Use these navigation links to move between the Year 2024 pages.  Specific pages can be accessed at the bottom of this page

August 2024 (Part 05)

Ireland Trip (Day Two): Howth and Dublin (Cead Mile Failte = one hundred thousand welcomes)

)The next morning we got up reasonably early to check in with Adventures By Disney.  We were delighted and amazed to see on of our guides was Gabby, who had been with us in Costa Rica on our first adventure back in June 2018 to celebrate Alexa's graduation from Chantilly HS.  Our second guide was Leisha, a Dublin native.  We had fun actually finding a picture of notoriously camera-shy Gabby in our favorites, as she was in the raft with us running some rapids.

Once we checked in, we headed out to catch a train toward the coast where we were headed to the port of Howth (pronounced Hoath).  We got there a bit under an hour before our scheduled tour, so we wandered around the port for a while.  We headed out along the breakwater, laughing at the bids and a seal shadowing a small fishing boat

There was a lighthouse at the end of the breakwater, with several boats going in and out of the harbor entrance marked by the lighthouse and the quay on the other side with a row of fish restaurants.

Here's Nancy on a wall behind the lighthouse.

Across the Irish Sea is an island named Ireland's Eye (where we were headed in the afternoon).

Steve loved this sign asking for people to call who were interested in crewing on some of the club's sailboats.

This is the "Realt Na Mára" or "Star of the Sea" monument which stands 12m in height.  The sculpture is intended to reflect the heritage of Howth as a maritime community. The Star itself, reminiscent of compass points, alludes to themes of protection, light and direction leading fisherman and traveler alike home.

We headed back to the yacht club and met Howth Adventures for an ebike tour around the Howth peninsula.  One of our first stops was the end of the quay across from the lighthouse.

Coming back down the quay there was a small gathering out people who turned out to be watching (and feeding) a group of harbor seals.

We headed west away from the harbor toward the neck separating the peninsula from the mainland, crossing to the south-western side to look back at Dublin back across Dublin Bay.  We admired the couple islands (which were created by dredging) which are home to a number of bird species.  We eventually stopped again at a small tower, which turned out to be Martello Tower Sutton.  This was built in 1804 as one of about 50 similar towers around the island to help warn of an invasion from Napoleon's France.  These were all modeled on a tower near Mortella in Corsica, which the British could not take and who's architecture left a lasting impression (even if the correct name didn't).  The idea was to have overlapping views where defenders could light a fire or launch a flare providing warning down the line of towers on the coasts.  This tower was restored and is now a rather expensive bed & breakfast.  We enjoyed looking south across the bay to see what looked like a sailboat regatta.

It was such a clear and beautiful day.  Our guide was hysterical.  She reminded all of us we'd signed picture waivers and she was going to take a lot of pictures of our group for their company website so people might think this weather was normal.  She laughed stating they had maybe three days a year like this.  So glad we got to enjoy one.

We continued around the peninsula in a counter-clockwise direction, arriving later at Baily Lighthouse.  Unfortunately this was private property, so we had to stop at the gate.  Still a stunning view, enough so that someone was on the bluffs nearby painting the scene.

From there we headed to the high point on the peninsula, which gave some stunning views back to the north and the harbor and Irelands Eye.

A bit later we were back on the coast and came to another overlook spot, which afforded a great view back toward Baily Lighthouse.  The overlook also had a neat spot where they had spelled out Eire in white stone to help Allied airmen know they were over Ireland, which was officially neutral during World War II.  They also had look out posts established along the coast and manned by volunteer coast watchers.

We stopped for ice cream at a small store, where our guide commented that the older man sitting across the patio was the founder of River Dance and one of the richest men in Ireland.

After getting back to the harbor, we headed to a recommended restaurant for fish and chips, taking our bag over to a bench near the Howth Seafarers Memorial.  OK, rookie mistake.  Nancy was the first to open her box.  Just as she did, a huge seagull literally flew into her lap, knocking the box to the ground and scattering chips everywhere.  We managed to retrieve the shrimp and a couple chips as every seagull in the area descended noisily in front of us.  Worse, as she brought her last shrimp up, a seagull hit her hand and head, taking it out of her hand.

We then headed back out the quay to meet up with a tour boat which we had learned was run by the same company as the ebike tour.  In fact the girl checking our tickets was our ebike tour guide's niece.  We had to wait a bit for a group of Italian students who quickly got split into the two waiting boats.  We headed out toward Irelands Eye, passing a couple other boats and a sailboat in the passage.

As we got to the island, our skipper Kim pointed out a number of seals sunning on the rocks.  Unfortunately the puffins headed south a month or so earlier.  But there were still a lot of cormorants and other shorebirds.

The seals were grey seals.

The rock formations were pretty cool.

So many birds roosting on the rocks.

Jealous of the single kayak we passed.

Some cool caves

Saw a neat kingfisher.

So tempted to yell at the schoolgirls to turn around and look at what we came out here for.

Discovered there was a Martello tower on the northeast side.

Looking back at the cliffs along the northside there were just so many birds.

OK, had rto laugh at this scene.  There was a mother in the water trying to convince her son to jump in to her ... yeah, nothing doing on that.

There were also ruins of an old monastery on the island.

Time to head back in way too soon.

Kim had to point out the fleet of wooden sailboats they still race with.

We made it back to the hotel with plenty of time to get ready and to the welcome dinner.  We were greeted by a wonderful harpist and celebratory Champaign.  The harpist took some time to discuss the traditions in Irish music and her harping.  We also got a chance to meet our fellow adventurers and had the guides discuss the trip.  They had each of us take a photo with the group we were traveling with.  Here are some of the better ones.