Dave and Judy Moss

Today we went to Lock Ness in the Scottish Highlands, to see the Lock Ness monster and the general area. We are staying in the Kingsmill Hotel in Inverness, Scotland. Unfortunately, the monster was reclusive and decided not to show itself. Lock Ness is in an earthquake fault and is approximately 23 miles long. We viewed Urquhart Castle ruins built between the 13th and 16th centuries. The fresh water lock is used for transportation by boat and fishing. We were also able to see some Hairy Cus, or Highland cattle. The road are very narrow and we were caught for almost an hour waiting for a large load to pass.

This is our tour guide, David Neil, who is with us for the entire tour

This is the Urquhart Castle ruins as seen from our boat

Hairy Cus, or Highland cattle

The Ardgowan Estate is from the 14th century. It has seen war, peace and people such as Napoleon, Florence Nightingale, and Robert the Bruce. It was originally built to ward off the Vikings. Over the years it has been maintained and is now used for education, cultural events and weddings. The oils in the Estate are all original; many of the family oils were painted by Henry Raeburn in the 1700’s and 1800’s.

We stopped at Portaneevey because of the beautiful view. One of the interesting sights is a rope bridge going from the mainland to a small island. The bridge was used to assist the local fishermen to retrieve nets while fishing for salmon. We also saw one of the many sheep farms which are all over North Ireland and Ireland.

We stayed tonight in the BallyGally hotel. The hotel was built and integrated into an old castle. The rooms are nice and the food was very good.

You can see the rope bridge with people walking across

The Giant’s Causeway is estimated to be over 60 million years old. The shapes in the causeway were caused by a numbers of stages including volcanic, erosion, glaciers, and wind. The Giant’s Causeway was designated as a World Heritage Site in 1986. There are numerous walking paths, but due to time, we choose to ride the bus.

Londonderry is the second largest city in North Ireland. The city is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Ireland. The city dates back to the 6th century. When we did our bus tour and then the walking tour, we saw portions of the original wall which surrounded the city. There are also murals on buildings which gives opinions of social issues. The old churches are still in use and are all around the city. The city, in more recent times, was mired in controversy, especially as it relates to the IRA.

Tomorrow, we will leave North Ireland and take a ferry boat to Scotland where we will complete our tour.

We started off the day in Cong to visit an monastery. There is a fresh water stream which goes through the monastery, which also has a fish hatchery. John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara were in a movie filmed in 1952, the “Quiet Man” in Cong and a statue was erected depicting them by the local people.

We are staying in Sligo tonight. The hotel is an old insane-asylum renovated into a Clayton Hotel. We toured the town culminating in viewing a statue depicting the “Great Famine” lasting from 1845 through 1852. Of course, Judy took a picture of the cream-brulee at a local pub.

Today is our last day in Ireland. Tomorrow morning, we leave for North Ireland.

Tonight, we stayed at the Galmont, Hotel. It is a beautiful facility. We walked through the down town to a pub where Judy and I had a great Shepard’s Pie. In the large city park, there is a monument to JFK, who visited the site. They also have a portion of the origional wall which surrounded the city.

These are cliffs located on the southwestern edge of the Burren region of County Clare. They range from 390 to 702 feet above the Atlantic Ocean at Hags Edge. All of the buildings, including the visitor center, are built into the ground. The cave shown in our pictures was used in one of the final Harry Potter films. The barrels in the building contain 15 year old scotch (they would not let us have a sample).

Today we toured Killarney, Smeed and the surrounding area. Killarney is on the shore of Lough Lean. There are several lakes and a national park. Smeed is a very small city with a small stream and several restaurants. We ate at a bread and breakfast. We toured the park by horse and carriage. The weather was not cooperative today.

THE END

The castle was built around 1210. The original structure was a hunting lodge. The castle was torn down in 1446 when Dermot MacCarthy, King of Munster, built what is known today as Blarney Castle. Inside the castle is the Blarney Stone, which when kissed, will give the gift of eloquence. The castle is surrounded by beautiful gardens and animal depictions.