A relief from the Ennis Abbey


Ireland-Day 7

Both Debbie and I were ready to leave by 8:30 AM. We said our goodbyes to my cousin and her family and thanked them for opening their home to us. Before we left, we both checked our emails at Lucia’s. We had no messages. I gave my cousin a big hug as I was unsure when we would meet again. It was extraordinary to be able to visit Ireland and be invited into the homes of those who live there. It gave us a different perspective than we would have had if we had been part of a tour. We were very fortunate. I had planned the trip the night before with Debbie’s help. We checked our maps and wrote the routes down. It looked to be a long journey from Castlerock, Derry, Northern Ireland to Ennis, Co. Clare, Republic of Ireland. Ennis was next to Shannon Airport, maybe a 20 minute ride. Debbie had reserved a hostel there for the evening. Our journey was 8 ½ hours total. We drove down the eastern coastline and passed between the cities of Belfast and Dublin but never entered either. As I said earlier, I would be ashamed to say I spent 1 hour in Belfast, a drive through. That would not be proper.
                  Our drive along the coastline was very nice, not as dramatic as the Cliffs of Moher or Slea Head in Dingle but a beauty all its own. It sort of reminded us of some of the coastline in Maine. We traveled through Blackrock to Castlebellingham. It was along this stretch that we stopped at a small restaurant to have brunch. We then headed along the main route towards Gort/Ennis. When we crossed from Northern Ireland into the Republic of Ireland, we immediately noticed the difference in the roads and started to see old stone barren famine houses again as well as many stone walls crisscrossing across the fields. Many of these old stone homes were abandoned as it is great work to move a pile of stone. They are totally exposed to the elements, most with no roof, as many of those had thatched roofs, most of which had been replaced with vines or in some cases trees.
                  At 4PM we arrived in Ennis and checked into our hostel. It was a large building painted mustard yellow and flower boxes lining the windows. The style of it reminded me of Spanish architecture. The inside had Spanish influence as well, with some tile and rounded entrances. The host was giving the residents some dance lessons later in the lobby. There were little hallways, with informational bulletin boards in the lobby area. We finally found our way upstairs after we checked in and rented a towel. We felt the need to shower after our trip. We got to our room, and there were people there. There were 3 sets of bunk beds. Much to my surprise, we would be sharing the room with some young German students, 2 young men and 2 young women. I took some time to speak some German to the girls. They could tell it did not come very easily, as it had been some time since I spoke the language and I was far from being 100% fluent. They asked me in German if I preferred them to speak English. I was relieved they offered to speak in English They were gracious to do so. They told me that they were in Ireland to do work projects in the parks. They would be going to Killarney National forest to do some landscaping type work there. I told them that they must try to see the Burren area. They said they were interested and picked up a travel brochure.
                  Debbie and took off on foot to explore the town. The Fergus River ran through Ennis and we looked at the river from the nearby bridge. It started to rain so we dodged the rain and ran into an alley that was part of a pub. The place was neat inside, had a few rooms to walk around. It was called Cruises. We went inside, very dark but at least it was dry inside. Outside was a downpour. We were hungry but there was a huge crowd watching a rugby game. We quickly realized it was going to be tough getting waited on, so we left. We went across the street to a place called Kings. The place was more modern but quiet. I ordered a toasty which was ham, cheese and onion toasted along with a Guinness.                
                We found an ancient Franciscan Abbey near the bridge, not far from our hostel. Turns out we caught a free tour, which happens once a week. Our tour guide was very articulate, interesting and very passionate about the history of the Ennis Abbey. I was curious as to why we were allowed to touch all reliefs and walk across the floor which was lined with grave markers and tombs lying flat all throughout the abbey. The tour guide told me that one day they hoped to cover it all with Plexiglas or some other product. In the meantime, there were professional photos of everything there as well as transcriptions. There was no roof, so the whole abbey was exposed to the elements. It had a nice entrance with postcards, booklets etc. There were many stone reliefs throughout the abbey. I was most impressed with the stone relief of the Crucifixion and one of the Resurrection. They were absolutely filled with detail and in perfect condition for being so ancient.
                  Later we went back to the hostel for an early night. We took showers which were cold by now so they were very fast showers. Remember that they conserve their water. Since it was an icy cold shower, I think I looked 20 years younger. We went back to the room and organized our bags as tomorrow we would be headed home. We went to bed by 9 PM. The German girls did the same. The guys stayed out late, but they came back quietly. It was not easy sleeping with wet hair and in a room full of strangers. It was a very interesting experience. 
                  Our travel for the week consisted of 1559 kilometers total. We filled our gas tank twice and spent 20 Euros on top of that for gas. On this trip the American Dollar was 75 cents to the Euro. In other words, our dollar was pretty strong, but not as strong as my last trip in 2002 where it was valued twice the Euro, meaning the Euro was worth about 50 cents. [Now of course with our dollar weakened, the Euro is worth more than our dollar. I believe, this is the first time in history our American Dollar is not the highest value globally.] I think for many two bit travelers, such as myself, it will affect the tourism industry. Those who have money will still travel.


An example of what I refer to as a Famine house (This one is in Connemara Region, West Galway)