Introduction
Country
named after the Viking goddess though
better known as the highly underrated Kawasaki KLE 500
Welcome to my travel blog. I've decided to keep a log of my travels, partly as a way to record them and partly as a small project into the world of travel writing. So please enjoy, comment and suggest places to visit. This is my first time to Ireland but I doubt it'll be my last :-)
I've been meaning to travel to Ireland since last year however due to happen-stance I joined an excellent two week charity ride around the UK coastline. I also produced my first blog for this, see here.
Trip planning
My attitude to trip planning now is the adoption of 'Less is more'. I would tend to plan every hour, mainly as a comfort. But now I like to get out of my comfort zone and simply get a rough plan together and go. Though whilst putting this blog together to give you, dear reader, an idea of where I'm going, I've ironically had to plan more that I was intending to do. But in a good way I've also discovered more places to add to the list then when I started.
The Aim is to circumnavigate Ireland sticking to the coast as close as possible, with one or two diversions into the centre.
Here’s a quick map, though I'm restricted to the amount of point's I can use this will give you a rough idea of my route.
I've heard a lot of good things about Ireland, both of its landscape and its people. Having never been before I'm really looking forward to exploring the Emerald Isle and its history.
As for its history, I cannot say, until putting this blog together, all I could honestly say is that I knew that Ireland was one of the few places not conquered by Rome and the Vikings enjoyed raiding its shores. Also that there was bound to be some interesting Celtic monuments scattered around to visit. I was also aware of the troubles in recent years but not importantly the why's and the history. I realised that there was a big hole in my appreciation of Irish history so after a quick gen-up via the internet and thanks to my Irish friends I now somewhat understand its historical timeline.
I'll be starting from Norwich, Norfolk, UK at the witching hour of Friday the 18th from a good friends, luckily for me 'informal style' Stag-do. With an overnight run across the country to catch the 08:30 ferry from Holyhead. Then a 3 hour sail to Dublin giving me some nap time before an hour of so run to Enniskillen where my first stop will be, see below itinerary for 'Horizons Unlimited'.
Leaving Enniskillen on either the Sunday evening or Monday at first light, I'll head down to Westport which I'll call my official start point. This is because on the 26th in Dublin, I'll have a few good friends and fellow travel riders joining me. Who are on their own two week trip around Ireland starting and finishing from Dublin. Half way through their trip, they aim to be at Westport, so it makes sense to start and finish mine there also.
From Westport I'll head clockwise to Dublin then spend a day, night and hopefully a hangover morning there. Then carry on along the coast, enjoying the twisty roads and scenery till I arrive back at Westport and early the following morning head down to Galway then using the motorway, cut straight across to catch the 08:30 ferry back from Dublin.
Here are some of the places I plan to visit:
The Irish HUBB - Horizon's Unlimited event Ireland (18-20th July)
HU is an overland travellers group, which includes any type of overlander from 4x4's to campervans, trikes, bicycles, hitch-hiking or walking and of course motorcycles. This goes into making a group of like-minded individuals. Who take the opportunity to get together at HUBB meeting's set up across the globe giving them the chance to make new contacts, as well as renewing old ones. Plus planning new trips, and also addressing or attending instructive seminars on a wide range of topics, ranging from how to's to personal trip planning and documentary's.
I recently attended this year, my 3rd at the UK HUBB at Donnington Park on the 19th - 22 June.
It's a special event to attend attracting a near 1000 people and one I love to
volunteer my time for to help organise. Plus if you’re not a globe trotter, like myself, you don’t feel out of place, as long as you've the curiosity to wonder what's around the next corner of over the next hill, you’re not out of place. Besides with all the inspiration flouting about you soon catch a travel bug or two.
I thought also this year I would attend the Irish equivalent, giving me a great opportunity to meet new people and maybe get some good tips on where to visit.
For the following places I've been recommended, so I've delved into the internet and pulled in some facts before I go, here they are:
Being originally from Scotland and now living in Norfolk I'm naturally attracted to mountains, valleys and views as a rest byte from the dull monotonous flatness that is the fens. I also have a passing interest in geology and this place looks like it will satisfy both plus give me an opportunity to go for a little hike.
Apparently a very romantic waterfall and at its most impressive after a rainfall. Also featured in one of Yeats's poems. Location map
Said to be the one of the highest and finest marine cliffs in Europe. At 600m there are views of the Atlantic Ocean, the Sligo Mountains and Donegal Bay. There's a lot of history here including pre-Christian that can be accessed via the Slieve League Cliffs Centre.
There is a high viewpoint known as Bunglass, accessible via a narrow road that starts at Teelin. Location map
Discovered in the 1940's, these Bronze Age megalithic 7 stone circles may have been acting an observatory for lunar, solar or stellar events. Location map
Held each May, this is a motorcycle street race circuit and one of the fastest circuit's in the world, with speeds in excess of 200 mph. The event has been running 1964.
I'll have a go around this circuit, hopefully with less cat dodging!
Google Map of Race Circuit
Is an area of around 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption between 50-60 million years ago.
This will be very cool to see and hopefully I'll get some amazing photo's here.
A bridge has been known to exist here for over 350 years and has been mainly build, maintained and replaced over most of those years by salmon fisherman until the decline of fish stocks. This most recent version, built in 2008, spans 20m/60ft over a 30m/98ft drop, links the mainland to the isle of Carrickarede.
I'll take this recommended route for bikers to Belfast
A 2000BC megalithic monument where a 100ft stone circle encloses an ellipse of stones and a prehistoric burial mount. Believed to have been used from the Stone Age through to the Bronze Age.
As an added bonus they trees create a magical tunnel as you walk toward the circles
Built before Stonehenge in 3200 BC during the Neolithic period. From the 17th century excavations have been carried out in the 1970's the front of the monument was reconstructed. Nearby there is also the largest of all passage graves dating from 2500-2000 BC called as Knowth.
Location map - For further information
Has to be done I recon. Tour of the brewery and learn some history. Then have a good pint or two with
some home cooked food, perfect.
Kilmainham Gaol. Full of history and played a big part in the troubles.
The Book of Kells is on display in Trinity College and definitely worth a look at. There's a few good pubs I've been recommended by a mate who went to Trinity, the Porterhouse Central for a good selection of drink and O'Neills Victorian Pub and Townhouse for both drink and good food, both also tend to have live music. One thing I would like to bring back would be a Bodhrán or Irish drum.
I'm told by a friends from here that this place a beautiful and look forward to finding this out. I've also discovered I have, in my families history, a grandmother that was from here and that my father used to go fishing as a lad in the River Blackwater, so I'm a little Irish woop! :-)
Built around 600AD. this is a very large stone fort of 25 m internal diameter and 4 m high walls. With access stairs on the inside face of the wall to access to top to defend borders.
Looks pretty cool and really different to just a rock in a field.
Location map - For further information
Stretching for 30 miles / 48 kilometres, dominated by a range of mountains running from Slieve Mish to Mount Brandon, Ireland's second highest peak. Irish or Gaeilge is widely spoken
The cliffs range for 8 km and rise to 200 metres and are surrounded in folklore. This is also one of the best examples of cliff-nesting colonies in Ireland.
Poll na mBrón in Irish, meaning "hole of quern stones" or "Hole of Sorrows, not completely sure which translation is correct as a quern stone is affectively a hand flour mill but none were excavated.
This is a portal tomb dating back to the Neolithic period between 1200BC and 2900BC. This time was excavated in 1985 and was found to hold 16-22 adults and 6 children along with a number of artefacts probable left during a ritual of unknown purpose. Within the same area there are about 70 other tombs.
I'm also told, like Cork, that this place is pretty and look forward to exploring it.
The photo's I've seen of this place on-line just look stunning. So on the list it goes.
This place has also been recommended to be as a lovely spot to explore, definitely somewhere to pitch the tent and fall asleep listening to the waves caressing the shoreline.