The Joiners go Ireland: Day 10

Day 10 saw us out the door at 10am, a big accomplishment with these teenagers! After a quick 20 minute drive and a few minutes of indecision, we found ourselves standing on the fabled walls of Derry City.

While in Bushmills on the previous Saturday evening, we had the opportunity to see the local chapter of “The Apprentice Boys” marching down the streets. We had arrived on the weekend that all members of this group head over to Derry to “march” and we were witness to their arrival home from this event. That evening there was some “trouble” in Derry City, but there was no evidence of it upon our arrival, only murals that indicate prejudice is still present here.

We entered the city thru Ferryway Gate, the closest to the River Foyle, and proceeded south west past St. Columb’s Cathedral, over Bishop’s Gate, and on to St. Augustine’s Church, a tiny but ancient place. Continuing on we came to “Grand Parade” were those men would have been on Saturday, directly across from the Bloody Sunday Memorial. Next came Butcher’s Gate, followed by Castle Gate and Magazine Gate where all their ammunitions would have been kept. Shipquay Gate provided a beautiful view of the recently opened Peace Bridge, which connects the old city to the “Bog Side”, a testament to this city’s desire to have reconciliation. After many stairs we arrived back at Ferryway Gate, where we descended the wall and attempted to head out to the Inishomen Peninsula on the Donegal side of Lough Foyle.

After 20 minutes or so, we realized that we were not on the route we had chosen and decided that some cross country travel was in order. WOO HOO!! When you head off the beaten path, the roads quickly become little less than a goat’s path…or should I say a sheep’s path. We found ourselves on some very high ground where we spotted something unusual on a “mountain” to our left. When we arrived at the bottom again, we were back to our previously chosen route, where we turned left in search of “Grianan Ailigh” , which dates from 1700BC and is thought to be linked to the Tuath De Danann. From here you can see in 360 degrees and it is obvious why the site was chosen so long ago.

From here we headed north east past Fort Dunree, thru Mamore Gap where we encountered many people at a shrine to the blessed Virgin, then down a very steep & twisting road out of the Urris “Hills”!?!

Following the” Inis Eoghan 100”, we next passed the “toughest golf course in Ireland” at Ballyliffin, and we thought Unca Walt should give it a go! These rather sketchy roads let us out onto a highland were we had fantastic views of the Five Finger Strand, and then on to the most northern spot in Ireland at Malin head. Hear sits Bamba’s Crown, a Napoleonic signal tower, and the work of many made of field stone & sending messages to those above.

Back on the Inis Eoghen 100, we zigzagged around the peninsula making for the eastern coast where we visited the “Cooley Cross & Skull House”, an early site that St. Patrick is said to have visited. The skull house refers to as a mortuary.

On we went north to the end of the road at the village of Stroove where we had an unremarkable meal at the “Drunken Duck”, intending to catch the Ferry across the Foyle Straight to Magilligan Point. Unfortunately, their timetable has changed since the publishing of the Rough Guide we are using, & we missed the last crossing by 30 minutes. So a quick drive around Lough Foyle, thru Colraine, & home to Port Ballintrae took us another 1:20 minutes, arriving back at the Coastguard Cottage at 10:30pm. Exhausted, we’re not publishing this until today…and we’ve off again!! Stay tuned…