Honeymoon In Ireland- The Bogside and The Giant's Causeway

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9 July, 2008

Martin made us a fantastic breakfast.  I had a smoothie and French toast, he has a really amazing selection for breakfast!.  After leaving Martin, we headed down to the Bogside to take pictures of the murals.

The iconic gable at Free Derry Corner

The Petrol Bomber

Bernadette

Death of Innocence

Derry walls as seen from the Bloody Sunday Commemeration

Bloody Sunday Commemoration

INLA Hunger Strikers Tribute

Pro-Palestinian Mural

Bloody Sunday

Operation Motorman

The Runner

Civil Rights

The Saturday Matinee

We ended up going to the Free Derry Museum.  It was really moving.  The man working there is the brother of Michael Kelly - one of the victims of Bloody Sunday.  It was a really sobering, but fascinating place, tracing the civil rights movement of the city up to Bloody Sunday.

From Derry, we hit the Giant's Causeway.  What a day for it, 20° and sunny.  We even got a little too warm today!  Between Derry and the Causeway we were able to stop at an oceanfront picnic area (Magheracross) for our lunch.  What a nice surprise!

Legend has it, that Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool), a giant, built this causeway so he could walk to Scotland in order to fight a Scottish giant.  Scientists claim that a volcano is responsible.  I think we all know which is more likely, that's why it's called the Giant's Causeway.

Giant's Causeway

In addition to the formation, we also saw a large group of dolphins playing nearby.  We then headed to our B&B, Oakfield Guesthouse in Lower Ballinderry, County Antrim.

The Bean an Tí, Rosaleen and her son, Johnny are really fantastic!  I had some really nice chats with her before Sarah and I headed to the village of Moira to eat.  We ate at the Four Trees.  Nice food, good looking place.  £25 for two entrees, 2 beers and a side of veg.  It was pouring rain when we finished eating and we headed back to our B&B in Lower Ballinderry.

Day 11 Ireland Itinerary

Derry (35-40 minutes from Letterkenny)
Giant's Causeway, Co. Antrim (about 1:30 driving time without stop from Derry)
Oakfield House, Lower Ballinderry, Co. Antrim (about 1:45 drive from Giant's Causeway)

Honeymoon in Ireland- Glencolmcille and Derry

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8 July, 2008

We woke this morning and had an excellent breakfast.  Teelin Bay is a very nice B&B with great views for €30 per person!

Our bathroom at Teelin Bay B&B

Our bedroom at Teelin Bay B&B

Our view from Teelin Bay B&B

First, we headed to the Silver Strand (An Trá Bhán) in Malinbeg.  The weather was warm (16°C) and the beach looked amazing.

The Silver Strand view from above

The Silver Strand

Looking out from the Silver Strand

The cliffs above the Silver Strand

The steps that lead from the parking lot to the Silver Strand

From Malinbeg, we stopped on the road to Glencolmcille and saw that the hotel is closed and for sale with the golf course!

The Glen Head, Glencolmcille

The Glen Head

We drove through Glencolmcille and the Glengesh Pass on our way to Ballybofey where we stopped for lunch.  We then headed to Derry.  By the time we got the tourist office it was 2:30 PM and we had missed the walking tour we had planned on taking.  The girl at the tourist office managed to get us one at 3:30, even though none of the companies had one scheduled.  We did a tour of the city walls.  It was absolutely fantastic, just Sarah, me and our tour guide.

On our way to the walls we walked past a group of teens gathering fuel for the bonfire in the Fountain.

Building the Fountain bonfire

Fountain bonfire, Derry

Fires are lit all over the Six Counties that are affiliated with the United Kingdom on the night of July 11th.  On July 12th, marches led by the Orange Order will be conducted in order to commemorate William of Orange (eventual Protestant King)'s victory of the Catholic King James II.


Our tour was great!  At the end, we found out that our guide, Adrian Cullen, had been imprisoned in Longkesh - the H Blocks - and knew eight of the Hunger Strikers who died!  I believe his company is Free Derry Tours.

St. Columb's Cathedral, Derry

St. Columb's Steeple (Inside the walls)

The view from the walls to the east

The Bogside viewed from Derry's walls

Hunger Strike Mural from the walls of Derry

Murals from the walls of Derry

The Bogside, Derry

Our tour ended at 5 PM and we headed back to Letterkenny to stay with Martin Anderson at Hillcrest House.  He is such a fantastic chef and a great host that it would have been a shame to miss it.  We arrived at 6PM, and ate at 7 PM.  The meal was ridiculously good.  He threw in a free desert - mouth watering raspberry crumble with ice cream.  This place is great!  We think in the morning we're going to try for a tour of the Bogside with Adrian.  They are £5, but he knew so much!  We also have the Giant's Causeway and Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge planned for tomorrow.

SIDENOTE: Martin is the reason we are staying in Letterkenny and not Derry or somewhere else.  Upon our arrival, Martin tilted his head to one side and said, "You have stayed here before, haven't you?"  I replied that I had, but it had been a few years (it was 2001).  He replied, "You were in Donegal studying Irish and came here with your parents."  He was right, I had no idea that he would remember, especially after seven years.  Aside from his personality (which is a huge reason to book here) he is a professional chef and serves affordable evening meals that are better than I have had in any restaurant in Ireland.  Hillcrest House is a must visit B&B if you plan on visiting anything in the surrounding areas.


Day 10 Ireland Itinerary

The Silver Strand, Malinbeg (20-25 minutes from Teelin)
Ballybofey for Lunch (1:45 drive)
Derry (about 45 minutes from Ballybofey)
Letterkenny (35 minutes from Derry)