Gallery 2

For this post, I’m posting some of my favorite photos. I’m getting the hang of WordPress now, so these ones even come with captions.

This was the river behind the ancient abbey that we toured Saturday.

This stone house was used by the monks as an ancient fish house. A hole was cut in the floor through which the monks would feed their lines. Apparently, the line was even rigged up to a bell, which would ring when a fish was on the line. That's my kind of fishing.

This stone building used to be a church. Now it's an Indian restaurant. Ah, progress...

This is a street in Westport. Note the Cyber Pub.

The inscription reads: I am Patrick a sinner most unlearned the least of all the faithful and utterly dispised by many

This is a picture of the shoreline from trailhead of Mt. Crough Patrick.

This sculpture is called the Coffin Ship, and it represents the ships that the Irish refugees took to America during the Great Potato Famine. 1% of the people on the ships died due to the greedy overselling of tickets on the ships. That's a lot, when you consider that as many as 2 million Irish fled to America.

I had a spare minute, after looking at Crough Patrick. So I decided to go find something pictureworthy. 10 seconds later, I snapped this picture. It's actually a storm drain.

This monument, set in the Delphi Valley, commemorates the Irish 'Trail of Tears'; during the potato famine, a landowner went back on his promise to pay passage to America for all his tenant farmers. 39 died on the walk back from the coast to their fields. The monument also begs for peace in South Africa.

Apparently, the Delphi Valley was named after the famous Oracle in Greece. The locals thought the area looked similar.

This slogan, and its varients, are on the sides of sevaral pubs. I'm more amused by the severe obesity of that little dog.

Irish road signs are funny.

A gravestone on Inis Mor.

Even their storm drain caps are sweet.

The landscape in Ireland never ceases to suprise. This is on Inis Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands.

This was the lighthouse at the top of Inis Mor

Irish road signs can be confusing.

This is the cottage that I live in. Yes, five guys do live there. And yes, it is as small as it looks.

This is the inside of our cabin. That's my roommate, Kyle, there on the couch. Note the cornflakes and water on the table. That kind of exemplifies our normal diet.

This is the exterior of the hotel itself. The cottages are behind this main building. And yes, those are palm trees in front. The temperate, moist climate of Ireland allows for the growth of palm trees. It's almost as though I'm on a beach in Maui...