Galway Girl

Caherconnell Fort and Sheepdog Demonstrations

The sun is shining in Doolin when we get up. We had a comfortable night and a full, hot Irish breakfast at Moloney Bed and Breakfast. I would recommend this place.

Our first stop is Caherconnell Fort and
Sheepdog Demonstrations. Caherconnell Fort is a well preserved medieval stone ring fort. They offer a really interesting tour of the fort.

And then my favourite part, the sheepdog demonstrations. The four dogs demonstrating are all female border collies- Rose, Lynn, Jess and ??? (I can’t remember). All female because they are harder working and less distractable than the male border collies…hmmmm…. But we are told the females, though harder working than the males, are much more difficult to train.

It is truly amazing how smart and how effective these dogs are at doing their job. Click this link for a short video.

Poulnabrone Dolman

Just one kilometre down the road is Poulnabrone Dolman which means “Hole of Sorrow”. This is a single layer portal tomb from the Neolithic period dating 4200-2900 BC. The remains of 33 people were discovered in the tomb.

Road to Galway

Speaking of discovery, John discovers the key to last night’s bed and breakfast in his jacket pocket so we backtrack a bit to drop it off before heading for Galway.

As I said before, the journey from place to place is as wonderful as the destination… especially in Ireland. We pass ruins of ancient abbeys, towers and castles, green pastures, hills, and the coast. So lovely.

Galway

It starts to pour down as we drive into Galway. Noooooo!

But shortly after we park the car, get into all our rain gear and head out onto the street, all rain stops and the sun comes out in full brilliance. We check into our accommodations, tonight it’s a hostel, strip off all our rain gear and head out to explore Galway.

We are staying in a private room in a hostel, right at Eyre Square which is central Galway by the medieval Latin Quarter.

Galway has such a cool vibe about it. Medieval buildings, cool shops, restaurants and pubs. Musicians are playing on many street corners. It seems like everyone is out enjoying this glorious afternoon. Students line the river near the Spanish Arch; reading, eating and socializing.

We pass a McDonagh’s fish and chip place. Great play on McDonald’s.

Click here to see a short video of the Latin Quarter.

John and I check out all the main sites including the Lynch Castle (which is now a bank), Hall of the Red Earl, St Nicholas Cathedral, the Spanish Arch, Galway Museum and the Galway Cathedral. We walk along the river in the setting sun to Finnigans Pub (delicious food) and then to Taaffes Bar for a Guinness with blackcurrant and traditional Irish music.