It was rainy and overcast as we arrived in Cong … when we left we thought it was one of the most beautiful places we had been in Ireland.

Cong is the home of the Quiet Man Museum – a 1952 movie starring John Wayne … there a few photos.

The surprise of the day were the grounds of the ruined abbey … absolutely beautiful. Lovely trees a wonderful river meandering through the grounds, an ancient monks fishing hut and of course the abbey.

Enjoy

Ireland certainly has its fair share of cliffs … we visited three of them and an amazing bay

1. Cliffs of Moher, County Clare (perhaps the most famous)
2. Cliffs at Dun Aonghaus, on the Aran Islands in County Galway
3. Cliffs at Slieve League, County Donegal
4. Keem Bay on the island of Achill in County Mayo

When we got to the Cliffs of Moher it was late in the afternoon and pelting down with rain, the car park was absolutely full of car and at least 25 coaches … I elected to stay and guard the car. Michael made the valiant effort to climb up to the cliffs and take the photos … thankfully it had stopped raining long.

The cliffs at Dun Aonghaus we a real surprise … we had decided to go on a trip to Inishmore one of the islands in the Aran Island group to see the iron age hillfort Dun Aonghaus not realising that was built on a cliff. The hillfort was spectacular and the cliffs were amazing.

On the advice of a barman in Donegal we decided to take a trip to see the cliffs at Slieve League … these were spectacular … luckily he told us that when you get to the car park open the gate and drive up to the very top which we did. Apparently most people park at the bottom car park and trudge uphill for the last mile. These cliffs we spectacular … Michael climbed right to the top.

Keem Bay was an unexpected find … a couple of people told us the Achill was a beautiful place to visit … and it was … we decided to try and drive right to the end of the island. This was a scary goat track with sheer cliff falls on my side of the car … these people have not heard of safety rails and I was terrified … I think Michael would have cheerfully chucked me out of the car at one point. Anyway we made it and … it was breath taking … one of the prettiest bays we had ever seen.

Hope you enjoy the photos

Wow!  On top of the rock is a bishop’s palace, a 13^th century church and Cormac’s Chapel.

The Chapel was only recently opened to the public after an 8 years restoration project. Named after Cormac Mac Cárthaigh, the king of South Munster who commissioned it, is one of the earliest and best-preserved examples of early Irish Romanesque architecture.

It was consecrated in 1134, the exterior and chancel of the Chapel are decorated with round arches and chevron designs, and its steeply pitched roof is typical of the 12th Century Irish style. The sandstone Chapel is heavily decorated with carvings and its choir was, originally, covered from floor to ceiling with costly frescoes. Fragments of these can still be seen today. The arch leading to the choir was also decorated with a series of mysterious carved heads. It was truly amazing.

I hope you enjoy the photos.

Westport ... A tiny little town on Clew Bay in the west of Ireland.

We only had one night here so of course we went out to dinner at JJ O'Malley's ... yes an Irish pub ... to our suprise a waitress came over to our table and said that she recognised our accents ... It turns out that Danielle is from Merimbula NSW ... a big Hi to Danielle.

The story of Jack and Dianne

Two Gordon Park kids doing the best that they can - proving life goes on, long after the thrill of Dingle is gone.

Yes we did drive the Dingle peninsula and yes it was absolutely spectacular … however on one of our many stops to take photos this gentleman (Jack) notices my accent and we figure out we are both from Brisbane … and live near each other … Jack and Dianne were lovely people and we did find out their real names were Steve and Jodie … Hi Guys.

The Dingle peninsula scenery was spectacular and for me the best parts were the hill fort, the beehive huts, Gallorus Oratory (8^th century) and the ruins of a 12^th century church.

Enjoy