There is also a lot of support for Palestine by the Irish Catholics as there are parallels in experiences between the conflicts.

A 26 foot tall wall was built between Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods 50 years ago to discourage violence. Large portions of the wall not only still exist, but there is no support from the two sides to remove them. The gates across streets separating the neighborhoods are still shut and locked every night.

The Protestant side of the wall doesn’t have the artistic murals of the Catholic side, but it does have millions of signatures and wishes for peace written by residents and visitors. We visited the longest part of the wall at 1/2 mile.

We then visited the only remaining Victorian era prison which housed prisoners up until the 1990’s, including activists from both sides of the conflict.

Nelson Mandela assisted the Catholic Republicans with advice and support.

A sure sign we’re in Guinness county.

Lots of blooming happening.

There was a tunnel between the prison and the courthouse across the street used to take prisoners back and forth without leaving the prison.

And new ones.

After a heavy day, we had a really nice meal including something called a boxty - a potato pancake. This version is treated like a wrap around roasted vegetables. It was really good!

Belfast town hall.

We stayed near the Botanical Gardens which had a beautiful glass conservatory, similar to the one in Seattle’s Volunteer Park.

We took a tour of some of the areas most associated with the Troubles, the conflict between the British Protestant loyalists and Irish Catholic Republicans. Our guide was great and did a good job of providing a lot of background and history of a complex and enduring conflict. We had no idea that despite the Good Friday agreement being signed 30 years ago, there is still a great deal of animosity and self segregation between the two sides.

The murals are largely in the Catholic Republican neighborhoods and celebrate Irish language, heritage and activists.

The only mug shot I hope Jessee is involved in!

Snails, mortal combat or hugging? Hard to say…

Seems like a great place to be a cow.

This formation is called the organ pipes. The giant was apparently a musician who played the organ.

A great dinner after our walk.

Maybe my favorite photo…

A bit of flora.

A bit of wall art thrown into the mix as well.

Keel beach on Achill Island which is huge.

We visited an interesting abandoned village of about 80 dwellings that was vacated during the famine. The inhabitants now are sheep.

A great pub on Achill Island where we had lunch.

A collie and Shepard on an ATV came by while we were there and herded the sheep up a nearby hillside.

A bridge in Westport, a very atmospheric town down the road from Newport.

There’s an adjacent marsh area that hosts grazing sheep enjoying some delicious pink flowers.

Tea and cake break at the visitor center.

Another field trip took us north a bit to some dramatic cliffs.

Farming and grazing right up to the edge!

Lots of weather happening. Sunny one moment and pouring buckets the next. Always windy.

There are some beautiful beaches nearby including Mulranny beach below which has some of the most \240consistently big beach rocks I’ve seen. It’s a very difficult beach to walk on, although apparently there is a sandier bit exposed at lower tides than when we were there.

A visitor center for a Stone Age settlement burrieed under bog lands. Apparently the oldest in Europe. People were farming here 5,500 years ago!

There are so many rhododendrons here! All purple.

Window at a woolen mill.

Memorial to victims of the famine

The drive had a lot of beautiful scenery as well.

They also have a vegetable garden for their restaurant.

We then went to a hotel in a former castle \240that has a nice bar and grounds, Ballynahinch. Below is the front door knocker.

There were some very pretty flowers as well.

There is a very large Victorian walled garden that helps keep out the wind and captures the warmth when the sun is out.

There are also paths through woodlands.

The walled garden and flowers there.

Vegetables are grown there for the Abbey kitchen and visitor cafes.

Jessee making friends.

The fishing town of Roundstone is just down the road from the beaches.

Some bright green flora on the sea rocks.

Flora adjacent to rocks.

Obviously not my photo, but what the beaches look like from above on a more sunny day. Pretty cool!

To the left is a cemetery, to the right the beach. Not a bad eternal view.

A cute honor system farm store along the drive. We got blueberry jam.

Lots of creative mural art from small to big.

A mix of old and new.

Very delicious chips. It’s all this restaurant does. We got them with garlic aoli.

Crab roll dinner.

Sunset from our lodging. The first we’ve seen so far in Ireland.

A closer photo below of the red house above.

There are many many pubs.

Sister cities. Interesting selection!

There is also a sea arch in an adjacent cliff.

The town of Baltimore where we stopped for a stroll.

And had a delicious Turkish dinner.

Saw a fun door knocker.

There’s a beautiful beach nearby that has a pontoon floating bridge across an estuary to reach the beach.

Funny sign.

A view to an interesting mountain on the mainland.

This castle is near where we’re staying and is owned by the actor Jeremy Irons. There are apparently a number of celebrities with homes in the Cork area.

The cove the ferry comes into and the dock.

The towns on the way to the garden were colorful and arty.

So many pretty flowers.

Seal sighting on the way to the island.

Exit from the walled garden.

The cute ferry.

Entry to the walled garden.

Oscar, the garden cat. The only full time island resident.

The Italian part of the garden.

Flower box.

Musicians in front and all sorts of hardware behind them.

Super cute house.

We went to Foxy John’s for a bit of music. It’s both a hardware store and pub.

There are many pubs with music happening.

Knitted diorama at one of the many woolen products shops.

Delicious fish and chips dinner.

Dingle is very atmospheric with a wide range of colorful houses and businesses.

Rainy day ice cream break.

A windmill and bridge in Tralee.

The county Kerry museum has an exhibit recreating the town of Tralee in the 1200’s. Life definitely seems a bit rough.

Wrapped up the day with some Irish music performed \240in a church in Dingle

Beach walk flora.

Sunset clouds.

Great Blasket museum.

Parts of the more recent Star Wars movies were filmed nearly. So, there are some fun nods to Star Wars along the way.

This is Dinquin pier where boats docked that came and went to Great Blasket island in the distance.

A mural in process. Perhaps delayed by beer drinking?

Smelling the roses.

Amazing vistas along the way.

It was warm enough to enjoy the beaches and some folks were swimming.

Puffins!

Mural on a lighthouse at the entrance to the bay dedicated to Fungie.

Lush seaweed.

Snack stop on a walk. Looking back at the village.

The geology is amazing.

There are some very dramatic cliffs in the area, with lots of birds.

We were on the orange boat in front.

There are several other islands nearby largely inhabited by birds.

People lived on Great Blasket for centuries but the most recent settlers were evacuated in the 1950’s at their request. Too many young residents had immigrated to other parts and life for the older residents wasn’t feasible as they needed to be largely self sufficient. The government now owns and manages the island and keeps a few of the houses looking as they would when they were lived in.

Houses were tucked into the hillsides and windows and doors didn’t face the ocean as that’s the direction the wind came from.

This brown dots on the beach are seals that make up the largest seal colony in Western Europe. In the winter over 1,000 will be here covering almost the entire beach.

View of seals from the boat.

Clear water on Great Blasket.

Fun wood sculpting.

Statues of the lord and lady. He was known as “The Best Knight” who ever existed.

Lastly we visited Tinturn Abby. It was built by the same lord who built the lighthouse. Henry the VIII kicked out the monks when he ruled and gave it to a family who lived there for several hundred years, until the 1920’s.

Next we visited one of the world’s oldest continuously operating lighthouses - Hooks Head lighthouse. It’s been going for 800 years! We took a great tour and learned a lot about lighthouses and local history.

Someone had fun with this horse icon 🦄.

The Abby also has a garden.

We visited the beautiful Mount Congreve estate with a large network of forest paths and gardens.

The first outdoor parking lot laundromat we’ve come across at a grocery store near where we’re staying.

This is a mural on the building of another distillery we visited named Roe and Co.

We visited the Pearse and Lyon’s distillery which is in a church. The church had been closed and derelict for many years when the distillery owners bought it. They spent 4 years and $20M restoring it and adding the equipment they needed for a distillery. The spire had been destroyed by lightning. They replaced it with glass which is lit blue at night similar to the door color.

Our friends introduced us to a local delicacy called a spice bag. Created here in Dublin, they’re typically at Chinese takeout restaurants and have chicken and chips (fries) in a bag that have been coated in an addictive spicy coating with pepper and onion bits as well. A fusion of Chinese and Irish cuisine. They also make a vegetarian version with tofu. Absolutely delicious!!! We will need to have more before we leave.

With a few houseboats tied up along the sides.

The original church windows had been broken and boarded up. The distillery owners reimagined them for the new building purpose.

There is a canal that is close to where we’re staying.

Whisky takes a while to make; 3 years is the minimum aging period. It’s a long time to wait to make any money. So, most whisky distillers now also make gin and vodka to tide them over financially.

Small street art.

Part of the Glendalough valley.

We had to go back for more spice bag! This time we also added a bowl of hand pulled spicy noodles in the biggest bowl ever.

Fairy forest.

A couple murals in Dublin.

One of the nearby lakes.

Back in Dublin the flower boxes outside some of the pubs and businesses are impressive!

One of the church ruins on site.

A different church.

Below is the tower the monks apparently used when being raided or attacked. They would climb up a ladder to the elevated entrance and pull it up and not get attacked. Seems like word would get out and attackers would just start bringing ladders with them???

The park parking lot hosted a number of food trucks including ice cream!

This one has matching flowers in front.

More painted utility boxes

Jessee doing his tasting in the rooftop bar.

One of their commercials used this prop supporting the saying that ”A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle “.

Some have fun door knockers.

We took part in the Guinness brewery visitor experience. It’s like a Disney version of a brewery tour. Lots of multimedia information about the brewing process, their advertising as well as restaurants, a rooftop bar and of course lots of merchandise.

The production process graphic is below.

This idea for floating gardens is fun.

They’ve used lots of animals in their advertising over the years. Jessee liked the kangaroo.

We also visited the Little Museum of Dublin which does a great job of providing an entertaining history of the city via exceptional guides and a quirky collection of artifacts.

Thank you Ireland! That’s us signing off for now. A new album invite will hopefully be coming your way in mid- August.

And a really good group playing traditional tunes.

They have the last functioning telephone booth of a particular vintage \240in the country.

A final whisky tasting with friends.

The book of Kells is an illustrated copy of the first 4 books of the bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It was produced by monks in Scotland at a monastery on the island of Iona in the 7th century. They fled to Ireland due to Viking raids in the 11th century. It was given to Trinity College in the 1600’s for safe keeping. A different page is displayed each day. No photos are allowed, but they do have images on screens. The calligraphy and illustrations are intricate and beautiful.

Coffee and cake break.

This is the Ha’penny bridge. Pedestrians were charged a half penny to cross by the British.

The library also houses the oldest harp in Ireland. It’s over 500 years old.

Temple bar bars with flowers