September 2024, Part 05

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September 2024 (Part 05)

Ireland Trip (Day Eight): Dromoland Castle and Cliffs of Moher (Ever-Moher)

The next morning we headed out early, unfortunately without a full breakfast due to a mix up in the restaurant, oh well. We were headed for the Cliffs of Moher, arriving early enough to enjoy them before the daily crowds arrived. The famous cliffs are in a bay along the coast fin County Clare overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and the Aran Islands. We first headed north, up the point to O'Brien's Tower. We had assumed this was another of the fifty or so Martello Towers built between 1801-1820s to warn of a Napoleonic invasion. But those are mostly on the east coast. This tower was originally built in 1835 by Cornelius O’Brien, a descendant of Brian Boru, the first High King of Ireland. A local landowner, Cornelius was ahead of his time and believed that the development of tourism would benefit the local economy and help bring local people out of poverty. The tower was used as an observation tower for the hundreds of visitors who even then came to the Cliffs each year to see the breathtaking views. On a clear day, you can see across to the Aran Islands: Inis Oírr, Inis Méain and Inis Mór. Looking to the left you capture the whole of Liscannor Bay with Lahinch in the distance and Liscannor village in the foreground. Looking to the right you are met with beautiful views of Galway Bay.

What a beautiful site on a truly beautiful day.

Leisha was waiting to take pictures of everyone about halfway up the hill. Not sure if we stopped on the way up or down though.

The view from the tower was impressive. A nice image of the huge cave in the cliffs along the southern arm. This unnamed cave was used in filming of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince to represent the cave where a Horcruxe is hidden. An island next to the Skelligs, known as Lemon Rock, was used for the filming to provide the sport where they materialized offshore of the cave. The makers of the Half Blood Price used CGI wizardry to combine Lemon Rock with the Cliffs of Moher.

Here is the view from the tower looking north with the Aran islands in the distance.

Here is the view into the bay as you climb the hill toward the tower.

We next headed back down and south, assuming we could still walk all the way to the end of Hag's Head. We stopped at the base of the hill at the head of the small bay for a couple pictures.

The cliff face to the south, especially with the gaping cave, as really a site.

Unfortunately, we soon discovered the path was closed off once it reached private land. Apparently, two people had fallen to their deaths in the last month or so, and they landowners who grazed their cattle there had closed off the path mostly out of liability concerns. The closed sign included several pictures of stupid people vying for the Darwin award by sitting on the cliff edge or otherwise getting way to close to the edge. Oh well.

Here are some of the cattle grazing above the cliffs.

Here is the view looking back north toward O'Brien's Tower, which stands above a point of very jagged rock jutting out into the sea.

One loan boat on the sea. We asked Leisha why the Disney trip didn't include a boat ride, as it would likely be a stunning view. She said they boat would be canceled more than it would run due to sea conditions.

We still head plenty of time, so headed back north and up the hill again pushing on past O'Brien's Tower along the cliff edge path. This narrow path was rather crowded with people going slow and we were forced to turn around before it reached another tower to the north.

An interesting statue outside the visitors center.

The coast was higher than some of the surrounding area, providing some interesting views looking inland.

We realized the early arrival paid off as there were a number of tour buses now filling the parking lot. We pulled out headed up the coast to the nearby McDermott's Pub for lunch. Here we are with Gabby and Leisha.

Yep, we missed the group picture by wandering a bit too far away.

Love the sign on the corner, which had directions to the offshore Aran Islands, America, and Dublin.

Next to the pub there was a massive stone bridge over the Aillie River.

Back at Dromoland, we had time to wander a bit more.

Time for dinner. We assembled in the lobby and were soon greeted by the bagpipes, who led a procession to dinner.

Dinner was in a private dinning area where a small group of musicians were waiting. We soon learned the lead (playing violin) was a local music teacher, who was accompanied by his wife on keyboard, his twin 12 year-old daughters on harp and violin, and their cousin on concertina and banjo. They were also joined by a friend, who was a celebrated flutist.

After a couple songs, the twins rose to sing a wonderful song.

They were soon joined by three dancers, the blond-haired leader of which turned out to also be their cousin, and the older sister of the concertina player.