Ireland 2024: Northern Ireland Tour Part 2

Days 3 & 4 of the Northern Ireland Tour

Today was the day we crossed over from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland. We had a couple of places to visit before we entered part of Great Britain. Both nights were spent in Northern Ireland.

Where We Went

Our first stop was an impromptu stop at Lough Finn. Tomás is a photographer and has an excellent eye for good pictures. This was an absolutely beautiful place for us to stretch our legs and enjoy the beauty of Ireland. Lough Finn is a beautiful lake with green fields at the bottom of the mountain. The gorse blooming alongside a railroad track was a very nice touch.

Lough Finn is named after the nearby town, Fintown. Finngeal, a mythical woman, is said to have drowned in the lake after attempting to rescue her brother who had been wounded.

Always look in the other direction to see what people are missing. At Lough Finn, across the road is a hill and I spotted some sheep.

Still in County Donegal, Glenveagh National Park is the most northern national park in the Republic. We took a shuttle from the car park to the castle, but you can walk the 3.5 km. One of the ladies wanted to walk but was discouraged due to the amount of time we had for our visit. She opted to take a hike on a trail. I may be mistaken, but I believe she took the View Point Trail. There are several different options for trails.

The castle was completed in 1873, taking 6 years to complete. The owner, John George Adair, evicted over 200 tenants on the property. A murder took place during the evictions, which earned John Adair the nickname "Black Jack Adair". His wife, Cornelia, was an American who upgraded the castle for comfort and planned out the gardens after Jack died suddenly. Following her death in 1921, the castle was occupied by Anti-Treaty as well as Free State Army Forces during the Irish Civil War. The castle then switched hands twice before being sold to the Office of Public Works, which created the National Park. The castle, gardens, and most of the contents were then bestowed on the country in 1983. We opted not to tour the castle; we walked around it and then spent time in the garden.

Walkway around the castle to the swimming pool area

View of the castle from the area of the swimming pool

View from the dock/swimming pool area

The Garden Trail

Grianán of Aileach is an incredibly restored stone fort. I thought the ring fort we visited the previous week was amazing, but this one took my breath away. It may have something to do with the views from the top since this one is on Greenan Mountain. It's possible that the fort was originally built around 800 AD. Following the Vikings plundering the fort, around 1100 AD the fortress was destroyed only to be restored in the 1870's.

View of Grianán of Aileach

We crossed over into Northern Ireland, and we all knew it as soon as it happened. The signs changed, and the buildings were different, as were the license plates. Derry was a very interesting city. We went on a walking tour along the wall. I didn't know much about Derry-Londonderry, so I had no idea it was a walled city complete with 4 gates that are still in place, built 400 years ago. Derry has seen its share of difficult times: The walls were built to keep out the Irish who were forced to live in the less desirable land called the "Bogside". Londonderry (as it is called by the British) was established in the 1600's through a Charter by King James I. In the Republic of Ireland, the city is called "Derry". The Museum of Free Derry sounds very interesting; I wish we had time to visit it.

The Derry Girls greeted us as we walked out of the mall (which we had to walk through to get to the wall)

View of the Wall from the mall

On the Wall

Loyalist Mural

St. Columb's Cathedral

Former gaol (jail); this tower was a hanging tower. It houses a WWI museum.

St. Eugene's Cathedral (Catholic) Notice it is outside of the city walls

Cannon overlooking Bogside

"Bernadette": Social activist who was a member of Parliament. She was arrested, convicted, and served jail time for initiating a riot

"Death of Innocence": Annette McGavigan was 14 when she was killed by a British soldier in 1971 as she stood at the side of the road.

St. Augustine's Church, built in 1872. The site is thought to be where St. Columba's monastery was.

Peace Mural

14 Sycamore trees can be found along this part of the wall to commemorate the 13 apprentice boys and James Morrison (their lookout). These boys closed the city gates against James II troops who were advancing on Derry.

Diamond War Memorial dedicated to residents of the city who lost their lives during WWI

Night view of the Peace Bridge

We were at Giant's Causeway fairly early, which was great because the parking lot was getting full when we left. Remember the legend of Finn McCool and Benbulben from the last post? He's a major character in the legend of Giant's Causeway, too. There are a couple of different versions of the story but the ones I read/heard have Benandonner tearing up the stone path. It was amazing to see what time and nature have done. There were so many stone columns...there were just no words when I stood and looked at them.

Photo courtesy of my SIL

Finn McCool's Organ Pipes

The Chimney Stack

There is a path/walkway over to the Chimney Stack, but because of time (and coldness, dampness, and wind) we opted not to walk over to it.

Look at the person for reference as to the size of the wall.

The ruins of Dunseverick Castle were only a couple of stones but the scenery was beautiful. The original castle is believed to have been constructed in the 5th century, or earlier. St. Patrick is said to have visited here and baptized a future Bishop. The site is reported to have been attacked by the Vikings a couple of times; the final blow came from Cromwell in the 1650's.

The next ruin was extremely impressive: Dunluce Castle. It was a massive 1600's town with a lot of walls that are still standing. The castle is on a cliff, which, if you've seen Game of Thrones, you may recognize it as the Seat of House Greyjoy.

We drove along the Causeway Coast Road to Portaneevey. From here we were able to see several islands as well as the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.

Close up of bridge from the first picture

Sheep Island is known for its "Sheep cliffs"

We had time when we reached Ballygally to take a stroll along the coast.

Someone took the opportunity to make a white rock into a polar bear

Where We Stayed

In Derry, we stayed at a new hotel. The Ebrington Hotel was very nice and very comfortable. We were treated to a river-view room with complimentary robes and slippers. Our initial plan was to eat dinner, put on our robes & slippers, and kick back and relax. The only downside was that there were no towel warmers in the bathroom, but I don't guess you can have everything.

View from our room

We were impressed with the circle light around the mirror

Very nice shower

The next night was spent at Ballygally Castle Hotel. This is the most interesting place I've ever stayed. There is a lot of history associated with the hotel, including a resident ghost. The opening page to the hotel states that it is a 17th century castle "overlooking the golden sands of Ballygally Bay with uninterrupted views of the Irish Sea." One site indicates that in discussions about the most haunted places in the north, Ballygally is quite often mentioned. Here's the story as I heard it: Lady Isabella Shaw gave birth to a girl; however, her husband was not happy that the baby wasn't a boy, so he banished her to the tower...without the baby. Distraught, Isabella heard the baby's cries and tried to escape to get her. The end result was that she fell to her death. Supposedly, she wanders through the hotel, knocking on doors to find the baby.

On the lighter side, Ballygally is the site of one of the ten Game of Thrones Doors. It has the crest of the Houses of Stark and Bolton, as well as Winterfell Castle.

The grounds around the Castle:

View from our room

Nice, modern bath

Game of Thrones Door leading to the dining area

Original door to the Castle

A "fireback": a cast iron plate of a type used from the 1300s to protect the bricks at the backs of fireplaces and to help radiate heat into the room.

The entrance of the hotel

And now to the Ghost Room:

The turret

I turned as I was coming down the stairs...just in case.

Maybe that's here with her face just above the rail?

One last look as we left...just in case she was watching us!

Where We Ate

When we were in Glenveagh, we ate at the cafeteria-style diner on the campus. The soup and bread were fantastic. The soup in Ireland really hits the spot on those chilly, damp, windy days.

When we spent the night in Derry, I didn't feel comfortable enough with the area to go out, so we ate at the restaurant in the hotel. There is also a bar but it wasn't clear whether or not we could get food there, so we opted for the restaurant. It was pricey with 2 courses. I had chicken prepared 3 different ways with extremely small portions, but the chocolate dessert was heavenly! We found out the next day from Tomás that we could have had pub food in the bar.

After Giant's Causeway, we stopped at a restaurant in Bushmills. The Tartine at the Distiller Arms was quaint. The restroom was interesting...you had to go into a supply closet which apparently had no heat. The food was good and the coffee with Bushmills hit the spot.

In Ballygally, we had a group dinner at the hotel. By this time, we were all friends and had great conversation and food. And drinks. Mustn't forget the drinks.

Breakfast was a real treat. Actually, it was a treat every day we were there, but the morning we left Ballygally, I saw this: