If you are a traveler who likes to have your imagination stimulated beyond the scenery of the place being visited, a trip to Ireland’s Northwestern regions will more than satisfy your mind. You can begin the trip by flying into Shannon and driving north, exploring the coastal areas up through Galway and on to Donegal, or do as we did and fly into Dublin and go northwest to Donegal, making a circle back down the coast to Galway before turning east to head back to Dublin. This route enabled us to see more without backtracking. The main problem here is not wanting to stop exploring, as you will find around every bend scenes that capture your imagination and senses. Before going invest some time in reading Irish folklore and myth as well as the poetry of William Butler Yeats and Seamus Heaney.
We left Dublin on the N3 with our first destination Tara in County Meath. Near the village of Tara the ancient site known as the Hill of Tara and Bective Abbey is a place steeped in ancient legend and folklore. The hill offers visitors a view over the plains of Meath, and the mounds along with the Stone Age passage grave dating back to 2500 BC evoke the feeling that this was an ancient, sacred place. Much of the Hill of Tara’s mystique lies in its association with the mythical goddess Maeve and the image of Druid rites taking place in and around this spot. This was also a place purported to be where the high king of 1st and 2nd Century Celtic chieftains held the royal court. It was also here that St. Patrick was said to use the shamrock to explain the Christian Trinity; hence the shamrock becoming the Irish national symbol. The kings of Leinster used Tara as a center of operation up through the 11th century. A 15th Century church next to the Hill of Tara has the visitors center as well as an excellent audiovisual presentation. The name “Tara” of the book and later movie “Gone with the Wind” was taken directly from this ancient place. We found this a great place to begin our immersion into the myth, legend, and folklore of Celtic past.
We continued NW on the N3 entering Northern Ireland and reaching the city of Enniskillen, which is situated between two large lakes, the Upper and Lower Lough Erne, formed on the River Erne. This is where the writers Oscar Wilde and Samuel Becket were schooled. The Enniskillen Castle houses the Fermanagh History and Heritage Centre and the Regimental Museum of the Royal Enniskilling Fusiliers and is worth a visit to gain an overall historical orientation of the area. Just out of Enniskillen we found the mansion Castle Coole. This 18th Century neoclassical estate was designed by James Watt and is well known for being one of the purest forms of neoclassical architecture for that period in Ireland.
We traveled along the A46 which took us beside the Lower Lough Erne with plenty of quaint villages and scenic vistas. If you have the time there is a waterbus that cruises the lough for about 2 hours, departing from the Round ‘O’ Quay at Brook Park just out of Enniskillen. Devenish Island in Lough Erne is the site of a 6th century monastery founded by St. Molaise and sacked by Vikings in 837AD. Further along A46 a signpost directs the traveler to Tully Castle, built in 1613 for a Scottish planter’s family. From here it is only 16 km to the border of Northern Ireland and the small town of Belleek. The village of Belleek is well known for its fine porcelain factory, which you can tour. Some find the lure of the region around Lough Erne enticing them to circle the lakes and spend more time exploring Boa Island where one of the oldest stone statues in Ireland can be found, the Janus figure, or Killadeas Churchyard with its Bishop’s Stone dating to the 7th Century, or the stone figures on White Island. But after our tour of the Belleek factory with its porcelain delicately displaying the wee folk of Irish folklore, we wished to move on to the area most steeped in the tradition of fairy forts and leprechauns, as well as the locale of the activities of the fianna, or mythical warriors of ancient Irish legend.
Entering again the Republic of Ireland, we proceeded to Ballyshannon on the coast and turned north on the N15 to Donegal. This is the far northwest region of Ireland and possibly one of the most remote. The region is marked with thatched roofed cottages, rolling green hillsides dotted with sheep, and spectacular cliffs jutting up from the sea. The town of Donegal is built on the River Eske with the 15th century Donegal Castle set at a bend in the river in the center of town. Just due east of the town of Donegal is the small lake Lough Derg where pilgrims come to spend three days on a small island in the middle of the lake believed to be a place St. Patrick stayed and fasted. B & Bs are plentiful around Donegal as well as rural houses such as the Arches Country House, the Ardnamona House, and Harvey’s Point Country Hotel on the shores of Lough Eske. Donegal is famous for its woolen goods, known as Donegal tweed. All along the roads are shops selling and displaying every kind of woolen wear from sweaters and hats to bolts of fabric and bundles of yarn. But most impressive to the region is a drive along the cliffs bordering the sea on the road to the fishing village of Killybegs and beyond. At the village of Carrick we found the Slieve League. These are cliffs which drop 300 meters straight to the sea. The face of the cliffs can be seen from a boat to change colors as if by magic. This is a wonderful place for a picnic. Some time should be allowed just to absorb the ambience of the surroundings.
Leaving the cliffs at Carrick and driving as far west as the road will take you, the village of Glencolumbcille is found. We stopped for tea at the heritage center located near the village. The center consists of thatched roofed cottages built and furnished in the way that inhabitants of the region would have lived in the 18th and 19th centuries. The smell of peat burning in the fireplaces gives a cozy inviting feeling to the cottages, which offer the visitor shelter from the wind coming in from the sea.
From Glencolumbcille we drove to Ardara through the Glengesh pass, which is a beautifully winding road down through a glacially formed valley. The feeling of remoteness struck us as we moved through this valley that ends at the river and the town of Ardara not far from an inlet to the sea. Ardara is a center for the weaving industry of the Donegal region. At the heritage center in Ardara the story of weaving is told, and we viewed the handloom weaver at work. The Ardara Weavers Fair, which takes place the first weekend in June, has been held here since the 18th century.
Leaving Ardara we circled back to the city of Donegal along the edge of the Blue Stack Mountains and then headed south again, backtracking through Ballyshannon and on to County Sligo and Yeats Country. Nobel Prize winning poet William Butler Yeats spent his childhood days with his mother’s family in the Sligo area and returned many times as an adult to draw on the folklore and myth, prevalent throughout this region, to enliven his poetic imagination. The town of Sligo straddles the River Garavogue, and if one travels west on the river, you will arrive at Sligo Harbour and the sea. If you travel east on the River Garavogue, it will take you to the legendary Lough Gill and the surrounding hillsides that locals claim to abound in elves and fairies. Rent a boat in Sligo and row from downtown to Lough Gill. The island best known inspired Yeats’ poem The Lake Isle of Innisfree. At the eastern end of the lake stands Parke’s Castle. Swans travel the river and lake, adding to a feeling of enchantment to the scenic surroundings. One legend associated with Lough Gill is that a silver bell from the abbey nearby was thrown into the lake and only those who are free from sin can hear the bell ringing.
Sligo has several hotels downtown, one being the Silver Swan in the center of town on the river, and a large number of very good B&Bs to chose from. We stayed at a B&B just outside Sligo near Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery. When I asked about the belief of the existence of elves and fairies in the area, our wonderful hostess could not wait to take us out for a drive to point out how to recognize a “fairy fort” in the countryside and show us the dells where elves and fairies were known to dance and play at night. She cautioned us about such things as throwing dish water out the door in the evening for fear that a passing elf or fairy might be drenched by it and become angry and place a spell on the inhabitants of the dwelling. In the morning while the dew was still on the grass our hostess wanted us to walk out into the nearby fields in search of fairy circles made by dancing fairies in the night.
Our visit to the Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery added to the feeling of ancient myth. Here scattered over several fields are over 60 stone circles and passage graves. Carrowmore is one of the largest stone age cemeteries in Europe. A well done information center is adjacent and guides take groups of visitors to the various grave sites or dolmens. Many of the dolmens are still capped by three massive stone slabs with a fourth set on top resembling a large stone stool. From Carrowmore the visitor has a view across the countryside to the mountains that surround Sligo. The dominant mountain is Knocknarea with the cairn or tomb at its top, which legend has as the burial place of Queen Maeve. An estimated 40,000 tons of stone was carried to the top of Knocknarea during ancient times and piled there to form an almost pyramid looking mound that forms the huge cairn that has never been excavated. We spent the afternoon climbing to the top of Knocknarea and then to the top of Queen Maeve’s tomb for a wonderful view of all the surrounding area. If you climb Knocknarea, you are suppose to carry a rock to place on Maeve’s tomb for good luck, which we certainly did. You can not escape the feeling that you’re in the presence of the ancient celtic spirits as you ascend Queen Maeve’s tomb and see the dolmens of Carrowmore scattered throughout the fields below.
Another mountain that shadows Sligo is Benbulben, prominent in many of Yeats’ poems. Yeats wished to be buried at the foot of Benbulben in the churchyard of Drumcliff church. Here at Drumcliff churchyard you will find his grave with the words “Cast a cold eye on life, on death. Horseman, pass by.” But it is hard to just pass the Sligo area without feeling that the seen and the unseen have imprinted something into the imagination and the memory that will not be erased. This region left its imprint on Yeats, and Yeats, in turn, left his imprint on Sligo, both with everlasting imagery.
South of Sligo we traveled only a short way before turning west on N59, which took us to the region of Ireland known as Connemara. N59 carries you out and around what is almost a peninsula of land although much bigger. The area is one of the most scenic in Ireland with its mountains and valleys and beautiful flowing streams. It is a rocky, somewhat treeless, and sparsely populated area but captivating to the eye. The green valleys are dotted with lakes that are interconnected by streams, offering the fly fisherman a wonderful venue. Cyclists find this area great for cycling tours with its winding but not much traveled roads taking you from seaside haunts to the beautiful mountains of Connemara National Park. By whatever means you’re traveling, the region evokes the feeling of wildness and adventure as if you ride along on the spirit of the ancient celtic tribes that moved up and down its valleys. You have a wonderful choice of side roads to explore, streams and lakes on which to picnic, mountains to climb, beaches to stroll, and abbeys and ruins to inspect.
It was difficult to pull ourselves away from Connemara and head farther south towards Galway. But the city of Galway is a wonderful transition from the wild and barren Connemara. The narrow streets and the many shops and restaurants bring you back to the delightful entertaining side of the Irish. The bustle of the main shopping area, which is a pedestrian only street lined with shops and restaurants, gives the feeling of liveliness. Galway is a university town with the University of Galway, one of Ireland’s best universities, not far from the center of the city. What was once a small fishing village on a large, well-protected bay, has become one of Ireland’s fastest growing cities. The nightlife and pubs are a major attraction for the tourist wanting to experience the wonderful Irish friendliness, talk, and song. Some of the main spots we visited were Lynch’s Castle, Lynch Memorial Window on Market St., the once home of the writer James Joyce’s wife Nora Barnacle, and St. Nicholas Cathedral. You can also take a ferry from the docks of Galway and travel out to the Aran Islands.
By the time we had reached Galway, we found that we had run out of time for our stay in Ireland but not our desire to come back and continue exploring. We found our way to the N6 and headed east to Dublin. The advantages of Ireland’s inclusion in the EU can readily be seen in the new four lane highways built and being built to span the country. This new prosperity has gained the country the title of the “Celtic Tiger.” It had been over 14 years since I was last in Ireland, and the changes, particularly in the cities, were amazing. Now, you need to travel to the more remote areas of Donegal or Connemara to see the quaintness of the village life that once was found in most of Ireland. But the populace is still much taken with the ancient myth, legend, and folklore, which sustained the spirit of the land through the lean and hard years. It is a culture based more on the mythical than historical tradition, which may be behind its transcendent nature and appeal to the imaginative traveler.
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