Ireland

 This morning I started out chasing sheep across the street from our lodge.  I had watched this the day before but I didn't have my camera.  The sheep come meandering down the road and break off to graze on the grass.  They let us get fairly close before running off to safer pastures. After breakfast we went to a ship dog demonstration.  It was pouring rain but it was still fun watching the dog work the sheep.  The dog responded to spoken commands given from quite a distance.  He gathered them and brought them all the way up to where we were watching.  Afterwards, two sheep were sheered so we could see how they do it. For lunch we went to  Guy's Clifden . Michael, our driver, however advised us to wait for dessert because he was taking us to the best apple pie in Ireland.  Our next stop was  Kylemore Abbey , a Benedictine Monastery that also serves as a remote campus for Notre Dame.  I have to say the apple pie lived up to it's...

 Every year on July 16th people gather on the uninhabited island of Mac Dara's Island for mass and fellowship.  Boats from the area shuttle people to the island in all manner of crafts.  We road in a zodiac to get to the island. We arrived just before the local priest and some visiting clergy arrived to prepare for the mass.  There's a very small stone chapel on the island that holds the wooden alter that was moved for the service.  People picked their perches on the surrounding hill or in front of the chapel.  The rock we were sitting on had some significance because people kept circling it while saying prayers.  The mass started around noon.  We started gathering to head back towards the end so we could beat the crowd vying for boats for the return.  It was a very interesting and unique look at a traditional festival.  We returned to the lodge for a little rest before our next review.  We took over one of the living areas for the ...

 We departed today to head to Connemara for the last part of our trip.  Our first stop was at a little grotto with a cemetary perched about it.  The grotto had a rapidly flowing well that apparently had some healing properties.  It was filled with statutes, rosarry beads, photos, and other trinkets.   We stopped for lunch at  Vaughan's Pub  in Liscannor.  I have to say the food has been quite good this entire trip and I have had seafood of some kind at every meal. The  Cliffs of Moher  is a major tourist attraction on this side of Ireland.  The dramatic seas crashing against the black rock cliffs draws thousands of tourist and the main visitor center is quite crowded.  There's also a walk that will take you to a lower viewing point but our gang settled for a spot a little farther away where we could get shots.  There was also the bonus of a very photogenic cow along the way. After our stop we continued on to our final...

 This morning we had planned on taking ATV's up over a pass but the road was very wet so we just made a quick stop to look at the area.  There were several people available to take tourists on wagon rides so we took a few pictures of the horses before continueing on. Our next stop was at the tour operator's, Con, house to see his friend's birds of prey.  There was a demo of how they work with the birds.  The bird was only semi-cooperative but it was fun watching him work.  Next he brought out three different kinds of owls for us to photograph.  The owls were so amazing and they clearly had a bond with him.   We had a wonderful spread of charcuterie while we had a photo review.  The Irish cheeses are really wonderful and was really enough to make a meal out of.  However, after the review we headed to Con's family restaurant for a very early dinner. Late afternoon, we went to the opening day of the Killarney Races.  The track is a turf tra...

 This morning’s plans were modified to allow us a little more time in the morning to catch up on sleep.  Ira gave a short lecture on his workflow which was quite helpful.  We left the hotel before noon to head to our lunch spot.   An Sibin is a lovely little roadside pub where we sat outside for lunch.  They had lovely flowers and the food was delicious.  After lunch we drove up towards the  Ring of Kerry  which is a scenic route with stunning views of the coastline.  There was a lovely gift store which occupied much of our time stocking up on wool gifts for home. Our next stop was at a Druid Circle set up on a hill.  It was raining when we arrived so we waited for it to slow down a little.  This was like a small version of Stone Hinge and overlooked a lake.  After taking pictures at the top I wondered back down and over to a pasture where sheep were grazing.  There was also a pretty rapid running stream.  By the time...