You never know who you’ll meet on the Emerald Isle. And I rounded a corner and ran into this gentleman…. Maybe its a new golf outfit for when he’s playing in St. Andrews on his course there. But I digress… Ireland is a thoroughly Catholic country by heritage, and very conservative in social matters as well. And one of the traditional practices is honoring saints, visiting springs of holy water, and the like. This is St. Kieran’s spring, where you... Read more

(This was C.K. Barrett’s Methodist church which he served in Darlington before going on to become a professor at Durham University). I know some Churches, and in varying degrees I think this is true of all Churches, which in fact work on a very different scale of values. They are great because they are wealthy, they are great because they are influential, they are great because they have a magnificent history, they are great because the right people go there,... Read more

Sliabh Liag is of course Gaelic, and it is the name of Ireland’s highest cliff, indeed they claim it’s the highest in all Europe. Who am I to doubt the Irish? This gentleman was the one to explain to us what we were seeing as we peered into the abyss. If he looks a little like a character out of Lord of the Rings, you would be right— we shall call him Paddy. Let’s admit, the views are spectacular—- Yes... Read more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChVRE7z5_MM Luc Beeson is a visionary director, and this movie has been his pet project for almost an entire decade. If at times it looks like a movie deeply indebted to previous Star Wars movies, and even more clearly to the Fifth Element (check the director of that movie) this is no accident. Like Avatar, this movie tries to immerse you in another world in the future and also like Avatar it is very strong on the visuals, but not... Read more

In county Donegal one can still find the traditional old process of weaving on a loom. Most such products today (including Edinburgh Woolen Mill stuff in various cases) are not made where they were traditionally made, and are not hand made any more. Indeed, much of it is made in China! Not so the stuff from Triona. We went to a demonstration of the traditional craft by master weaver Dennis Traherne. You will notice as well they have included the... Read more

So we’ve shown you some of Donegal castle, the castle of the O’Donnells, and like many lords and ladies, they collected fine things, including important manuscripts, in this case, an early book of Psalms in Gaelic. There are some fine views from in the castle of the surrounding area… There are some nice churches in Donegal, a proper Anglican church, and a Methodist church. These churches were either shut, or empty, but if you are looking for people and the... Read more

There are many things to like about Donegal (pronounced Donny gul or gaal). It is a quaint town with an interesting castle and much more. It will take a couple of posts to do it justice. Let’s look at the castle first. The lady checking her pictures while we wait to go in the castle, is my Ann. Actually, most of these castles are fortified manor houses, as this picture will attest. There are some ornate features to the tracery... Read more

Derry, (officially name Londonderry thanks to the Brits etc.) is the second largest city in Northern Ireland after Belfast. We were there on a quite soggy day, but nonetheless got to see a few things. We had a walking tour, that unfortunately didn’t bother to take us into St. Columb’s cathedral, the pictures of which, on the interior, are beautiful. So, I can only show you the outside. Derry is a walled city.. as the following will attest From the... Read more

One of the major natural tourist attraction is the Giant’s Causeway, in the northern part of Northern Ireland. This is about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns on the north coast, and it is well worth seeing. It has the name it does due to the myth about Finn McCool. Here’s the Wiki summary of the myth— “The story goes that the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn MacCool), from the Fenian Cycle of Gaelic mythology, was challenged to a fight by... Read more

On our tour we spent time with a couple of Kiwis (no not the fruit, the people from New Zealand!). They kept remarking on how similar some aspects of Ireland were to New Zealand. Yes…. and no. Both places are very green due to plenty of precipitation, and Yes, there are a lot of sheep. In New Zealand the running joke is 3 million people and 30 million sheep. In Ireland the ratio is a little less daunting, but nonetheless,... Read more