Life's a Beach

Tuesday 17 June 2014

Today we slept in again!  How can it be wrong if it feels so good?  Joshua told me that sleeping in is part of vacation--the enjoying part!  Starting late, we asked Debbie (the woman that owns the cottage) ideas of where to go.  She suggested many things, but when we asked of a nearby castle ruin, she said that there was one on the other side of Clifden.  So, we checked it out on google, found a tenuous map and took off.  As we were driving, we saw a great entrance gate that looked rather new, then saw another vehicle pull out and could see the castle over past some fields.  It looked like the road from the entrance gate led to the castle so we went back.  The road said "no dogs or cars" so we found a space to park on the edge of the main road and walked in.  Probably a mile later, after seeing many cows and standing stones, a meandering path led us to the castle.  The castle was built in 1818, so it wasn't very old.  There were many people fighting over the land and the castle.  In 1935, ownership passed to the tenants.  The windows, roof, timbers, and some stones were stripped away and with the elements getting in, the castle fell to ruin.  I'm kind of a castle geek, so I took a lot of photos--here are a selection:

The castle from the main road above

The entrance gate

The cows along the way (mama cow does not like me)

This cow doesn't care

A gate attached to the castle

Shelby

Joshua, Anneliese, Shelby

We loved going to a castle that was not full of tourists and was quite off the beaten path--no signs whatsoever!  After that, we went to the grocery store and picked up a few more things to finish off the week.  After putting away the groceries, we went to a local beach (with sand).  It was late afternoon, so there were fewer people and less chance of sunburn.  At the grocery store, I picked up sunscreen--I thought we wouldn't need any in Ireland--cold and rainy all the time, right?  They are having unseasonably beautiful weather--sunny and 70s and 80s all week!  Perfect!  :)  The Atlantic was quite cold, though, so the children spent most of their time on the beach and in the shallower water by shore.

Joshua--eager to be off

My posing queens--Anneliese and Shelby

Doesn't every beach have cows next to it?  (look to the far right)

After dinner (pork chops, cooked carrots, baked potatoes, and a fruit plate), we took the extra couple of potatoes, a raw carrot and apple to feed the horses across the street--the mama horses and their babies.

We have shared with the children that they need to wake up earlier tomorrow!