In August 2009 I flew to Dublin, Ireland for almost 10 days to see Ireland and Northern Ireland. I would be driving up to Northern Ireland to meet up with some of the people I work with. Some of them had already given me tips on some things I had to see.
I had mapped out some things to see around Dublin, but didn’t know if I would get to them at the start or the end of the trip. As I was driving north out of Dublin to Belfast, I made stops at a couple historic places near Dublin. I started with the Newgrange Monument, which dates back to the 4th millennium BC and is composed of about 250,000 tons of stone. The Mainistir Bhuithe (Monastery of Buithe) has the best collection in Ireland of carved stone High Crosses that date back to 923 AD.
The border crossing between Ireland and Northern Ireland was spectacularly uneventful. Not even so much as a marking on the side of the road to take a picture. The only 2 indicators were the license plates and the currency. Although, in the end this was handy since I crossed back and forth between the borders several times.
I spent a couple nights in Belfast. This is a good city to get around by walking, and I had a hotel near the town center. I was fortunate enough to be there the weekend when the Tall Ships were in the harbor. This was a spectacle to see that brought crowds in from all over. It also brought a carnival like atmosphere in the Belfast Harbour, and along the Donegall Quay and Queens Quay. Belfast is also where the Titanic was built and I viewed the Titanic Dock and Pump House. This is where the Titanic was in dry dock prior to being completed.
I then drove to L’Derry to visit with some people I work with. I was able to finally see their office and they were nice enough to treat me to a fine lunch and craic. L’Derry is on the River Foyle and its’ old town center is surrounded by city walls built around 1614. While there, I was able to spend a couple days with my friend Johann. He was kind enough to go with me and act as a guide around the Giant’s Causeway Coast. This is a very scenic stretch that has many must see sights including Dunluce Castle, Bushmills Distillery, The Giant’s Causeway, Bally Castle, and the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge to name a few.
More inland in Northern Ireland, I took a tour of the Belleek Pottery plant. They have been making china and porcelain by hand in the town of Belleek since 1857. Just outside the town of Omagh is the Ulster-American Folk Park. This is a 40 acre open air museum that shows the emigration from Ireland to America. They represent not only an Irish village from the 18th Century, but also the American side. You transition between the 2 by ‘boarding’ the Brig Union sailing ship in Ireland and ‘disembarking’ in America. It is actually very clever how this was done. On each side you see how individuals lived and they have demonstrations of trades. I really like this type of display.
Whilst back in Ireland I journeyed to Malin Head, which is the Northern most tip of Ireland. This worked out conveniently as Jenny, someone else I used to work with, lives near there. She was able to drive us around the area and point out things of interest. Mark (another co-worker), his family, and I then went on to have dinner at Jenny’s house.
From there, I went to Letterkenny which has a claim to fame as having the longest main street in the whole country. It was a good jumping off point for the Glenveagh National Park. This is a 24,000 acre wilderness of mountains, moorlands, lakes, and woods. Part of this is Glenveagh Castle and gardens, located on the shores of Lough Veagh. The castle was started in 1870, but the land was only recently acquired and was made into a national park in 1984.
My last night, I spent in Dublin, not a hotel in Dublin but actually on the streets of Dublin. Well, almost. I had a hotel near the Dublin airport but went into Dublin for the evening and saw the usual sites. Getting into the city on the bus was not hard, there was an express bus stop near the hotel and it took me right to O’Connell Street. The problem was I waited a long time for another express bus to take me back to the hotel, but one never came. I ended up having to take a bus to the airport then transfer to a local bus to the hotel. It was a very long night. Lesson learned.
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