Dunluce Castle, Northern Ireland

This spectacular castlecrowned crag on the famous north Antrim coast was shaped when the sea cut deep into the land, exploiting cracks on either side of the rock. Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, first built this castle at Dunluce. It often came under siege. In 1584 Sorley Boy MacDonnell captured it from the English when one of his men, employed in the castle, hauled his comrades up the cliff in a basket. Sorley Boy came into some money in 1588 when the Spanish Armada treasure ship Girona was wrecked by storm off the Giant's Causeway. He used it to modernise the castle but he must have skimped on the kitchen, since in 1639 it fell into the sea and carried away the cooks and all their pots. Today the pretty blue flower of Dunluce' clusters round the castle's ruined shell and drifts of seapinks are the only sentinels.

The Giants Causeway and the Rope Bridge
near Portrush, Northern Ireland

The lunar landscape of the Giant's Causeway, lurking below the gaunt sea wall where the land ends, must have struck wonder into the hearts of the ancient Irish.
The Causeway is a geological freak, caused by volcanic eruptions, and cooling lava.
The Causeway proper is a mass of basalt columns packed tightly together.

Further down the coast, the stunning Carrick-a-rede rope bridge spans a gaping chasm between the coast and a small island used by fishermen. The terrifying eighty foot drop can be crossed via the swinging bridge - not for the faint hearted!

Park Lodge Hotel

A reasonably priced family hotel
near the park in Dublin

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine upon your face
The rains fall soft upon your fields
And, until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand

Travelogue - A Very Funny Read
"McCarthy's Bar" by Pete McCarthy
A Spiritual Pilgrimage
"A Pilgrim In Ireland"
by Canadian author Frances Greenslade

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