The Irish Photos

The photos were taken a few years ago on film - so the colors are a little off - but I've tried to clean them up a bit.

I didn't expect to see as many horses, ponies, and donkeys that I did, but they were everywhere there were animals. Cows and sheep far out number even people in Ireland I think.

The license plate says Michigan. Having the dog sit in your lap or on the donkey during the ride was an "extra charge." Someone paid it. :)

This is a convent - Kylemore Abbey & Victorian Walled Garden. The weather with the looming fog made it gleam.

Another shot of the abbey.

This was a "Gentlemen's Horse Farm, Carrigglas Manor. I remember having lunch there but not much more. I understand it is now a ruin.

This was spotted in Carrigglas Manor. My Grandfather made thousands of these - I don't know if this one was one of his though.

The Cliffs of Moher. Simply breath-taking.

More cliffs rising from the sea.

Given my fear of heights, this is as close to the edge as I got!!

No trip to Ireland is complete without a kiss. They lean you over backwards and slide you out over the abyss on your back and you lean upward to kiss the bottom of the Barney Stone. It's a good 85-90 foot drop there...

Back on the houseboat - on the River Shannon - there are "street signs" out on the river so it is hard to get lost!

Everywhere along the river are workingmen and fishing persons with their helper dogs of course!

A considerable climb up from the water - the conic towers are - forgive the pun, iconic. This is Glendalough Monastery in COunty Wicklow.

To get around the rapids and shallows on the River Shannon - usually between the many lakes, you go through a "canal lock". Here is one near Carrick on Shannon.

Waiting near one of the many locks was this family of Swans. There were to be many such families along the route.

Here I am in the yellow rain jacket bringing the boat out of a lock.

A view down into a lock, they crammed as many boats as they could into the lock when things were busy. All the boats had plenty of inflated "boat bumpers" on them. A canal further north was "self serve" and far less busy.

A self serve lock. One inserted a "fare card" into the board and the gates would swing shut and the lock fill or empty depending on which way you were going.

The many cows along the river and streams like to stand out in the water and let the houseboat wake wash over their knees - they were totally un-phased by boat wake.

The monastery of Clonmacnoise (Cluain Mhic Nóis in Irish, meaning "Meadow of the Sons of Nós") is situated in County Offaly, Ireland on the River Shannon south of Athlone.

Clonmacnoise was founded in 546 by St. Ciarán, a young man from Rathcroghan, County Roscommon. Until the 9th century it had close associations with the kings of Connacht. The strategic location of the monastery helped it become a major center of religion, learning, craftsmanship, and trade by the 9th century and it was the most famous in Ireland, visited by scholars from all over Europe. Yes, you read the dates correctly!

The houseboat is docked on a wharf in the River Shannon just below this hill. Another climb up a hill brings you into the "land that time forgot." This is one spooky place!

Here you can see a houseboat on the river approaching the Clonmacnoise dock.

Another houseboat. We shared several days company and a couple trips to local pubs for sing-a-longs. The lady with the camera was very friendly and from Limerick.

The Bed and Breakfast I stayed at both before and after my house-boating cruise.

Another family of swans closes this entry. :)

An Irish Sojourn

Recently, a friend of mine went to Ireland to search out their roots. Their family came from the area around the lower River Shannon - and they wrote about a stay in a town that had a river bridge that I recall going both under and over in Ballina.

I've finally found my photos of that many weeks long houseboat trip up and down the River Shannon - and the book of charts I used. I'll scan in some of the photos later but here is a section of the chart showing Ballina.

It was a very pleasant and memorable trip - I greatly enjoyed all my many stays in Ireland - and hope to go back someday. Some of my roots are there too, but in County Antrim, Northern Ireland - And I've never been to that area. For now, I am just enjoying the memories of being on Lough Derg watching the big white fluffy clouds go by with the blue water gently lapping the boat knowing the Irish on shore would greet me in friendship and companionship when I tied up for the night.

One summer, a long time ago...

I recently dug up an old photograph and my younger brother and I racked our brains to try to remember who was who. This group shot shows me and my Boy Scout troop setting off on a canoe trip in Maine.

c. 1976

Labor Day Weekend in Chestertown, Maryland

This past weekend was rather gloomy and sticky in Chestertown, Maryland but the town was "hopping." There were a lot of activities planned - namely the reenactment of the War of 1812: Battle of Caulk's Field! Yeah... Woo-hee! :) I was there alone this weekend - as the parents were and are on Lake Michigan.

The "Pride of Baltimore II" was in Chestertown, Maryland to be part of the "goings on."

It was a "privateer" circa the War of 1812. This ship has been a hard luck case. On May 14, 1986, returning from the Caribbean, a microburst squall, 250 miles north of Puerto Rico struck the Pride. Winds of 80 knots hit the vessel, capsizing and sinking her. Her captain and three crew were lost; the remaining eight crewmembers floated in a partially inflated life-raft for four days and seven hours with little food or water until the Norwegian tanker Toro came upon them and rescued them.

The ship in the photograph is the second "Pride." On September 5, 2005, the "Pride of Baltimore II" suffered a complete dismasting while sailing in a squall in the Bay of Biscay off the coast of France. The ship returned to port under motor power for repairs.

There were "public sailings" on the ship and it sailed past the houseboat several times but I didn't go on any of them.

A view of the mast and rigging.

The town was festooned with 15 star flags from 1812. Note the stars.

In Fountain Park, I found a crafter's display of carved wooden fishes. This is a "Dolphin" or "Mahi Mahi." I didn't bring this home. I wouldn't know where to put it.

Motoring past the wharf is the Anne D., an Echo Hill Outdoor School buy boat.

I took a boat ride in my dad's boat with a fellow "Wharf Rat" to see the Pride of Baltimore II from the water. The Schooner Sultana is in the distance on the right. It is about half the size of the Pride.

Of course, it wasn't all boat riding and sightseeing! I took a couple long walks up the hill from the wharf and visited with my friend Huckleberry. He's not been around for several weeks and I was beginning to worry about him. We enjoyed a pleasant belly and ear-rubbing (for him) reunion.

The sky that evening made me think of several friends - and since I was at the wharf alone - I kind of got lonesome.

The next day I went into town, mostly just to see some people, and caught this young woman tossing some coins into the fountain at the park. The family had a large dog that they tried to have pose in front of the fountain for photographs, but he wasn't having any of that! They finally got a "sort of good one" when someone else took a snap with the whole family at the fountain (see Flickr if you want)

My car turned 150,000 miles on the way back to the houseboat. It is getting old.

While I was at the wharf, the one-legged lady sent me a cellphone photo of Barley - and labeled it, "My Copilot." He's so cute. :)