The Cliffs of Moher

 The picture above is a random memorial for the Great Hunger which we stopped at. As you can tell it was raining.

From there we continued on to Co. Clare to visit the Cliffs of Moher, or if you are a Princess Bride fan, "the cliffs of insanity."  I enjoyed them and it was amazing to see them in person, but for you, this post probably won't be particularly exciting. After all, it was misty and raining when I was there so the professional ones taken when it is sunny that are all over the internet are far better than mine.

They all look the same. The cliffs of Moher is such a huge tourist attraction and you see pictures of them everywhere. I enjoyed Slieve league a lot more because it was far more rugged, less photographed and there were less people and far less tourists.  One thing I didn't expect at the cliffs was the boardwalks. It was all paved and walled.

less ocean...

...more ocean

 There was a lovely tower here. We didn't go into it though.

See? They all look the same.

 Things got a little more exciting when we hiked along and viewed the cliffs from an angle which wasn;t photographed as much.

 Because of the rainy weather, there were some pretty dramatic waves. Not that I got any good pictures of them. Although it doesn't come through in the pictures, the ocean was rather blue. Normally that only happens on a bright clear day. It is always grey with this many clouds.

 I keep mentioning the sod that the Irish cut from the bogs. It has been a stable fuel source for hundreds of years and even today, you can see piles of cut sod sacked in front of houses throughout the west of Ireland. I haven't managed to get very good pictures. The awful one below is the best I have. The stack of brown in the left is the huge pile of sod for the winter.

Cut sod to heat the house during the winter.

 There are ruined buildings everywhere. Some are tourist attractions, many are not and lie abandoned surrounded by trees and are olny glimpsed as we flash by. This castle named Leamaneh Castle still has a story attached to it though. Brian told us that it once belonged to an infamous Irish Woman named Red Mary. She had a fabulous head of bright red hair, but wasn't very attractive. She was married to and Irishmen who died young in a rebellion agianst the English, therefore the English wouldn't allow her to keep her estate and mansion, so she remarried to an englishman so she could keep her estate. The right hand side was a tower house built by the O'Briens in the 15th century and the rest was added on by Red Mary in 1648.

Leamaneh Castle

Leamaneh Castle is located in the Burren which will be discussed more in a few days in my next post.