The Famine Walls

Visitors to southwest Ireland notice the rock walls everywhere - obviously dividing land into sections and keeping cattle and sheep fenced in.

But these walls are called "famine walls."  The older ones were built for two purposes: first to clear the land of rocks so the land could be used and secondly, during the potato famine of the early 1800's,  churches and landlords paid men to build these - mostly in food - so men could keep their pride about working.

Driving in Ireland

We noticed that a lot of cars have scrapes and dents down the passenger side! (See earlier pictures of narrow roads if any clarification is needed).  I tried to get a picture....although this is one of the less damaged cars we saw.

And then our tour went through a small town where large buses have to make a sharp left turn - and the infamous "red wall" is in the way.  Look closely at all the dents and gouges in the wall.  Our guide says all they do is just repaint it.....

But in happier news, we saw two rare antique roadsters -- an Austin-Healey and a vintage Jaguar. Quite a sight!

Calling all singles!

I have it on the best authority (our guide Rory) that the best matchmaking in the world happens every year at the little Irish town of Lisdoonvarna. Every September!

More Irish food

We got to try real Irish Beef and Barley Stew!  We were in a little town called Doolin on our tour - and the stew was amazing.

And yes, that is a big serving of mashed potatoes in the middle - Gordy was thrilled!

I had to try Fish and Chips several times (look at the size of these chips), always served with the traditional "mushy peas".

I wasn't so much a fan of this version of mushy peas, but the fish and chips were great.

Cliffs of Moher

Our full last day in Ireland was reserved for the Cliffs of Moher. First a view of King John's Castle in the morning light....

Then we were off to the Cliffs. We let the bus driver do the driving today (Paddywagon Tours). The Cliffs are amazing!

We also got to see a place up the coast that our guide called the burren.  According to Google, this is a region of County Clare in southwest Ireland that is a "karst landscape of bedrock."  Basically, it is this huge section of flat rock right on the coast - it was an amazing place to watch the waves beat against the rocky coast. 

Around Limerick

So after two days of driving, we were glad to be able to walk around a bit. We are staying in Limerick (sorry, I couldn't come up with a cute limerick). We took a walk around town and found a little cafe for a late lunch. Being one of the few humans on the planet who actually likes liver, I was thrilled.

We walked down the Shannon River (the longest river in Ireland apparently) and found King John's Castle. This 13th century castle was built by King John, the less popular brother of Richard the Lionheart.

We also walked by a beautiful old church.

Calming traffic

Finally got a picture to prove it!