Thurs Sept 14

County Clare has three main points of interest, in my opinion, those being the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren, and the village of Doolin, the great mecca of Irish music. We were staying in Doolin, which is just a stretch of the legs from the Cliffs, and we would visit the Burren as well. 

The next day the seesaw with the weather continued. After the drippy day we had before, we woke up to blue sky. The plan for the day was to walk the northern half of the Cliffs of Moher and take a taxi from the visitor center back to Doolin. This would be in the afternoon, as the cliffs face due west which means afternoon or evening light, so we had the morning to look for something interesting. 

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_8506095 I've photographed both of these cottages before so I like to check on them. The top one we call Maggie's Cottage after my cousin Maggie Lewis who died shortly after our 2016 trip, which is when I first saw it. She loved Irish cottages.

We then found an old church ruin with a very old graveyard. I guess you've figured out by now, Dear Reader, that it's hard for me to drive past these places. They do say "Ireland!" though don't they?

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And if you think I've overdone the graveyard pictures wait until we get to the black & whites!

IMG_7425 Jeanne Marie grabbed these horses out the car window.

We then drove back over to near Doonagore Castle where we had discovered the ruins of a village. These are commonly called "famine houses", referring to the Great Famine of 1845-1849. But many of them were abandoned later than that as the Irish continued to emigrate long after the Famine. 

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I've included the picture above because five years ago the cottage to the left of the castle was a candidate for a fate similar to those above. I photographed it on our last two trips and it was falling apart fast. We went back to see how much of it was left and to our delight it has been restored, thatch roof and all! So maybe there's hope for all of these houses. Anybody looking for a fixer upper? Great view? Needs some work?

Time now to head for the Cliffs of Moher but they will get their own post.