Belfast

We spent our last day of this tour in Belfast. We had a brief bus tour followed by a brief walking tour.

 

Our first stop was the small remaining section of the "peace wall" between The Falls and the Shankill area.

 

 

This is part of the Stormont Estate. It is the site of Northern Ireland's main government buildings, which are surrounded by woods and parkland.

 

 

And the view from that building.

 

 

This is St. Anne's Cathedral doors (didn't have time to go inside).

 

 

 

This is inside the beautiful City Hall (wish we had more time for photos).

 

 

 

This billboard is right near City Hall.

 

 

And this lovely sight was in the hotel restaurant at breakfast time.

 

 

Several of the other hotels we stayed in offered Bailey's or Jameson with their porridge but you didn't get to pour it yourself! What a great country!

 

 

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Portrush

We had an impressive start today: the Giants' Causeway. The scenery was quite interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we tested our nerve at the Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge. The bridge links the mainland to the tiny island of Carrickarede. It spans 20 metres (66 ft) and is 30 metres (98 ft) above the rocks below.

 

 

The area was pretty spectacular.

 

 

Our final stop was at Dunluce Castle, a ruined medieval castle.

 

 

 

 

It had a great view of a stone arch.

 

 

 

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Derry

On our way from Westport to Portrush we stopped in at Drumcliffe and Derry.

 

Drumcliffe is the final resting place of the poet W. B. Yeats (1865–1939) who is buried in the graveyard of St. Columba's Church of Ireland church.

 

 

The church was interesting.

 

 

 

 

We also stopped briefly in Derry. Derry is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-largest city on the island of Ireland. It is a walled city and the Walls were built in 1613–1619 by The Honourable The Irish Society as defences for early 17th century settlers from England and Scotland. The Walls, which are approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) in circumference and which vary in height and width between 12 and 35 feet (3.7 and 10.7 metres), are completely intact and form a walkway around the inner city.

 

 

This is the Guildhall which now houses government offices. It is a beautiful building but it was difficult to get good pictures because there had been an Octoberfest event just the weekend before and several big tents and other structures hadn't been taken down yet.

 

 

 

It has a lot of stained glass windows and a beautiful organ.

 

 

 

This is the First Derry Presbyterian Church.

 

 

We also drove through the Catholic Bogside area which was the tinderbox of the modern Troubles in Northern Ireland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cong

The village of Cong was our destination for today. We first visited Ashford Castle and the School of Falconry.

 

We got to meet Dingle, the European Eagle Owl (a rather handsome fellow).

 

 

We then took a Peruvian Harris Hawk out flying.

 

 

 

 

 

Ashford Castle was pretty impressive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also explored the ruins of Cong Abbey.

 

 

 

 

Cong is the place where the 1920s movie, The Quiet Man starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, was filmed. This is the commemorative statue.

 

 

 

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