To finish the tour of Ireland consisted of another couple of days driving the beautiful west coast before heading east back to Dublin. Going back to my inspiration for touring Ireland, Leon and Jill Uris’s book, I was convinced that seeing some spectacular cliffs was simply inevitable if we just kept driving aimlessly in any direction. Not the greatest logic but after many frustrating hours we did finally discover them. Here are the diary notes and photos from those couple of days.
by Ian Wilson on Saturday, August 20, 2011 at 2:25am
Two days ago we drove from Killarney to Clivton which was long, windy and narrow. The landscape was very stark, bold and had a very Scottish feel to it. It’s odd because you drive for ages thinking there can’t possibly be anyone around then suddenly you’re confronted with a tourist village as big as anything on the Mornington Peninsular. The beaches were beautiful and we saw a lifesaver in a little shed with his flags set up. He was guarding a 5 metre square area with no waves or rips where kids were daring each other to put their heads under the water! The only injury this guy was likely to be attending would be hyperthermia! I’ve been obsessed about seeing cliffs with angry seas crashing into them. We decided to skip a couple of peninsulas to head to Donegal because it looked rugged on the map. Idiot me had typically done no research and was chasing his gut feel! Anyway, no luck today. See what tomorrow brings. We crashed in Clivton. Another instalment from the “Man’s arse” series, this time “Man’s arse in hotel window”, L Harris 2011, Canon Digital.
Ireland 18/8/11
by Ian Wilson on Saturday, August 20, 2011 at 2:56am
Yesterday, the lady at the B&B suggested we go to Sligo if I wanted to see cliffs. The cliffs were there and they were magnificent but not running into the sea! More incredible scenery but I wanted angry seas my friend! We kept driving into a town called Killybeggs which was a reasonable size harbour but not what I was looking for. Suddenly I saw a sign that had the word “cliff” on it and desperately followed it. 30 mins later we found a tour bus parked and people taking photos. The spot was nice but still no massive cliffs! About to give up we saw a sign that had a picture of the cliffs! We found out we were 30 mins away. A windy, narrow road took us to Slieve Leige at 1972 metres high. We parked at the bottom and walked 2 km to the lookout and it was everything I dreamed of and more. The weather was perfect and it was awesome. The cliffs are up to 600m high! It’s difficult to fathom until we saw a fishing boat near them and it blew us away. There was also a dangerous narrow bit on the way that had a medieval lookout on it. You can see it in the photos and there were tourists that walked to it. I’m too much of a woos to do it. Lynda walked to the top of the mountain adjacent to the cliffs for more shots and we left exhilarated. With my dream fulfilled, we departed and Lynda could rest easy that I would never mention the “C” word again. Crashed in Donegal last night. Yet another picture perfect town. The B&B will only serve continental breakfast tomorrow morning so no eggs. We reckon I’ve had 34 eggs since I’ve been here and I may suffer withdrawals…there will be some nervous chickens on the way to Dublin tomorrow!
by Ian Wilson on Saturday, August 20, 2011 at 3:21am
It was a gentle drive to Dublin today after the momentous cliff discovery day! We’ve been lucky with the weather but she’s been a bit grey and wet today. Ireland in summation is simply stunning away from the cities. There are millions of ancient rock fences that have been painstakingly assembled and the homes are manicured within an inch of their lives! So spectacular are the gardens, hedges and the houses themselves you couldn’t be led to believe that Ireland’s economy is down the toilet. We’ve been privileged to drive some of the most picturesque narrow roads that are partnered with huge stone walls, perfectly trimmed hedges and stunning trees that form a canopy above you. The fields are of a green unlike any other and the villages are looked after by very proud citizens. There are pictures of one town today that had flowers bursting out of most of its buildings and lampposts and talking to a local, the citizens and shop owners are incentivised to set them up. It certainly stops you rather than driving past. Everywhere in the UK and Ireland we have had great service and met some characters. Tomorrow it’s Paris and my appalling French will be tested. Fortunately Lynda’s got a handle on the key words so I will just hand it over to her.
