Galway to the North

The castle above is located just beyond the Cliffs of Moher, where I'm standing in the shot below.  We saw the castle late in the afternoon after the sun broke through heavy fog.

Yesterday we visited Balleyhahill, home of my Irish ancestors, took a ferry across the Shannon River, sat in deep grass above the ocean shore, visited the magnificent Cliffs of Moher and drove to a dolmen aka portal tomb not far from Galway.  According to experts, they mark burial places in a distinctive way, with large capstones elevated at an angle and held up by large standing stones.  

These tombs were created between 3000 BC and 2000 BC.  The stones would have originally been covered in earthen mounds with the area below the capstone forming an entrance to the tomb proper.  Ireland has about 100 of these tombs scattered about the country. 

It is not clearly known how the people of that time hoisted the hue capstones to the top of the dolman, but their skill is evident in the fact that their work has lasted for thousands of years.

It was almost dark when we arrived at the dolman, so I could not take a picture.  I'll post one from the Internet as an example.

Today we're headed to Northern Ireland, and we'll be seeing the Giant's Causeway.  Weather looks good, and we should have another great day of sight-seeing, listening to Irish culture and news on the radio and snapping lots of photos.

By the way, on this Ash Wednesday, I must note that much attention went to pancake recipes on yesterday's radio talk shows.  It was pancake Tuesday, and the annual event is a big day in Ireland.  We heard one lady who called in to report she'd already thrown three of her pancakes "in the bin."

They just kept sticking to the bottom of her frying pan.  A lady who called in later to share her "eggless" pancake recipes suggested that the other lady put a little oil in a HOT pan.  

I was hungry for pancakes all day but settled for a buttered scone.  Annie and I usually go to a grocery store and pick up munchies and sandwich stuff to have in the car as we go.  We eat an evening meal each day,  and last night it was take-out pizza from a very nice Italian restaurant in downtown Galway.

We're here at a very lovely Bed and Breakfast called Amber Hill.  Will be on the road soon.

Check out photos on the Irish blog.