Episode #7: 2006 Ireland Trip Part 2
The next morning I was up well before our scheduled meeting time so I walked around town as the town was waking and vendors were opening their stores. We were told our hike today would take us across the peninsula and there was no place to get anything to eat so if we wanted a lunch we would have to take it with us. We would not eat again until about 5 pm.
One of the places that was just opening was small privately owned market. I walked in expecting to find a sandwich to take with me for lunch. As I made my way around I found a bit of a meat market near the back with a lady working behind the counter. She kindly asked if she could help me. I said yes ma'am could I get a sandwich to go. She said 'a what?' I replied a sandwich. She says I am sorry, I do not know about a sandwich. So I described it as meat, cheese and bread. She then says 'oh you are wanting a meat roll'. I said sure, a meat roll would be great. She says grab the bread I want as she points to a straw basket heaping full of small bread loaves that were about 5" long. I reach in and grab one and she quickly builds my meat roll and wraps it in paper.
After taking care of this task I walk around for another hour or so and meet the group at the B&B where stayed the night before. We gathered our luggage and put it in a van. We took a 30 minute drive out of town to a very rural area and get out. The driver leaves with our luggage to deliver it to the next place we would be staying that evening after our day hike.
We are on the most southwest part of Ireland and the next stop from where we are is Newfoundland, just north of Nova Scotia (which translates to New Scotland).
As we start our hike it is nearing noon and we are hiking across a hilly grassland area. It is cloudy and is beginning to look threatening. On pretty short order it is a full blown storm. We have no shelter and no phone or anyway to contact anyone to come get us so we continue. By now it is about 1:30 pm or so and when I say it was raining hard, it was raining so hard you could barely see more than a few feet ahead. Along with the hard rain, there was wind like I have never experienced. It was blowing hard and very, very gusty and it made it difficult to walk. At one point, I was in the right place at the right time and a hard gust of wind hit so hard, it knocked me to my knees. Needless to say I was more than a little surprised at this.
We were walking in an area that put us close to the cliffs that were nearly straight vertical to the ocean below. One of the Aussie girls (Alice) came to me and said 'Tony, I am quite scared and afraid I will be knocked off the cliff'. She had a real concern as she and her travel buddy Nicole were just out of 'university' and were about 22 years old and very small in stature, maybe she weighed 110 pounds soaking wet. After just getting knocked to my knees a bit earlier, I had a whole new respect for the wind and the danger we were in. I told her to hold my hand until we got through this section of the hike and I would help keep her safe.
After what seems like an hour or more of this deluge, it finally came to an immediate halt. We were all drenched and very cold. After a bit I take the sandwich out of the paper it was wrapped in and the bread literally fell apart in my hands. I quickly eat the meat and cheese which is all that is left. Another couple of hours we reach our destination. It was a very memorable and miserable 12 mile hike, but glad to get into a hot shower and warm up. Now I am really glad our luggage was delivered for us so all clothing was dry. We had a very nice meal and thankfully we were all dry.
The next few days were beautiful sunny days for the most part. We had bicycle rides and hikes around and across the area for the remainder of the trip. We stayed in a different B&B each night as we made our way around the peninsula. One of the things that was amazing to me was how blackberries grow wild, huge and very tasty like crazy. They grow rampant even in the ditches of the roads we traveled. We all ate so many it was almost a joke among us. Somebody would say who wants some more free blackberries, the store on the road ahead is open.
One thing that was so common place was every little township or hamlet had at least one pub if not two or three. Each night the locals would sit around and drink Pilsner like it was bottled water and sing ballads and play a variety of instruments. These folks are all so very talented, it was absolutely amazing.
Another amazing part of the trip was that it seems everyone I talked to at each place we stopped knew the history of their clan so very intimately. They would perfectly recall battles of centuries ago and how their family was related to those that fought and died with exact detail of when and where it took place. The history of this island nation is horrible, bloody, and amazing at the same time.
Another tidbit of information to share, was a fact I never knew about until this trip. The houses were heated and some of them cooked on stoves that utilize fossil fuel. Not the fossil fuel I always think about, which is oil and natural gas. This area of Ireland depended heavily on peat. Everywhere you looked in the pastures, there were stacks of peat bricks that were stacked in a type of pyramid shape that would allow them to dry rather quickly. The land owners had their peat shovels that would cut the peat in just right size to fit in their stoves and fire places. The picture above is a supply of the dry peat piled up outside a farm house we came across one day on a hike. The burning peat left a very pungent and recognizable odor that would just hang in the still air in the early mornings.
Another interesting point of information I came across was how the sheep farmers identify their sheep from their neighbors. Here cattle are branded or ear tagged, in Ireland they spray 'their' color paint on the back of the sheep so they are easily and readily recognized.
As with any adventure, there is always so much to learn. I had no idea about the ancient society that apparently flourished here 2500 years ago, but then I find this-
The rock fences that are so very common were simply built for 2 reasons. One was to get the surface rocks out of the ground to allow more grass to grow for the sheep and the property owners needed to establish the boundaries of their land. The rocks were moved and used for these fences that have stood the test of time for centuries upon centuries.
As mentioned at the beginning of this Ireland trip blog, there was a sandy beach or two to be found though most of them were the ragged rock beaches where the ocean pounds away at the rock cliffs. Here is one of the sandy beaches we came across-
So interesting. Having almost 50% Irish genealogy I have often wondered what the country was like. Thanks for this awesome peak!
ReplyDeleteIf you ever take the trip, you will not regret it. I am certain of that.
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