We concluded our stay in Tullycross with another great breakfast at the Maol Reidh hotel. Our waitress this morning was the same young lass that checked us into the hotel two days ago. If you saw this young lady in a crowd you would pick her out as being Irish. Extremely brilliant, articulate, and very friendly. She had received her education at Kylemore Abbey and received a degree in Business. The Maol Reidh is open from April to October only, and it is very hard to find a job in this part of the country since Ireland is still recovering from the world-wide economic crisis. Prior to 2010 Ireland was known as the Celtic Tiger for having the hottest economy in the European Union, primarily in technology.
As we were helping our Irish tour guide Geoff pack his van with our luggage, Paddy, the owner of the Angler’s Rest came out of his pub and gave Shawn a big hug and allowed his picture to be taken with Shawn. And then we left for Clifden. Paddy has owned the Angler’s Rest pub for many years and was extremely good to the Aquinas students. Shawn had a deep appreciation for all the conversation and help her provided her duringt her stay in Tullycross.
Nearing Clifden we turned off Westport Rd and took the Sky Road into Clifden. The Sky Road snakes it way along the edge of a mountain. It is a very narrow road, wide enough for only one small car. If a car meets another car on the road one of the two cars has to back up to a small turnout and let the other car pass.drivers have a stone wall fence on one side of the car and a steep cliff on the other side. There is no protective railing to prevent driver error from sending the car over the cliff edge.
In exchange for the heart stopping drive is a breathtakingly beautiful drive that words cannot express. Clifden is the largest city in Connemara, that part of Ireland many consider to be its most scenic. It is located in County Galway along the banks of the Owenglen River which empties into Galway Bay. This was a shopping stop since Clifen has so many unique gifts to offer the traveller. Michael found a Celtic music shop and made arrangements to have a custom made bohran made with the Blue Shamrock logo hand painted by John the owner. Corey and Shawn found a few gifts for O’Malley and Tracy and Shannon found some gifts for their children.
Having some craic at Sean’s Bar, the oldest bar in Ireland
Galway City traffic jam. Notice cars on the opposite sides of the road and drivers sitting on the right side of the car.
Our next stop was at the Connemara marble store in Moyvue. Everyone of us bought a souvenir made famous the marble quarries of the Galway area.
Next, we headed for Athlone for the night. Galway was hosting a big horse racing event this weekend and it took us over an hour to navigate the traffic jam of this city of 25,000 people. Upon arrival in Athone, we went back to the Shelmalier house B&B we had spent a night in on the first day of our tour. We dropped our luggage off at the B&B and headed into downtown Athlone for dinner at the Meadow restaurant. After dinner we headed two doors down the street to Sean’s Bar, the oldest bar in Ireland where we listened to a fantastic singer/guitarist perform songs made popular in the 1980’s. He was “grand” as the Irish are wont to say. We finally ended this rainy day, and the only rainy day we have had the entire trip, with a taxi ride back to our B&B.
Karen picks out a 1942 British Pound Sterling coin attached to Connemara Marble.
Paddy, the owner of the Angler’s Rest giving a goodbye hug to Shawn and Tracy.
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