Ireland With Children - The Gaeltacht Day 7

A Standing Stone in  Málainn Mhóir

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7 July 2014

Fionnuala (2) again had trouble sleeping in the middle of the night.  We decided to start the morning in Málainn Mhóir in search of Megalithic tombs (returning to the seen of the crime).  It turns out that they were fairly difficult to find and my memories of 14 years ago did not come through.

The entrance to the bar at Óstán Ghleann Cholm Cille

We did get a good look at Óstán Ghleann Cholm Cille (the Glen Bay Hotel) though.  It was sad to see the place in disrepair.  As you can see from the photos, it appears as if they just shut the door and left everything as it was on the last day of operation.  In reception all the furniture is still there with brochures for local attractions on the tables!  This was one of the few food options in the area for years as well as an additional bar.  I usually ended up here about once a year for something.  I saw Altan and The Revs perform in the Ballroom in 2001, spent the night there once and also attended a wedding at the hotel.  In it's last few years they had added a 9 hole golf course that appears to be reclaimed as pasture.  Hopefully, whoever buys it will be successful!

Óstán Ghleann Cholm Cille

At least the signs are bilingual

Reception at the Glencolmcille Hotel

Liam checks to see if there are any vacancies

The abandoned dining room

An Trá Bhán

Next, we moved on to the Silver Strand (An Trá Bhán) up the road in Málainn Bhig.  The Silver Strand is one of my favorite places in the world.  I love to come here and just sit and watch the sea.  Unlike most similar attractions in Ireland, this one has two Port-A-Potties (Temporary Toilets) and a large car park.  To reach the beach there are 165 stairs, so we opted not to try the steps with the children.  They enjoyed the stop anyway!  If you are up for it, the water is often reasonably warm because the water is shallow and the views from the beach are spectacular.

The Silver Strand Car Park

On the way home we tried to find Saint Kevin's/Cavan's Church (Teampall Chaoimhín).  The Martello Tower is on the same road and looks like it is in great condition.  The road isn't signposted but you can see the Tower, just head down the road that goes in that direction.  The road is not paved beyond the pier and I would not recommend driving any further than that as it was difficult to turn the car around and it would have been virtually impossible on my own (there is picture below).

Maretllo Tower in Malinbeg

Martello Towers were built in the early 1800s as Napoleon was gobbling up Continental Europe.  The British feared that the French would attempt to invade the Empire through Ireland.  These Towers line the coast through this part of Ireland.  From this tower you can see the Tower in Gleanncholmcille and one near Sliabh Liag.

The road to St. Kevin's Church

I found the church, but didn't go all the way down to it since it was a ways off the road and the rest of the family was in the car.  In a couple of years, when Fionnuala can walk better we'll go all the way down to investigate.  According to Michael Herity, the current church was built in the late middle ages.  There is a cross slab at the site as well and the remains of a rectangular enclosure which surrounded the church.  The site is opposite Rathlin O'Birne island and was used as a stop by monks and pilgrims on the way to the island which also houses a monastic site.

Teampall Chaoimhín in Málainn Bhig

Rathlin O'Birne Island

Teileann Bay

The Nuala Star leaving for a tour

We then returned to the house for Fionnuala's nap and lunch.  After she woke, we took a brief spin down to the pier at Teileann Bay.  We had seen what we thought might be a Holy Well (there is said to be one nearby) from across the water and wanted to check it out.  We didn't find it, but we took some pictures anyway!

 Though we didn't find the Holy Well, here is a picture taken from the well that might help YOU find it.

On the pier there is also an interesting marker that would be easy to miss.  The Gallagher Bros. building (which is impossible to miss) is built around what turns out is an old church.  There is also a marker which indicates that in the 5th Century some monks from Teileann sailed to Iceland and this is said to be their church.  It would be easy to miss, and I passed by for years before I stopped to read the sign.

The marker at Teelin Harbour that honors the monks

The inscription in Irish, English and Icelandic

Station #1 of Colmcille's Turas

Then we head over to Gleann.  We stopped by the Church of Ireland (St. Columba's) first.  The current building was built in 1828 and is the prominent feature in the valley.  Originally this was a monastic site, on the north and east sides of the church you can see remains of the original wall just beyond the current wall.  Before the current church existed, the church used to sit above the entrance to the sous terrain.

I was  hoping to see Bishop Daniel McGonagle's grave.  He was one of Ireland's three representatives at the Council of Trent and local tradition has him buried here.  The grave is supposed to be against the wall at the east end of the graveyard, but there is no indication of which grave it might be.  There were however some other very old and interesting grave markers.  The Church is also the beginning (Turas 1) and the end of Colmcille's Turas (Turas 15).  Turas 1 is built on what originally was a court tomb, it is known as "The Altar" as has a small kneeling place just outside the churchyard wall.

Station #15 of Comcille's Turas

In the Church Yard is also a sous terrain.  The monastic settlement's church floor was above it and it is thought that it might have been used for cool storage and also as a means of escape as the tunnel ends just outside of the churchyard walls.  In the past you could just open it and go in, but it now has a proper door.  For some reason when I went in years ago I didn't take any photos!  I did find some on the internet though which you can view if you click here.  If you get the chance to go inside, there are a few cross slab inside that are very similar to ones that are used in the Turas.

The entrance to the Souterrain at The Church of Ireland in Glencolmcille

Old Grave markers in Glencolmcille

The carving on this tombstone is the symbol of St. Columba.  Colmcille means "dove of the church".

The Church of Ireland Churchyard, Glencolmcille 

Next, we headed just a bit down the road to visit the Turas at Farranmacbride, which I wanted to show Sarah.  From the church, we headed away from the sea and took the road to the left.  After a large bend in the road is Turas 9.  Cloch an Aonaigh (Stone of the Gathering) is an interesting cross slab as you can see below.  Pilgrims look through the hole, place their backs against the stone and renounce the world, the flesh and the devil before circling the small cairn three times while praying.

Local tradition holds that couples would become engaged by standing on either side of the pillar and joining fingers through the whole.  A crowd would be assembled to witness the ceremony, thus the name Stone of the Gathering.  Sarah and I saw another similar cross at the Kilmalkedar Church a few years ago in Kerry.

Cloch an Aonaigh (Turas 9)

The cross at the top of the slab

The two carved circle at the bottom of the cross

Sarah wanted to see the Old Rectory, so we stopped by (but I'm not sure if you are supposed to).  Either way, the younger locals have told me that is supposed to haunted.  If not haunted, it is certainly a creepy place after dark.  

The Old Rectory, Glencolmcille

On our way back through Cashel (the main village in Gleann) we paused for an attempt to recreate a photo that we have on our wall at home from the late 1800s.  It's not exactly identical, but it's close.

The Glen Head viewed from Cashel village

To reward the children, we took them to the fantastic playground next to An Halla Muire.  They had a fantastic time playing.  We even heard a mother saying the Irish nursery rhyme, "Lamh, Lamh eile" to her child.  We also got to hear an old man teasing the mothers on the playground for having a football, accusing them of not reading this sign.  He then proceed to read it, emphasizing the part that says, "Don't play football in the park."

After a lot of hard playing we decided to leave.  As we left, Liam said "Slán." to his playmate who responded in kind.  Even though he played it cool, it made Liam's day.  One of the things he was most looking forward to was being able to use Irish on the playground.

It was now time to eat and since we were leaving town in the morning we decided to splurge and eat at An Chistin (next to Oideas Gael).  The meal was very good and the staff spoke Irish!  I was fortunate to have someone I know walk in and be able to have a conversion as Gaeilge as well.

That was the conclusion to our stay here as we now headed back to the house to get ready for bed.  Everyone is sad to be leaving, but at least we have a little time tomorrow to appreciate everything.  

Gaeilge Experience: Gleann is often criticized for not being a "real" Gaeltacht, but we found Irish everywhere.  Perhaps most of the locals do not use it as a primary language, but it is obviously spoken and easy for them to do so.  It was a good final day in the Gaeltacht.  Got to use Irish in the restaurant as well as being able to listen in on some locals using their Irish. 

Ireland With Children - The Gaeltacht Day 6

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6 July 2014

Ready for Donegal Town

Today was Sunday, so we didn't rush to get out of the house.  The children played outside for a while after breakfast and we gradually packed up the car.  Our mission for the day -- Donegal Town.  We made a brief stop in An Charraig and assembled our picnic, our children and then headed down the coast.

On our way to Donegal the views were so spectacular that we stopped in Largy to appreciate the view!

Road signs in An Charriag

The view from Largy: Drumanoo Head with St. John's Point in the background

We arrived in Donegal at 11 AM and headed directly to Donegal  Castle.  We were happily surprised when we were only charged for the adults (€8) and not for the children.  This tower house castle was built in 1474 by Red Hugh O'Donnell and was renovated in 1614 by Sir Basil Brooke.

Donegal Castle

It has some nice furnishings and the wooden staircases that would have been in the castle are there (unlike most castles) including some tapestries and Persian rugs.  The children had a fantastic time.  It is a nice castle, but anyone on a tour of the entire island has likely seen many better.  For us though, it was a nice day out.

Basil Brooke's addition to the castle

Donegal Friary

After about an hour at the Castle, we headed to see the Abbey.  Donegal Friary was founded in 1474 by Red Hugh O'Donnell (the same man who built the Castle) and rebuilt by the 2nd Red Hugh O'Donnell in 1588.  Originally this Friary would have had the same layout as Claregalway Abbey (as they are both Franciscan) although it takes some imagination to picture it.  Much of the complex was destroyed when it was used as a fort in 1601.  The Abbey (as it is known in Donegal) is most famous as the site where work on The Annals of the Four Masters began.  The Annals were a history of Ireland from Noah's flood up to present times (the 1600s).

Facing the cloister with the Chapel to the left

Once again the children loved being able to climb around and play in the buildings.  Liam excitedly called it "a castle".  I really enjoy visiting this place.  There isn't really much to it, but it's located at the end of the pier (just keep walking past the Tourist Office) and is usually peaceful in addition to having some nice views of the Bay.

Liam investigates

The whole story in Irish

The view through the Choir window out to Donegal Bay

The Chapel of Donegal Friary 

The door to the Choir must have been built for little people!

The gable of the Chapel

Inside the Choir

St. Ciaran's Holy Well is only signposted in Irish

 When we were finished here, we needed some groceries, so we crossed the street and went into Aldi.   We were not very impressed and ended up leaving without buying anything (it was more like a Costco than a typical grocery store).  The children said that they were hungry so we ventured over to the Blueberry Cafe, but it was locked up tight (at 2 PM).  We returned to the car intending to stop at Supervalu and Shine's Takeway in Killybegs.  We were able to get what we needed at Supervalu and headed to Shine's only to discover that they didn't open until 4.  So, we went back to the house for some frozen fries.

St. Ciaran statue at the well

St. Ciaran's Well near Kilcar.  In the right-hand corner you can see an early Christian Cross.

The stone mounds in St. Ciaran's Turas

After everyone had had their fill we headed back out.  We had two goals, both in the same location.  St. Ciarán's Holy Well and the Shalwy Court Tomb.  The Well was easy.  It's signposted off the Killybegs road and is only a few feet from the passing cars.  It is also the site of a Pilgrimage (Turas) on March 5th each year.  Next to the Holy Well is an early Christian Cross Slab (6th or 7th Century).

St. Ciarán is also said to have built a hermitage here which I assume is the church in the stations and also the reason that stations are performed here.  In a picture below you can see the stone mounds that are in the center of the Turas map (also below).

From the mounds if you look down the valley toward the sea you can see the remains of the church.  It is a roofless rectangular building.  Local tradition holds that Kilcar used to be known as Kilkieran (Ciarán's Church).  While we were looking for the Court Tomb, two other cars stopped to get water from the well (one man told his child it was for his "wee wart").  It was nice to see that it is regularly used.

St. Ciaran's Church, Shalwy Court Tomb, Croaghbeg Court Tomb

After extended searching Sarah spotted the tomb from afar, but we decided against making the trek all the way down in the wet, boggy field.  As you can see from the photograph, this tomb is still is good condition.  There are two other Court Tombs (all between 4-5000 years old) in this valley as well, one closer to the well is in poor condition and another (Croaghbeg) that is usually inaccessible due the often marshy conditions.  In the photo, Ciaran's Church can be seen in the foreground with the Shalwy Court Tomb behind.  If you magnify the photo you can see the Croaghbeg Court Tomb in line with the other two sites.

The beach at Muckross Head

We took the coast road back to Cill Charthaigh, and were glad that we did!  The scenery was breathtaking, especially Muckross Head.  The coast road on the east of Cill Charthaigh is a much easier drive than the one west of town.

The view from Muckross Head

We then returned home and began our meal and bedtime rituals.  It certainly was another wonderful day.  Sarah and I are both already sad that we are leaving in only a few days!

Gaeilge Experience: Not in the Gaeltacht for most of the day, so just signs, CDs, TV, radio and talking with the family.