The road from Roscommon to Galway will take you about 1 hour and 30 minutes to travel.  The scenery is true to Ireland's brand.  The Emerald Isle.  A rural farmland area of rolling hills, sheep and nature's version of a patchwork quilt of green. Satisfied after stopping in the village of Roscommon for the full Irish breakfast, we are all quietly enjoying the view.  Downtown Roscommon seen below.

Galway, the sixth largest city in the republic, bears the nickname "The City of Tribes". The name stemming from the 14 tribes of merchants that dominated the area during the Cromwellian era (Cromwell is the one that brought Ireland into England's commonwealth and confiscated all the lands of the irish catholics).  In those times, tribe was not a term of endearment.  The merchants viewed themselves as Irish gentry, not big supporters of Cromwell.  Of course, this lead to fights as the Tribes were loyal to the King of England.  After a 9 month siege, the city was taken and the merchant tribes were ruined forever.  Still the nickname lives on.

Today, Galway has a world class reputation as a tourist destination, boasting a vibrant lifestyle and festival environment.   Music of all styles is on offer throughout the 50 + venues the city has or you can sit in a street side pub and be entertained by the very talented buskers sharing the stage along the main street. Pubs are big business in Ireland....there is 1 for every 100 inhabitants. This is well needed as Irish are the second biggest beer drinker in the world after the Czechs.  If you meet an Irish woman in a bar anywhere in the world and she is on vacation without husband or children, it's likely you'll get lucky! 70% of them have affairs on vacation! Mind you 90% of men do the same! (This is official research info!). As we watched several of the rising stars (or not so rising....one of them was actually playing a cardboard guitar mimicking the sounds!), famous Irish singers and artists come to mind.....the likes of U2, Enya and Van Morrison....numerous famous actors like Pierce Brosnan and Colin Farrel and writers James Joyce, Yeats, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and one of my Mom's favorites, Maeve Benchy.  Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula written in 1897, is Irish hailing from Dublin.  His real life inspiration for the story was an actor friend of his who told him of a 20 year legend involving an Irish evil chieftain who, after betrayal by his subjects, was slain and rose from his grave every night to drink their blood.

Just outside the walled city through the Spanish Gate, is  the ancient seaside home of the Claddagh(seen above).  These Irish speaking fisherman were governed by an elected king.  The King of Claddagh was tasked with settling disputes among locals and had the privilege of white sails for his fishing vessel.  The last official King died in 1972.  These hardy Irish people also gave the island the Claddagh ring.  A piece of Irish folklore, the ring incorporates three symbols.  The hands(friendship), the heart(love) and the crown(loyalty).  First created in the 17th century the design has grown to become a culture icon to Ireland.

Tonight, we sleep in a quaint little B&B called Fallon's in Kinvarra, point of entry to the famous Burren and Cliffs of Moher. We pray that Dracula is just a legend!  After wandering through the town we settled in one of the many pubs to enjoy some Irish music.  The place was packed with locals and tourists alike.  The band playing on a makeshift stage in the corner of the small space.  Sometimes, it was hard to determine the musicians from the customers as many of them joined in playing along.  Fun time.

Awake early, to a wonderful full Irish breakfast again, we drive through this beautiful region darted with castles up on hills as well as numerous abbey's ruins. The landscape is very inspiring! The cliff of Moher is a very unique site. Unfortunately for us, the fog is relentless this morning so, even though we waited for almost an hour hoping it might clear,  it was not to be.  Still, we walked the site without the spectacular view that we were expecting.   Funny thing, even though you could barely see more than 20 feet, people were blasting away with their cameras.  I got caught in the fever too!

 What we saw above and......what we should have seen below.

The cliffs are  320 million years old.  Created by the work of the river flowing down, bringing mud and sand with it.....it eventually formed these layers that we see .....or do not see! The cliffs range for 8 km along the Atlantic ocean.   We had to settle for the visitor centre showing  a movie "The cliff experience" a bird eye view of the cliffs. Next stop is Ennis where we had a quick lunch and took some pictures.

We continued to Shannon and the Bunratty Castle.  A large 15th century tower house and the 4th castle to be build on the site.  The domain of the O'Brien clan, a powerful Irish family at the time. By the way, most names in Ireland start with Mac (son of) or  O' (grandson of). What makes this castle interesting is how they have set up the various rooms to show how they were used.  Climb up the narrow spiral staircase to the roof.  The view is amazing.

The rest of the property houses many different examples of village life throughout the ages.  It takes a few hours to tour the entire site and worth the time.  We have had a full day of touring, as such we were not that keen on the big city of Limerick.  So we marched on finishing the day in Adare.   Considered one of the most picturesque towns in Ireland.  Adare Manor greets you as you enter the town.  Manicured would be the best way to describe the feel.  The area has two golf courses and has been the host of the Irish Open twice in 2007 and 2008.  We stayed at a great little B&B called Aspen.   We ventured down the main street for a pub dinner and called it a night.  Tomorrow we are heading to the Dingle Peninsula and the Ring of Kerry.

Be well

Slainte!