Some of the pilgrims at Knock. Note the procession in the background.
We couldn't get out of Portlaoise fast enough. There isn't a thing of interest, like a church or a castle, to see in this town. So,we ate breakfast (I dodged "the full fry" again), packed the car, and headed north.
Our first stop was Athlone. Athlone is a lovely town on the River Shannon. After visiting Athlone Castle, we started heading north again.
At around noon, we pulled into Roscommon. Again, we were way ahead of schedule. We were going to stay at Gleeson's Guesthouse that evening. But, we cancelled our reservation there once we arrived so that we could go on to other places to be determined. Since I felt bad about canceling the reservation, we ate at their restaurant next to the Guesthouse. Gleeson's Restaurant served a very good lasagna with french fries for IŁ4.25. A bowl of soup and bread was IŁ2.15. They also have a buffet counter in case you don't want to sit in the restaurant. I thought it was a great place to have lunch.
After leaving Roscommon, we went northwest to the main destination of the day: Knock. Knock was the site of an apparition of Mary, Joseph, John the Evangelist, and several angels on a wet night in August of 1879. Today, it is the home to a rather large pilgrimage center. We spent about two hours at Knock examining the grounds and looking at the spot where the apparition took place.
While at Knock, we decided to go south and try to get a room in Doolin. Doolin is on the west coast of Ireland in an area known as the Burren. The Burren is a huge limestone dome which juts off the more fertile soil of western Ireland. Doolin is famous as a hotbed of live Irish traditional music. It sounded like a great place to spend a night. Unfortunately, Doolin's attractions are well known. As a result, rooms are usually very hard to get there. But, maybe because we were still under the influence of divine intervention after our trip to Knock, we found a room at the first place we called. We began our trip south.
We went past Galway and made the turn west toward Doolin. It was just past Kinvara that the road turned into the stereotypical Irish road. It was narrow, with 6 ft. stone fences on either side. It was also full of curves and very bumpy. These conditions lasted the entire way from Kinvara to Doolin. The only benefit to the roads is that they pass through some of the most spectacular scenery in Ireland. We stopped at Corkscrew Hill to take some pictures of the Burren. Then, it was back on the road. Just a point of interest for people interested in going to Doolin: it will take at least an hour and a half to get there from Kinvara.
Doolin itself is a very curious town. It just a collection of houses and stores that stretch over a one mile piece of coastline. That may sound perfectly normal, except that ALL the houses and stores in town are stretched out along this one mile line. There are no houses behind the others on the road. Everything in Doolin is on one street. We somehow managed to find our accommodations in this string of buildings. We stayed at Killilagh House. The cost of the room was IŁ17/person/night. The room included a bathroom; but didn't have a television or a phone. Also, because of water restrictions in Doolin, the shower was equipt with a regulator that caused it to shut off after one minute of use unless you pushed a button (talk about feeling like one of Pavlov's dogs!). Despite the strange shower arrangements, the room was very comfortable. I'd recommend a stay there. The phone number is 06-574-392.
Just a few doors down from Killilagh House is the place where we ate dinner: The Lazy Lobster. This place specializes in seafood dishes. I have to say that the fish stew and the fried cod I had were magnificent. However, this place was one of the more expensive in which we ate. Cost of an average dish was between IŁ9 and IŁ13. To be fair, most of the restaurants in Doolin seemed to charge about the same prices for their food. The meal, while delicious, did have its downside - we ran into another pack of Americans eating here. Still, despite the Americans, I would have to recommend the Lazy Lobster because of the wonderfully fresh food.
After dinner, it was time to check out the pub scene. It's these pubs
that give Doolin its reputation as a center for Irish traditional music.
The night we were there was no exception. We went to McDermott's and
O'Connor's pubs. Both had huge crowds, lively music, and that same great
Guinness that I had come to love. In fact, it was in McDermott's that I
first felt I was really in Ireland. Rain had come ashore from off the Atlantic
while we were eating dinner. It was raining fairly steadily by the time
we went into McDermott's. I ordered a Guinness while the band struck up
a jig. While I was listening to the music, a simple fact hit me. I was in
a pub on the west coast of Ireland. It was raining outside. And I was inside
with a pint of Guinness and listening to a live band playing Irish jigs.
I don't think life could have been more perfect than it was at that moment.
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