Back to Galway: Laura's family then Athlone then Dublin

 

In the morning we said bye to Connemara's wild landscapes...

and we went back to Galway

to meet Laura and Makoto's family.

I met Laura in Tokyo thanks to my student Koichi.

She married Makoto.

After her first daughter was born she moved to England.

Then to Ireland (easier to get a visa for Makoto).

Then they had 2 other kids.

They are living in County Mayo.

After sharing lunch on the beach,

we left them to reach Athlone:

a city in the center of the country.

We were lucky because it was the day of the traditional festival.

For the first time I saw the card loom:

I need to study more and to practice it !!

We got a problem with our  RB and B

so we decided to directly reach Dublin.

In Dublin we stayed in a really chic suburb...

I didn't take pictures but it was really beautiful houses

made by bricks, with colored doors, gardens all around...

but no life in the streets...

We ate an other really fatty dinner in a really vivid pub.

Conemara day 3

After a huge irish breakfast at the B and B,

we went to lake Gorrigh: the 2nd biggest lake of Ireland:

182 km2 ! With so many many tiny islands (365 !!).

There you can fish salmon or trout.

People says that the Guiness family has a lot of

properties all around this lake and some islands.

Then we went to Cong, a tiny village 

located between 2 larges lakes: Lough Mask and Lough Corrib.

The Irish name Cunga Fheichin means Saint Feichin narrows'.

Cong is home to a 12th century augustinian abbey

founded by the O Connor family.

The last king of Ireland Rory O Connor spent his last years here.

The tiny village located on the border

between County Mayo and County Galway.

The village is surrounded by several streams

that encircle it, making it aptly called an 'island'.

Amané bought an irish casquette in Dingle.

Inside there was an explanation about  the movie

The Quiet man 1952 with the picture of John Wayne

wearing the same hat

 and Maureen O Hara.

The movie was shooted in Cong.

We watched the movie coming back to France.

It's a movie deeply irish made by John Ford 

with people from Ireland or descendants of Irish people.

It was one of the first long movie in colors:

the filmed landscapes had a big impact on local tourism.

Winton C Hoch's photography is praised

for its almost painterly green and gold hues.

Maureen O Hara embodies Irish pride: 

passionate, independent, proud of her honor.

John Ford painted also a typical Irish humor.

In this movie we found: picturesque village, flower filled cottages,

green hills, lively pubs, close knit yet spirited community.

This old movie is a dream of Ireland: Ford 

projects the nostalgia of Irish emigrants.

Than we had a lunch in a special place 

we didn't take picture: an old tiny church

surrounded by majestic trees...

But it began to rain...

So we just took the road...

Reaching Kylemore abbey

and our special pub for an other fatty dinner...!!!

 

Connemara day 2

We started the day by going to the tiny village

Cliffden: little open air market

and a cosy coffee place to have a delicious breakfast.

Then doing the Sky road...

A road winds through a wild windswept landscape

of jagged rocks and lush green cliffs.

It's a spectacular sight of the ocean joined by

the green of the fields tumbling down to meet

the waves crashing against the land.

The winding road runs along the coast and takes about

1 h to complete with rust colored rolling peat bogs, 

white sandy beaches and fields crisscrossed by drystone walls.

We are on the edge of the world.

Back to Cliffden, Amané found a fairy site.

Fairies are often considered the descendants of the Tuatha Dé Danann,

people banished to the parallel underworld accessible via hills or mounds.

The Aos Si or Sidhe are graceful, powerful beings 

close to the ancient gods.

The Banshees announce death with lamentations.

The changelings are children of fairies or switched humans.

Going to the supermarket to catch 

something for our pique-nique.

The Pine Island was beautiful, but surrounded by

french people !!!

It's a small island located in Derryclare lough

in the Innagh Valley

There you have scots pine growing on the island

with the 12 Bens mountains in the background.

Those trees grow in quite rocky marshy terrain 

which provide a strong contrast 

with the surrounding landscape. 

The heather, the calm and reflective waters of the lake,

the stone path that crosses waters to reach the island,

The 12 Bens surrounding: everything is so gentle 

in this landscape.

We took the road in the Innagh Valley

and we were so amazed by all

those wild landscapes...

We stopped, had some walks...

We found some linaigrettes !!!!

It's a good indicator of healthy peatlands:

it helps stabilize the soil in marshes and attracts insects.

In Gaelic it's often associated with 

the wild and simple beauty of the moors.

Some irish poets have evokated it as a 

symbol of purity and fragility.

We decided to have a pique-nique here:

2 lakes, some islands, some rivers, 

the 12 bens, some sheeps and linaigrette...

Discovering the hill

and what is hiden on the other side..

Peaceful your mind and body.

Amané was really attracted by sheep...

She did a lot of videos while we were crossing some

on the road

and Yuta was attracted by Amané....!!

Teenager needs to activate !!

Innagh valley is full of lakes...

This one is Lough Innagh.

and approaching the Maumturk mountains the landscape

 is changing...

So wild, huge and peaceful.

Of course we go slowly...so much to see and breeze...

And then we reached Killary fjord which

stretches 16 km long

and reaches depth of 45 m in places.

It marks the natural border between

county Galway and county Mayo.

Thanks to the quality of water

there are farms of mussels there.

Surrounded by mountains like Mweelrea

the views are really impressive.

It's an other place both wild and peaceful

where we could appreciate magnificient 

and timeless landcspaes.

At the source of the fjord we found a waterfall:

2 guys were fishing salmon there.

And then on the road  reaching Renvyle

we needed more stops...

Lakes -one of them is Lough Fee, an other is Lough Muck-

islands,

Maumturks mountains, sheeps

rivers

let's stop and appreciate...

Our bed and breakfast was near the ocean,

Yuta couldn't help to taste the ocean !

After this beautiful day we went to the pub for diner.

Crochet has a special story in Ireland; 

The Irish one from the 19 Century was used to imitate venetian lace.

It permits some families to survive during the great famine.

Now it's a leisure but really vivid with

lot of festivals, exhibitions, markets,

perhaps because of the climate...!!

Bon appétit !!