Western Ireland Road Trip

Over the long Thanksgiving weekend we took the car for a trip to Galway, Roundstone, Newport, Leenane and Westport.  The first night we stayed at Ardawn House B&B in Galway, the second night at the Boulevard Guesthouse in Westport.  Both were centrally located and great.  We listened to some really good Irish music-- at Tig Coili in Galway and Mat Molloy's in Westport.  Between Galway and Newport we took the coastal roads.  It had started snowing at that point but the roads stayed mostly clear.  On Sunday we had planned to hike up Croagh Patrick, but the roads to the trailhead were steep and snowy so we decided to skip it.  We'll hopefully get back when the weather is warmer.

Galway City

Wurst and sauerkraut at the Galway Weihnachtsmarkt

Driving to Roundstone

Roundstone harbour

Manning Bay mussels at O'Dowd's pub

Mannin Bay

location of the famous Irish play The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh

Croagh Patrick - where St. Patrick was said to have banished all snakes from the island

Snow and Bailouts

 It's snowing!  And Ireland is in financial crisis.

Merrion Square

A small Sinn Fein protest outside of Parliament on Sunday.
On Saturday there was a 50,000 person march but we weren't in town to see it.

Westport

Crough Patrick