This is a companion article to one I posted a couple of weeks ago to rec.travel.europe and rec.travel. That article covered Scotland, this one covers Ireland. My wife and I visited Scotland and Northern Ireland in early June 1994. We rented a car in each place and more or less let the itinerary evolve with the weather and our mood. As in the Scotland posting, I'll be listing some favorite places and some useful information.
I'm also posting this to soc.culture.celtic and soc.roots because I think it will be of interest in those places, since family history and Irish history were the main reasons for our visit. Followups are directed to rec.travel.europe; please edit the newsgroups line if your followup has more to do with genealogy or Irish history.
The focus of our visit to Ireland was to gather some additional information on an ancestor of mine, the Rev. Joseph Reagh (Rhea), who was a Presbyterian minister at Fahan, Inishowen, Co. Donegal. The hunt for information shaped our itinerary to a great degree. Consequently, we spent less time at major tourist sites; the benefit of that was that we saw places not often visited by overseas tourists. We spent all of our time in Ulster: specifically Cos. Antrim, Derry, Donegal, and Tyrone. We moved around a lot less, spending three nights at a B&B near Belfast, four nights at a farmhouse near Lifford, Co. Donegal and our last night at another B&B not far from the Belfast Airport.
NOTE: Phone numbers below are prefixed with IR (for Irish Republic) or NI (for Northern Ireland). From the US, substitute IR with 011-353, and NI with 011-44 (same as rest of UK). Don't forget to drop the leading zero in the city code when dialing from overseas.
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Giant's Causeway: Worth seeing and, pace Dr. Johnson, worth the going to see. You've probably seen pictures of it: hexagonal basaltic columns of varying heights, packed together and extending out into the sea. You can spend a short time here or all day. The visitor's center at Giant's Causeway is well-done, with an exhibit on the geologic history of the formation, on the history of the causeway as a tourist attraction, on local flora and fauna, and on local folk culture. (The song about the Lammas Fair in Ballycastle, from a video in the exhibit, still runs through my mind now and then.) They've got a good gift shop/bookstore with plenty of information on tourist destinations in Northern Ireland. You can walk to the various formations or take a minibus to and from the causeway for 50p each way. The visitor's centre is open 10am to 7pm in July and August, shorter hours the rest of the year.
Dunluce Castle: A short distance west of Giant's Causeway. This is an interesting ruin sitting on the edge of a seacliff, abandoned in the late 1600s. It was abandoned partly because part of the cliff fell into the sea, taking the kitchen, several servants, and that night's dinner with it. This upset the lady of the house enough to persuade her husband to build a new place inland. Some reconstruction has been done to give the visitor a better idea of the castle's original appearance. There is a brief slide show on the history of the castle and Giant's Causeway. Open 10-7 M-Sat, 2-7 Sun April - September; closes at 4 the rest of the year. 70p adults, 35p kids.
Presbyterian Historical Society, Belfast: In the Presbyterian Church House, at the corner of Great Victoria Street/College Square East and Howard Street/Grosvenor Road. (The entrance to the Presbyterian Church offices is in the alleyway on the north side of the building.) Open 10:00am to 12:30pm most days. I spent two mornings here looking for information on the career of my ancestor, Rev. Reagh. This is _not_ the place to come for geneological data. The Public Records Office is a better bet for that. Mr Bonar, the curator, was a bit cool toward us until he understood that we were interested not only in my ancestor but in the historical context as well. He gets frustrated with letters from America that say, 'I think my ancestor was Presbyterian and he came from Ireland, somewhere.' There's not much he can do with that sort of information. He was able to bring out transcripts of the minutes of the Synod of Ulster and the Sub-Synod of Derry from Rev. Reagh's time, and we located a few brief references to him. Just as interesting was to read some of the disciplinary cases which came before the synods -- I came to realize that the fact that my ancestor was rarely mentioned was probably an indication that he kept his nose clean! Mr Bonar also helped with locating parishes and townlands no longer on the map, and he provided me with phone numbers of pastors and elders of a couple of churches I wanted to visit. The Historical Society is a small operation with a limited budget and short hours. Mr Bonar will make photocopies from books as he has time -- the cost is 10p a page. (By the way, the PHS does not have presbytery minutes. I found out late in the week that minutes for Laggan and Derry Presbyteries for the 17th and 18th centuries are at Union Theological College in Belfast. The library is only open on Tuesdays and Thursdays.)
The ground floor of Church House is an indoor shopping arcade called 'Spires'. There's a small cafe, and Family Books, Ltd., the publishing arm of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, has a shop there (phone NI (0232) 321323). This is not to be confused with Familia, a genealogical bookshop a block north of Church House, on College Square East at 64 Wellington Place (phone NI (0232) 235292, fax 239885), with a good collection of books and published genealogies mainly pertaining to Cos Antrim and Down.
Inishowen Peninsula: We spent most of one day and part of another exploring this beautiful part of Co Donegal, just north of Derry. After visiting Fahan Church (below), we drove part of the Inishowen 100, a 100 mile route which circumnavigates the peninsula. We walked around Buncrana, one of the principal market towns, drove through the breathtaking Gap of Mamore, walked along Tullagh Strand, a sandy beach with sparkling blue water, then drove all the way to Malin Head, the northernmost point of Ireland. The weather was fine most of the day, but was quite blustery at Malin Head (which seemed fitting). On another day, we located the 7th century Fahan cross slab, in an overgrown graveyard near the Anglican church at Fahan, and visited Grianan na Aileach (below).
Fahan Presbyterian Church: Co Donegal, midway between Burnfoot and Fahan. My ancestor was minister here in the mid-1700s. It's a very simple, grey building, part of which survives from the early 1700s. The clerk of session, Mr Jack Lamberton, was kind enough to meet us there, show us around, tell us about the current state of the church, and then invite us to his home for lunch with his wife. Mr Lamberton is a spry 82 years old and has been an elder in the church for 50 years. This place isn't a tourist attraction -- I mention it only as a testimony to the hospitality of the Irish people and as an encouragement to get out of your tourist shell and get to know them. It takes quite a bit of nerve for me to ask a stranger for a favor; I hate to be a bother. It was going out on a limb and making contact, even in small ways, that made this trip as much fun as it was.
Grianan na Aileach: This ancient stone fort stands on a hill 240m above sea level, with a commanding view of the surrounding countryside. The fort was the seat of the powerful O'Neills from the 5th to the 12th century. It was reconstructed in the 1870s by an amateur archaeologist. There are no interpretive signs up here, so have your guidebook handy. Worth the drive for the view.
Ulster-American Folk Park, Omagh, Co Tyrone: This is an outdoor museum built around the boyhood home of American banker Thomas Mellon. His descendants purchased the land, then brought in or constructed buildings typical of early 19th century Ulster. They also built a replica western Pennsylvania village, complete with a smokehouse and hogs. To get from the Old World to the New World you walk down a reconstructed port town street and into a building with a reconstructed sailing ship and dockside buildings. There are transcripts of diary accounts of sea voyages available for reading, and a guide will welcome you aboard ship and tell you about the conditions you'll endure on your six-week voyage to America.
The folk park has a new permanent exhibit, 'Emigrants', which covers 200 years of Ulster emigration: who left, why, how they traveled, and how they fared in the New World. Very well done and worth a couple of hours alone. There is also a genealogy center on the grounds, open business hours during the week. The park itself is open 11am to 6:30pm during the summer, admission #3 for adults.
Lurgyvale Thatched Cottage, Kilmacrenan, Co Donegal: Each Thursday night they have traditional music and dance sessions, starting at about 9:30pm and going until midnight. (Phone IR (074) 39216/21160.) Admission is #1.50. It was not a performance but a hoe-down. The night we were there (early June) most of the people were locals, who got everyone, even the tourists, onto the dance floor. They had a fiddler and a banjo player, and a few people sang old ballads. About 11pm, they brought out refreshments -- tea and some sort of bread with jam and cream. It was a fun evening for us.
Donegal Town: We spent the afternoon here, shopping and walking around. Magee's is a good place for clothes, particularly those made of Donegal Tweed. They also have fabric for sale. The Four Masters Bookshop has a wide variety of gifts as well as a good selection of books and maps. Both stores are in the center, on 'The Diamond'. At the TIC, you can buy a booklet with a walking tour, which will take you past a Napoleonic anchor, a ruined abbey, the castle (being restored), and most of the churches. The book mentions a pleasant walk along the northwest side of the River Eske; it's a broad path under a green canopy of trees with views to the abbey across the river.
The Finn Valley: We took a roundabout way home from Donegal Town to Lifford. We drove west to Killybegs, had dinner there and wlked around the docks, then drove north to Ardara, then east to Glenties on the N56. We took the R250 to Fintown, then the R252 along the River Finn to Balleybofey. This stretch from Glenties to Balleybofey was breathtakingly beautiful. At first the road is in a broad valley, with piles of cut turf set up to dry here and there. As the road reaches Fintown it's now above the valley floor and there are good views of the river below and the Blue Stack mountains to the south.
Derry: We were here on a Saturday afternoon and spent most of our limited time dashing about the walled city and the nearby Waterloo Square looking for _the_ set of cork-backed placemats which would match our decor and have scenes of places we'd visited. After our shopping frenzy ended we took the time to walk along part of the wall (overlooking Bogside and the 'Free Derry' monument), stopped at the monument commemorating the Siege of Derry (1688), browsed in the Bookworm bookshop, and walked past the Guildhall. There is a genealogy center on Bishop Street Within, but it's only open during the week; I believe their area of concern is Co Derry and the Laggan and Inishowen areas of Co Donegal. In Waterloo Square, there is a group of bronze statues depicting emigrants. The statues are laid out so that at first you don't realize they are connected: There's the young family heading off to the docks, separated by several yards from parents who are staying behind. Very effective. |
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