Lush, green beautiful Ireland

geocaching

I wonder if we will ever get tired of traveling through this lush, green beautiful Ireland that we love so much? Nah, it will never happen. We will never see all there is to see, meet too many exciting people, or learn even a smidgen of the ancient history Ireland has accumulated.

Table of Contents

Waterfalls

There are fifteen or so waterfalls throughout Ireland, and we visited two of them during the last weeks of our trip. These are not the most spectacular waterfalls in the country, but both are beautiful.

Glenevin Waterfall

Glenevin is a small waterfall, only 30 feet tall. It is reached by following a wooded gravel pathway for less than a mile. The well-maintained path has picnic areas along the way and is perfect for a family picnic. Many families were doing just that during the Sunday afternoon we visited.

This waterfall is on the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal, not far from the B&B, where we spent a few days. Doris Russo from Rockford, Illinois, is the person responsible for developing this waterfall on her property and making it accessible for tourists to enjoy.

Glenevin Waterfall

Glencar Waterfall

The Glencar is our second waterfall and one we visited a few days later along the road. Glencar waterfall is more of a tourist attraction than Glenevin.

Glencar Waterfall

The Glencar Waterfall is a bustling tourist attraction. A restaurant is at the waterfall path’s entrance, and public restrooms are available. We were surprised to find a large visitor parking lot across the street from the waterfall.

It is a peaceful, pleasant brief walk to the waterfall. We took several photos of the scenery as we walked along, and apparently, this is a prime location for family photos. We even helped out a few families by taking their pictures for them. What a great afternoon this was!

St. Columba’s (the Old Church Straid)

This old St. Columba’s church dates back to the 13th century and is another church ruin we just happened upon as we drove back to our B&B. This St. Columba’s is not the same large church of the same name in Dublin.

Old St. Columba’s church

The old church, dedicated to St. Colmcille, has a long history and was a local place for worship hundreds of years ago. St. Colmcille created monasteries in Ireland and Scotland and, along with St. Brigid and St. Patrick, is one of Ireland’s three patron saints.

You may wonder why we spend so much time searching out old ruins, piles of rocks, and ancient cemeteries in Ireland. The joy we find in these old ruins is the historical stories we read and learn about after returning home to our real life. These stories keep us entertained for months.

Malin Head

Even though our trip to Malin Head was a rainy, cold day, we saw some of the most beautifully spectacular views of the coastline and the sea we have ever seen in Ireland. The slow-going, twisting, and winding drive to the top is gorgeous.

Malin Head is in the most northern part of County Donegal. Although it was too windy during our visit, this is a beautiful spot for beach and cliff walks, and we did take a short walk to locate a geocache at the top.

Malin Head

An old abandoned building called The Tower that once was a signal station sits at the top of Malin Head. Also at the top is a terrific coffee shop truck operated by the friendly Andrea and her husband, Dominic.

Wild pony at Malin Head

We enjoyed the most delicious and welcome cups of coffee from Andrea’s strategically placed coffee shop. She also sells amazing homemade baked treats, which saved our starved lives that day!

Deerpark Court Tomb (Tuama Cuirte Mhachaire Chon Ruis)

Yet another sign along the road that created an unexpected side trip. This one consumed about three hours of our afternoon. We followed the one road sign that ended at a small dirt parking lot where we encountered a man returning from his walk with three dogs.

Remains of Court Tomb

The guy is a dogwalker charged with walking nine dogs that afternoon. A map on a board sign gave us a general idea of where and what type of stroll we were involved in, but our new friend with the dogs gave us explicit directions before he left to pick up his next set of dogs.

Steve decided not to make this walk, and as he waited in the parking lot, I struck off alone on a mile-and-a-half walk to the court tomb. The scenery was beautiful; gorgeous purple flowers were everywhere.

Just so you know how slowly I walk, I encountered the same gentleman on my way to the court tomb as he returned from there for a SECOND time! He’d taken a shortcut and had different dogs with him this trip.

What a lovely perfumed walk this was!

He appeared a bit worried about me and walked me the rest of the way to the court tomb and then went on his way. When I arrived at the tomb, I discovered a lovely lady sitting in a corner, journaling in a notebook.

Great map to follow and a wall along the path to keep me from getting lost!

She urged and insisted that I stop, be silent and enjoy the spirituality of the area before taking any photos. This pile of rocks, ruins of the court tomb, was most certainly a magical and beautiful place.

The very seriously spiritual lady explained that court tombs throughout Ireland are like acupressure points. We should stop and reflect when visiting these places to recreate the energy that connects them all. After our brief conversation, I continued on my walk back to the parking lot.

99s

The court tomb journey was an extremely long walk for me and my short and aged legs! After all that exertion, we stopped at a roadside service station and enjoyed some delicious soft-serve ice cream cones called 99s — to restore my energy, huh?

These ice cream cones, 99s, can be purchased in convenience stores everywhere.

We stayed on major highways for the remainder of our drive to our next B&B – mainly to keep us from encountering those brown signs indicating historical sights. They always lead us to the most magnificent places, but we were out of time for this particular day.

Thatched Cottage

We finally arrived at Thatched Cottage – but the WRONG Thatched Cottage. The GPS sent us to the wrong one. A young man answered the door and directed us to the correct spot. It was not an easy find, but not difficult.

Great home for a few days

Our B&B was quite lovely. Our room at one time had been a sunroom and there were large windows on three sides so that we somewhat felt like we were in a fishbowl. The blinds closed sufficiently to give us privacy, though.

There are two dogs here, Pepsi and Harvey. Marvelous wonderful dogs. Steve had a fabulous time playing with them. After our long day, we went to sleep early, daylight still, although it did not get dark until after 9:30 each evening.

More adventures tomorrow!

Flip

Always Want To Go