No Rsters!!

end of tortured bivalve euphemisms...thank goodness!!

After a day of oysters, Guinness, "opening" competitions, music, partying and the lovely dinner at Aniar,  we packed the bags once again and loaded up the coach, left the lovely Meyrick and the bustle of the “big city” of Galway. 

We headed south toward the southwest coast of Ireland.  As you work your way through the countryside, it begins to get “hilly” reminding you somewhat of the highlands of Scotland.  Neither group would most likely not liking me say that, but it does get beautiful

Notice the remains of a tower house standing as a silent sentinel over the landscape.. We found that one of the joys of the Irish countryside is that you're just driving along and all of a sudden there’s another remains of some castle, some named, some not

An interesting feature of the one just above pointed out by Dr. Miller, is that you can see what was probably the original tower house on the right, which at some point was “remodeled” to include the more modern structure attached on the left.  It even had indoor bathrooms as evidenced by the little structure at the top left.  Watch where you stand!

We drove through County Clare, and the area known as “The Burren”.  It is marked by rocky hills with no soil to grow anything, and is aptly described in a quote attributed to one of Oliver Cromwell’s generals that the Burren is a place where: “There isn’t a tree to hang a man, water to drown a man nor soil to bury a man”.  After his conquest of Ireland, good old Englisman Oliver gave the native (still resisting) Irish the choice of going “To Hell or to Connaught”.  Needless to say, Oliver wasn’t very popular with the Irish.  I think most people with even just a rudimentary knowledge of Irish history knows of the brutal and horrific deeds carried out by Mr. Cromwell.  As evidenced a little further below, hatred for the man (and to some extent the country he represented) still exists

We made another stop at a place we MFO and I had visited on a previous trip to Ireland, known as a Dolmen or a Portal Tomb which dates from the Neolithic Period.  It is still kind of a haunting structure.

Speaking of structures, i observed a different technique in the construction of the local walls:

Vertical instead of horizontal stone placement!.  Of course in the Burren, there is an ample supply of stone.  Did not hear of a reason for it.  

Then on to the famous Cliffs of Moher on the rugged seashore overlooking the North Atlantic.  The light wasn’t so good for photography

But it was still pretty.  As usual, the real show is looking at the visitors, not the reason they're there.   I’m not sure this is the same individual we saw in 2010 but there was the requisite Harp Player to entertain folks (and accept a token of appreciation).

As a sign of the times, notice how many people in the photo are staring at their hands which holds some device, not the lady.  Sad, in a way.  

But there are also people there who were looking for a token of appreciation of a different sort, like maybe a kernel of popcorn, or a crust of brown bread

For humans, we had a non descript “lunch” in the cafeteria of the visitor center

And then we drove on to the town of Limerick

There was a big group from St. Mary’s

Who didn’t tour Ireland on Ferry's

They rode around on coaches that weren’t called busses

And had so much fun that no one ever cusses

Okay, okay, weak, but hey, I’m just a food blogger not a bard… at least it didn’t start with “There was a young lady from….”

Limerick was the site of the signing of the Treaty of Limerick, which in effect ended the war between the Williamites and Jacobites.  We had a little driving and walking tour guided by an Irish gentleman from an agency in Limerick who gave a most informative talk.

He evidenced the lingering love of Mr. Cromwell by saying “let’s just say if the English were playing the Taliban in football (soccer) we’d root for the Taliban”.  Limerick is the also the home of a famous (you guessed it) castle, one of the best preserved Norman castles in Europe, King John's, dating from around 1200.  It is situated on the River Shannon

Of course there are other edifices in Limerick that are not quite that old

Steak, anybody?

After a long day, we finally checked in at another stately grand old hotel, The Malton

They just don’t make them like this anymore (at least in my sphere)

As is our custom, for the first evening’s stay, we had a group dinner at the hotel, a prix fixe menu as usual

Pictures of the food did not do it justice, and hence are not included.  I had the stuffed Kerry lamb shoulder with Celeriac Puree

The evening was concluded in an elegantly appointed bar

With an Irish whisky

Just another arduous day on the road, with the weary traveler

DFD