Day 14

Another beautiful day on this emerald isle, no bother that the skies were crying!

Our first stop was at an ancient Abbey called Ross Errilly, where Owen began his birthday mission to climb a tower. This is a spot not to missed with wonderfully preserved ruins. UNFORTUNATELY, there was no way to access the tower, so we continued on.

We set off on a course recommended by my Irish cousin Trevor, which took us thru the town of Cong the only route between Lough Corrib & Mask. Here the terrain changed from rolling fields and into Joyce Country & into the Maumturk Mountains. Beautiful as they are, they were obscured by the driving rain & galing winds.  Tomorrow we’ll give it another go as we head south to our next residence in Killaloe.

After a stop in Clonbur, we head thru this mountain range where the sheep pass freely across the road, & the mountains rise steeply on both sides. SPECTACULAR!! Lough Nafooey presented a beautiful beach on its western shore, where I checked the water temperature, but wasn’t prepared to take a dip at that particular moment. We meet a group of cyclised who were equally unimpressed with the rain. We proceeded thru the pass to Leenane, where we continued west around Killary Fiord, & thru Doo Lough Pass. Here there was a monument to all those who walked there in search of salvation during the Famine that saw the greatest exodus of Ireland’s people.

We arrived in Louisburg, but decided against a trip to Clare Island, where “The Pirate Queen” called home, as the rain & wind would have made it a miserable crossing. We visited our first “Blue Flag Beach”, an honour giving to such beaches for their pristine condition, & began heading back east, looking for towers, this being Owen’s choice for his birthday.

As we continued east thru the towns of Westport & Castlebar with no towers in sight, we turned right & came upon the round tower at Turlough, a unique example of this type of town as it is “stout” in comparison to other. Alas, there was no way of accessing this one either.

Continuing east we took a “sheeps path” in search of a tower indicated on our map. When we came upon a group of cottages called “Tower View” we knew we must be getting close! A look over my left shoulder confirmed this, & we proceeded to follow another “sheeps path”, winding thru fields until we found ourselves in front of it & a cemetery. Again, there was no access to the tower, but here we discovered Murphy’s & O’Conner’s buried side by side. What do you think Dave & ML? Are you both from County Galway?

From here we headed south to Claremorris, where it being Friday & “rush hour”, we encountered some nasty drivers, but managed to make our way thru the town & onto Taum, our base for the night.

The boys are all out in search of fish & chips, Owen’s request for birthday dinner. I hope they get here soon…Irish breakfast is wearing off & I may have to resort to another gin & bitter lemon…Great stuff but not very filling!

The Ross Errilly Friary

The tower of the Friar.

Medival Christ figure.

Internal ruins of the friar.

Outside the walls, keep them out!

The only living inhabitant.

The sheep rule the road.

Running fast with the rain.

Misty mountain top.

Turlough Tower.

Medival carving from Turlough.

Meelick Tower