We had anticipated stopping at a few places, but we only ended up with time for one stop, at Newgrange. This passage tomb was built around 3,200 B.C., which makes it over 5,000 years old (older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid at Giza). I was disappointed to learn that the outside was actually a reconstruction (using the real stones found there) based on what an archaeologist believed it might have looked like (some other archaeologists disagree). However, it didn’t take away from the impressiveness of the large entry stone with its carvings, or from the inside (where unfortunately photography was not allowed). The neatest thing about the tomb was that it was designed so that for just a few minutes at the winter solstice, light would enter the chamber through an opening above the entry. They simulated this by turning off all the lights inside, and turning on an artificial light near the opening.

We headed to Dublin Airport, turned in our car (noting that we had traveled over 1,600 miles in it), and said goodbye to Ireland as we boarded our flight to London (which had been delayed).

We stopped at Titanic Belfast, the new 100 million dollar exhibit dedicated to the Titanic, located at the site where the ship was built and launched. The facility was top notch, with state of the art interactive exhibits. In one exhibit you are watching an old film of the first launch when the electrically controlled opaque glass behind instantly switches transparent revealing the view of the docks that matches the view in the film. Another one takes you on a 3D tour of the ship with screens on three sides of you.

From the street in front of the Titanic exhibit we took a famous Black Cab tour of Belfast. This tour was an eye opener, as we learned about Belfast’s troubled past (and present) while visiting areas located in the heart of these troubles. Since Michelle and I grew up in the 70′s and 80′s, we knew from common news reports of conflicts and bombings that Belfast had a long history of trouble but assumed (incorrectly) that everything was OK here now. We learned from our taxi driver/tour guide Steve that Belfast is separated by peace walls up to 25 feet high (named so because they were built to keep the peace). On one side are Protestants (most of whom are unionists who self-identify as British) and on the other side are Catholics (most of whom are Irish nationalists and self-identify as Irish). The Troubles between these two sides erupted in violence in 1969 and continued until a peace agreement was signed in 1998. Tensions are still high however, and gates between the two sides are still locked at night to keep peace. Steve said that there are still “skirmishes” every Sunday, and that one event could potentially set off violence at any moment. He agreed that Belfast had come a long way since 1998 though, and was hopeful that in time the walls could come down and both sides could live together peacefully.

Steve’s tour was unbiased, telling us a factual account of both sides without favoring either. Some of the stories were pretty scary (he warned us to make sure we wanted to hear them) but gave us an authentic overview of what happened that we appreciated. We visited the famous murals on both sides. Some of the murals were political in nature, or memorials to someone lost, but a good number of them were representing the hope for peace.

We left Belfast and passed from Northern Ireland back into the Republic of Ireland and headed for our stop for the night, Ross Castle B&B near Oldcastle. The B&B was our main reason for heading here, as it was one of the few castles that had been converted into a B&B in a rustic way that wasn’t super expensive or require a weekly rental. And, to Michelle’s delight (and my horror) it was supposedly one of the most haunted in Ireland. With plenty of animal skulls and taxidermy models, it was certainly creepy enough to make me jumpy. Then as it got dark we started hearing noises throughout the house. We finally determined it was the radiators heating up, but it was too late. I was spooked and in no mood to see ghosts tonight. We’ll see.

Our first stop along the Antrim Coast Road was Dunluce Castle, a picturesque castle ruin on a cliff overlooking the sea.

Next we stopped at an amazing natural wonder, the Giant’s Causeway (see the link for the legend behind the name). This strange geological formation consisted of over 40,000 geometrically shaped rock columns created by volcanic activity that cover the landscape and disappear into the sea.

We made an unplanned stop at Bonamargy Friary, an old church dating back to 1485 that we passed just off the road, before reaching our stop for the night, Culentra House in Cushendall. The car we had been following for an hour turned out to be a couple from England staying at the same B & B, and we talked with them over tea before heading to bed.

We arrived at our next stop Bruckless House, an ivy-covered country house with horses and gardens on a bay. After we were welcomed by our host Jane with some tea, we headed out to the highlight of our day and probably the best view of our trip, the Slieve League. Although not as famous as the Cliffs of Moher we visited earlier, these cliffs are three times higher at 1,972 feet. Some people walk for an hour from the first parking area but we had read online that it is OK to open a gate there and drive up to the second parking area. We got some ice cream at the little stand at the top of the cliff road and enjoyed the evening sun. There was also a lake and a castle high up on this mountain. On the way back to our room, we grabbed dinner at Kitty Kellys Restaurant, which is frequented by Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick who own a house nearby.

From the school it was a short drive to Cong Abbey in the nearby town. The monastery dates back to the 7th century but the existing structures date back to the 13th century. One neat thing about this abbey is that we saw its cross at the National Museum of Archaeology in Dublin on Day 1.

We drove through the treeless mountains of Connemara with its blue lakes. Along the way we saw an older man harvesting turf (the peat from the bog land dried and burned in fireplaces). He was using a blade to cut out “bricks” of turf which he stacked in piles. We also stopped for a picture of Kylemore Abbey before heading back to our hotel for some much-needed rest. We were so tired we didn’t come out for dinner, and had to order sandwiches from room service at 2am when we were starving.

The first site was an ancient holy well, where the ceremony included Joe walking around Michelle (as the earth around the sun), the blessing of Michelle, and Joe reading words to the song he wrote “Soul Mates”. The second site was an ancient standing stone where Joe was blessed, and another song was played by the musicians. On our way to the third site, the altar at the church ruins, we encountered a large group of Japanese tourists who all took turns congratulating us and taking our picture. Inside the church, we had a special witness as a horse from the adjacent field watched the entire thing with his head through the window of the church. Here there was a reading by Dara about “Anam Cara”, Irish for “Soul Mate” and we exchanged matching rings inscribed with “Mo Anam Cara” – “My Soul Mate” followed by a moving song sung and played on the guitar by Laughlin. At the fourth site, an ancient sun dial, we made remembrances for those not with us, touched fingers through the hole in the stone (ancient Irish tradition for sealing a deal), passed a scarf through the hole three times (Irish tradition for making a wish), and were blessed as a couple by Dara. Although it was a misty day, it made the setting feel mystical. Although our friends and family weren’t with us, the warmth given to us by Dara, his family and the musicians (not to mention our new Japanese friends and the horse) made for a perfect day among new friends. The ceremony sites are described in more detail on Dara’s website.

The gallery above includes 10 pictures taken by Dara’s wife Tess who happens to be the local photographer. We’ll include more later, along with video (taken by Dara’s 17-year-old son Tuan). The words to Joe’s song “Soul Mates” can be found here.

Next we stopped for a quick look at Gleninsheen Wedge Tomb. While it wasn’t all that impressive to look at, it was dated to 2500 BC and was worth the stop as it was just off the side of the road.

The next stop was Poulnabrone Dolmen, a portal tomb dating back to as early as 4200 BC. Excavations in 1985 revealed the burial of between 16 and 22 adults and 6 children beneath the monument. The landscape around the tomb were also fascinating. Many years ago, the limestone cracked and over time the erosion from acid in rainwater widened and rounded the cracks to create a patchwork of rock and crevices (see gallery).

The next stop was Caherconnel Stone Fort and Sheep Dog Demonstration. While the fort wasn’t as impressive as others we had visited, they had done an excellent job in presentation. The highlight however, was the sheep and cattle dog demonstrations. The farm owner explained how after long training when the dog is first taken out to the sheep that he either had “the stare” necessary to control the sheep or he didn’t. If he didn’t, the training was for nothing and the dog would be used as a pet and never as a working sheep dog. He used both voice and whistle to demonstrate how the dog could be instructed from a distance to stay, walk up to the sheep, circle left, and circle right to maneuver the sheep through obstacles in the field. It was very impressive. He did a similar demonstration with the cattle dog, except the cattle dog would bite the hind leg of the cow if necessary. He explained that the dog knew to only bite the leg that was on the ground so that by the time the cow took another step, he was safely away from getting kicked in the face.

We made an unplanned stop at Killinaboy Church as we drove past it and thought it looked interesting.

Our last major site of the day was maybe one of our favorites so far, Kilmacduagh Monastic Ruins. The site dates back to the 7th century with parts of the existing structures dating back to as early as the 10th century. While it is visible from the road, all of the gates and doors to the interiors are locked. We had read online that if you go to the house across the street, the caretaker will give you a key to enter all the buildings, and she did. So we ended up watching tourists come and go on the street while we went everywhere like we owned the place.

We made one stop in Galway to pick up rings for our vow renewal the following day, before arriving at our stay for the next 3 nights in Connemara, the Ballynahinch Castle Hotel.

Our only stop of the day was the Cliffs of Moher, just south of Doolin. It was a clear sunny evening, but very windy especially up on the cliffs, which are 702 feet above the ocean and their highest point. We can see why everybody wants to include the cliffs in their trip to Ireland (it receives over one million visitors per year). They truly were beautiful, especially washed in the light of the evening sun from the west. We didn’t stay for sunset however (which was nearly 10pm), but instead headed to the Ballinalacken Castle Country House Hotel, just north of Doolin.

We were warmly welcomed by our host Declan, who invited us to have dinner in the hotel restaurant. We really didn’t feel like going out again, so we had a wonderful dinner there. After dinner, Declan offered to give us a tour of the castle ruins adjacent to the hotel. The castle dates back to 1390 and was originally owned by the O’Connor family and was later taken over by the O’Brien family in 1564. The hotel dates back to 1840. Declan’s family (the O’Callaghans) bought the hotel and castle in 1938 and has operated it ever since. The castle was as stunning as any other we have visited so far, and Declan’s eagerness to share his intimate knowledge of it with us made it one of the highlights of our trip. We finished off the evening with Baileys coffees at the cozy hotel bar. The hotel seemed like a perfect size – large enough to enjoy the on-site restaurant but small enough to get the personal connection you would expect from a bed & breakfast. And a private tour of a castle not open to the general public was such a bonus that we felt like we got a great value for our money, and will definitely be coming back here for our next trip. We were so mesmerized by the castle that we accepted Declan’s gracious offer to take a second tour the next morning before we left.

After a great Pax Guest House breakfast, we took what’s called the Slea Head drive around the Dingle Peninsula. Our first stop was Dunbeg Fort, a ring fort similar to the ones we visited the day before. This one dates back as early as 500 BC, and its location on a cliff overlooking the ocean was stunning. It’s so close to the cliff edge that part of the wall on one side of the fort had previously collapsed into the ocean.

Just a few hundred feet down the road was the Famine Cottage, a house dating back to the great Irish famine in the mid 1800′s. The structures were decorated with rustic furnishings presented in a raw, undisturbed (dirty) condition that to me added an ambience that would typically be missing from more polished displays. The rooms included several mannequins that seemed a bit creepy, but added to the quirkiness of the place that made it interesting. The views of the ocean from its hilltop location were great as well. Michelle made some friends along the walk up, a white horse (Michelle says it was her unicorn) and a donkey.

Another short drive took us to some beehive huts, stone houses that look similar to igloos. You could go inside, and it felt weird imagining the heavy stone dome above your head crashing down.

Next we stopped at Riasc Monastic Settlement, with ruins dating back to the 5th or 6th century. The most impressive thing about these ruins were the cross-inscribed stone slabs with spiral designs. Not far down the road was Galarus Oratory, an early Christian church in remarkably excellent condition. We noticed a bird entering and leaving a nest in the stone wall (see gallery).

Our last stop was at Kilmalkedar Church. Besides the beautiful ruins of the 12th century church, the cemetery included a holed ogham stone, a sun dial, and a large stone cross. There was a tree next to a grave with a statue of Mary that was full of bees, producing an eery hum.

When we returned to Dingle, we had dinner at An Canteen Restaurant, run by two brothers from the area. The food and service was excellent. Michelle had rack of lamb, and was just a little bit sad when one of the brothers told us it had come from their farm fresh that morning. We had previously in the week seen a lamb in the field that we thought was dead, lying still on its side with its legs sprawled out. The brother informed us that the sheep was probably just sleeping, as he had even seen sheep sleep on their backs with their legs straight up in the air. This made Michelle feel a little bit better, but I don’t think we’ll be ordering any more lamb dishes this trip.

We took the scenic route around the Ring of Kerry, stopping first at Staigue Fort a stone ring fort thought to have been built between 300 and 400 A.D. Although the fort would have had interior buildings when it was in use, today only the exterior walls remain.

Our next stop was at Leacanabuile and Cahergall Stone Forts, dating to the 9th or 10th century. Unlike the first ring fort we saw today, these had remains of interior walls so you could better imagine what the layout would have been like. The outer walls of Cahergall were quite tall, and they were stepped so you could climb to the top.

Very close to these two forts, we saw a castle that wasn’t on our planned stops so we went for a closer look. It was called Ballycarberry Castle and it turned out to be the most beautiful one we have seen so far as it was covered in ivy (see gallery). We climbed around on it for a long while. It was as if this castle took Michelle into another world and it took me forever to get her to leave. When we headed out again, we saw an old farmer harvesting peat (dirt from the bog consisting of decayed vegetation that they dry and burn like coal).

We arrived at Pax Guest House in Dingle to a warm welcome from our host John. John took time to speak at length with us, and made us feel at home the moment we got there. The view from the porch is amazing. We went into town which was a 12 minute walk but felt like 30 minutes after a long day in the car. We had fish, prawns and chips (fried potatoes) at a local pub while listening to traditional Irish music then headed back to our room for the night.