Ireland Part 4: McNamara (Bunratty) Castle, Quin Abbey, Cliffs of Moher

The last full day of the trip, we spent a good amount of time driving to County Clare, the original home of the McNamaras! About 1,000 years ago, the McNamaras were a fearsome clan who were second only to the O'brien clan. The McNamaras built the 5th and most recent iteration of the Bunratty Castle (below). Bunratty means Mouth of the River Ratty, which is where the castle sits.

The current McNamara clan

 The inside was still well preserved.

Gramps enjoying the hall of his ancestors

 

We climbed to the roof and were greted by an excellent view.

 

The castle also had a village in it's shadow, replicas of what would have been present in the castle's active days. At the end of the street, a MacNamara & Sons pub was open for business, founded by our forefathers!

We drove past Knappogue Castle, which was also built and lived in by the McNamaras. It's now closed to the public except for special events, but you can see a little of it from the road. 

 

Not too far from there was Quin Abbey. This abbey was built by the McNamaras in the early 1400s and was dedicated to the friars who lived and cared for the property. A clan building an abbey was a sign of wealth and power during that time, so it goes to show how mighty our family once was!

It was really tall

You can't read it too well, but the above photo is headstone for a few McNamara members from the 1800s buried at this spot. There were actually a few McNamara sites within this abbey. We believe more would have been buried within the actual abbey (the inside was barred off), as a place of reverence for the members who originally built the site. 

A peak of the inner courtyard, as seen through some iron bars

                
 

Quin Abbey was an awesome piece of history for the family... some of our great-great-great grandparents may have been buried there...or may have even built the place!

Next stop was the Cliffs of Moher, a gorgeous stop on the west coast of Ireland. 

First thing you see walking to the cliffs...gift shops. Love how they were built though, like Hobbit holes. Supposedly they're built like that to maintain the beauty of the site from an aerial view.

We then drove through Doolin, a tiny town near the cliffs. I only snagged this picture of the river:

But the town had a great, locally-owned chocolate shop that used dairy and such from the local farms!

We passed a castle by the sea, owned by an extremely rich man who rents it out as vacation homes to extremely rich people:

After that, we started the drive home, passing on the outskirts of the Burren, which has limestone rock foundations that are extremely rare. 

And there were cows ;)

Ireland Part 3: Howth, St. Patricks's Cathedral

Mid-week was spent in Howth, Portmarnock, and the city center. Mornings consisted of a strong cup of coffee, rashers (Irish bacon, similar to thick ham), eggs, bagels, etc. Then we'd head out to the day's adventures.

Howth is a cute marina-type town about 15 minutes by car, 45 minutes by bus from where we were staying in Portmarnock. Evan and I took the buses to Howth two days in a row, and experienced the sharp Irish Sea wind first hand.   

In this photo, we're laughing at how roughly the wind is pushing our hair back...moments ago I had turned the wrong way and got a mouthful of hair and sea spray. 

Behind us is what's called Ireland's Eye, an island less than a mile away. 

The coast between Portmarnock and Howth was beautiful, during low tide the water was only a few inches deep...there were birds walking in the water scrounging for food. You could easily walk quite a distance, which we actually saw a few people do.

 

Evan and I stopped in a small tea and scone shop for lunch. Yes, I acted a tourist and took a photo of the food. On the left is the 3-tiered afternoon tea, and on the right is an open faced chicken sandwich, both of which were delicious. 

The next day we ate at a seafood restaurant (no pictures, to the relief of Evan). I splurged and ordered lobster and oysters (split with my sister and mom) because I couldn't resist the need to try Irish Sea seafood. The lobster was cut in half and grilled, which was interesting. Still good, but a bit tough on the outside where it rested on the grill. The oysters were saltier than we're used to in Delaware, and were served with a red balsamic vinegar mix, but without any other toppings such as horseradish. 

Also in Howth was a splendid abbey ruin and cemetery. In Newgrange yesterday, we learned most Protestant cathedrals were built facing East, in the direction of the rising Christ. The graves in this cemetery were the same way, all facing East. 

 

We explored other parts of Howth, finding some hidden alleys, streets, and side shops.

We used a spare afternoon to visit St. Patrick's Cathedral. Back in the good ol' days, this cathedral was built right outside the Dublin city limits for reasons I can't remember at the moment. Christ Church Cathedral is literally a few blocks away, so I believe there was some feud between the builders or bishops or sponsors or mayors at the time. Jonathan Swift (author of Gulliver's Travels, outspoken social activist during his time, and dean of this cathedral) is also buried at this site. He's actually buried vertically, so (allegedly) he would not be swept away by an underground river. 

That night, we ordered take-away (what they call take-out or to-go food) stoneoven pizza from a block away...I know, ordering pizza while in Ireland seems a bit counterintuitive, but I gotta say, it was some of the best pizza I've had.