Happy birthday to Charlotte. She turned 74 while we were traveling in Ireland.
This is the monument in south Ireland to the Choctaw Nation for their financial help during the great potato famine of the 1840’s.
Ok, this is the famous Blarney Castle. And yes we did go all the way up and on the top back side you can slide down over the edge on your back and kiss the Blarney stone. They say it gives you the gift of gab. Is that really a gift?

High tide and then low tide.

There was an area of several miles that had this type of stone everywhere.

This is a huge stalactite in Dunnan Cave just north of the cliffs of Moher. I think it was the world’s heaviest and second longest.
We stayed at a farmhouse bed and breakfast in very rural western Ireland. Lots of farm animals.

Charlotte getting her feet wet in the North Sea in the northern part of Ireland

We took this picture from quite a ways away, but this was an early clan leaders home with extra thick walls. There is a cavity inside these walls and when Vikings attacked, the entire clan would seal themselves in these cavities. If they could hold off for a day or so, the Vikings would move on. That was their survival strategy.

The Cliffs of Moher. They were so cool because you can get right up to the cliff edge all along this area.

You see a lot of cool castles in Ireland.

Beam her up, Scotty! There is a helicopter pad at the Fanad Head Lighthouse.
The Fanad Head Lighthouse was built after a ship ran aground and sank in 1812.
This is a beautiful lighthouse – the Fanad Head Lighthouse.
At the north sea (about the same parallel as the southern tip of Hudson Bay) here are some folks in wet suits boogie boarding on the surf.
We were within easy walking distance of the north sea from where we spent the night.
We have reached the northern tip of Ireland and this is where we stayed two nights.
As we drove to the most northern part of Ireland, this was a thin bluff that ended before the western ocean above Sligo, Ireland.
We keep finding this pineal gland art. There were two of these at the entrance to the parking lot where we spent the night near the archeological site.
This is what the view would look like if we happened to be in the center of Newgrange during those first 17 minutes of sunrise on the winter solstice.
This is a walking bridge over a river that we had to cross to get to these old archeological sites.

0000The main entrance stone at Newgrange archeological site.

This is another mound from the similar age as Knowth, about 3,500 years B.C. It has a passageway that lets light in only on the winter solstice.
An example of some of the art on the big stones at Knowth.
There are 17 of these smaller mounds-tombs at the Knowth site.
Knowth. Created about 3,500 B.C. This one site has over half of the megalithic art found in the world. Lots of big stones with art on them. There are passageways in the mound and we went in them.
This was on top of a short step railing in Kennedy’s pub. This acorn style art comes from a symbolic representation of the pineal gland. The famous philosopher Descartes described the pineal gland as the “principal seat of the soul.”

This is where we spent two nights in Dublin. Kennedy’s Pub. Lots of live music. The first night was rock and loud with doors open and people drinking at tables on the sidewalk. Our room is behind the middle window. The second night was traditional Irish music. Much quieter. See the video under the video tab.
They have a local brewery here. We’ve been drinking more of their Guinness than water!

Fagan’s Pub where we ate the first night.
We spent a long time talking with Larry. With just an 8th grade education, he excelled in knowing the capitals of the US states. He talked Gaelic to his friends as they came by in the park. Proud of his Irish culture and still not happy about how the British treated the Irish over their long history. He seemed to like how Trump snubbed the English. He had a great sense of humor. His friends joked with him about winning the lottery (he really didn’t) but he played along. He rode a bicycle. One of his friends on a bench across the river would put a $50 euro note on the ground and pretend to find it as people walked by.
We met a lot of friendly neighborhood people in Griffith Park. This man let us spend some time with his 8 yr old dog, Sandy.
A bridge over the Tolka River, Dublin.
Nearly all the signs in this part of the city are in two languages: English and Gaelic.
Weeping willows in Griffith Park, Dublin.
Swan in Griffith Park.
A young swan in Griffith Park, Dublin.

 

The Spire. Touches the sky. Downtown Dublin.
The grand columns in front of the Dublin Post Office.
The Grand Central in downtown Dublin has been converted to a restaurant and pub. Nice Caesar salads.
Mosaic in the entrance way to a music store in Dublin.
Flowers blooming in Dublin