll to walk across the cast-iron pedestrian bridge over the River Liffey.